Last week we shared the first installment of Therese Huston’s three-part series on teaching outside of your comfort zone. Huston, founding Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Seattle University, and author of Teaching What You Don’t Know, is back today with part two: establishing credibility.
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We often assume that to be credible in the classroom we need to demonstrate a deep knowledge of the subject matter. After all, the way we establish credibility in academic circles is by showing our depth of insight on the topic at hand, be it Jane Austen’s early works or the tensile strength of super glue. So when we have to teach courses that sit outside of our expertise, we worry that we won’t be seen as credible. There is this nagging feeling that students will see right through us, might call us out as imposters.
But a college classroom isn’t like a professional meeting. Not only are there fewer coffee breaks, but as teachers we have other crucial roles to play besides being a fount of expertise. We need to create an environment where students feel comfortable asking questions. We need to assign grades, and we need to assign them fairly.
So, not surprisingly, research shows that students judge an instructor’s credibility based on more than his or her prowess with the subject matter. In fact, the research shows there are three critical things you can do to bolster your credibility.
First, pay attention to how you treat questions from students. Instructors who handle questions poorly (or worse yet, don’t handle questions at all) lose credibility points with students. You may take plenty of questions in one of your normal classes, but if you’re second guessing yourself on the material, you may be tempted to ignore any hands that go up, or you may lecture so rapidly that no one even tries to speak up. The good news? Research suggests offering an iron-clad answer to every question isn’t the most critical thing. What’s more important is that you at least attempt to answer student questions and that you regularly check whether students understand the material. So make it a practice to take questions every 20 minutes. When a student asks a question you can’t answer, and someone undoubtedly will, be ready with several replies. “Great question. I think I know the answer, but I’m not 100%, so let me get back to you.”
Second, if you want to be credible, be trustworthy and respectful. Again, that may not be an issue when you stride into a class feeling confident and in control, but I’ve seen many faculty become defensive, disrespectful, and disorganized when they’ve been up all night struggling to make sure they understand the material for the next day. Students report that credibility drops when instructors show up late for class, give vague answers to questions about grading, and fail to follow the policies outlined in the syllabus. So if you do find yourself staying up all night preparing for class (though I hope you won’t), use some of that time to anticipate the questions students might have about an upcoming assignment.
Third—and there’s no way around this—instructors need to have some knowledge of the material to be credible. Specifically, you need to be familiar with the text and you need to be able to explain difficult concepts, which can seem like a tall order when teaching material outside of your area. However, I suspect that you were already trying to know every possible thing, and so the semi-good news is that to establish credibility you only need to know the hardest things, not every detail.
How can you tackle the hardest concepts in a course that’s not your specialty? As we saw in the last post, contacting a content expert is one savvy strategy. Another method (and this one works at all hours of the night) is to do an Internet search using the phrase “common misconception” and the term that’s giving you trouble. For instance, if I search for “common misconception” and “opportunity cost,” a concept in economics that seems much simpler than it is, I find several explanations that help me anticipate students’ confusions. Those misconceptions become a springboard for tomorrow’s class.
Perhaps you’ve picked up another piece of advice that’s deceptively simple: you need to be familiar with the text, so don’t skip any of the readings. If your students are going to read it, you need to read it. This doesn’t tend to be an issue at the start of the course, but come week six or seven, when your grading has piled up and you’re desperately trying to keep up with readings, it’s easy to rationalize skipping the last 10 pages in a chapter you’re regretting having assigned.
But if you value your credibility then you don’t want to be caught clueless on the readings. It’s okay if you can’t remember the text word for word–most experts can’t do that either. The important thing is that if you’ve read the text, you’re less likely to contradict it.
There’s one other piece of advice that I’ve heard from several faculty who were looking to strengthen their credibility in the classroom: It’s important to present yourself as a credible authority figure on Day 1. Don't stop with your name and your title. Where did you get your degree(s)? Who have you worked with? What real world experience do you bring to the table and what kind of research have you done? Short of describing your eighth grade swim meet, list anything that you think adds credibility. Some instructors find it uncomfortable to list their accolades, or find name-dropping distasteful, but if you create a credible first impression it will shape how students perceive you throughout the course.
In short, you can be credible without knowing everything. Make time to read the text, focus your preparation on the hardest concepts, and encourage student questions. By week 2, the only person you’ll have to convince you belong up there is yourself.
Next week, we’ll look at how to manage your time in a course outside of your expertise. [Update: the post on managing your time is now online here.]
