WOG’s 2 Cents – Column by Brian D. King
In the late 1980s, I was teaching computer aided drafting and design (CADD), mechanical drawing, math, and physics for a trade college.
There was a group in their second semester that had a reputation of being unruly, argumentative, and over-all poor students. A few weeks before I was going to inherit this class, I hung out in the classroom doing some paperwork during their machine drawing lab. My intent was to simply listen and observe them. Their work was way below my expectations and they didn’t look happy. I learned that some of this class enrolled right out of high school, but most were in their mid-twenties and thirties.
On the first day of class, I had each one introduce the person next to them and the most important question I wanted answered was – what was their “why” in commitment of time, focus, and resources to complete this degree? Most had clear goals, some did not.
I also asked, “What have you been getting out of your time here so far?” This touched a sore spot.
The students were dismayed that the instructors they had up to this point had not met their expectations. They were learning just enough to get their assignments done but little more.
The next day I brought in a stack of architecture and machine drawings from a high school drawn in the late 1930s. The drawings were complicated and well executed, done with ink on starched linen. The students were rather quiet looking at these drawings. Also in the stack was lettering assignments, mostly passages from historical documents and scripture, all works of art.
“Okay, now you know what my expectations are,” I told the students.
The students started to push back, so I asked them how old they thought the draftsmen were.
None of their guesses were close.
I went through the stack again saying which were made by sophomores, juniors, and seniors in high school, ages 15-18. Working without electric lights or calculators. They were very quiet.
“Do you want to be remembered as the best class or the worst class?” I asked the students. “These drawings were done by those that are remembered as the greatest generation. These students went on to design planes, tanks, and bridges during World War II with just their high school education, many went on to build the aviation industry. I hope this is a turning point and you become the best class.”
I also brought out some of my own drawings from my undergraduate and graduate years and from my career. “I want you to emulate those that made these drawings. If they can do it, if I can do it, so can you.”
This could have backfired, but the students rallied. In fact, they decided to dress up on Fridays with sports coats, ties, and polished shoes. Instead of dressing down for casual Fridays, it became professional Fridays for this class. I made myself available during my office time to help them with drafting techniques. During their CADD time, I showed them how to be effective, not just get the drawing done. I encouraged them to start apprenticeships.
In two weeks, it felt more like an architectural firm than a trade school. The other instructors noticed the professional dress and wanted to know how I got them to do it. To which I replied, “It was their idea.” I had more fun with that class than any other in the few years I taught at that trade school.
Why?
Because I had high expectations for them, which is what they wanted. I taught the first, second, third, and last semesters at the college, but I took a position teaching programming and operation of HVAC logic controls, so I didn’t get to teach their last class. A few students stayed in touch and those acts say a lot. All I did was set high expectations and believed they could meet them – and they did.
