blog posts

• Does It Matter How Students Feel about a Course?

  Sep 13, 2017 4:00 pm7 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.

• Now is the Time for Informal Early Feedback

  Sep 18, 2012 8:00 am7 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.

• Caring about Students Matter

  Sep 27, 2016 8:00 am7 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.

• Forming Metacognitive Students

  Sep 30, 2010 8:00 am7 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.

• Providing Timely and Frequent Feedback

  Oct 9, 2014 8:00 am7 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.

• Understanding Student Writing – Where is the Main Idea?

  Oct 10, 2013 8:00 am7 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 am7 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.

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

  Oct 11, 2016 8:00 am7 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.
  

• Using Grace and Accountability to Uphold Course Expectations

  Oct 25, 2018 6:00 pm7 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?

• Are You Telling Stories in the Classroom?

  Oct 25, 2018 6:00 pm7 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 am7 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 am7 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.

   

   

• Building Rapport from the Beginning

  Jan 14, 2015 8:00 am6 views

  Building Rapport from the Beginning.  Good rapport between instructor and students is arguably the most important factor in good classroom dynamics. You should begin the process of building rapport and collegiality on the first day of class, and continue cultivating this environment throughout the semester. Don’t miss this opportunity on your first day.

• Students’ Definitions of the College Classroom

  Jan 31, 2018 12:15 pm6 views

  How participants in an interaction define a situation will determine what behaviors they see as appropriate for that context (Goffman 1959; McHugh 1968). The college classroom is no exception. Students’ satisfaction with a course and their willingness to engage in certain activities will depend in part on how well the instructor’s definition of what is and ought to be happening in the classroom aligns with their own. An important part of the process is defining the roles, the expectations for behavior, of both the instructor and students. This posting looks at how students define their own and the instructor’s responsibilities in class and what impact this has on student learning.

• When Directions are the Problem

  Feb 3, 2021 8:00 am6 views

  (from Faculty Focus) When Directions are the Problem. Instructors often experience problems between the directions given for an assignment and the work submitted by a student. Students miss important parts of questions; they may fail to understand the directions; and they produce work which the instructor finds unacceptable. Unfortunately, students may fail to see what the instructor sees for the end product, leading to loss of time and learning. John Hattie (2015) found that instructors who directly teach what is expected, have improved student outcomes with a large effect size (Cohen’s d = 0.77).

  Templating, where instructors explicitly develop, teach, and model expectations, improves learning and reduces time spent trying to implement directions and is rooted in Bandura’s social learning theory by helping students define, interpret, and mimic what was observed (Bandura & Walters, 1977). There are four components to consider: develop a minimum and a maximum for each criteria, give students a laundry list of expectations, use a checklist for the template, and model expectations.

• Promoting Student Motivation

  Feb 22, 2012 8:00 am6 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 am6 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.

• Four Key Questions about Grading

  Mar 11, 2015 7:00 am6 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 am6 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." 

   

   

• Five Types of Quizzes That Deepen Engagement with Course Content

  Mar 30, 2016 8:00 am6 views

  Five Types of Quizzes That Deepen Engagement with Course Content. Have you thought about ways in which to maximize the benefit of quizzes?  Have you used quizzes that rely on low-level questions where the right answer is a memorized detail or a quizzing strategy where the primary motivation is punitive, such as to force students to keep up with the reading. That kind of quizzing doesn’t motivate reading for the right reasons and it doesn’t promote deep, lasting learning. There are innovative ways faculty are using quizzes, and these practices rest on different premises. This article describes ways for students to learn content deeper.

• Five Ways to Improve Exam Review Sessions

  Apr 13, 2016 8:00 am6 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.

• Eleven Tips to End of The Semester Success (From One Student to Another):

  Apr 18, 2022 11:15 am6 views

  (from Utica College Student Voices). Eleven Tips to End of The Semester Success (From One Student to Another). The end of the semester (especially Spring Semester) can bring many challenges and stressors. The weather is starting to get nicer, the days are getting longer, and your attention span is getting shorter. If your class schedule has looked anything like mine, you’ve probably been pounded with essays, projects, and tests since returning from spring break. It can all get very overwhelming quickly, and by the time finals starts approaching you’ve all but virtually checked out. As hard as it may be, it’s important to keep your morale high to get through finals. No one wants to throw away all the hard work they’ve put in throughout the semester over a little stress and fatigue. So, here’s some of my tips on how to stay focused and finish out the semester strong.

• Constructing Fair and Appropriate Final Exams

  Apr 25, 2013 8:00 am6 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.

• A "Radical" Course Revision

  Jun 7, 2011 8:00 am6 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.  

• Would They Play? Would They Learn?

  Jul 13, 2022 4:45 pm6 views

  (from Faculty Focus). Would They Play? Would They Learn? Like many of my colleagues, I’ve had my doubts about the educational value of “gaming” in college classrooms. In my mind, there’s an uneasy relationship between entertainment and education. Could gaming really be about learning, or is it just another example of pandering to student interests? And the games don’t have to be highly technical, expensive, or time-consuming to create. I’m pretty well convinced that game-like elements (rather than full blown games) can be powerful motivators and learning tools. Game-like elements could prompt engagement and learning in the classroom. I saw firsthand just how simple the gamification of our existing ideas can be. Teachers can use already existing activities and gamify them! Simply add a challenging problem-solving aspect to the activity, add surprises, and make it more playful, and you’ve gone from active to game-like!

