blog posts

• Providing Timely and Frequent Feedback

  Oct 9, 2014 8:00 am2 views

  Providing Timely and Frequent Feedback. If students are to benefit from feedback, it must not only be timely and frequent, but also useful for improving performance by addressing three areas: what students did well, what students need to improve on, and how to make this improvement. Although giving detailed feedback is important, it may be even more important to give it in a timely manner. Click here to read about helpful types of feedback.

• An Innovative Learning Strategy for Exams: 2-Stage Exams and 2-Stage Reviews

  Oct 11, 2016 8:00 am2 views

  An Innovative Learning Strategy for Exams: 2-Stage Exams and 2-Stage Reviews. Students take an exam individually. Once they complete the exam they turn it in and get into a group with 3 other students. The students then take the identical test but this time they work together on the questions. There is one answer sheet for the group so they all have to come to agreement on each answer. Listening to their peers and arguing for their case helps them to understand the answer better, even if they had gotten the question correct on their individual test. This also works well for a review when students begin a new class and the instructor wants to review the prerequisite material.  Directions for this strategy for taking and review the exam are here.
  

• Learning through Student Teams

  Oct 17, 2012 8:00 am2 views

  Learning through Student Teams. One of the benefits of team assignments is the opportunity for students to teach other (peer learning). If carefully planned and monitored, team work results in improved skills in problem-solving, communication, and leadership skills. Click here to learn how to implement team work in your courses. You may also attend the CTE team workshop on October 31^st.

• Getting the Most from Student Peer Review

  Oct 20, 2011 8:00 am2 views

  Getting the Most from Student Peer Review. Peer review has the potential to give your students feedback from multiple points of view.To ensure that this feedback is high quality, consider using this form from the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning at Harvard. Click here for the form.

• Save the Last Word for Me: Encouraging Students to Engage with Complex Reading and Each Other

  Oct 25, 2015 8:00 am2 views

  Save the Last Word for Me: Encouraging Students to Engage with Complex Reading and Each Other. Online discussions are often implemented in college classes to allow students to express their understanding and perceptions about the assigned readings. This can be challenging when the reading is particularly complex, as students are typically reluctant to share their interpretations because they are not confident in their understanding. This can inhibit meaningful interactions with peers within an online discussion. Through a review of research, we found that more structured discussions tend to exhibit higher levels of shared cognition (deNoyelles, Zydney, & Chen, 2014).  Here is the article describing the strategies.

• Are You Telling Stories in the Classroom?

  Oct 25, 2018 6:00 pm2 views

  Are You Telling Stories in the Classroom? I’m not speaking of lying or delivering fake news; I’m talking about an actual story. I like to avoid phrases like “meaning-making,” but that’s what a story can do for students—it allows them to listen, learn, and remember. Consider this: A story communicates something, by definition, and can entertain, amuse, delight, divert, provoke, offend, disturb, disappoint, but in all, a story can instruct.There are five parts to a story: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution. This is all fine and good, but a story delivered in the classroom, whether one of these single parts or the sum thereof, can be the spark to help students remember and recall information in a new way, and enable them to grasp the material.  We get to consume, hear a tale unravel. We get to learn something. 

• Best Grading Practices to Support Student Learning

  Nov 1, 2012 8:00 am2 views

  Best Grading Practices to Support Student Learning.  Grades provide valuable information about our students' achievement and they are also very powerful in influencing what and how our students study. In this helpful article, several types of exams are described, along with guidelines in how to select the appropriate one. To learn more about effective grading practices, register for the Nov. 8th workshop.
  

• Transforming Learning by Flipping the Classroom

  Nov 1, 2012 8:00 am2 views

  Transforming Learning by Flipping the Classroom. Have you thought about "flipping" the traditional way of teaching so that students are first introduced to the content outside of class and then spend class time for discussions, collaborative problem-solving, and identifying areas of difficulty? This is not a new idea; however, it is one that has generated much attention, especially in the STEM disciplines. In this article from the Chronicle of Higher Education, Dan Berrett describes how lectures can be "flipped."  Also, learn more by coming to the CTE workshop on Nov. 14.

   

   

• Assigning Final Course Grades

  Dec 6, 2012 8:00 am2 views

  Assigning Final Course Grades.  Assigning final course grades is one of the most important responsibilities of an instructor. This grade should accurately represent the level of a student’s achievement.  Click here to learn CTE’s suggestions for sound policies and practices when determining course grades.

