blog posts

• Zoom Video Conferencing

  Jul 21, 2020 9:15 pm6 views

  (from CITL)  Zoom Video Conferencing. Zoom is the preferred tool on our campus for live, online course sessions. Sessions using Zoom allow you to deliver online lecture materials in a variety of ways, including using a webcam for live lectures, using screen sharing to display a PowerPoint, and using break-out rooms to foster student collaboration.  Here are a few of the tools available in Zoom to help keep your students engaged.

• 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.

• Yes, Virginia, there is a better way to grade

  Apr 5, 2022 5:00 pm137 views

  (from inside higher ed). Yes, Virginia, there is a better way to grade.  Pause a moment to consider the way we’ve been grading our students’ work since time immemorial. The way we allocate points on the basis of apparent quality. The way we struggle to be fair in giving the same number of points to works of comparable quality, even though they differ a great deal -- and the time it takes us to make these hairsplitting decisions. The way students stress over the points their work does or doesn’t get. The way they challenge our grading decisions in the hope of squeezing more points out of us -- despite the agonizing care and attention to detail we give to their work. For students, it’s all about maximizing partial credit.

  Imagine another grading system, one where you grade all assignments and tests satisfactory/unsatisfactory, pass/fail. Students earn all of the points associated with the work, or none of them, depending on whether their work meets the particular specifications you laid out for it. This is why I call this grading system specifications, or specs, grading. Think of the specs as a one-level, uni-dimensional rubric. But don’t think of them as defining D or even C minus work. Rather, imagine that they define truly “satisfactory” as at least B work -- maybe even A minus work. This assures rigor.   

• Writing Good Multiple Choice Test Questions

  Mar 9, 2016 8:00 am8 views

  Writing Good Multiple Choice Test Questions. Multiple choice test questions, also known as items, can be an effective and efficient way to assess learning outcomes. Multiple choice test items have several potential advantages: versatility, reliability, and validity. The key to taking advantage of these strengths, however, is construction of good multiple choice items. This article describes ways in which you can improve your multiple choice items.
  

• Would They Play? Would They Learn?

  Jul 13, 2022 4:45 pm0 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!

• Why Students Should Be Taking Notes

  Aug 30, 2016 8:00 am8 views

  Why Students Should Be Taking Notes. Students nowadays can be pretty demanding about wanting the teacher’s PowerPoints, lecture notes, and other written forms of the content presented in class. And a lot of teachers are supplying those, in part trying to be responsive to students but also because many students now lack note-taking skills. The problem is that “the ability to take in information and make it one’s own by processing it, restructuring it, and then presenting it in a form so that it can be understood by others (or by oneself at a later point)” is one of those “basic skills” that is useful throughout life. This article defines a 3-part note restructuring assignment to help students improve and learn from their class notes.

• Why Open-book Tests Deserve a Place in Your Courses

  Apr 12, 2017 8:00 am5 views

  Why Open-book Tests Deserve a Place in Your Courses. With the proliferation of learning management systems (LMS), many instructors now incorporate web-based technologies into their courses. While posting slides and readings online are common practices, the LMS can also be leveraged for testing. Purely online courses typically employ some form of web-based testing tool, but they are also useful for hybrid and face-to-face (F2F) offerings. Some instructors, however, are reluctant to embrace online testing. Their concerns can be wide ranging, but chief among them is cheating. Instead of wasting valuable time to deter cheating, open-book tests shift the onus of responsibility onto the students themselves. They are the ones who must track down answers and page through online notes.

• Why Are You Teaching That?

  May 21, 2015 8:00 am10 views

  Why Are You Teaching That? My undergraduate experience wasn't as bad as that, but it left a lot to be desired. If you look through everything you're teaching and consider how useful it might ever be to the students, you'll certainly find some "need-to-know" material-things all graduates in your field should know and instructors in subsequent courses will assume they know. You'll also find material that makes you wonder "Why am I teaching this stuff?" If you're like most of us and have more jammed into your course than you can comfortably cover, consider cutting down on some of that superfluous material. Here are some candidates for cutting: It is adapted from Felder, R.M. (2014). "Why are you teaching that?" Chemical Engineering Education, 48(3), 131-132

• When Directions are the Problem

  Feb 3, 2021 8:00 am2 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.