• The Add/Drop Period and Your Syllabus

  Aug 23, 2011 8:00 am6 views

  The Add/Drop Period and Your Syllabus. Many students "shop around" during the first week or two of classes.

  Will this affect the beginning of your course?  Jason B.  Jones of ProfHacker at the Chronicle of Higher Education offers some observations to get you thinking about how to handle this period of the semester. Click here for the article.

• Learning Student Names

  Aug 28, 2013 8:00 am6 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.
  

• What Successful New Teachers Do

  Aug 30, 2009 8:00 am6 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.

• Effective Discussion Boards

  Sep 11, 2013 8:00 am6 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 am6 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 am6 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.

• Strategies to Assess Student Learning

  Sep 19, 2012 8:00 am6 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.

• Getting Timely Feedback

  Sep 25, 2013 8:00 am6 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.  

• I Was Inspired by a Teaching Workshop, But Now What Do I Do?

  Sep 25, 2014 8:00 am6 views

  I Was Inspired by a Teaching Workshop, But Now What Do I Do?  This month, there are many workshops offered to help you learn new strategies and teaching approaches. Before implementing these new teaching techniques, keep in mind these helpful words of wisdom: be strategic about which techniques to implement, explain the techniques to your students, start with small, incremental steps. Here is more advice.  And, of course, you can always contact CITL (citl-info@illinois.edu).

• Improving Your Test Questions

  Sep 26, 2017 9:45 am6 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.

• How Should I Study for the Exam?

  Sep 26, 2017 9:45 am6 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."

• A Periodic Table of Visualizatin

  Sep 30, 2010 8:00 am6 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.

   

• Collaboration or Plagiarism? Explaining Collaborative-Based Assignments Clearly

  Oct 12, 2015 8:00 am6 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.
  

• Design Considerations for Exam Wrappers

  Oct 23, 2014 8:00 am6 views

  Design Considerations for Exam Wrappers. "Exam wrappers are short activities that direct students to review their performance (and the instructor's feedback) on an exam with an eye toward adapting their future learning.  Exam wrappers ask students three kinds of questions: How did they prepare for the exam?  What kinds of errors did they make on the exam?  What could they do differently next time?"  Click here to see examples and strategies to help our students become more reflective about their learning.

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

  Oct 25, 2015 8:00 am6 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.

• Encouraging Effective Discussions

  Oct 28, 2010 8:00 am6 views

  Encouraging Effective Discussions. You want to encourage more student participation, so you ask a question.  Instead of a lively discussion, there are blank faces, silence, or incorrect answers. There are a number of strategies that can help encourage participation, improve discussion and rapport. Click here to learn more.  

• Calling Online (actually All..)Instructors: There’s a Secret Bonus Level!

  Nov 4, 2019 3:15 pm6 views

  Calling Online (actually All..) Instructors: There’s a Secret Bonus Level! Back in 2005, my online courses were designed according to the “read and reply twice” design format, then in vogue among instructional designers. The interactions that I had with my learners were largely formulaic, and I was really good at them. I responded to my students’ discussion posts and activity submissions within hours of deadlines, and I did my best to move conversations forward by asking learners to make connections and begin new avenues of inquiry. Fast forward to 2018: several game platforms and dozens of video games later. About the same time that we were playing Lego City Undercover, I was discovering that my “great” online courses could be strengthened even further by paying attention to barriers that I hadn’t previously understood well—or hadn’t even noticed at all. One of those barriers is grades. In addition to exploring ungrading, I also learned that spaced practice is one of the best ways to study and remember information and techniques. We reinforce our learning when we can re-visit concepts and ideas just before we shift them out of short-term memory and forget them. I’m looking all over my everyday experiences for hints about how our minds work when we learn things, and everywhere that I can take down barriers to learning

• Constructing Fair and Appropriate Final Exams

  Dec 5, 2013 8:00 am6 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.

• Considerations in Designing and Teaching Your Course

  Dec 22, 2015 8:00 am6 views

  Considerations in Designing and Teaching Your Course. Take advantage of the few weeks before the semester starts to look at the course you will be teaching – whether it is a new course or one you have already taught. Many of the decisions affecting the success of a course take place well before the first day of class. Careful planning at the course design stage not only makes teaching easier and more enjoyable, it also facilitates student learning. Once your course is planned, teaching involves implementing your course design on a day-to-day level. Here is a list of things for consideration. 

• Strategies for a Successful Start of the Semester

  Jan 12, 2012 8:00 am5 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.

   

• Research-Based Strategies to Promote Academic Integrity

  Jan 18, 2011 8:00 am5 views

  Research-Based Strategies to Promote Academic Integrity. You can lessen the number of academic integrity violations you'll face by presenting your students with a clear policy at the beginning of the semester.  This essay, part of the POD Network Teaching Excellence Essay Series, describes what such a policy should contain, how it should fit into your course, and how to present it to your students. Click here to learn how.

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

  Jan 28, 2015 8:00 am5 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.

• The Importance of Early Feedback about Teaching

  Feb 8, 2012 8:00 am5 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.

• Reading Circles Get Students to Do the Reading

  Feb 12, 2015 8:00 am5 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.

• Teaching Philosophy Statements

  Mar 20, 2013 8:00 am5 views

  Teaching Philosophy Statements. Teaching philosophy statements are frequently requested for job applications, grants, and promotion and tenure packets. When written well, this statement can promote deep reflection about your teaching. This article by Maryellen Weimer describes how to avoid the most common mistakes. To begin writing or improving your statement, consider attending this teaching statement workshop on April 1, 2013.