   

• Make the Most of the First Day of Class

  Jan 13, 2022 10:30 am3 views

  (from Carnegie Mellon University – Eberly Center). Make the Most of the First Day of Class (Loosely based on Lyons et al. 2003). The first day of class always creates some nervousness, even for seasoned instructors. It helps to have a mental checklist of objectives to accomplish so that you and your students come away with the impression that the course is off to a good start.

  The first class meeting should serve at least two basic purposes: 1) To clarify all reasonable questions students might have relative to the course objectives, as well as your expectations for their performance in class. As students leave the first meeting, they should believe in your competence to teach the course, be able to predict the nature of your instruction, and know what you will require of them and 2) To give you an understanding of who is taking your course and what their expectations are.  These two basic purposes expand into a set of eight concrete objectives.  

• Critical Connections for Successful Teaching and Learning

  Jan 17, 2013 8:00 am3 views

  Critical Connections for Successful Teaching and Learning. Kreizinger suggests keeping in mind three critical connections when preparing and delivering your lessons.  They are connections between 1) teacher and content, 2) teacher and students (and students and students), and 3) students and content.  Click here to learn more about these critical connections and how to implement them.

• The Most Effective Teachers Vary Their Styles

  Feb 5, 2014 8:00 am3 views

  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 am3 views

  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. 

• Five Ways to Improve Exam Review Sessions

  Mar 9, 2016 8:00 am3 views

  Five Ways to Improve Exam Review Sessions. Here are two frequently asked questions about exam review sessions: (1) Is it worth devoting class time to review, and (2) How do you get students, rather than the teacher, doing the reviewing? Instead of answering those questions directly, a more helpful response might be a set of activities that can make exam review sessions more effective.

• Using Whole Class Feedback When Returning an Assignment or Exam

  Mar 11, 2015 8:00 am3 views

  Using Whole Class Feedback When Returning an Assignment or Exam. Whole class feedback … you know, when the teacher returns a set of papers or exams and talks to the entire class about its performance, or the debriefing part of an activity where the teacher comments on how students completed the task. Is it a good way to provide feedback? Do students pay any attention to feedback delivered in this way? Weimer describes a future-focused discussion where students identify what to do to improve, and what to stop doing.
  

• Best Practices for Video Creation

  Mar 15, 2021 10:30 pm3 views

  (From UIUC Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning) Best Practices for Video Creation. Without a set shop, makeup department, or (even) camera operator, many key aesthetics that viewers have grown accustomed to may get overlooked when recording on your own. Following the best practices listed below will improve your students' lecture viewing experience. These tips also double as a checklist of non-technical elements that you can control to ensure minimum distraction away from your intended message/teaching. Additional information are Media Planning Guide (PDF), Illinois Media Space, and video editing tips. 

• End of Semester Evaluations

  May 14, 2019 2:00 pm3 views

  End of Semester Evaluations. Most universities use final course evaluations to solicit feedback from students. The results of these evaluations can be used to inform the next offering of the course, as well as—ideally in conjunction with many other forms of evidence of teaching effectiveness—the career trajectory of the instructor.  How do you interpret summative feedback and use it to improve your teaching? Here are four main challenges that teachers may face when interpreting end-of-course feedback from students

• Interpret Feedback and Interpreting Your Student Reports.

  Jun 6, 2022 11:30 am3 views

  (from Stanford University: Evaluation & Research, Student Affairs). Interpret Feedback and Interpreting Your Student Reports. (Note: This article may be of value as you have just received your end-of-semester ICES Online results).  As you read through your reports, bear in mind that Stanford’s student course feedback forms are designed to direct students’ attention towards their own learning. The responses should reflect how much and how well students learned in your course. The teaching feedback form, however, directs attention to individual section instructors.

  Look for patterns: are the distributions consistent and in the ranges you expect? Are there unusual clusters, such as a “spike,” or a very high and very low grouping? A single mean score can be a few decimal points higher or lower simply due to the random sample of students in a particular course from term to term. An increase or decrease of a few decimal points should not necessarily be interpreted as a significant change. For more information, read our discussion paper on the reliability of evaluation statistics (PDF). Finally, it is common to concentrate on outliers or unique responses, but it is more useful to look for patterns and trends than speculate about an isolated score. Let’s begin with general questions. 

