My Advice to New Community College Adjunct Instructors

Dan Anderson, M.A., M.T.S., M.A.

Having taught over eighteen years between nine colleges and universities, mostly in community colleges, I offer my humble advice for beginning community college adjunct instructors.

Classical lecturing is like producing an audio book—staring at notes, with an occasional upward glance at the audience. One can hardly create a connection with the audience this way; there’s no give-and-take or inspiring cues; swapping out one audience for another wouldn’t seem to matter. Why would listeners not prefer listening to an audio book, podcast, or text-to-speech, having perfect articulation with no coughs or blunders? Instead of mostly lecturing, facilitate, directing conversation and activity, interspersed with brief lectures. This approach is effective, at least in Community College teaching of Humanities and Business courses.

Here’s a brief overview of the pedagogy I encourage you to consider, in some detail, using a Monday/Wednesday class schedule; it’s from my syllabus. After giving the assignment schedule, those assignments are explained. Further clarification, with examples, is in the Addendum.

Class Time

Mondays:

Students work in groups, on the Group Post (based on the textbook) that’s due on Wednesdays.

Groups may review the test they took together last Wednesday (every other), using the publisher’s feedback.

Read and discuss, as a class, the Individual Posts (based on the textbook) that were due before class.

Wednesdays:

Students peer-edit the Group Post that was submitted before class, using a detailed rubric (for the first few posts). It’s in the Addendum.

Students work on the Individual Post that’s due Mondays.

Read and discuss, as a class, the Group Posts that were due before class.

Every other Wednesday (six times), students take online tests (from the textbook publisher) in groups. Tests are due before midnight. This requires that students purchase the latest edition of the textbook, one with an access code.

Form new groups every other week, just before opening the online test. (For the second group formation, place struggling students together in a group, allowing the instructor to offer them more assistance.)

After about the first month, reduce homework time during class in half. Spend that time, instead, to lecture and discuss, or to work on projects (like the Mwest Challenge http://mwestchallenge.com/) or on a debate project (given in the Addendum, below). Otherwise, ask students individually to write on a relevant topic, and then to discuss their responses at their table; finally, discuss as a class.

Here are syllabus instructions for the posts.

• Individual Discussion Board Post Outline
• (Due before each Monday class that we cover a chapter)
• Submit in DocX. Answering adequately requires at least four-hundred words; plus at least one hundred words for each Reply.
• Direction on writing the Reply to a peer’s post:

• Perhaps you’ll counter something your peer posted (alleged facts, soundness or logic in reasoning, ethics, procedure or best practice advocated…). You might clarify or elaborate on their post, offering additional related information or viewpoints. Point out stylistic, mechanical or grammatical weaknesses in their writing, if needed. Don’t bother with cheer-leading, though (awesome, you rock, I agree and this is perfect and complete…). 
• If you finish classroom work early, enhance your post and reply to more peers, beyond the minimum requirements. Read the entire chapter, follow its suggested resources, and discuss with peers. 

• Read your answers aloud during class, from the Discussion Board; they’ll be shown on the overhead, for the class to follow.
• Copy and paste the following boldfaced steps, writing under each:

• TestPrep questions, found at the end of the chapter’s section.Career Exploration Topics (personal or for another).Audio/Video Link on a topic of interest to you from the chapter.Replies 1 and 2
• Reply to the Discussion Board Post that was due before class. State the name of the peer you’re replying to. Reply to peers that haven’t yet received one.

• In-class Group Post Outline (4 or 5 groups, chosen randomly)
• (Due before each Wednesday class that we cover a chapter)
• Answer the following questions as a group, on one document submitted to Discussion Board.
• Each member also submits to Assignments on Blackboard.
• If you miss class, add a substantial paragraph of your own to the group’s submission.
• Submit in DocX.
• Answering adequately requires at least four hundred words.
• Each group presents what most interests them.
• Copy and paste the following outline into your submission:

• LO Questions.

