This fall I started my 50th year of teaching at the University of Texas at Austin. Prior to that, I was a teaching assistant, both in graduate school and in college. Given all that teaching experience, one might think that I was confident and secure as I approached my freshman class this fall. That was hardly the case. Successful teaching remains a moving target for me. In fact, it seems that the target is moving faster and faster, giving me little chance to catch up.
There are many forces that are moving the target of what constitutes good teaching. The COVI D lockdown and the shift to on-line instruction changed what constitutes "good" teaching. Some of these changes persist with the return to in-person instruction. Another major influence is the emphasis in many institutions on course instructor surveys. Course instructor surveys are coming to be treated like customer-satisfaction surveys, with the implication that the costumer is always right.
What does the customer want in higher education? We would hope that students want a good education, but most of the students I talk to want good grades. The most common question I get after a class is, "Will this be on the test?" With more complex assignments (such as writing an essay or analyzing an experiment), students want to know exactly how to carry out the assignment. They want detailed instructions on how long the essay should be, whether it should be turned in single-spaced or double-spaced, whether to use footnotes or put all the references in a list at the end, etc. These requests for detailed instructions are understandable. With detailed instructions, the student can focus on the instructions, check off all the boxes, and be assured of getting a good grade on the assignment. But, are we doing the student any favors by providing detailed instructions for assignments?
College students know how to follow instructions. That is what they have been doing all through high school. In fact, it is the students who are experts in following instructions that end up getting into college. Giving them more practice in following instructions will help them get high grades in college but it will not help them succeed when they graduate.
The problem is that life does not come with instructions. To succeed in life, one cannot rely on a tried-and-true formula or find the right guru or mentor who will tell you what to do. To succeed in life, you have to learn to navigate effectively in an ambiguous environment. In fact, your level of success in life is directly related to your skills in functioning without instructions.
Someone hired at minimum wage to work in a fast-food restaurant will get a lot of detailed instructions on exactly how to do their job. If you are working at McDonald's, you will be told precisely when to take the French fries out of the fryer and how to rotate the fryer basket to get the fries under the heat lamp without any of them dropping on the floor. Low-level positions come with lots of instructions. The higher you go in an organization, the fewer instructions you get on how you should do your job.
The director of marketing for a company or the president of the company does not have any instructions to follow. People in leadership positions are sometimes given certain goals to achieve. But they may not even receive that minimal level of "instruction" and have to begin by formulating their own goals. The key to their success does not depend on their ability to follow instructions but on their ability to be productive in an ambiguous environment that provides few hints about what is the best course of action.
Teaching for success in college is not the same as teaching for success in life. Teaching for success in college is easier and is well informed by feedback from students on what will help them get better grades and feel more engaged. Teaching for success in life is more difficult. The challenge is to identify important life skills and then design instructional programs to target those skills. After 50 years of teaching, I am still trying to figure all this out. As we start a new academic year, I wish everyone all the best in navigating the ambiguous environment of successful college teaching.
About the Author
Michael Domjan is a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, where he has taught learning to undergraduate and graduate students since 1973.