Gathering student feedback
Ideas for collecting feedback from your students and how to get them to participate.
Swimming with the Sharks … and Loving It!
When I decided to apply for the Graduate Fellowship back in April 2018, I had an idea in mind, however nascent, that I felt was worth exploring. The desire to apply was not urgent, and it took a brief chat with the Lab coordinator in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry to finally give it a shot.
Journaling for reflection and critical thinking
Reflective writing can help us carry ourselves through processes of change. Learning is a process of change and research shows that journal writing can support students across disciplines in connecting with and making meaning of their learning.
Students and learning in the “open”
Turning your course open with Open Education resources, practices, and pedagogy can have profound impacts on how students relate to the materials, to you, to their learning and their positioning relative to that learning. Ready to get started?
Hello? Use phone calls to connect with students
We’re at a point in the semester when energy gets low. Students have gotten quiet on discussion boards, you’ve got grading to last you the rest of winter and winter isn’t near over yet. It can be hard to keep everyone engaged in your work together, but making a simple phone call could make a big difference.
1. Objectives and Objections
EPIC: Home Activities Discussion Builds Case Studies Resources The topic of “learning objectives” and “measurable outcomes” is ubiquitous in higher education right now. In many of the conversations you might have come across already, the debate...7. Beyond the Classroom: Open Education, Community Engagement
EPIC: Home Activities Discussion Builds Case Studies Resources This week we explore open education which includes topics of open educational resources (OER), open educational practices (OEP), open admission, and open access. Often, viewpoints you will encounter...Teaching as mentoring
How do you guide your students not only through course material, but through navigating the university, their professional ambitions, a balance between personal and academic lives? This is the work of the teacher-as-mentor.
8. Workflow Management
EPIC: Home Activities Discussion Builds Case Studies Resources How do you stay on top of all that you do? Or rather, how do you stay sane and energized and on track to keep doing it, even when you’re buried? There are a number of helpful tools and practices out...Make space for student creation
In order for your course to go well, must it go as planned? Interrupt your class’s routine with tactics that make space for students to build and create.
EPIC Case Study
EPIC: Home Activities Discussion Builds Case Studies Resources Case Study Instructions Part 1: As part of your teaching semester in EPIC, you will create a case study that shares an aspect of or lens on your course with others in the program. PURPOSE: Our purpose is...Collaborative annotation brings context and conversation
Annotating helps a reader engage with, analyze, and comprehend a text. Online, collaborative annotation tools afford these benefits plus the opportunity to interact with peers and other annotators around the world.
Great Discussions and their Environs
WHY … What are students meant to take away from discussion? What impact does it have? Activity #2 You must post three times each week. Your first post should be an original thought with at least one secondary source. Your second and third posts should respond...How to blend the world into your classroom
When the world feels too big to shut out of your classroom, do you close the door or do you invite in what’s on the minds of so many? Integrating current events into your course is not only engaging for students, it teaches them to approach challenging conversations as learners and to defend their positions with evidence.
You’re not alone! And your students aren’t either
The physical space of a campus blends student support into the learning environment: on the first day of school, students taking face-to-face courses walk onto campus, stroll past the library, the Writing Center, and their advisor’s office on the way to your class. They greet their classmates who, a few weeks into the semester, are the ones they will ask when they’re confused about your instructions.
How to prepare for fall while enjoying summer
Summer is in full swing! You are camping, gardening, roadtripping, hiking, netflixing, swatting at mosquitoes — maybe even teaching. Meanwhile, you’re actively ignoring that buzz behind your ear: Fall’s coming … Teaching … Teaching … Teaching. No one will blame you for swatting that buzz away until, say, August. It’s summer, after all. But what if you could do something now to make your course development a month or two from now a bit easier?