Teaching Tips

As we start the sixth week of the semester, we are in the thick of it. You’ve probably already had at least one major grade or are about to, and you are finding which students have figured out how to study and which have not. Our friend Stephen Chew (a cognitive psychologist who visited Denison under Frank Hassebrock) has some excellent resources that will help you help those students.

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As we enter week four of the semester, I hope your classes are getting into a rhythm of learning and growth. But how do you know if students understand what we are trying to teach? Classroom assessment activities (CATs) are simple, low-stakes, formative assessments that you can use to ensure your students are “picking up what you are putting down.”

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We work hard in the first week of classes to establish a sense of community. Why is this important? Building a positive working relationship with students and fostering connections among them equips us to handle unforeseen challenges – technology doesn’t work, illnesses, or disruptive news events. A robust community atmosphere offers the necessary grace and support to navigate these turbulent periods more effectively.

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Whether is the first time or tenth time you’ve taught a course,  it is always good to run through a few checklists of things to consider: Your syllabus: This comprehensive article by Kevin Gannon, titled “How to Create a Syllabus,” offers practical advice, innovative strategies, and thoughtful insights into making a syllabus more than just a policy document, but a tool for fostering a positive learning environment and clear communication with students.

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Happy New Year! One of the trickier things about these posts is timing. If they are too early, you forget about them when the time comes; too late, and well, they’re too late to use. In an effort to thread that needle, I hope you find this article by Lolita Paff on planning your course calendar useful.

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At the Carleton College faculty workshop on AI that I recently attended, I was introduced to an innovative AI tool called Magic To Do that is designed to assist neurodivergent students with executive functions. This presentation complemented the insights from another keynote speaker, Lorre Wolf, who focused on “Supporting Neurodiversity through the Lens of Autism.” As we strive to support this expanding student demographic, here are some valuable resources to consider.

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It is that time of year. The end is in sight. But before we can close the books on this semester, we have to administer course evaluations in our classes. To get more informed feedback, I often ask students to comment on specific practices or content of the course that I am concerned with improving. For example, I may have replaced a test with a project, developed a new approach to group work, or created course materials to help guide student readings.

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As we approach finals, how can we help our students keep track of all the learning that occurred this semester? You might be familiar with the learning practice known as interleaving. Interleaving is a learning technique where mixing different topics is more beneficial than studying them separately (blocking). Research has proven its effectiveness in both controlled studies and real-world classrooms across various subjects.

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How are class discussions going? As we enter the second half of the semester, there is a chance discussions have fallen into a routine. Both you and your students are feeling the pressures of the semester, and it is hard to keep that spark alive. This article by Joe Bookman offers some advice for making your classroom discussions more inclusive.

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