“I cold call in my class, because my students will need to be ready to talk on the spot as lawyers.”
In my work as a faculty developer, statements like these are as predictable as rush-hour traffic on a Wednesday afternoon. It’s not just cold calling, and it’s not just law faculty. I meet instructors teaching various subjects who reject assignment extensions, resubmissions and low-stakes assessments in the name of aligning their classrooms with the types of unforgiving professional environments their students will inevitably need to navigate.
I’m realizing this is not just the personal preference of a few instructors—this is a disposition toward teaching that a significant number of faculty seem to hold. This work-centered approach to the classroom is riddled with assumptions about what students need to succeed as professionals and the types of skills faculty should teach. But do these assumptions hold up? Does this approach actually cultivate timeliness and professionalism?
We Have Never Taught Critical Thinking (opinion)
Duration-of-Status Rule Change Clears White House Review
