Communicating to students can be downright painful for teachers. In an effort to give teachers more tools to communicate, five of Eastern’s instructors were invited to the Miami University Lilly Conference shortly after Thanksgiving break.

After three weeks into the new semester, the faculty members were prepared to present their findings in a panel discussion Wednesday afternoon in the Arcola-Tuscola room of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

The panel was comprised of four professors on Eastern’s campus: Hank Davis, business professor; Christopher Mitchell, theatre arts professor; Gene Deerman, sociology professor; and Jean Dilworth, family and consumer sciences professor.

Davis said while the technology introduced to him at the conference scared him, he came to realize that, “the kids today are different than me. I need to listen to them a lot more about what works.”

Each instructor presented their favorite portions of the conference, which ranged from emerging technologies in the classroom to new strategies in combating student apathy.

Mitchell said he enjoyed the suggestions provided by the conference speaker in one particular “marathon” session. The speaker suggested new ways of peaking student interest by tossing in surprise quizzes and faux Letterman-style “Top 10” lists.

The key, Mitchell said, is to combat the straight lecture format that so many teachers rely on.

Over the course of an average 50-minute lecture, the average student “tunes out” at about the 27-minute mark, he said. Using surprise techniques will keep the students interested, and possibly raise test scores.

Davis said some of the courses offered at the conference would be more beneficial to junior faculty members, namely one titled, ‘What to do with problem students.’

“If I haven’t gotten that by now, I don’t think it’s going to help,” he said jokingly.

Dilworth said because of the conference, she realized the problems teachers face, such as apathetic students and low interaction with students in general. She found those problems to be common across the nation – not just exclusive to Eastern.

In an effort to inform other faculty in the departments, each of the instructors had taken steps to copy and redistribute literature from the conference.

While the faculty panel members agreed unanimously that they enjoyed the experience, and that it was beneficial, Dilworth felt that further steps should be taken.

He said, in the future, larger groups of faculty should be given the opportunity to attend.

Mitch Surprenant can be reached at 581-7942 or msurprenant@eiu.edu.