blog posts

• Assigning Course Grades

  May 7, 2015 8:00 am2 views

  Assigning Course Grades. We come to that time of the semester when we must do the difficult task of assigning the final course grades. What do we do with “borderline” grades? Should effort be considered? What about bonus points? Here are some strategies to consider when determining the final grade.

• How to Teach What You Don't Actually Know

  Jun 7, 2011 8:00 am2 views

  How to Teach What You Don't Actually Know.  Are you preparing to teach a course that's outside your area of expertise? Therese Huston, plenary speaker at last year's Annual Faculty Retreat, can help you face next semester with confidence.  Read the Chronicle article here.

• Creating a Syllabus: The Basics

  Aug 7, 2013 8:00 am2 views

  Creating a Syllabus: The Basics. The syllabus is a document that shares with the students what they will be doing and learning, what the goals are, how they are assessed, and an insight into your teaching philosophy. Syllabi differ across individuals, courses, and disciplines; however, there are certain components that all syllabi should contain. Click here for a tutorial on creating a syllabus from the U. of Minnesota teaching center.

• Don’t Waste the First Day

  Aug 12, 2015 8:00 am2 views

  Don’t waste the first day. Do you go over the syllabus page by page on the first day? Take advantage of the first day by hooking students into course content before distributing the syllabus. Do a background probe activity, get to know them and walk from one student to another, make your teaching style transparent. This article describes additional strategies to maximize that first day as a valuable learning experience.  

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

  Aug 28, 2013 8:00 am2 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. 

• What Successful New Teachers Do

  Aug 30, 2009 8:00 am2 views

  What Successful New Teachers Do. Robert Boice describes “quick starters” as those new faculty members who are effective, efficient, and satisfied in their teaching.   They also receive high ratings from their students and colleagues.  They connect with their students, understand the best ways to enhance learning, and can locate and maximize available resources.  To learn from these “quick starters,” please click here.

• Does It Matter How Students Feel about a Course?

  Sep 13, 2017 4:00 pm2 views

  A line of research (done mostly in Australia and Great Britain) has been exploring what prompts students to opt for deep or surface approaches to learning. So far this research has established strong links between the approaches taken to teaching and those taken to learning. If teachers are focused on covering large amounts of content and do so with few attempts to involve and engage students, students tend to learn the material by memorizing it, often without much understanding of it. The 18-item instrument these researchers developed contains three subscales: one with questions associated with positive emotions such as pride, hope, and confidence, and two that measure negative emotions, one associated with frustration, anger, and boredom and the second with anxiety and shame. All three of these analyses “show significant relations between students’ emotional experience, their approaches to learning and their learning outcomes.” (p. 816). The more pragmatic question involves what teachers can do to help student have positive emotional experiences in the course.

• Strategies to Assess Student Learning

  Sep 19, 2012 8:00 am2 views

  Strategies to Assess Student Learning.  Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) are quick, easy to implement strategies that provide valuable information about how well your students understand the content.  They can be used on a daily basis to provide valuable feedback for both you and your students. Why wait until the first exam to see how your students are doing.  Click here to learn more or register for our Oct. 5th CTE workshop.

• Improving Your Test Questions

  Sep 26, 2017 9:45 am2 views

  An effective test can accurately measure what students know but also the kind of knowledge and the depth of that knowledge.  It can also provide you with key information regarding alignment of the learning objectives stated at the beginning of the course with what is being assessed in your exam. Implementing key testing principles and making good decisions regarding exam types, test items, and grading are ways to ensure that student learning is accurately measured. Here are some tips from our Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning. You can also register for our CITL workshop on Oct. 4th (Improving Our Testing and Grading of Student Achievement) to learn more.

