I'm writing my blog instead of preparing for my class today. Part of the reason is that I find Blogging a way to ease back into academic writing that will be published (rather than writing my dissertation which I have now completed). However, this blog post has weighed on my mind for the last 24 hours.
I have previously written about my participation in a "flipped classroom" project through our school. The last class was less than stellar! First, we woke to some bad weather in the area, and since I teach first thing in the morning, I sent out email instructions for students that may not have been able to come into class because of the weather. Unfortunately, I teach two levels of Group Communication and I mixed the two up, sending the email to the wrong (later) class. More than that, I am using 2 new technologies this semester. The combination of two new technologies (I usually only introduce one new technology each semester) made transitions in set up slow.
So coming home exhausted from 3 straight hours of teaching, I came across this article about how the IRS has warned colleges that the calculations for hours adjuncts work may need to be recalculated. This is the first time that I have seen someone recognize that adjuncts do more than classroom contact hours. It got me to thinking about how much time I put into my classes compared to a full time faculty member. Likewise, while on paper the "flipped classroom" may look like it is less work for the instructor because the "students are teaching themselves", like online learning, in fact, the instructor's role requires a lot more time commitment, often outside of anyone else's view.
Prep Time
There are a number of factors that come into prep time. As mentioned before, I am using two new technologies: clickers and an ipad. I usually only use one technology because of the learning curve in using the technology, figuring out timing (for set-up, transition from activity to activity, student interaction with technology before they feel comfortable). However, I was willing to use the two technologies because I had some prep time and support in using both (something I know many adjuncts or part-time instructors don't have).
Many of the activities I use in class, had to be modified for the flipped classroom. Halfway through my second class, the class chosen for the training, I realized I was "directing" the conversation too much, taking it away from the students. This is something that will be difficult to change. At the same time, I don't want to loose some of the concepts I want them to walk away with. This balance is something I will need to work on in the next few weeks, perhaps coming up with some additional discussion questions before class (I have always been good at reacting to student comments, but now I need them to also participate in directing the conversation).
Another difficulty (and this is just the nature of the demand for our courses, lack of faculty, and the ability for students to drop/add) is putting together groups, getting to know students/student strengths and weaknesses. As a result, I spend the first two weeks frantically putting together groups, coordinating supporting information, answering emails, making sure students have access to the technology we will be using, and collecting information about the students.
This semester so far, I have put in about 50 hours of prep work even before classes begin.
Class prep and assignment management
I usually have a class of 35-45 students. This semester, because one of my courses was added at the last minute, I have a class of 42 and a class of 39. Off courses, this still may change over the next week or so, but these are the numbers I'm starting with.
I have always taught using a style in which I take the content (which I am familiar with) and modify it to meet the needs of a particular class. Sometimes, student written skills are strong, but they lack interpersonal; sometimes their know of communication theory is strong, but they lack practical experience. It is important for me therefore to always prepare before my class. However, with the flipped classroom, I feel I have to be even more prepared, understanding ALL the reading concepts as students my bring up concepts I had not thought of in our discussion. It is not that I don't know the concepts, but rather the vocabulary used by the author. This means, my usual 45 minute prep for class will require twice that amount. I need to be prepared if students bring up concepts I did not necessarily feel were important.
Because I will be evaluating students in class more, I will need to be more "present" in the class (so I can evaluate them). This is very fatiguing especially when teaching 3 hours straight. In addition, there is more assessment after class and follow up (I tape a review of the key points I wanted them to take away from class based on what we did in class). I have cut down on some of my written assessments, but I still need to figure out how to access the statistics from the clickers that I will use in my in-class assessment.
I estimate that I will be spending about 10 hours a week per class in class prep and assignment management (this means 26 hours a week of work on my class alone for 2 3-hour classes).
Other school related responsibilities
In addition to my classroom requirements, our department expects us to have office hours. I have about 3 hours a week scheduled, although I don't usually have students during that time. In addition, I often meet with students when they can't make my office hours. Being part of a large university, most students don't take advantage of office hours. However, I put in as many hours with students outside of the class as most full-time undergraduate instructors/professors (graduate student interaction is different).
Because of my style of teaching, I get know my students as individuals. Because of this, I have requests for 4-8 letters of recommendation per semester. This is not overly time consuming, but does take about 15 minutes per student (an additional 1-2 hours a semester). Those students that do come to speak with me, usually do not discuss the course but rather graduate school and career advice. Our department is lucky in that instructors are part of the faculty and there are a number of faculty who are term (have worked for more than 3 years and therefore are offered full year contracts). As a result, students view these instructors as valuable resources when they have professional and academic questions.
Finally, if I want a tenure track position, I will need to continue to participate in profession activities such as blogging, publishing, attending conventions (if I can get funding for it), interacting with the community, networking, and reviewing journal/conference papers. In this area, expectations for part-faculty are the same as for full-time, but full-time/tenure track faculty get paid for it.
The only area that differs between full-time faculty expectations and part-time is in the area of college service. While I was asked be a representative for part-time faculty for the faculty senate, without being paid for it, I could refuse without it hurting my career.
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