On occasion, our campus communities are shaken by national tragedies such as Hurricane Katrina and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, or by local tragedies such as the murder of a faculty member or student. Because these are unusual circumstances, faculty arc often initially confused about how to respond, and later have little or no sense of how effective their actions have been (DiPietro, 2003). This chapter investigates the most common instructor responses following a tragedy and which of those responses students find most helpful. Implications for faculty and faculty developers arc discussed.
Whatis the best thingto do in theclassroom in theface ofa tragedy like the terrorist attacks ofSeptember 11, 200J? What should instructors do to help students, ifanything? This article describes the results ofafaculty survey at Carnegie Mellon University. Faculty reported whatactions they took in theclassroom tohelp their students (or theirrationalesfor notmentioning theattacks), and their degree ofconfidence on theeffectiveness oftheirbehaviors. Statistical techniques are used toassess thesignificance ofsome trends, and implicationsforfaculty developers are discussed in lightofcognitive, motivational, and developmental theories.
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