• Caring about Students Matter

  Sep 27, 2016 8:00 am2 views

  Caring about Students Matter. Good teachers care about their students. We all know that, but sometimes over the course of a long semester, it’s easy to forget just how important it is to show our students we care about them. But it isn’t always easy to care about students. We may care theoretically, even actually, but when we’re tired, stressed by all that our academic positions require, and pulled by what’s happening at home, showing that you care isn’t all that easy. And then there are those students who themselves so clearly don’t care—about us, our course, their major, or their learning. This article explains why caring is important and how to convey that concern.

• 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.

   

• Course Objectives, Student Assessment, and Course Evaluation

  Jan 12, 2012 8:00 am1 views

  Course Objectives, Student Assessment, and Course Evaluation.  Your course objectives should guide you in your syllabus construction and course planning.This article, from the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning at Brown University, will help you connect the course goals in your syllabus more closely to assessment of student learning and course evaluations. Click here to learn more.

   

• Strategies for a Successful Start of the Semester

  Jan 12, 2012 8:00 am1 views

  Strategies for a Successful First Start of the Semester. Prepare yourself and your students for a successful semester. Here are 101 strategies for introducing course content, setting expectations, and gathering important background information about your students.  Click here for the list.

   

• Rapport Matters in the Classroom

  Jan 22, 2014 8:00 am1 views

  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.

• You Got Students Talking about Their Experiences, Now What?

  Jan 28, 2015 8:00 am1 views

  You Got Students Talking about Their Experiences, Now What? "Get students talking about their experiences!" - a recommendation shared at a Teaching Professor Technology Conference. Students learn new material by connecting it to what they already know. If a teacher gets a sense of that knowledge base (which often grows out of and rests on experience) it's a lot easier to make good connections between what students know and what they need to learn. You may be surprised by what they believe and think they know.

• Teaching through Undergraduate Research

  Jan 29, 2013 8:00 am1 views

  Teaching through Undergraduate Research. An important goal when teaching undergraduates is to show them what it is like to be a professional in your field of study. So consider implementing undergraduate research (UGR) opportunities into your course. In addition, teaching and learning can be significantly enhanced when we engage our students in collaborative research and scholarship. Click here for an introduction to UGR. And here are some ways in which to incorporate research opportunities in your course.

   

• The Importance of Early Feedback about Teaching

  Feb 8, 2012 8:00 am1 views

  The Importance of Early Feedback about Your Teaching.  Now is the time of the semester to collect informal early feedback (IEF) about your teaching and your students' learning. To learn more about this important strategy and see sample forms, click here.  Also, CTE will be offering an IEF workshop on Feb. 21st. Register here.

• Promoting Student Motivation

  Feb 22, 2012 8:00 am1 views

  Promoting Student Motivation.  According to an article from the Tomorrow's Professor mailing list, the best way to motivate and engage students is to show them the relevance and significant of the material.  This article will show how to use case studies, guest speakers, and other strategies to  promote intrinsic motivation.

   

• Teaching Time Management Strategies

  Mar 3, 2011 8:00 am1 views

  Teaching Time Management Strategies. At this point in the semester, your students may begin to feel overwhelmed by the demands of their classes.  Set them up for success in your class by developing their time management abilities. Here are ideas for you to consider.

• The Importance of Early Feedback

  Mar 3, 2011 8:00 am1 views

  The Importance of Early Feedback.  Student feedback needn't be collected only through ICES.  If you haven't collected feedback about how your class is doing, then read this article to understand how feedback is a valuable part of any semester, and the particular importance of early feedback. Click here to learn more about early feedback and directions and sample forms.

• Four Key Questions about Grading

  Mar 11, 2015 7:00 am1 views

  Four Key Questions about Grading. There's an excellent article on grading in a recent issue of Cell Biology Education-Life Sciences Education. It offers a brief history of grading (it hasn’t been around for all that long), and then looks to the literature for answers to key questions. Does your grading system motivate your students? Does it help them to improve their learning? And… what kind of learning is being measured? Here are some thoughts to consider.

• Flipping Your Lectures

  Mar 21, 2012 8:00 am1 views

   

  Flipping Your Lectures. 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." 