• What We Can Learn from a Bad Day of Teaching

  Jan 29, 2019 1:30 pm13 views

  What We Can Learn from a Bad Day of Teaching. We’ve all been in the classroom when our lessons flop, our students get restless, and we feel like captains of a sinking ship. Jena Lynch claims that all teachers have bad days, but the best teachers are the ones who can learn from their mistakes. She will reflect on a bad teaching day and what she learned from it. You are encouraged to take a reflective approach to your own teaching for your students’ benefit and for your professional development.

• 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.

• What’s an Empowered Student?

  Apr 2, 2015 8:00 am11 views

  What’s an Empowered Student? When students are empowered, they learn more and learn better. Some things that instructors can do are to provide accurate descriptions of those actions learners must take in order to succeed. Create authentic assignments and delineate the tasks and steps to achieve and support student efforts through coaching. In this article, Weimer provides more strategies. 

• What is Using Media to Enhance Teaching and Learning?

  Apr 8, 2020 3:00 pm428 views

  (From SERC at Carlton College). What is Using Media to Enhance Teaching and Learning? The term media was first used to describe newspapers more than two centuries ago. Today media has many different connotations. For instance, there are mass media, print media, visual media and social media. While media can take on many different forms, the purpose of all media is universally the same -- media is a channel of communication. Media can be used in direct instruction, active learning teaching strategies and student projects.  Media can be used in almost any discipline to enhance learning, both in class, and also for out-of-class assignments. Short film and television clips, written articles, and blog postings can be viewed to reinforce concepts and spark discussion. Songs and music videos, especially when the lyrics are made available, can be used to the same effect. 

• 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.  

• What Do You Do on the Last Day of Class?

  May 2, 2014 8:00 am0 views

  What Do You Do on the Last Day of Class?  Much of the literature on the last day of class notes three primary uses of this last class session: final examination preparation, completing course evaluations, and reflecting on the course. Given the importance of this last day it is worth just a bit of effort to think through the best use of your final minutes of the course.  Here are some thoughts from UNC-Chapel Hill. 

• Ways to Assess Students’ Prior Knowledge

  Mar 6, 2014 8:00 am16 views

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

• Want Your Students to Think Creative and Critically? How about Teaching Them?

  Oct 20, 2020 8:00 am23 views

  (from R. Brent and R. Felder at NC State Univ). Want Your Students to Think Creative and Critically? How about Teaching Them? Two popular targets on the list of Things These Students Can’t Do are creative thinking (coming up with innovative ideas) and critical thinking (making judgments or choices and backing them up with evidence and logic). When our colleagues complain to us that their students can’t do them, after we make appropriate sympathetic noises we ask, “Where were they supposed to learn to do it?” The answers may vary, but one we rarely hear is “In my class.” Through a lot of practice and feedback is how you acquired your skills. You were either given or voluntarily took on tasks, and with someone else’s help or on your own you learned how to do them. The more you did them, the better you got. Unfortunately, creative and critical thinking are not routinely taught in our schools, nor are they activities that students eagerly learn on their own. It shouldn’t surprise us when our students can’t magically do them on our assignments and exams.

• Variations to Traditional Multiple-Choice Tests

  Mar 10, 2022 8:15 am5 views

  (from Faculty Focus). Variations to Traditional Multiple-Choice Tests.  Many college courses employ multiple choice (MC) tests as a primary means of assessment. Although these are sometimes critiqued (Kaufman, 2001), modifications can be made to this assessment, based in cognitive science, to increase the value of this testing format. Here, we consider several alternatives to traditional MC testing: the use of student-constructed cheat sheets, collaborative testing, using student-generated test items, universal design for learning, and providing immediate feedback.

