"Cheetah Bars in the Classroom"
by Trish Boyles, Ph.D. Student, VA TECH
Ask a few professors about holding the interest
of a class of forty college students and
they’ll
tell you what a challenge it can be. Ask
Dr. Chris Neck how he consistently holds
the attention of over 1000 college students for
three straight hours in his weekly “Management
Theory and Leadership Practice” class,
and his response will likely include the
words “positive,” “energy” and “Cheetah
bars.”
Dr. Neck is an Associate Professor of Management
at Virginia Tech, has written several
books on topics such as productivity and
self-leadership, and is the seven-time
winner of the “Students
Choice Teacher of the Year Award.” His ‘Management
Theory and Leadership Practice’ class is designed to give students a
basic understanding of contemporary management knowledge. Perhaps more importantly
however, Dr. Neck also aims to empower students to achieve their ultimate potential
through the class. Movie clips, guest appearances by local musicians, and Cheetah
bars are among the many innovative motivational tools he uses to keep students
involved, learning and inspired. What’s more, Dr Neck’s enthusiasm
and unique teaching techniques do more than just keep students’ attention,
they get students listening and thinking. When students are able to demonstrate
their grasp of the material and add to class discussion through an insightful
comment or by taking a risk and asking a challenging question, they are rewarded
with a Cheetah bar. For example, in a recent lecture about organizational culture,
Dr. Neck showed a brief clip from the movie Sister Act to demonstrate elements
of organizational culture. Students responded to the clip by noting the dress
of the nuns and the routines of the convent as indicators of the organizational
culture. But one student recognized the implied hierarchy in the organization
through the subtle actions of the nuns as well as their seating arrangements
in the clip. This insight earned her one of the five Cheetah bars handed out
that night.
One of the most powerful indicators of what
this adds to the class is found in the words
of the students themselves:
“I know for me, the way he teaches the class makes me retain the information
much better. The incentive of the Cheetah Bar gets kids to participate when they
may not otherwise. I have never had another teacher hand out incentives in class,
but it works. Students feel more inclined to ask questions and participate in
class when they could possibly get a reward for sharing their thoughts in a class
of 1,000 kids.” - Ted Winters
“Neck's classes have been awesome. He
keeps the energy up and everyone interested.
I figured in a class of over 1000 students that
I would not even show up because it would be
so cut and dry, but I have been wrong. His idea
of handing out those Cheetah Bars keeps everyone's
attention span in check!” - Ben Axeman
Cheetah bars have become a part of the culture
of the classroom environment and something
that Dr. Neck sees as representative of the goals
he is trying to achieve with the class,
he notes “I
wanted to give something that fits the
nature of the class. I like energy and enthusiasm.
Boom. Cheetah Bar, energy. It fits.” Overall,
Cheetah bars are a small, but important
aspect of the class that add to and fit with
the “out
of the box” thinking Dr. Neck demonstrates
and promotes in his lectures.
Dr. Neck’s
success with getting students involved and helping
them not only learn the course material, but
become inspired and motivated to follow their
passions and develop their full potential is
due in large part to his incorporation of innovative
tools to connect with the students. One thing
that’s for sure - out of the
many tools Dr. Neck incorporates to keep
students involved and actively learning, Cheetah
bars are the ones that taste the best, hands
down.
«BACK TO NEWS
|