   

   

• Now More Than Ever: Why Collaborative Grading Works, Even Online

  Apr 5, 2022 5:00 pm1 views

  (from Faculty Focus). Now More Than Ever: Why Collaborative Grading Works, Even Online.  Over the previous decade, researchers have made the case that engaging students in metacognition improves learning outcomes for students across fields (Zhao et al, 2014; Yeager & Dweck, 2012; Anderson, 2002). We believe one of the best ways to engage students in metacognition and self-assessment is to involve them directly in the grading process. We outline two strategies for doing so: class-generated rubrics and collaborative grading sessions. We also offer helpful guidance on using technology to enhance each, and offer tips on how students (as well as faculty) can learn how to fully engage in the learning process online.

   

• Five Ways to Improve Exam Review Sessions

  Apr 13, 2016 8:00 am1 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.

• Back to Basics: PowerPoint Skills

  Apr 15, 2011 8:00 am1 views

  Back to Basics: PowerPoint Skills. Creating presentations with PowerPoint is easy; creating effective instruction with PowerPoint is not.  This page from the University of Vermont collects both familiar and unique advice for avoiding "death by PowerPoint."

• Discussing Grades with Students

  Apr 15, 2011 8:00 am1 views

  Discussing Grades with Students. As the end of the semester approaches, students are likely to become more concerned about their grades.  Knowing how to respond to student complaints about grades can turn a potential argument into a productive discussion.  This page from Washington University in St. Louis offers some advice to follow.

• Constructing Fair and Appropriate Final Exams

  Apr 25, 2013 8:00 am1 views

  Constructing Fair and Appropriate Final Exams. A common student complaint is that final exams do not always test the kinds of knowledge asked for in homework or quizzes or presented in lectures. The worst final exams can seem unfocused, determined to test everything, or random things. The best final exams are learning moments and are aligned with learning goals presented in your syllabus.  Here are some ways from the Berkeley teaching center to review the final exam you created.

• The wrap-up: Ideas for the last day of class.

  Apr 28, 2016 8:00 am1 views

  The wrap-up: Ideas for the last day of class.  “When I was younger I recall having many good intentions about using the last day of class to reflect on and integrate what had happened during the semester.  Students would think about and share their Meaningful Learning Experiences, there would be significant bonding, perhaps a few tears shed, and we would all leave on a high note – in my imagination. In reality, I often use that day to catch up, students are exhausted and cranky, and they’re glad when I let them go early.” Adequate closure creates a sense of satisfaction for all involved and can reinforce the meaningful connections we’ve made with our students – connections that sometimes get lost or strained with end-of-semester stress. Read here for valuable suggestions such as letters to the future.

• A "Radical" Course Revision

  Jun 7, 2011 8:00 am1 views

  A "Radical" Course Revision. Summer is a great time to revisit last year's courses and improve them for the coming year.  This article by Julie Stout of Indiana University describes her experiences revising courses and offers advice on the process.  Click here to learn more.  Note: to learn more, please visit CTE's list of summer workshops.  

• Learning Student Names

  Aug 28, 2013 8:00 am1 views

  Learning Student Names. Alexander Austin in his book What Matters in College found that when instructors know their students’ names, it has a powerful effect on improving student engagement. And students can also learn their peers’ names. Here is a list of strategies to help you know and remember your students.
  

• Building Professor-Student Relationships in an Age of Social Networking

  Aug 30, 2015 8:00 am1 views

  Building Professor-Student Relationships in an Age of Social Networking. The influence of teacher-student relationships on the quality of teaching and learning is well-documented. What about the use of technology, especially social networking, in interacting with your students? What is the perceived impact and understanding?  In this article are some insights shared by one professor on how to have a good rapport with students online while avoiding any miscommunications and maintaining a professional relationship.

• Effective Discussion Boards

  Sep 11, 2013 8:00 am1 views

  Effective Discussion Boards. Meaningful online discussions that promote learning and build community usually do not happen spontaneously. They require planning, good use of questioning techniques, and incentives for student participation. Click here for types of questions to ask.

