blog posts

• Four Student Misconceptions about Learning

  Mar 31, 2014 8:00 am

   Four Student Misconceptions about Learning. "Efficient and effective learning starts with a proper mindset," Stephen Chew  writes in "Helping Students to Get the Most Out of Studying." Chew continues, pointing out what most of us know firsthand, students harbor some fairly serious misconceptions that undermine their efforts to learn such as “learning is fast” and “I’m really good at multi-tasking.”  Click here to read the article.  

• Research on Student Note-taking: Implications for Faculty and Graduate Student Instructors

  Mar 31, 2014 8:00 am

  Research on Student Note-taking: Implications for Faculty and Graduate Student Instructors. Research on note-taking indicates that taking notes in class and reviewing those notes (either in class or afterward) have a positive impact on student learning.  Unfortunately, students’ notes are often inaccurate or incomplete.  What can faculty do to encourage and enable more successful note-taking.  Here is the article from the U. of Michigan teaching center. 

• Unlearning: A Critical Element in the Learning Process

  Mar 6, 2014 8:00 am

  Unlearning: A Critical Element in the Learning Process. Virginia Lee states that prior knowledge is arguably the single most important factor in learning. Unless we as instructors engage prior knowledge—the good, the bad, and the ugly, we risk sabotaging the new learning we work so hard to put in place and fighting the misunderstanding students continue to hold. Click here to read her article.

• Ways to Assess Students’ Prior Knowledge

  Mar 6, 2014 8:00 am

  Ways to Assess Students’ Prior Knowledge. In order to gauge how much students have learned, it is not enough to assess their knowledge and skills at the end of the course or program. We also need to find out what they know coming in, that is, their prior knowledge, so that we can identify more specifically the knowledge and skills they have gained during the course or program and also to identify those misconceptions that can interfere with their new learning. Here are several techniques suggested by the teaching center at Carnegie Mellon.

• Collaboration or Plagiarism? Explaining Collaborative-Based Assignments Clearly

  Feb 20, 2014 8:00 am

  Collaboration or Plagiarism? Explaining Collaborative-Based Assignments Clearly. Although there are many positive aspects of group work, there are negatives as well. One particular problem occurs when students are confused about faculty expectations involving the work product of teams. How much of the group project, if any, is individual-based vs. a group collaboration?  Here are some strategies to set expectations and clear guidelines.

   

• How to Create Memorable Lectures

  Feb 20, 2014 8:00 am

  How to Create Memorable Lectures. In general, students capture only 20–40 percent of a lecture’s main ideas in their notes and retain only 10% after three weeks if they do not review their notes.  All instructors hope that their lectures will be the memorable, but these numbers present a clear challenge.  Stanford’s teaching center provides some considerations on how students attend to, make sense of, and absorb new information. Click here to read the article.
  

• The Most Effective Teachers Vary Their Styles

  Feb 5, 2014 8:00 am

  The most effective teachers vary their styles depending on the nature of the subject matter, the phase of the course, and other factors. By so doing, they encourage and inspire students to do their best at all times throughout the semester. It is helpful to think of teaching styles according to the three Ds: Directing, Discussing, and Delegating.  To learn more, click here. 

• Basic Differences Between First-Generation and Non-First-Generation Students

  Feb 5, 2014 8:00 am

  Basic Differences Between First-Generation and Non-First-Generation Students. Our student population is becoming more diverse. One of the differences that we see is a growing population of first-generation college students.  These students in their first year must grapple with a variety of tough questions about themselves, their reasons for attending college, and the challenges of their new environment. Here is an article that describes some of their experiences. 

• Use of Laptops in the Classroom: Research and Best Practices

  Jan 23, 2014 8:00 am

  Use of Laptops: Research and Best Practices. Laptops and mobile devices are appearing in greater numbers in the classroom. Many faculty see this trend as an opportunity for more innovative teaching and increased student engagement. However, other faculty worry about potential distractions that can appear. Here are the results of a research study by the U. of Michigan teaching center on student perceptions of how laptops affect attentiveness, engagement, and learning, and ways faculty can effectively use laptops. 

• Rapport Matters in the Classroom

  Jan 22, 2014 8:00 am

  Rapport Matters in the Classroom. Many studies have found respect and consideration for students to be imperative in effective teaching. Students were more likely to understand the content of a lecture if the lecturer interacted with them in a way that encouraged involvement, commitment, and interest (Ramsden, 2003). This IDEA paper describes several strategies for you to implement and the underlying research for using these strategies. Click here to read this article.