• Using Your Syllabus as a Learning Resource

  Aug 11, 2021 4:30 pm26 views

  Using Your Syllabus as a Learning Resource.  We know students do not take it upon themselves to read the syllabus. Yet syllabus indifference still bewilders me after teaching for 25 years, given that my syllabi are conveniently available online and in hard copy, and are replete with information virtually assuring success with my courses. Tired of asking students to “read the syllabus for that information,” a number of years ago I decided to incorporate my syllabus into each class meeting as a learning resource. Three strategies have proven quite successful.

• 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.
  

• Using Social Media to Retain Contact with Students in the Shift to Online Education.

  Jun 25, 2020 3:30 pm8 views

  (from Faculty Focus). Using Social Media to Retain Contact with Students in the Shift to Online Education. COVID-19 has upended normal social connections that develop between students and professors. We are missing the connections that develop through casual interactions in office hours, pre-class discussions, post-class questions, and any other in-person interaction. These social connections are important for student retention, academic development, diversity, and inclusion. As we thoughtfully shift our courses online, we must also strategically consider how to best replicate or innovate to develop social connections. The purposeful use of social media presents a great opportunity for educators to connect with their students and recreate some of the social connections that are lost due to online education, while also providing new ways of developing connections. We present 10 tips for using social media to maintain and develop social connections.

• 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. 

• 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?

• Using Google Tools to Enhance Course Delivery

  Jan 24, 2022 3:00 pm6 views

  (from Faculty Focus). Using Google Tools to Enhance Course Delivery. As teachers embrace digital tools for online learning, many online tools can enhance and facilitate the organization and delivery of courses. Google Docs, Google Sites, Google Slides, and Google Jamboard have the power to deliver more efficient and effective learning experiences. These digital tools can support professors as they organize course information while also enhancing student collaboration. Google tools also offer a variety of ways to increase productivity and streamline the dissemination of information to students, such as google docs, google forms, google slides, and jamboard.

• Using Breakout Rooms with Less Stress and Better Results.

  Jul 21, 2020 9:15 pm28 views

  (from Faculty Focus). Using Breakout Rooms with Less Stress and Better Results. “What are we supposed to be doing?” (said every student at least once in a breakout room). Small groupwork enables students to “compare their current understandings with those of other team members. . .construct new understandings” (Brame, 2020), builds a learning community, facilitates reflection (Brame, 2020), and mirrors the workplace (Scott, 2011). When our instruction moved online this spring, many instructors found using videoconference breakouts much less effective and efficient than in F2F (Face to Face) classes because: a) students became confused; b) the instructor could not monitor progress quickly for all groups at once; and c) group report-backs were slowed.  Here are ways to structure the group activites in the breakout rooms.

• Use Three-Before-Me as a Communication Strategy in a Large Class

  Sep 28, 2022 1:00 pm15 views

  (from Teaching Online Pedagogical Repository) Use Three-Before-Me as a Communication Strategy in a Large Class. The concept of “Three Before Me” pushes the responsibility of locating an answer to commonly asked questions to the student. The student must prove to the professor that he/she has contacted three different sources prior to contacting the professor. If a student has questions regarding the material, assignments, technical issues, and/or other related matters concerning the course, that student must take the initiative to find the answers. The “Three-Before-Me” rule is simply this: “You must prove that you have sought out at least three avenues to obtain information regarding a question or problem you are having before you can ask me. Chances are, someone in the class may have had the same question you do. Use the tools available to you to find out..”

