{"452801":{"#nid":"452801","#data":{"type":"news","title":"In the Classroom with Robert Kirkman","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EIn 2012, after teaching at Georgia Tech for 10 years, School of Public Policy Associate Professor \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.iac.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/kirkman\u0022\u003ERobert Kirkman\u003C\/a\u003E was starting to feel frustrated with what he saw as a lack of student engagement. \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003ESearching for answers, he attended a Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL) workshop on problem-based learning, which prompted a major overhaul of his teaching method. One year later, his excellence in teaching was recognized with a Hesburgh Award Teaching Fellowship and the Eichholtz Faculty Teaching Award.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cIt finally dawned on me that there was a mismatch between what I understood my students needed and how I was designing my courses,\u201d Kirkman said. \u201cOne of the vices of philosophy is a tendency to think of teaching it as preparing students to become philosophers. Even though I knew better \u2014 especially when I came to Georgia Tech and none of my students were philosophy majors \u2014 the way I used to design my courses was patterned after the classic lecture-discussion-essay, with heavy readings in theoretical philosophy. That wasn\u2019t really engaging students. Surprise, surprise!\u201d he joked.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EKirkman\u2019s lightbulb moment could not have come soon enough.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cI came out of that workshop simply buzzing,\u201d he said, \u201cI spent the entire summer of 2012 revising my courses from the ground up on the model of problem-based learning. I jumped in with both feet in the fall of 2012.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EKirkman\u2019s first semester teaching Ethical Theories (PHIL 3105) and Environmental Ethics (PHIL 4176) with the new approach was a hit. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cThere was an astonishing jump in student engagement in the course. Students actually showed up, many of them had read the books, and they were engaged in their groups,\u201d said Kirkman, who also is director of the Center for Ethics and Technology. \u201cThen I started hearing anecdotes about how the courses were changing the way the students would hear the news or experience their other classes. They also started to think differently about their experience during internships or in the labs.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EKirkman said he has not looked back except to see where he could tweak the new design, and he is developing a textbook on his approach to ethics, calling it \u003Cem\u003EA Field Guide to Basic Values\u003C\/em\u003E. He is also working on journal articles and conference presentations.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch6 class=\u0022p6\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EClassroom Strategies\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h6\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EKirkman said students entering his ethics classes are already in development as people capable of ethical responses to situations. His job is to help them develop further.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s not that I can promise to make them ethical people if they aren\u2019t that already,\u201d he said. \u201cI do think I can help them get from their current level to the next level, where they will have certain skills \u2014 to recognize values, process values, and analyze values in complex situations \u2014 they didn\u2019t have before.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EIn Kirkman\u2019s Engineering Ethics course (PHIL 3109), he has groups of students work on projects in which each group of students develops a problem situation focused on an engineer who must make a decision with ethical implications.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cThe students have enough experience to come up with very interesting problem situations, based on things they come across in other classes or during their internships or co-ops,\u201d Kirkman says.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EThe groups work through a structured process to investigate the background of the situation, develop options, and then consider each option in terms of basic ethical values.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cI don\u2019t have them write essays because essays tend to become just ways of reinforcing your opinions. Instead, they write \u2018considerations\u2019 of two options for responding to the situation. They do not draw a conclusion, but they trace out the positive and negative implications of each option,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EThe students go through the entire process twice during the course. There are numerous assignments during the semester, and Kirkman gives the early assignments less weight than the later ones \u2014 where they have more confidence.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch6 class=\u0022p6\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EReaching the Students\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h6\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EThis semester, Kirkman is teaching one section of Engineering Ethics (PHIL 3109) and one section of Environmental Ethics (PHIL 4176). Most of his students are from the College of Engineering because both courses are on the list of courses that fulfill the ethics course requirements for engineering majors.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cThe students often come in skeptical and slightly aggrieved because the class is a requirement. So, part of the hurdle is convincing them that this course will be \u003Cbr \/\u003E useful to them in their professional lives,\u201d Kirkman said, noting that he tries to convey to them that engineers work \u003Cem\u003Ewith\u003C\/em\u003E people and \u003Cem\u003Efor\u003C\/em\u003E people on systems that can have serious implications for other people \u2014 for good and for ill.