In covering student posts as a class, ask the student(s) to read their/his/her… post. (If you’re unsure of names or pronouns, address tables by number.) If the student is too uncomfortable with that, read it yourself or use text-to-audio; this makes it less awkward when repeatedly pausing for comments and questions. Have tables discuss an aspect of the post being presented, periodically, and then discuss the post discuss as a class.

A two hour class schedule might look like this, at least for the first month. From the syllabus:

• Monday and Wednesday Agenda

Mondays:

60m: Write the In-class Group Post. You will present them at the Wednesday class.

45m: Present the Individual Discussion Board Post.

Wednesdays:

60m: Write the Individual Discussion Board Post. You will present them at the Monday class.

(On the test days, class time won’t be used for writing the Individual Discussion Board assignment; you’ll do that outside of class. This homework time will be halved or eliminated after about the first month.)

45m: Present the In-class Group Post.

• These minute duration times are approximate.
• Almost every class, you have a post to submit. I’ll randomly select from them for class discussion from the overhead.
• We might take a ten-minute break around the middle of class, but if not, feel free to use the restroom.
• I facilitate more than lecture, directing students’ study and class discussion.
• Remember to sign the attendance sheet each class.

Mid-term and Exam Weeks

With students taking six objective tests over the textbook chapters, and writing group and individual posts on them, use the Mid-term and Final Exam classes for introducing related but additional content. For example: The Mwest Challenge (http://mwestchallenge.com/) or doing a debate project (samples given in the Addendum, below).

Mid-term Week: Teach Logic and “Adjudicating Workplace Disagreements” (posted in the Addendum below), to prepare for the Debate Project. Hold these potentially controversial issues until at least the latter half of the semester. This week offers a reprieve from the above schedule of posts and tests.

The week before Finals Week, students work on the Debate Project or another project, for extra credit.

Exam Week: Students present their Debate Projects or other projects.

Teaching in a college having open-enrollment, offering free tuition for local residents, and accepting students who cannot speak English adequately, likely requires a teaching style different from one used at a Hillsdale College.

• After about the first month, don’t accept late work.
• Refer students to a computer lab, writing lab, or to librarians. Direct them to all the helpful departments and aids the college offers.
• Set tests for unlimited attempts, accepting the highest grade, and showing incorrect answers with explanations (to show an hour after the due date).
• Show one movie, where a breather is needed (“The Circle,” “1984”).

Grading and Assignments

Grading is by completion: good writing style and mechanics, a good-faith effort, and following the instructions earns 100%. There’s no need to play the parrot or to write what you think I want to hear—the same goes toward your peers. Without honesty, openness, and freedom from intimidation, education is propaganda and becomes useless for developing the mind.

Have a lenient attendance policy, so you’re not tallying excused/unexcused and tardy arrivals. Pass around an attendance book, leaving it open to late arrivals. Have students keep track of their absences.

From my Syllabus:

Grading Procedure

Six multiple-choice tests: 18% (3%ea)

Ten In-class Group Posts: 30% (3%ea)

Ten Individual Discussion Board Posts: 45% (4.5%ea)

Logic and Adjudicating Disagreements (or Mwest Challenge): 7%

Extra Credit, with a Peer-Edit and presentation. This potentially raises the final grade by a full letter.

Here are some additional reasons for considering this more objective, lecture-light, pedagogical approach.

One could find one’s self in the position of having to prove one’s innocence, where it’s the instructor’s word against the student’s. This is almost an impossible situation. My approach mitigates against the likelihood of falling prey to this unjust trap. Additionally, an administrator’s interest in resolving a student complaint, in part, is to insure the student doesn’t feel the need to advance the issue to a higher office. Perhaps that complaint is even unreasonable or fabricated. Remember, that an Adjunct Instructor is at-will; if an administrator grows tired of fielding any complaints, the Adjunct simply doesn’t receive future classes. One’s Union Representative, too, is likely an Adjunct, at-will, in hopes of receiving future classes—not likely to offer a robust defense.