• Use Revise and Resubmit Instead of Extra Credit

  Aug 24, 2021 4:30 pm15 views

  (from Faculty Focus) Use Revise and Resubmit Instead of Extra Credit. Many faculty provide extra credit or give in to student requests for extra credit, but this is not always an efficient way to produce learning. The major problem with extra credit is that it does not address a student’s actual deficiency. In most cases, the issue of extra credit occurs when there is some deficiency in a student’s performance that hurt their grade and they want to do something to improve it. But whatever they do to improve their grade is “extra,” meaning not the same as the problematic performance. For this reason, extra credit does not address the fundamental issue that motivated the extra credit. If a student gets a poor grade on an assignment in my class because they did not understand the human genome project, it is that understanding which needs to be addressed. It is not an objection to arbitrarily redefine “extra credit” to include a built-in revise and resubmit option for students. That is simply a misuse of the term. 

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

  Jan 23, 2014 8:00 am102 views

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

• Unleashing the Power of Examples

  Mar 26, 2019 2:15 pm23 views

  Unleashing the Power of Examples. College teachers often enter their classrooms with thousands of hours of experience in their chosen field, and they typically face students who have little to no experience with that field of study. In this setting, teachers may take for granted all that they know and are able to do. One of the joys of teaching is finding ways to take complex topics and present them in such a way that students begin their own journey of discovery. Generally speaking, students learn through explanation, example, and experience (Maxwell, 1978). Examples and illustrations are powerful ways to broaden and deepen student learning. One of the challenges facing teachers is selecting the most effective examples and knowing when and how to best use them. Here are some ways to implement powerful examples.

• Unlearning: A Critical Element in the Learning Process

  Mar 6, 2014 8:00 am57 views

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

• 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.

• Troublesome Behaviors in the Classroom

  Mar 19, 2013 8:00 am2 views

  Troublesome Behaviors in the Classroom.  It happens.  A student does something that you perceive interferes with the teaching and learning in your course. It can be such things as talking in class, arriving late, or missing deadlines. This article by Mary Deane Sorcinelli provides several strategies to address these issues. 

• Tricks and Tips for Teaching with Masks

  Jan 24, 2022 4:15 pm2 views

  (from University of Michigan LSA Technology Services). Tricks and Tips for Teaching with Masks. Above and beyond masking policies for indoor spaces on campus, University of Michigan Face Covering Policy  (University of Illinois Face Covering Policy) requires all people to wear masks in any classroom or classlab. This also includes spaces where classes are being held, such as conference rooms and lab spaces. 

  Teaching with a mask on does present a number of challenges, especially if the instructor has back-to-back courses or multiple sessions on a single day.  Here are 24 Teaching Tips for Teaching with Masks; e.g., how to use a microphone, breathing techniques, and maximizing body language.

• Transforming Your Online Teaching From Crisis to Community

  Apr 21, 2020 2:45 pm6 views

  (from Inside Higher Ed) Transforming Your Online Teaching From Crisis to Community. In this current time, it is important to remember that “going online” is not the same as teaching or learning. We must eschew the technocratic utopianism that implies that, simply by teaching remotely, professors are doing their jobs. We need to learn -- quickly -- from the extensive research and experience of professors all over who have done the teaching, research and publishing in this area, and who can advise us on what is most effective.The biggest takeaway from the research on effective teaching online is that we cannot teach the same way online that we would in person: we need to innovate and use the tools available to us to build our class periods differently. Of importance is “engaged” learning: understanding the condition of our students’ lives and finding the best ways of teaching within (rather than in spite of) those conditions.  Here is a simple way to create an engaged learning experience online.

• Transforming Midterm Evaluations into a Metacognitive Pause

  Feb 15, 2021 10:45 pm13 views

  (from Faculty Focus). Transforming Midterm Evaluations into a Metacognitive Pause. Midterm evaluations often tip toward students’ (unexamined) likes and dislikes. By leveraging the weight of the midterm pause and inviting students to reflect on their development, midterm evaluations can become more learning-centered. Cued by our language, students can become aware of a distinction—that we’re not asking what they like, but what is helping them learn. This opportunity for students to learn about their learning yields valuable insights that not only inform instructors about the effects of our methods, but also ground students in their own learning processes, deepening their confidence in and commitment to their development in the second half of the course. Many students in this particular evening course were returning learners, and so it felt beneficial to use the natural pause at midterm as an opportunity to grow their confidence by reflecting on the learning process and taking stock of their own development. I therefore tailored my midterm questions with a metacognitive slant that would prompt students to identify and articulate dimensions of and supports for their learning. Learning experts often talk about the necessary “difficulty” and “disorientation” that is part of learning. “Can you share about what has been most challenging for you so far in this course?” (Disorienting even?) “What have you learned from this difficulty? What helped you in overcoming the challenge(s)?”

