The posts below are from a bi-weekly digest that encapsulates a range of evidence-based best practices and cutting-edge insights on innovative teaching strategies, effective use of technology, student engagement techniques, and effective assessment, to name a few. The content, diligently curated or crafted by the director Dr. Lew Ludwig, is grounded in robust research and drawn from a wide array of innovative articles, books, and online resources. The goal is to support timely, ongoing faculty development with the most current and impactful knowledge in the field.
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Whenever colleagues invite me to observe their classes for formative feedback, I always ask them to share two or three aspects they’re working on where they’d appreciate some constructive input. For instance, they could be aiming to engage more students, attempting to summarize the class within the last five minutes, or simply organizing their board work more effectively.
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Does your students’ writing seem vague? As we approach the final weeks of the semester and brace ourselves for the onslaught of paper revisions, John Orlando offers a fresh perspective that might hold the key to addressing this issue. In his insightful article, Writing versus Thinking Skills: A False Dichotomy, he posits that writing problems extending beyond basic grammar and spelling errors are, in fact, manifestations of muddled thinking.
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Many of us are having student presentations by this time of the semester. Many of these will involve PowerPoint or similar presentation programs. Consider sharing these simple-to-use infographics with your student to help them up their PPT game.
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Seriously, the New York Times has created an EXCELLENT resource that will bring you up to speed on ChatGPT, large language models, and all those other A.I. terms you’ve heard about. The five-part series, On Tech: Become an expert on ChatGPT and other cutting-edge chatbots in just five days, is written at an understandable level and only takes about 10 minutes to read.
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When I started teaching last century, I was hyper-sensitive about avoiding mistakes. Or at least that was my intent. However, welcoming mistakes and ambiguity in the classroom can spark your students’ curiosity. In their Chronicle article, How to Embrace Uncertainty in Your Teaching, Murphy and Levison give five simple ways to spark curiosity, including pursuing the unanticipated in class discussions and modeling not knowing (something I’ve grown more honest about).
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Over the past several decades, considerable scholarship has focused on conditions that promote students’ learning, retention, and transfer of academic knowledge. The term ‘science of learning’ is often used to describe this field of specialization. My center colleague, Dr. Chris Hakal, recently shared the free e-book In their own words: What scholars and teachers want you to know about why and how to apply the science of learning in your academic setting, which explores the history, principles, application, and practice of the ‘science of learning.
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In the last TTT, I shared that I lecture. In this round of resources, we see a slight variation that I strive for called dynamic lecturing. The goal of dynamic lecturing is to get the learners more involved.
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I always prided myself on returning feedback to students right away – usually by our next meeting. This required some forethought from me – collect on Friday to return on a Monday – but I thought it was pedagogically significant to get things back into their hands ASAP. Some recent studies show this might not be the case: Delayed and Immediate Feedback in the Classroom: The Results Aren’t What Students Think! |
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At this time last year, professors reported widespread anxiety, depression, and a lack of motivation in their classrooms. Hopefully, this year is faring better, but we can use our recent break to reset the tone in our classes if things have drifted. This Chronicle article, How to Solve the Student-Disengagement Crisis, provides tips from six experts on how to keep students engaged. |
Let me be honest – I lecture. While I intersperse active learning activities throughout, a large portion of my course content is presented through lectures. But how do I know if my students understand? Are they picking up what I am putting down?
