His Book Review: College Fear Factor by Rebecca Cox (2011)

Why he read it: recommended by colleague

Would he recommend it: Yes, particularly for instructors at a 2-year college

His review: After talking with a colleague about how her campus used this book as a shared campus read, I was intrigued, particularly when she noted that it was based on research in 2-year colleges. As most composition scholarship (outside of Teaching English in the Two-Year College) is focused on university students and their writing classroom experiences—which is then projected onto 2-year colleges—I was curious to read scholarship that projects the 2-year writing experience onto the university level.

The main premise that Cox found in her qualitative studies is that students bring to the college class a fear that hinders their ability to succeed. They fear the instructor because of the instructor’s perceived expertise. They fear they can’t succeed and that the instructor’s expertise will expose the student’s inabilities, a fear that is reinforced by their presence in a 2-year college classroom (they presume that if they were better students they’d be at a more prestigious university). They don’t talk to the instructor, find reasons to not engage, and struggle to even remain in class. She argues that the students need to feel connected and encouraged to engage in the class to overcome these fears. They need to believe they can succeed.

However, Cox also found that students see attempts by the instructor to de-center the classroom (shifting learning away from instructor lecture to student participation) as failing to provide students what they paid for, which is to be taught by an expert. Instructors are pinned by this dilemma—be encouraging enough to make students feel they can succeed, but don’t give away their intellectual authority. Cox presents a case study of two instructors that students reported found this balance, but her description doesn’t specifically identify what they do that works better than the two instructors she describes in a previous chapter that aren’t succeeding. In fact, the techniques and approaches of the instructors in each chapter seem very similar.

While I wish Cox had done more in explaining why some instructors, in her study, had better student feedback that others, I’m not sure there is a clear answer to this question. Replacing their ‘fear’ perception with a ‘success’ perception comes from creating a teaching environment where the expert guidance the teacher provides along the way enables students to believe they can take responsibility to meet the meet the challenges of the course.

I have been pondering Cox’s argument for weeks, particularly as the semester starts and I have another group of freshman students in my composition courses. Do I unconsciously reinforce their perceptions of their inadequacies? Do I effectively balance student-led activities with lectures? Creating this environment is a continuous task, as each classroom is different. Finding the right balance, student by student, is the challenge. But this is the challenge a good teacher looks forward to each term. I do.