Addendum

Extra Credit Instructions

Debate Outline for the Extra Credit Project (Group or Individual)

Leave your paper in outline form, using the indicated outline—not in the explanatory outline with the directions.

Begin writing on the line of each outline number/letter that’s followed by wwww, with no line spacing around headings.

Double-space, using standard font and margins. While it is in outline form, do write in complete sentences and paragraphs, where needed.

This outline makes learning to write logically, and from various viewpoints, much easier, like “filling in the blanks”.

Include a works cited page. Include each group member’s name at the top of the first page (if you write one project as a group). Don’t included the works cited page in the page count.

The project must be topical and persuasive, not interpretive or research, at least nine pages long (assuming at least three group members), using a standard 10 or 12-point font and standard margins and spacing. (Page length may vary, depending on group size.) For non-group, individual projects, the project must be at least four full pages.

Don’t use quotations. Students too often fall into the trap of just stringing them together or over-relying on someone else’s thinking.

You’ll hopefully read over each other’s papers, within your own group, before submitting them, perhaps using the rubric below. Peer-editing within your group, before submitting your project(s), is not the same as the peer-editing assignment you submit for a grade; in that peer-editing submission, you’re editing a different group’s project(s).

Your group will peer-edit the group you were assigned to edit, for a grade; normally, group 5 edits group 1, G1 edits G2, G2 edits G3…. You’ll find the project to be edited in Discussion Board (DB); after editing, you’ll submit it back to that same DB (and to Assignments). See the Peer-Editing instructions, below.

Use MLA or APA for citations, consistently. Use footnotes, end-notes, or parenthetical notation.

Page length indications below are approximate, assuming your group has at least three members.

Audio record your reading of your project. Use SnagIt, Audacity, YouTube, Podcast, or another recording tool. Perhaps you’ll choose to upload your recording to your college Google Drive. The audio serves as your presentation and adds interest for your readers.  In class, we can listen to your recording, with our pausing it periodically for class discussion.

– If your group members don’t respond to your email (sent from your college account) within 48 hours, let me know and I’ll place all non-participating members into their own group(s).

– Feel free to email me if you need further clarification. 

 If you received 2% on your Project, one of these mistakes likely were made:

– Your group didn’t submit the project, done completely as a group.

– You did submit, but only the portion that you wrote–not the entire project.

– You didn’t include a link of your audio presenting the project.

Keep yourself and your peers on task, in your groups. While socializing sometimes adds levity, student tuition is paid to learn and develop; productively functioning groups provide a good return on that investment. Respectfully and honestly challenge one another’s positions, assumptions, definitions, textual interpretations, alleged facts, and arguments; this approach, in the spirit of academic freedom, engages and enhances one another.

As a group, decide between these three options. Whichever option your group chooses—each member is a part of a group that is to work together, at least by discussing and editing each other’s writing.

Option I

Write collaboratively, however your group decides to divide up the work. Perhaps those favoring the thesis choose to write sections I or III, while those opposed to it write section II. Perhaps one person researches to find the two articles and does the audio/video recording. If you have at least three members, it needs to be at least 9 pages long (8 pages if only two members).

For group projects, one member posts to Discussion Board (DB) and each member posts to Assignments.

Option II

Share one thesis and two scholarly articles (one for and one against the thesis), but each member writes their own four-page project. Each member submits to DB. Of course, you’ll read, discuss, and edit each other’s writing.

Option III

Each member may have their own thesis and research articles, writing their own four-page projects–but do work as a group, at least in discussing and editing your writing with group members. 