• 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.

   

   

• 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.

• To Improve Learning, More Researchers Say Students Should Feel Like They Belong in the Classroom

  Sep 13, 2017 5:00 pm8 views

  About a third of the students who started college in 2009 have since dropped out, joining the millions of young adults who never entered college in the first place. Several years into a massive push by both the federal government and states to increase postsecondary graduation rates, education policymakers across the country are asking what else they can do to get more students to and through college. There’s one seemingly simple solution according to David Yeager, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin: Tell students they belong in higher education. However, they caution, the oft-used term growth mindset – the self-belief that a student’s abilities can grow through hard work and effort – doesn’t mean just praising kids for trying. Here is a description of the important student toolkit that focuses on qualities like grit, persistence, and learning from mistakes.

• Tips on Leading an Effective Discussion

  Sep 11, 2013 8:00 am5 views

  Tips on Leading an Effective Discussion.When students participate by asking and answering questions, it can improve their learning and promote critical thinking skills. Here are several strategies to increase the quantity and quality of their participation.

• Time to Do This! Informal Early Feedback (IEF): A Valuable Opportunity for Just-in-Time Feedback.

  Sep 27, 2016 8:00 am0 views

  Time to Do This!  Informal Early Feedback (IEF): A Valuable Opportunity for Just-in-Time Feedback.  Student evaluations of teaching are an important part of the feedback that instructors receive. This feedback can be especially helpful when it is collected during the semester. Our students can tell us if we are clear, accessible, respectful or timely. They may also be able to tell us if the activities we give them are well aligned with the ways we evaluate their learning. Responding to students’ comments by discussing them in class, and making changes as appropriate, can lead to increased motivation, better learning, and possibly improved end-of-semester student ratings. Here is a description of the process and sample forms for you to adapt. You can contact CITL for assistance to create the form and/or analyze the results. 

• Time to Conduct an Informal Early Feedback (IEF)

  Sep 14, 2015 8:00 am0 views

  Time to Conduct an Informal Early Feedback (IEF). Using the informal early feedback (IEF) tool can help you learn about what is working and what is not working in your class at a time when you can make important mid-course corrections. You can get valuable valuable information not only about your teaching, but also on what and how your students learn. Late-September to mid-October is a great time to collect this feedback.  Additional information and samples are on our website. Also, register for our workshops about IEF being offered now.
  

• Time to administer the Informal Early Feedback (IEF): A Valuable Opportunity for Just-in-Time Feedback.

  Sep 18, 2019 4:00 pm15 views

  Time to administer the Informal Early Feedback (IEF): A Valuable Opportunity for Just-in-Time Feedback.  Student evaluations of teaching are an important part of the feedback that instructors receive. This feedback can be especially helpful when it is collected midway in the semester. Our students can tell us if we explain clearly, are well-organized, grade fairly, and more. They may also be able to tell us if the activities we give them are well aligned with the ways we evaluate their learning. Responding to students’ comments by discussing them in class, and making changes as appropriate, can lead to increased motivation, better learning, and possibly improved end-of-semester student ratings. Here is a description of the process and sample forms for you to adapt.  You can always contact CITL for assistance.

• Thresholds Are Troublesome

  May 21, 2015 8:00 am0 views

  Thresholds Are Troublesome. Few new ideas in the ongoing inquiry into effective teaching and learning have generated as much productive discussion as the idea of "threshold concepts" and its older sister, "troublesome knowledge."  Another name might be bottlenecks. Threshold concepts are “portals” or gateways to transformative educational development (Meyer & Land, 2003; Trafford, 2008), and “going through” this portal leads to significant and important outcomes for the student. To promote deeper learning, faculty should identify key threshold concepts in their disciplines and assist their students in mastering those concepts.