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cI got my students\u2019 attention on the first day by having them work on a fictionalized version of a historic \u2018disaster case\u2019 involving the construction of a TV antenna. I used that case to drive home the point that when you\u2019re making decisions as an engineer, it\u2019s never just a mathematical puzzle; it\u2019s never just a technical solution to a technical problem. It is real,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch6 class=\u0022p6\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAdvice for New Faculty\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h6\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EKirkman first stepped into a classroom 24 years ago this fall as the instructor of record for a philosophy class at Stony Brook University in New York.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cI now joke that I\u2019ve been teaching for 24 years, and I think I finally may be getting it right,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003E\u201cMy advice to new faculty is to be very, very clear regarding the stated learning outcomes for the course,\u201d he said. \u201cIn the syllabus, you should have a section that states: \u2018By the end of the course, you should be able to X.\u2019 Think critically about that. It is important that the learning outcomes fit what the students are capable of achieving in a semester and that the design of the course matches the desired learning outcomes.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EHe also encourages new faculty \u2014 in the interest of bringing about those desired outcomes \u2014 to experiment by breaking out of the old modes of lecture.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p5\u0022\u003EFor him, it\u2019s all about keeping things fresh: \u201cWhat keeps me excited about teaching now is the process of designing the course \u2014 trying to make it better every semester so my students are more engaged,\u201d he said. \u201cBy the end of the semester, when students begin to be able to talk about basic values with some proficiency, that\u2019s encouraging to me. It keeps me going.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"From Burned Out to Fired Up: Inspiration Leads Kirkman to Course Overhaul"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EAfter teaching at Georgia Tech for 10 years, School of Public Policy Associate Professor\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.iac.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/kirkman\u0022\u003ERobert Kirkman\u003C\/a\u003E found his craft renewed when he tried problem-based learning.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"After teaching at Georgia Tech for 10 years, School of Public Policy Associate Professor Robert Kirkman found his craft renewed when he tried problem-based learning."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2015-09-28 10:51:09","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:40","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-09-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-09-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"452821":{"id":"452821","type":"image","title":"Robert Kirkman","body":null,"created":"1449256297","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:11:37","changed":"1475895194","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:14","alt":"Robert Kirkman","file":{"fid":"203391","name":"rk-001.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rk-001_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rk-001_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":575750,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rk-001_0.jpg?itok=Bwa9XQvC"}},"452831":{"id":"452831","type":"image","title":"Robert Kirkman - Engineering Ethics","body":null,"created":"1449256297","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:11:37","changed":"1475895197","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:17","alt":"Robert Kirkman - Engineering Ethics","file":{"fid":"203392","name":"rk-002.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rk-002_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rk-002_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1064980,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rk-002_0.jpg?itok=WjLOKdEZ"}},"452841":{"id":"452841","type":"image","title":"Robert Kirkman - Engineering Ethics","body":null,"created":"1449256297","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:11:37","changed":"1475895197","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:17","alt":"Robert Kirkman - Engineering Ethics","file":{"fid":"203393","name":"rk-003.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rk-003_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rk-003_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1051778,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rk-003_0.jpg?itok=uSW74iZG"}},"452851":{"id":"452851","type":"image","title":"Robert Kirkman - Engineering Ethics","body":null,"created":"1449256297","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:11:37","changed":"1475895197","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:17","alt":"Robert Kirkman - Engineering Ethics","file":{"fid":"203394","name":"rk-004.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rk-004_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rk-004_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":988651,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rk-004_0.jpg?itok=CxROOvHx"}}},"media_ids":["452821","452831","452841","452851"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.iac.gatech.edu\/people\/faculty\/kirkman","title":"Robert Kirkman"}],"groups":[{"id":"1289","name":"School of Public Policy"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1496","name":"Ethics"},{"id":"142911","name":"in the classroom"},{"id":"3918","name":"profile"},{"id":"9936","name":"Robert Kirkman"},{"id":"167078","name":"School of Public Policy"},{"id":"14302","name":"Teaching and Learning"},{"id":"4152","name":"whistle"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:victor.rogers@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EVictor Rogers\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}