Outline with Instructions

Link to audio or video presentation (using SnagIt screencast, YouTube channel, MP3 with Audacity, your Podcast channel…)

Introduction (under a page)

A. State a narrowly defined, plausible, and creative thesis in ONE sentence. wwww (These w’s indicate that you begin writing here; if no wwww appears, that’s only a heading—you don’t write there. )

B. Define your terms (ones you shouldn’t expect an average reader to know or ones you’re using in a certain sense, in dictionary format. wwww

C. State your philosophical assumption(s) (not facts or trivia OR your thesis). These assumptions are statements that must be true, for your argument to be sound, but which lie outside the scope of your paper. Write this section last. You might need my help with this. Wwww

I. Defend your thesis (sections I and II should each be over four pages—over eight pages total)

A Defenses of authors from a primary text (not our textbook) wwww

Argument 1 wwww

(Perhaps your paper has only one argument in a section, or maybe four. I use three arguments here simply as reference.)

Argument 2 wwww

Argument 3 wwww

B Your own defenses

Argument 1 wwww

Argument 2 wwww

Argument 3 wwww (again, perhaps you have only one argument, perhaps four)

C Video Link (from 5-15 minutes, indicating minute markers)

II. Criticize your thesis

A Criticisms from primary source

Argument 1 wwww

Argument 2 wwww

Argument 3 wwww (perhaps you have only one good argument, perhaps four)

B Your own criticisms

Argument 1 wwww

Argument 2 wwww

Argument 3 wwww (perhaps you have only one good argument, perhaps four)

C Video Link (from 5-15 minutes, indicating minute markers)

III. Disarming Section II A and B (about three pages.) Explain, in order, why each argument against your thesis isn’t sound.

A – Disarming 1 wwww

Disarming 2 wwww

Disarming 3 wwww (perhaps you have only one good argument, perhaps four)

B –

Disarming 1 wwww

Disarming 2 wwww

Disarming 3 wwww (perhaps you have only one good argument, perhaps four)

C – Some members might wish to write a paragraph or two reflecting on their related intuitions, sentiments, or spirituality. This section B. isn’t required and isn’t included in the total page count.

Continued:

Cut this outline and paste it onto your blank document:

Link to audio presentation:

Introduction

A.

B.

C.

I. Defend your thesis

A.

Argument 1

Argument 2

Argument 3

B.

Argument 1

Argument 2

Argument 3

C. Video Link

II. Criticize your thesis

A.

Argument 1

Argument 2

Argument 3

B.

Argument 1

Argument 2

Argument 3

C. Video Link

III. Conclusion

A.

Disarming 1

Disarming 2

Disarming 3

B.

Disarming 1

Disarming 2

Disarming 3

C. ?

Peer Editing

For group projects, it’s up to your group how you want to do the peer-edit project for the group you were assigned to edit. Your group could collaboratively do one edit, by all members contributing to a Google Doc. Otherwise, each of you could do your own edit, submitting individually to DB as a Reply and to SA in Assignments.

Peer-edit the group that your group is assigned to: (if there are five groups) group 5 edits group 1, group 1 edits 2, 2 edits 3, 3 edits 4, 4 edits 5. You need to edit only one project.

One group member submits the peer-edit as a reply on DB to the group you edited; and each member submits the peer-edit to their own Assignments window.

Copy the Peer Editing Rubric (see below) to paste into each peer edit you submit.

Peer Editing Rubric

Editing in three steps

I

First, peer-edit by Highlighting. This quickly and generally identifies potential problem areas. Use these four colors, each representing an aspect of the grading rubric.

Blue: Content (rigor or accuracy) <B….> (Placing the color letter in carrots assists the color-blind.)

Red: Writing Mechanics <R….>

Yellow: Writing Style <Y….>

Green: Following Directions <G….>

II

Second, peer-edit with this rubric:

Each category is assigned 0-4 points. With three main categories, 12 points (A+) are possible.