• Informal Early Feedback

  Sep 14, 2010 8:00 am1 views

  Using informal early feedback (IEF) can help you learn about what is working and what is not working in your class at a time when you can make mid-course corrections. Late-September to mid-October is a great time to collect this feedback from your students.  To learn more about this helpful form, you can attend this workshop (Sept. 17th or 22nd) or find information and samples on our website.

• Classroom Assessment Techniques (CAT)

  Sep 14, 2010 8:00 am1 views

  Classroom Assessment Tools (CATs) are tools that can be used for active learning, assessment, and feedback. CATs are often anonymous and ungraded, and can give you a picture of how students are progressing, while providing information on your teaching and its effectiveness. Learn about the one-minute paper, muddiest points, and many other strategies. Read more about CATS here.

• Now is the Time for Informal Early Feedback

  Sep 18, 2012 8:00 am1 views

  Using informal early feedback (IEF) can help you learn about what is working and what is not working in your class at a time when you can make mid-course corrections. Late-September to mid-October is a great time to collect this feedback from your students.  To learn more about this helpful form, you can attend these IEF workshops on Sept. 24th or Oct. 9th.  Additional information and samples are on our website.

• Getting Timely Feedback

  Sep 25, 2013 8:00 am1 views

  Getting Timely Feedback. Getting feedback from your students in the weeks between late September and mid-October provides valuable information on how your course is going. One strategy to get pertinent information about you and your students is through the Informal Early Feedback (IEF). Visit our website for directions and sample forms.  

• How Should I Study for the Exam?

  Sep 26, 2017 9:45 am1 views

  When an exam approaches, virtually all students agree they need to study and most will, albeit with varying intensity. Most will study the same way they always have—using the strategies they think work. The question students won’t ask is: How should I study for this exam? They don’t recognize that what they need to learn can and should be studied in different ways. 

  When they get a good grade on an exam, students regularly attribute the success to luck. Students’ success as learners would advance if they had a larger repertoire of study strategies, if they could match study strategies with learning tasks, and if they constructively confronted how they studied with how they performed. Students need help on all three fronts, but courses are already packed with content. Most teachers have time to do little more than admonish students to study hard, avoid cramming and memorizing minutia, and abstain from any sort of cheating. Here is a short survey to administer to your students and how to start a short discussion on “How to study for this exam."

• Forming Metacognitive Students

  Sep 30, 2010 8:00 am1 views

  Forming Metacognitive Students. Students become metacognitive when they are aware of their own learning processes.  By encouraging students' metacognition, instructors give their students a better chance to succeed in class.  This article describes several easy ways to help students become more metacognitive. Click here to read the article.

• A Periodic Table of Visualizatin

  Sep 30, 2010 8:00 am1 views

  A Periodic Table of Visualization Methods. You can grab your students' attention and help them to better understand classroom material by presenting information visually.  This "periodic table" describes a wide range of visual ways to display data, information, concepts, strategies, and metaphors. Click here to view it.

   

• Providing Constructive Feedback to Students

  Oct 3, 2012 8:00 am1 views

  Providing Constructive Feedback to Students. Students typically focus on the grades they receive and not carefully read the written feedback. What are the types of comments that will help your students learn from your feedback?  Click here for suggestions on types of effective comments and questions you can provide. 

  
  

• Tests as Opportunities for More Learning

  Oct 3, 2012 8:00 am1 views

  Tests as Opportunities for More Learning. Tests are generally thought as ways to assess what and how much students have learned. If carefully crafted, they can also serve as opportunities for additional learning to happen. See this article on creating different types of effective tests.

• Collaboration or Plagiarism? Explaining Collaborative-Based Assignments Clearly

  Oct 12, 2015 8:00 am1 views

  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. More specifically, students often have difficulty determining how much of a group product, if any, is to be created by an individual. Here are strategies that help clarify for the students what is acceptable collaboration.