• Three Ways to Engage Students In and Outside the Classroom

  Sep 3, 2018 4:45 pm11 views

  Three Ways to Engage Students In and Outside the Classroom. When students become directly engaged in the learning process, they take ownership of their education. The following learning activities have helped me to engage students in and outside the classroom. The strategies also help keep my teaching relevant, fresh, and creative. They are: a) get real, b) see a show, and c) breathe fire.

• Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom

  Oct 2, 2018 5:45 pm21 views

  Three Ways to Ask Better Questions in the Classroom. I’ve been doing some presentations on classroom interaction and thinking yet again about how we could do better with our questions — the ones we ask in class or online. Good questions make students think, they encourage participation and I think they improve the caliber of the answers students give and the questions they ask. To achieve those worthwhile outcomes more regularly, I’d like to recommend three actions that have the potential to improve our questioning: prepare questions, play with questions, and preserve good questions.

• Three Guidelines and Two Workarounds for Tackling Makeup Exam Policies

  Feb 23, 2017 8:00 am5 views

  Three Guidelines and Two Workarounds for Tackling Makeup Exam Policies. Are you one of the many instructors who loathe makeup exam requests? Makeup exams often create more work and can put us in the awkward position of judging the truthfulness of our students’ excuses. Although we can’t avoid makeup requests entirely, we can better prepare ourselves and our students by having a transparent and fair makeup exam policy. When designing your policy, always ask yourself: Does the policy allow students to learn what you want them to learn in your course? Here are three guidelines for an effective makeup exam policy and two possible workarounds

• Three Active Learning Strategies to Push Students Beyond Memorization

  Jan 26, 2016 8:00 am14 views

  Three Active Learning Strategies to Push Students Beyond Memorization. Many students come to us having achieved academic success by memorizing the content, regurgitating that information onto an exam, and promptly forgetting a good portion of it. New material builds upon the material from the previous semesters, it is critical for students to retain what they learn throughout their coursework and as they begin their careers. Here is a description about the strategies and how to implement them.
  

• Thinking Creatively and Critically

  Oct 27, 2016 8:00 am31 views

  Thinking Creatively and Critically. The posting below gives some excellent suggestions on how to help your students think more creatively and critically. It is by Rebecca Brent and Richard M. Felder and is from Chemical Engineering Education, 48(2), 113-114 (2014).  Check out Felder's website for more articles on teaching . Two popular targets on the list of Things These Students Can't Do are creative thinking (coming up with innovative ideas) and critical thinking (making judgments or choices and backing them up with evidence and logic). Some examples are: idea generation and prioritization, explanation of unanticipated results, and problem formulation.

• Thinking Creatively and Critically

  Nov 9, 2015 8:00 am1 views

  Thinking Creatively and Critically. Two popular targets on the list of Things These Students Can't Do are creative thinking (coming up with innovative ideas) and critical thinking (making judgments or choices and backing them up with evidence and logic). When our colleagues complain to us that their students can't do them, after we make appropriate sympathetic noises we ask, "Where were they supposed to learn to do it?" The answers may vary, but one we rarely hear is "In my class."  Here are some strategies from Rebecca Brent and Richard Felder.

• They Haven’t Done the Reading. Again.

  Apr 9, 2018 6:15 pm28 views

  If you believe the research, on any given day, something like 70 percent of our students come to class having not done the assigned reading. That phenomenon is immensely annoying to most faculty members. Who among us has not faced a classroom full of blank stares, with seemingly no one prepared to answer the well-thought-out question we've asked about the reading? How can we ensure that students are meeting what should be a very basic responsibility? You need to demonstrate that the students need to do the reading to take full advantage of class time.