• 101 Things to Do in the First Three Weeks of Class

  Aug 28, 2014 8:00 am3 views

  101 Things to Do in the First Three Weeks of Class. Want a successful start to the semester? How about setting expectations, learning students’ prior knowledge, motivating and engaging your students? Here are several strategies to implement right away. 

• Learning Students' Names

  Sep 5, 2012 8:00 am3 views

  Learning Students' Names. Research indicates that knowing students' names makes for a better semester for you and your students.  Here are several strategies on how to remember their names and learn more about them.  Click here to read them.
  

• Save the Last Word for Me: Encouraging Students to Engage with Complex Reading and Each Other

  Sep 14, 2016 8:00 am3 views

  Save the Last Word for Me: Encouraging Students to Engage with Complex Reading and Each Other.  Online discussions are often implemented in college classes to allow students to express their understanding and perceptions about the assigned readings. This can be challenging when the reading is particularly complex, as students are typically reluctant to share their interpretations because they are not confident in their understanding. This can inhibit meaningful interactions with peers within an online discussion.  Through a review of research, we found that more structured discussions tend to exhibit higher levels of shared cognition (deNoyelles, Zydney, & Chen, 2014).

• If At First you Don’t Fail, Try, Try Again

  Sep 28, 2022 1:45 pm3 views

  (from The Scholarly Teacher). If At First you Don’t Fail, Try, Try Again. Video game players understand that failure is both informative and a fundamental part of learning. As a means to master skills in a video game, it is common practice for a novice player to take high-risk actions to discover how the game works. Exploring options and consequences is one way to learn about the complexities of a game as a strategy to advance within the game. Newbies may run an avatar off a cliff, jump to a high point, run into a dark cave, or intentionally engage in behavior that knowingly would result in an undesired outcome, in the short run. The gamer understands the risk of failure is high but yields valuable information that will contribute to future success, as the game advances. I have heard it often: "students need to learn that failure is an important part of education." I am not sure it is the students who need to learn this. No, students know that failure is an essential part of learning. Instead, I argue that to expand education, it is we, as faculty, need to make the learning environment safe for student failure. 

• Understanding Student Writing – Where is the Main Idea?

  Oct 10, 2013 8:00 am3 views

  Understanding Student Writing – Where is the Main Idea? Imagine that you’re grading a stack of student papers and, somewhere mid-stack, find yourself stopped, stuck, as you try to figure out a student’s idea. You’re pretty sure the student has one, maybe even a good one, but the writing is muddled and you don’t know how to begin. Recognizing the “expert (instructor)-novice (student) distinction” can provide some insights on how to help your students. Click here to learn more.

• Too Many Papers to Grade? Two Solutions

  Oct 10, 2013 8:00 am3 views

  Too Many Papers to Grade? Two Solutions. Many of us have writing assignments as part of the course grade. Writing well takes practice and many drafts, which we strongly encourage or even require.  We know that more drafts from our students means more grading for us. An article from Faculty Focus offers two solutions to reduce the amount of grading while encouraging our students to put their best efforts in their drafts.

• A Simple Invitation - Please See Me.

  Oct 11, 2016 8:00 am3 views

  A Simple Invitation - Please See Me.  It all began with a simple message that I wrote on the tests or assignments of students who were struggling: “Please see me so we can discuss your performance on the test (or assignment). Let’s see what we can do to improve your grade.” Although initially I was not collecting data on the effectiveness of my “invitation,” I soon realized that most of students—about 80 percent—responded to it. Notably, those who met with me began to do better on future tests; their assignments improved as well.
  

• Using Grace and Accountability to Uphold Course Expectations

  Oct 25, 2018 6:00 pm3 views

  Using Grace and Accountability to Uphold Course Expectations. Hello. My car caught on fire last night after leaving homecoming game. I carry my laptop everywhere I go. I’m in the process of strapping to get another one. I’m just glad I got out cause the driver door was messed up.  Carmichael and Krueger (as cited in Weimer, 2017) report the challenges of verifying student claims for why an assignment can’t be completed on time. But how is an instructor expected to respond when she receives emails like the one above and how can you minimize student excuses in the future?