I. Conventions

a. Style (e.g., clarity, tone, simplicity, appearance, little passive voice, and personal pronoun)

b. Grammar (e.g., punctuation, spelling, well defined sentences and paragraphs)

II. Directions (given in Assignment Instructions)

III. Rigor

a. Focus (e.g. doesn’t restate points or wander, narrow thesis or topic)

b. Support (e.g. factual, logical, relevant, fair, and plausible)

c. Level and Accuracy of Understanding

d. Does it pass a plagiarism check? Y/N

Four points are assigned to each of three categories, for 12 points (12 = A, 9 = B, 6=C…).

Points for I: _ Points for II: _ Points for III: _

III

Add at least a few brief comments, perhaps explaining a highlight you made or questioning an assumption or alleged fact.

Possible Extra Credit Topics

First, all five groups work on the same question/topic set. Then each of the five groups discusses their own question/topic set. After selecting a topic, decide between the three group options explained in the Extra Credit Directions (found in the syllabus folder of our Bb).

Groups 1 – 5 together (a preliminary step):

These questions, under each topic, help you begin discussion and research for the Extra Credit Project. After considering them and your group’s topics, use the required Extra Credit debate outline to write. Forming a Business-related thesis from these general topical areas won’t be difficult; motivation for writing on them, given their current and critical nature, should be strong. Before beginning, all five groups reflect on these preliminary questions:

Hindrances to Unity—a private examination of conscience

Is something preventing you from feeling the weight of another’s argument or from reasoning well? Often our misunderstandings and conflicts spring from subjective factors rather than from mistakes in facts or reasoning. For example:

• Bigotry, prejudice, or stereotyping, perhaps stemming from past experiences of domestic abuse,
• a group-think, cult-like, or a go-along-to-get-along mentality, a strong desire to fit in and to be liked,
• regularly taking in false or misleading information,
• ideology, tenaciously holding to a non-falsifiable theory,
• corrosive entertainment,
• substance abuse,
• uncontrolled emotions,
• Relativism or Subjectivism (denying any standard of judgment and the possibility of resolution) ….

Five Groups. Feel free to choose any option, or none of them, in choosing a business-related topic for your extra credit project.

Group I

A Litany of options:

– The Fourth Industrial Revolution, A.I. Policing, Technocracy, Universal Basic Income

– Agenda 21 and 2030, The Great Reset, Sustainability, Building Back Better

– Slavery Today, Sex Trafficking, Normalizing Pedophilia and Pederasty

– ESG and the Chinese Social Credit Score

– The belt-road initiative (silk road)

– Carbon credits

Group II

Considerations before purchasing, accepting advice for acting, using a medical prescription, or adopting an intellectual position:

Does it involve a need or a desire? Perhaps there is not sufficient incentive for making the purchase (for acting or for changing one’s mind).

Does it match its advertising? Is it what it claims to be?

Does it have a long record of success? Why commit to something that doesn’t?

Does it have many good, qualified, and reputable reviews?

Are authoritative sources of information available? Are those sources free from conflicts of interest? While the salesperson’s information might be sound, given their financial interest, it’s prudent to double-check it. “Follow the money.”

Has it been rigorously tested for an adequate period of time, perhaps being approved or licensed by all relevant agencies?

Have studies/tests/arguments against it been fairly and openly evaluated, with counter-points rationally overcome, or has counter-evidence been suppressed (blacklisting, digital book burning, de-platforming, intimidation, de-banking)?

Do (or would) those advocating for it trust it themselves?

Is irrational persuasion used, through informal logical fallacies? E.g., Appeal to the People (everyone’s doing it), Appeal to Force (agree or I’ll call you names and get you fired), Appeal to Pity (given his plight, what he says must be true), False Authority (the physicist says this medical treatment is sound, so it must be), Slippery Slope (if you do x, y will happen, then, heaven forbid, z will happen–but unlikely)….

Is one being unduly pressured to act quickly? Some decisions must be made soon; is there good reason for believing this is one of them?

What is the likelihood of future positive or adverse consequences occurring to one’s self or to others? Does it set a bad precedent or lead to future unethical behavior? Do its advantages offset its disadvantages, risks, or cost?

