Did you see the recent article, This Is How the Humanities End, by Steven Mintz? How did it sit with you? Our own Karen Spierling had some thoughts on the article and shared them in this IHE letter to the editor, ‘Stop With the Academic Clickbaiting’ on the Humanities. In it, she cautions not to dismiss the efforts of fellow academics—and especially the hard work of junior professors—to keep the humanities vital.
Teaching, Tech, and Tidbits Digest
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.
Tech – Modules in Canvas: How to make them work for your class!
Modules again??? Yes, we know, modules again. BUT this week’s tech tip looks at three different ways you can use modules to organize class content and why you might want to use modules rather than the other course navigation pages. Plus, there are a few bonus tips (including how to add Google Docs)! Watch this video by Denison’s ETS team member Kelli Van Wasshenova to learn more about leveraging Canvas Modules.
From the teaching archive – Midterm Course Evaluations
As we near the halfway mark, consider getting mid-semester feedback from your students. Mid-semester evaluations:
- If necessary, provide a chance to correct student misconceptions or make changes to the course schedule, activities, etc.
- Allow students to reflect on their expectations, efforts, and learning.
- Let students know you care about their input.
Here are some sample mid-semester evaluations you can use or adapt for your course:
- This check-off format from Seattle University makes it easy for your students to provide specific feedback and some open-ended questions.
Teaching II – We should correctly pronounce colleagues’ and students’ names.
One of my most considerable angst for a new class is correctly pronouncing my students’ names. While my rural upbringing did not provide many opportunities to practice pronunciation (my school district was Milan, pronounced MY-lin), I do make a concerted effort to pronounce students’ names. I ask them to work with me and help me learn, just like I will work with them to learn in my class.
Teaching – some thoughts on grading
As we head into the fifth week of the semester, the grading has started in earnest. Are you happy with your grading process? A group of Denison faculty created a Faculty Learning Community – Alt-Grading – to consider different approaches to grading. In part, they are exploring the many facets of the term “ungrading,” which aims to focus more on the learning process and less on points.
Cognitive Goals for Classes: Academic Mindset
Teachers can cultivate an academic mindset that promotes student motivation toward deep learning and resilience in the face of setbacks and challenges. Student mental mindset refers to the attitudes and beliefs that the student has about the course. This short article by our friend, Stephen Chew, outlines four essential student beliefs for a productive academic mindset that we can help build in our students.
Modules in Canvas: What they are and how to use them
Still wondering how to leverage the best parts of Canvas for your classes? Modules are a great way to present materials to your students. They are flexible, and you can set them up however you like. For some basics on modules, take a look at the Canvas instructor guides section on modules. Prefer a video? Here’s one that has an overview of modules.
Why students won’t read
With all the formalities of the first few weeks behind us, hopefully, your classes have settled into a routine of productive learning. How is the reading going? Often we get frustrated that students are not doing the reading we assign; reading that is critical to course discussion and understanding. The short articles Why Students Won’t Read—and What to Do about It by Chris Hakala and Want Students to Do the Reading?
The first day of class
I already had my first day of anxiety dream – teaching a new class in my high school classroom, notes were incomplete, and Dr. Matt Neal was there to observe me!
No matter how many times we’ve taught, we all experience some angst about that first class. To help me focus, I always reflect on Lang’s How to Teach a Good First Day of Class which lays out four fundamental principles to follow:
- Curiosity
- Community
- Learning
- Expectations
So whether this is your first semester at Denison or your fifteenth, give this easy-to-scan article a look for some final tips before your first class.
Check out ETS’ Favorites List!
Canvas has so many resources to support instructors that it can be overwhelming what to choose. To make this much less daunting, ETS has curated a short list of video favorites, giving you a good start for using Canvas. Most are well under 5 mins long, and you can easily select to view only the topics that are of interest to you.