• Exam Wrapper

  Nov 9, 2016 8:00 am3 views

  Exam Wrapper. Here’s a strategy that helps students look at more than the grade when an exam is returned. An exam wrapper (I like the name) is a handout attached to the exam that students complete as part of the exam debrief process. The wrapper directs students “to review and analyze their performance (and the instructor’s feedback) with an eye toward adapting their future learning.” (Ambrose et al, 2010, p. 251). Here is a more detailed description of the exam wrapper strategy.
  

• Managing the End of the Semester: How to Avoid Hitting the Panic Button

  Nov 30, 2018 2:00 pm3 views

  Managing the End of the Semester: How to Avoid Hitting the Panic Button. Do you ever feel like your back is up against the wall at the end of the semester? You haven’t got all the material you intended to cover covered. Your course syllabus spells out X amount but you’re not quite there yet. It’s a race against time. There are only a few class periods left. You start jamming like there’s no tomorrow. Your main objective: cover the remaining content. Rather than trying to cover that last bit of content, refocus those last few days on providing review sessions. Get with your students and go over that which you have covered, where you’ve taken them, and how far they’ve come.

• Don't Be Alone during Office Hours

  Jan 3, 2018 3:30 pm4 views

  As part of a series on creating conditions for student success, there was a student panel addressing a group of faculty about their experiences thus far at Berkeley. The students talked about their favorite classes, what made them so valuable, and what their professors had done to engage them so effectively in learning. When one faculty member brought up the topic of office hours, the students became relatively silent. When asked how many on the panel had gone to office hours, none raised their hand. It was surprising in some ways to hear about so many transformative experiences that all centered around student-faculty interaction, yet an opportunity like office hours was not being capitalized upon. Why not? Heading into a new semester is a good time to give some consideration to how you can increase the use and effectiveness of your office hours - for your students, and for you. 

• Students and instructors have different expectations about classroom etiquette

  Jan 3, 2018 3:30 pm4 views

  While some behaviors would be considered rude and offensive in any context, others are a matter of individual interpretation. For example, some instructors are bothered if students wear hats, eat in class, slouch, etc. while others are not. Moreover, what is considered appropriate (or rude) classroom behavior can vary strikingly from one culture to another. For example, members of one culture might be comfortable addressing professors by first name, while members of another find this disrespectful. Finally, standards of courtesy vary from discipline to discipline and department to department. To complicate matters further, even in the context of a single class the boundary between appropriate and inappropriate behavior can be subtle and difficult to navigate. Here are some strategies in navigating diverse expectations.

• Make the Most of the First Day of Class

  Jan 12, 2017 8:00 am4 views

  Make the Most of the First Day of Class.  The first day of class always creates some nervousness, even for seasoned instructors. It helps to have a mental checklist of objectives to accomplish so that you and your students come away with the impression that the course is off to a good start. The first class meeting should serve at least two basic purposes: a) to clarify all reasonable questions students might have relative to the course objectives, as well as your expectations for their performance in class. As students leave the first meeting, they should believe in your competence to teach the course, be able to predict the nature of your instruction, and know what you will require of them and b) to give you an understanding of who is taking your course and what their expectations are. These two basic purposes expand into a set of eight concrete objectives that will maximize opportunities in your first day.

• Creating Rapport from the Beginning

  Jan 17, 2013 8:00 am4 views

  Creating Rapport from the Beginning: The first several days of the semester are critical in setting the tone for the class and creating a positive rapport between you and your students.  In addition, creating rapport will help in establishing trust and community-building. Here are several helpful strategies to get you started.

• 10 Assessment Design Tips for Increasing Online Student Retention, Satisfaction and Learning

  Feb 7, 2016 8:00 am4 views

  10 Assessment Design Tips for Increasing Online Student Retention, Satisfaction and Learning - How much time do we put into the design of the assessment plans in our online courses? Is most of that time focused upon summative graded assignments that factor into the course grade? Or, do they also include opportunity for practice and informal feedback? I confess that I have an increasingly difficult time with online courses that limit assessment plans to a few papers, projects, quizzes, and tests. In an age of educational innovation and online learning, perhaps it is time to further explore enhancements to traditional notions of grading. Click here to read the suggested strategies. 

• Reading Circles Get Students to Do the Reading

  Feb 12, 2015 8:00 am4 views

  Reading Circles Get Students to Do the Reading. Eric Hobson reports that on any given day and for any given assignment, 20 to 30 percent of the students have done the reading. When students don’t do the reading, they hear about the text, but they do not actually experience it or do anything that develops their reading skills. When students are placed in reading circles, with a rubric and assigned roles, they improve their reading skills, their self-confidence, and ability to express their ideas.

