John Vucetich Selected for Deans’ Teaching Showcase
David Flaspohler, interim dean of the College of Forest Resources and Environmental Sciences (CFRES), has selected John Vucetich as the featured instructor this week in the Deans’ Teaching Showcase.
Vucetich, a CFRES distinguished professor, will be recognized at an end-of-term event with other showcase members and is a candidate for the CTL Instructional Award Series.
Vucetich’s primary teaching assignments are FW4260 Population Ecology, FW 4180 Conservation Ethics and FW3112 Human Dimensions of Wildlife. He likes to use a reverse engineering strategy when he prepares for a class. “I do not think about what I'd like to teach or what I can easily teach,” said Vucetich. “Rather, I think, ‘What does this group of students need to know and how can I help get them there?’”
Vucetich often uses a flipped classroom model. “When students’ first exposure to ideas can readily occur outside the classroom (reading, pre-recorded lecture, etc.), then I go for that,” said Vucetich. “Doing so frees up a great deal of class time to work with those ideas, rather than me simply transmitting those ideas.” Vucetich uses low-stakes quizzes to motivate students to engage the material before class.
Recently Vucetich has been experimenting with small-group discussions in FW3112. On the first day, he asked his students to recall a time when they had an inspiring conversation. Only about half of the students raised their hand. “Having remarkable conversations is one of the great joys in life,” said Vucetich. “In your professional lives, you will be judged importantly on the basis of how well you can hold a conversation.”
He informed his students that considerable effort would be devoted to practicing the craft of conversations. Students engage the course material before class (the flipped model), submit two pages of notes on the material, and send him (privately) any questions they have. “The questions give me a sense for what aspects of the material students are grappling with, which is not always what I’d expect,” said Vucetich.
The actual class functions like a Q&A session. “The explicit goal is for me to clarify ideas so that they are comfortable holding a discussion about them during the next class,” he said, adding: “I think I’ve been successful in distinguishing for students the difference between clarifying an idea and discussing it.”
Students submit a 75- to 100-word reflection to the Canvas discussion board to build confidence that they have something meaningful to share. During the next class, they form small groups and have conversations about the week’s material.
The result is students having more immersive conversations. “They can hold a conversation on topic for longer than I’ve previously experienced,” said Vucetich. “The conversations are more animated, and students seem to express healthy levels of confidence for sharing their ideas.”
Flaspohler emphasized Vucetich’s student-centered focus. “One thing I really admire about John’s approach to teaching is that he recognizes what students need help with and then (and this is the key part) he is really creative in introducing methods that help students learn important new skills,” said Flaspohler.