Was it created unethically? Perhaps I should choose not to purchase a product from a business I know treats its animals or workers inhumanely (over-crowded dens or slavery), or that created or derived it unethically (harvesting organs from prisoners).

Dress Codes in the workplace:

Should men and women (including transgenders) be allowed to wear yoga pants, mini-skirts, halter-tops, etc., to work? Is it sexist or transphobic to enforce traditional (patriarchal, repressive…?) dress codes? Given public video surveillance, is voyeurism an issue in a permissive (progressive, enlightened…) workplace? Can businesses maintain traditional dress codes in an increasingly permissive culture (consider dress at many festivals and parades)? On what ground or authority can we establish “professionalism” and ethics codes (e.g., regarding dress, speech, manners, deportment…), especially given that America is deeply and widely divided? How will you maintain a peaceful, cohesive work environment, given stark differences in cultures and deeply critical analyses of foundational documents, traditions, and institutions?

Group III

What ideas, events, movements, or person(s) is one (or was one) not to question?

Which of these is one, in polite society, expected to agree with and praise?

Who or what makes this so?

What methods of persuasion or propaganda are being (or have been) employed by various institutions, groups, or individuals, to shape your thinking or behavior?

Is it immoral to question authority?

To what degree is one programmed, determined, by one’s philosophy/ethics?

Do you want to be intellectually and verbally free, understanding topics from alternative worldviews and studies, or would you rather go along to get along?

What strategies might one employ for discovering diverse viewpoints, for developing one’s philosophy/ethics?

Given the power and pervasiveness of political correctness and cancel culture in today’s society, will you defend minority viewpoints or question establishment agendas, slogans, and talking-points?

A Litany of options:

– Hate Crime and Religious Liberty, The Truth Commission of Robert Reich, Cancel Culture

– Propaganda and Indoctrination in American Institutions

– Speech codes, hate speech, micro-aggression, Gramscian Marxism

– Civil Disobedience, Amicable Civil Divorce (Cessation)

– The recent founders of influential organizations and their ideologies and religious practices

– The 1619 Project vs. The 1776 Commission

– De-banking in cancel culture

Group IV

In what ways might Big Business be attempting to fill the personal needs of their employees (emotional, family, religious, intimacy…)? Consider:

• Yoga and Hinduism
• Channeling, automatic writing, lucid dreaming, and other New Age practices
• Mindfulness, TM, and Buddhism
• Festivals of Transformation (like Burning Man) and psychedelics

A Litany of options:

• 15-minute smart cities
• Central Bank Digital Currency
• Stakeholder Capitalism (who determines the stakeholders, is it fair to the shareholders?)
• DEI, CRT, and the legitimacy of the US Constitution and government
• Not-so-secret societies and their influence on business: Fabian, Bilderbergers, World Economic Forum, Club of Rome, Skull and Bones, Council on Foreign Relations, Rockefeller Foundation, Bohemian Grove…
• AI, Humanity 2.0, The internet of things
• Oligarchy and plutocracy
• Digital passports and vaccines (mRNA) mandates
• 5^th Generational warfare, social engineering, misinformation

Group V

Managing Wokism and Religion in the Workplace

1. Define wokism. (It began as a term of pride but later was used as a slur.)

2. Define Religion.

3. Is wokism a religion (or is it religious)? If it is, to what extent and in what ways?

4. Should wokism (or religion) be promoted or enforced in the workplace?

a. If so, in what ways? training seminars and quizzes, email messages and tracts, flags…?

b. Should employees be allowed to place a copy of the U.S. Constitution on their desk (since some authors were slaveholders)?

c. Should employees avowing traditional interpretations of a “Religion of the Book” (Jews, Christians, Muslims) be allowed to show religious artifacts (or continue employment), since they generally hold to conservative views on marriage, gender, sexuality, and nationalism? Should they be terminated if they don’t recant their religious views, on grounds of potentially being domestic terrorists and extremists?