• Take a Vote

  Mar 6, 2009 8:00 am4 views

  Take a Vote. Make a statement based on the lecture content and ask students for a show of hands if they agree, disagree, or don't know A discussion of why may follow.

• Student Motivation to Learn

  Mar 6, 2013 8:00 am4 views

  Student Motivation to Learn. Have you ever said, “My students just aren’t motivated”?   Here is a model that defines extrinsic and intrinsic motivation and provides research-based strategies to motivate students to learn. Click here to learn more. 

• Improving Your Test Question

  Mar 10, 2022 8:15 am4 views

  (from University of Illinois Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning). Improving Your Test Questions. Constructing exams is one of our most difficult responsibilities as reported by faculty. And it is at the same time one of our most important responsibilities. Some of the considerations when writing test items are: whether to use subjective vs. objective items, what types of objective and subjective items to use, and how to write effective, valid items. Visit CITL’s resources here to learn more about constructing test questions and to see sample test items. 

• Four Student Misconceptions about Learning

  Mar 31, 2014 8:00 am4 views

   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.  

• Preparing the Final Exam

  Apr 10, 2014 8:00 am4 views

  Preparing the Final Exam. As the semester is coming close to an end, now is a good time for instructors to start thinking about the final exams. A common complaint is that the finals do not always test the kinds of knowledge that was asked for in the homework or quizzes or presented in exams. Whether this perception is accurate or not, it’s still an excellent starting point in preparing your exam.  Here are some helpful strategies offered by the teaching center at Berkeley University. 

• Conquering ‘Forty Percent of the Grade’: Interactive Strategies for Helping Students Prepare for Comprehensive Final Exams.

  Apr 24, 2018 3:15 pm4 views

  “But it’s 40% of the grade!” First-year Political Science students commonly raise this concern about the comprehensive final exam often given at the end of introductory survey courses. Many are simply unsure about how to study for cumulative exams. Further, commonly recommended approaches (such as reading carefully and taking notes) tend to preference visual learners. Students who learn best by talking through their ideas and actively participating are often at a disadvantage and struggle with identifying strategies that work for them. Preparation often becomes an anxiety-provoking, last-minute cram session filled with more stress and caffeine than actual learning. Here are four strategies to help students of all learning styles identify key concepts, relate them to one another, and develop critical essay arguments during the course of the final exam.

• Final Exams.

  Apr 24, 2018 8:00 am4 views

  A common complaint from students is that final exams do not always test the kinds of knowledge that is asked for in homework or quizzes or presented in lectures. Whether this perception is accurate or not, it's still an excellent starting point for talking about what you are testing when you give a final exam. The worst final exams can seem unfocused, determined to test everything, or random things. The best final exams are learning moments. If you presented a set of learning goals and objectives to your students on your syllabus, you're way ahead of the game, because that means you've thought through what is important to you for a particular class. The very simplest procedure then is to develop an exam that will demonstrate whether students have achieved these objectives.  

• Assigning Final Course Grades

  May 2, 2022 5:30 pm4 views

  (from UIUC Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning – CITL) Assigning Final Course Grades. The end-of-course grades assigned by instructors are intended to convey the level of achievement of each student in the class. These grades are used by students, other faculty, university administrators, and prospective employers to make a multitude of different decisions. Unless instructors use generally-accepted policies and practices in assigning grades, these grades are apt to convey misinformation and lead the decision-maker astray. When grading policies are practices are carefully formulated and reviewed periodically, they can serve well the many purposes for which they are used. 

• What Faculty Can Do to Support Student Notetaking Skills

  Jun 12, 2014 8:00 am4 views

  What Faculty Can Do to Support Student Notetaking Skills. It is problematic when students take incomplete and/or inadequate notes, especially when the content is on essential, often complex material.  There are a number of strategies that the instructor can do during the lecture to enhance students’ notetaking.  Here are some of them from the U. of Michigan Center for Research on Learning and Teaching.  

• Advice for the First Day of Class: Today We Will ...

