Teaching Intensive and Accelerated Courses Instruction That Motivates Learning Raymond J. Wlodkowski and Margery B. Ginsberg Copyright © 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Published by Jossey-Bass A Wiley Imprint 989 Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741—www.josseybass.com No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com. 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Motivation in education. I. Ginsberg, Margery B., 1954- II. Title. LB1029.A22W63 2010 370.15′4–dc22 2010013826 Printed in the United States of America first edition PB Printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The Jossey - Bass Higher and Adult Education Series Contents Preface vii About the Authors xiii 1 Understanding Accelerated and Intensive Courses as Excellent Learning Experiences 1 2 Using a Motivational Framework to Enhance Learning in Accelerated and Intensive Courses 14 3 Being a Motivating Instructor 31 4 Establishing Inclusion in a Learning Environment 50 5 Developing Positive Attitudes Toward Learning 79 6 Enhancing Meaning in Learning 100 7 Engendering Competence Among Learners 136 8 Designing Instruction for Intensive and Accelerated Courses 164 9 Strengthening Instruction and Retention 189 References 203 Index 217 Preface AS AN INNOVATIVE format, only online learning has exceeded accelerated and intensive learning programs in providing working adults with access to postsecondary education. For over a half century, most colleges have offered their students intensive learning formats to accommodate summer schedules, shortening their sixteen -w eek semester courses to eight weeks or less. However, in the last thirty years, the number of colleges and universities offering accelerated courses — shortened not only in terms of duration (eight weeks or fewer) but also in terms of contact hours with an instructor (thirty - two hours or fewer) — has grown to over 360 institutions (Commission for Accelerated Programs, 2008). In addition, many, if not most, colleges offer intensive courses and programs throughout the entire academic year. Adults are increasingly enrolling in accelerated and intensive college programs because they offer fl exibility; sensitivity to the demands of their lives; and, most important, a shorter time to earn a coveted degree. Generally, these adults are twenty- o ne years of age or older; hold a job part- t ime or full- t ime; and want to complete courses as quickly as possible. Often such other obligations as family and work require the most effi cient means of acquiring a college diploma. These are pragmatic students. Rather than seeking scholarly professors for teachers, they prefer realistic experts who live professional lives in which there are accountability standards, frequent deadlines, economic restraints, and far - from - perfect circumstances. Although friendly, they are not looking for friends. Their social calendars tend to be full, and spending a Friday night at a party on campus with unfamiliar college students would likely require these adults to sacrifi ce time away from more valued activities. vii viii Preface Estimates are that about 13 percent of adult students are enrolled in accelerated courses, with at least as many in intensive courses. That’ s roughly one in four adult students (Wlodkowski, 2003 ). These courses usually take from four to eights weeks to complete. These courses also tend to be taught by part- t ime or adjunct faculty (we use these terms interchangeably throughout the book). M ost of the time, these adjunct faculty are professional people who are teaching a subject directly connected to their own work: accountants teach- ing accounting courses, nurses teaching nursing courses, teachers teaching education courses, and executives teaching administration courses. For these faculty, teaching is often an avocation done for enjoyment, feeling connected to students, and for being in the midst of learning about fundamental aspects of their own careers (June, 2 009) . From a fi nancial perspective, the rewards for this kind of teaching are relatively poor— most adjuncts make only a few thousand dollars for each course they teach. But from a motivational perspective, the rewards can be relatively rich. It is the work itself: modeling a new skill, telling a captivating story, collaborating to solve a problem, guiding a good discussion, seeing insight move across a room of people, dissolving confl ict into dialogue before class time runs out, and feeling a sense of community with people who were strangers a few weeks ago. This book provides special attention to the needs of such faculty. T his text is a guide for providing excellent instruction for nontradi- tional learners, most of whom are part- or full- t ime working adults, in accelerated and intensive courses. Almost all of our professional experi- ence is in urban universities and colleges. For over twenty years, we ’ ve been teaching adults in accelerated and intensive programs in Denver and Seattle. Both of us have been able to study fi rsthand the various ways educators effectively teach accelerated and intensive courses: one of us is founding executive director of the Commission for Accelerated Programs, and one leads an intensive alternative doctoral program for working adults at the University of Washington- S eattle. However, the most important voice in this book is that of the students themselves. Through their relationships, reactions, participation, feedback, and evaluations, they continue to help us improve and teach more thoughtfully. Teaching Intensive and Accelerated Courses is written in the style of a handbook —a n easily readable and concise reference for teaching adults for you to literally carry with you as a practical resource. Like a good travel guide, it should orient you and put you at ease in a teaching format that is often long (three to eight hours), occurring in the late evening or on