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Educator's Voice

Volume 5, Issue 11
November 10, 2004

Virtual Illustrations Aid Real Understanding

For much of its history, the United States of America has not been so united. For instance, for a number of centuries, American society was racially segregated. From schools to buses, public restrooms to drinking fountains, restaurants to churches, the country was divided into black and white.

Hospitals were among the last institutions to desegregate. One reason for this is that people were afraid they might get the "wrong blood" during a transfusion. They feared that if they received blood from a person of another color or ethnicity, they might actually develop the characteristics of that race.

But all of that changed when Dr. Charles Drew came along. In the 1930s, Dr. Drew created the process we now use to make plasma. Plasma comes from blood, but it is not type-specific, which means it can be used to treat bleeding patients without the need for 'whole' blood.

Dr. Drew's discovery was so noteworthy that he was asked to head the Blood for Britain campaign during World War II. After the war, Dr. Drew founded the American Blood Bank, which is still in operation today.

Ironically, Dr. Charles Drew died in 1950 at the age of 46 because he did not receive a blood transfusion or blood plasma in time.

Dr. Drew was injured in an automobile accident and taken to a hospital that was still segregated--a hospital that would not admit black people.

And since Dr. Drew was a black man, he bled to death.

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As an educator, I feel that it is my responsibility to be a storyteller. I'm constantly scribbling down narratives and examples on napkins, paper sandwich bags, or whatever is available! Stories are the glue that hold together many of the important theories and philosophies I teach in the classroom. And often, I use the same story in multiple classes, while simply adjusting the meaning or message. For example, in the above real life story of Dr. Charles Drew, think of how many topics could be covered. Ethics, blood, chemistry, international relations, leadership, vision, research, racism, history, culture, and the list goes on.

However, a problem arises when we apply storytelling to our online classes. Time. Storytelling requires a lot of data entry and can seem overwhelming. As online teachers, we translate all kinds of lecture material--PowerPoint presentations, exams, and even discussions, but as I view hundreds of courses each year, I rarely see one translated story or illustration.

As online teachers, we often leave out what is so easy (and important) in our face-to-face classrooms. Context. How can we achieve context? Story. I am a huge history buff because I had good history teachers who told me the stories surrounding battles, discoveries, and triumphs. I learned and retained more about the atom in two minutes from a television sitcom where an ex-teacher (is there such a thing?) illustrated the atom by using a gang/neighborhood metaphor. (See: http://science.csustan.edu/stkrm/MISC/Atom-by-Venus.htm for the WKRP transcript.) Simply put, the best teachers I have had--whether in elementary, high school, college, or post graduate--were good storytellers.

Ok, so what? You might agree that storytelling is great, but it's still time-consuming. Well, unfortunately I don't have a super trick for uploading your story. I don't have any words of wisdom for faster typing that you don't already know (of course, there are many existing stories and anecdotes out there on the Web; you could definitely search for those that may fit well into your classes…). I just want to encourage you not to forget an important element of teaching simply because the medium changes.

Narrative helps us make sense of our world and the information presented to us in classrooms. Illustrations help us remember facts and figures. Examples bring us closer to our instructors as we find connections and associations to hold on to. Metaphors give us insight and analogies bring understanding to our minds. Plain and simple: stories teach. And, depending on your point of view, the time it takes to illustrate a lesson point might be less if you do it in your lecture. For example:

I recently spoke with an instructor who has been teaching online for about four years. He found that he was spending a lot of time answering specific questions about his journalism lectures and readings through e-mails, discussion boards, or chats. These were on top of his prepared classroom activities and lectures. He soon realized that he was relaying the examples and stories he used in his face-to-face class for these "extra" materials and sessions. So, the following semester he began adding links to HTML pages, special text boxes, and distinctive colored text to his typical lecture items. These new "special" sections contained only stories, examples, and illustrations. He relayed that a few students ignored the new information, but he estimated that 80 to 90 percent of his students did not. He also noticed that his course questions were nearly eliminated. Students understood the material better and they even infused his stories into their discussions ("remember Professor Smith's story about…"). Test scores increased significantly, as did his teaching evaluation scores. He expressed to me that he had learned a valuable lesson.

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Isn't that the beauty of story? Learning a lesson without having to experience it ourselves. So… have you learned anything today? What's your story? Your students would love to know…

For more information, take a look at the following sites:

http://eric.indiana.edu/ieo/digests/d34.html
http://www.smc.maricopa.edu/storytelling/story.htm
http://www.indiana.edu/~eric_rec/ieo/bibs/story.html

       --Jeff D. Borden, M.A.

TIP

Exam Tip

Have you ever randomized a test and began to worry about how effectively your students are being tested? You spend a lot of time and energy on test questions. And, while randomization can prevent cheating, there can be unintended consequences. What if they get several questions that test one learning objective, but none that test another objective?

There are two ways to solve this problem:

Solution 1: Create separate question pools that address each objective.

Solution 2: Find the questions in a large pool that relate to the objectives and make them mandatory. Have at least one mandatory question for each exam.

To do this, choose the question you'd like to be mandatory, expand it and click on its "Edit" link. Beneath the "Points" field, there is a box with the heading "Mandatory." Click that box, click Save, and you have told the system to display this question in every exam. One student may get it as question 5, another as question 16, and another as question 32, but they will all get it.

       --Christa T. Palmer, M.A.