  Aug 17, 2022 10:45 am4 views

  (From Faculty Focus).  Advice for the First Day of Class: Today We Will. The first day of class is critical. What happens on the first day, even in the first moments, sets the tone for the entire course. The impression you make will last the entire semester, and today’s students are not shy about sharing their opinions. Most students will make up their minds about the course and the instructor during that first class period. That is why you must use the first day, the first moments of class, to inspire confidence in your abilities and create a classroom atmosphere where the rules are clear; expectations are high; and yet students feel welcome, comfortable, and engaged. 

• Could Your Assignments Use a Tune-Up?

  Sep 3, 2018 4:45 pm4 views

  Could Your Assignments Use a Tune-Up?  How do students think about assignments? A lot never get past the idea that they’re basically unpleasant things faculty make them do. What does interest a lot of students is finding out what the teacher wants in the assignment, not so much what the assignments asks but more seeking insight as to what the teacher “likes.” Discover that and there’s a better chance of a good grade, or so the thinking goes. Unfortunately, very few students look at an assignment and think, now there’s an interesting learning opportunity. And how do faculty think about assignments? With multiple courses and lots of other work besides, with each new assignment developed there’s a tendency to first consider the amount of grading that will come with it. Assignments are what students ride on their way to learning. Our responsibility is to provide good vehicle maintenance and recognition when it’s time for a trade-in. 

• Promoting Deep Learning through Clickers

  Sep 25, 2013 8:00 am4 views

  Promoting Deep Learning through Clickers. Maximize discussions and promote deep learning in your classes by carefully crafting your clicker questions. These questions can identify common student misconceptions, challenge students to select the one best answer, and provide an opportunity for peer assessment. Click here to learn about these different types of clicker questions.  

• Teaching with Blogs

  Oct 5, 2021 3:00 pm4 views

  From Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching). Teaching with Blogs. Although people often think of social media as a space for non-academic interactions, blogs can be helpful tools for instructors interested in enhancing their students’ communication skills and increasing their students’ investment in learning.

  Blogs can be spaces for informal or formal writing by students, and the capacity of blogs to support multiple forms of media (images, videos, links, and so on) can help students bring creativity to their communication. When writing for blogs, students can experiment and interact digitally in a relaxed and low-risk environment. Blogs can be an excellent balance between the rigor and structure of a formal written assignment and the freedom to experiment with ideas and arguments. Learn more here. 

• Exploring the Advantages of Rubrics

  Oct 12, 2015 8:00 am4 views

  Exploring the Advantages of Rubrics. "I don’t understand what you want on this assignment.” It’s a comment teachers don’t like to hear from students, and rubrics, checklists, or the grading criteria offer constructive ways to respond. They identify those parts of an assignment or performance that matter, that if included and done well garner good grades and learning. If teachers don’t identify them, then students must figure out for themselves what the assignment needs in order to be considered good. Here is an article that describes the value of using a rubric for more effective student achievement.
  

• Using Reflective Writing to Get Students Connected with the Material

  Oct 12, 2022 9:30 am4 views

   

  (from Faculty Focus). Using Reflective Writing to Get Students Connected with the Material. When I was a sophomore in college, I took my first course in cognitive psychology and fell in love. I was so excited that we could apply the scientific process to understand how humans perform everyday tasks like learning, problem solving, language, and memory. When I walked into my first cognitive psychology classroom as an instructor, I was so excited to share this with students; however, I was shocked to learn that what was so obviously exciting and relevant to me was not so obvious to everyone else. Students were often frustrated by the apparent lack of relevance of the course material to their lives. One student once asked me with great exasperation, “Why do I have to understand research? I want to help people!”

  Not being able to find course material relevant is not only frustrating for students, but it can also impact their learning. Psychologists have long understood that being able to connect new information to previous knowledge or experiences is critical to understanding and remembering that material (e.g., Chi and Wylie, 2014). Furthermore, inclusive or engaged pedagogies argue that finding relevance in the course material is key to making all students, no matter their background, feel welcomed in the classroom (e.g., Fry, Ketteridge, and Marshall, 2008). The challenge, of course, is finding ways for students to bring in their relevant experience without undermining learning outcomes. 

• An Inclusive Learning Environment

  Oct 17, 2012 8:00 am4 views

  An Inclusive Learning Environment.  Our student population has become more diverse; e.g., we have seen an increased international population, students from different backgrounds and achievement and with special needs.What are some teaching strategies and issues we should consider to provide a learning environment where all of our students can experience success?  Click here to see suggestions and strategies.  Also, CTE has two workshops that may be of interest to you on this topic:  October 22 and October 30.