Inglenook
Writing about teaching, innovation, and technology from faculty and instructional designers
in·gle·nook
/ˈiNGɡəlˌno͝ok/
noun
1. (chiefly historical, architecture) A corner or nook beside an open fireplace, especially for gathering or reading.
Faculty Perspectives
Faculty Perspectives are written by and about the UAF faculty interested in sharing their experience and expertise with other faculty interested in improving their teaching practice.
Want to contribute? Let us know!
Karen Jensen
kljensen@alaska.eduDesigning your effective library resources assignment
Most faculty would like their students to use reliable, scholarly journal articles and high quality book chapters as sources when writing term papers, but some students don’t know how to find them. Even after successfully passing the required LS101 course, if students don’t regularly practice searching library databases and using quality sources, they forget how and where to search for peer-reviewed articles. By including some fundamental information and specific requirements in your term paper assignment, you can help students improve the quality of their written work. The following 4 suggestions can ensure that students select better quality content for your term paper or other written assignment.
1. Determine which skills you want your student to learn
Stating the purpose of your research paper, including the specific activities you want students to perform, helps students understand why you are requiring certain types of resources. For example, if you don’t allow popular magazines or books as sources, give them a short explanation of why.
read more
Gordon Williams
giwilliams@alaska.eduAn Interview with Gordon Williams
In this interview with Gordon Williams, we found out how he developed Calculus III (MATH F253X) for online students and why video became an important tool.
Q: What was important to have ready before the class started?
It would have been nice to have everything ready, but I had to settle with just having two weeks worked out in advance given the time constraints.
Q: Explain some of the pedagogical decisions you’ve made while building a course as it’s running.
A lot of the techniques I’m using in the course came from the suggestions and practices of my colleagues. For example, using worksheets in combination with (preferably brief) lecture videos using the same template, having students complete those worksheets by following along on the video, and having students submit them weekly is a reasonably handy way of ensuring students view and follow the content of the videos.
Innovator Perspectives
Writing about innovation in teaching and technology from faculty and instructional designers
Integrating arts, humanities into the science classroom
UAF associate professor Mary Beth Leigh, with the help of colleagues around campus, integrates technical and creative writing into her Environmental Microbiology (BIOL 457/657) course. Once in their careers, her students typically need to be able to write about science for both technical and general audiences. Children’s books, original drawings and interactive images were just some of the outcomes.
Read more.
read moreOpen Education Abecedarium
“Open Education” is a deceivingly simple name for a concept that covers a broad range of philosophies, pedagogies, activities and products, many of which are critical to the University of Alaska. In advance of a series of Teaching Tips exploring some of these ideas, here’s a necessarily incomplete A-Z of ideas that are part of Open Education.
read moreEmerging trends in online STEM lab design
In the first four parts of our series on online STEM labs, we looked at why online faculty choose to develop an online lab course, the diversity of lab solutions faculty implemented to meet course objectives, how to engage online lab students, and special assessment considerations within the context of online STEM labs. In this fifth and final part of our series, we take a look at some cutting edge efforts to improve teaching and learning in terms of both technical solutions and pedagogical approaches.
read moreSpecial assessment considerations with online labs
Do online STEM labs present unusually challenging circumstances for assessment? Yes, and no. In this fourth part of our five-part series discussing online STEM labs, we’re taking a look at the special assessment considerations inherent in online labs and how some faculty have tackled the challenge.
read more