Good teachers and good classes

I like to consider myself a good teacher. (I'm not talking about how well I fulfill the whole job of professor; I'm simply commenting on my ability to teach a quality class.) I've won awards from students and from other professors that indicate that other people think so, too. That's all well and good.

Now that doesn't mean that I can't get better. It doesn't mean that the next class that I teach is going to be a rousing success. Of course, I hope that it will and expect that it might — but hope and expect are a long way from actually delivering such a course.

Lots of things have contributed to my teaching methods and style. Of course, I've worked with other professors whose work in the classroom I highly respect (Mike Gordon being a prime example). I've observed many great teachers over the years as a student (e.g., Fred Allvine and Eugene Comiskey at Georgia Tech) and as a professor (e.g., Dennis Severance and Judy Olson here at Michigan). I've also built up quite the library of books on teaching; here's a sample of my favorites:

• Making the most of college by Light
• What the best college teachers do by Bain
• Teaching at its best by Nilson
• Strategies for energizing large classes, edited by MacGregor et al.
• Leaving the lectern by McManus
• Classroom instruction that works by Marzano et al.
• Engaging large classes by Stanley & Porter
• Simulations and the future of learning by Aldrich
• E-learning and the science of instruction by Clark & Mayer
• Lessons from the cyberspace classroom by Palloff & Pratt

And that's a sample of the books; there are, of course, many other journal articles that I've read over the years that I've found valuable. These are books by researchers and practitioners (that is, researchers who study teaching and teachers) that tell me their take on what they found of interest when looking at the art and practice of teaching. All of these give me strategies that I might use in my future classes.

What does this have to do with you? Well, I would like to hear from students about their best experience in a classroom, and why it was so great. It can be about a full-semester experience and how it all came together on a specific day in just the right way; it can be about a specific day in one particular class that had a great impact on you — whatever. What I'm looking for are stories, especially from Michigan and Ross students, about their favorite experiences in specific classes. Go ahead and name names if you are going to do so in a positive light. I don't know of any professor that wouldn't love to hear that he/she did a great job.

And why do I care? Two reasons. First, in my current job as BBA Program Director I get to hear about all of the problems. What I'd like to do is have a series of positive examples that I can relay both to prospective students and to current faculty who are looking for inspiration. Second, I am currently working through the process of designing a couple of new classes. I want to hear about the approaches used by professors that students find interesting and not just those approaches that other academics find intriguing.

So, if you would take a few minutes, what I'd like you to do is leave a comment for this post that describes the project, in-class activity, assignment, or other aspect related to a class that you really enjoyed or found valuable. There's no deadline — so even if you're reading this years from now, please go ahead and post — but, on the other hand, the sooner you post your comment, the sooner I can take advantage of this information. Thanks!