The posts below are from the CfLT newsletter which includes curated, research-based digital resources to support ongoing faculty development and pedagogical engagement. As of August 2025, CfLT Director Karen Spierling oversees the content. Posts from July 2020-May 2025 were compiled by previous Director Lew Ludwig.
Many of us use the active classroom technique known as minute paper, which provides an opportunity to quickly assess students’ understanding of the lesson’s main point. Unfamiliar with the practice or want to take it to the next level?
What do you want from your students?
Are you looking for some active learning ideas? The Active Learning Library is a free online resource that lets instructors browse over 40 learning activities and filter them according to their goals and interests. For example, instructors can search for activities that provide formative feedback, support small group engagement, build metacognitive skills, or don’t take too long to prepare.
The number ONE feature that will make your Canvas course faster to set up and easier for your students to navigate is……..modules. Organizing a course with modules not only helps students stay on track with expectations, but it also can help you keep track of what you are planning for each week, unit, or section of your course.
Many of us use the active classroom technique of think-pair-share in our classes. This is a core part of my classes. Not familiar with the practice?
It was good to see so many attendees at the recent CfLT webinar on ChatGPT by Dr. Tim Lauitano. If you couldn’t attend, you can find a recording here. Please note this is the Denison CfLT YouTube channel, so be sure you are logged into myDenison to access it.
This NYT article – Don’t Ban ChatGPT in Schools.
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Tidbit – The Junk Drawer CVI just finished my senior review. After the fact, I realized I forgot to mention a significant activity that slipped off my radar. Had I used a junk drawer CV, I might have caught my error. In Support of the Junk, Drawer CV describes how to create a document that is an easily accessible file tucked in your storage drive to record high points and low points in your career endeavors. |
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Teaching – wrapping up this semester, looking to the nextAs we wrap up this semester, please take a minute to reflect. Did classes go the way I planned? Are there things I would tweak for next semester? With all the projects, papers, and final exams, it may be time to reconsider late work policies. The Chronicle article, How Instructors Are Rethinking Late Work, may give you some ideas to make next semester’s classes go more smoothly. |
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Tidbit – The Worst Career Advice I Have ReceivedOften we’re given a list of suggestions that are supposed to help us improve, for example, career advice. In this Chronicle article, Aaron Basko goes in the opposite direction – he shares bad advice he received over the years. Just like a non-example can illuminate an idea – raining cats and dog is not a simile – Basko’s bad advice may help us avoid similar pitfalls. |
