Classes have started! Students are curious. They will have lots of questions for us. This short piece from Faculty Focus gives us Five Strategies for Mastering the Art of Answering Questions When Teaching and Presenting.
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.
Tidbit – a tricky question
What will students remember from your class in 20 Years? In this article, James Lang tackles this thorny question that has no set answer. However, as we are mapping out our semester, consider how your course might:
- inspire a passion for the subject
- provide a sense of disciplinary literacy
- give an understanding of how the discipline matters in other realms
- develop an eye for the bigger picture
Tech – Introducing Learning Management System (LMS)
In case you have not heard the news, a new Learning Management System (LMS) will be coming to Denison beginning Fall 2022. The ITC, the Office of the Provost, and ITS have been working together to ensure Denison faculty are involved in the process of selecting a LMS that works best for the university. Demos of three systems, Canvas, D2L Brightspace, and OpenLMS (Moodle-based), will be held the second and fourth weeks of January.
Teaching II – Speaking of Your Syllabus…
Do your students know where to look for help? As we are laying out that new class or revising a familiar one, consider the tips in this Chronicle article, How Your Syllabus Can Encourage Students to Ask for Help.
Students don’t read your syllabus? Recall this TTT deeper dive video where I give tips on getting your students to engage with your syllabus, based on a short Chronicle article.
Teaching – Considering Language when Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment
As we look at the semester ahead, now is an excellent time to reflect on our syllabus and other materials – do they set an inclusive tone? This article from the Teaching Professor provides an easy-to-read list of suggestions to make your materials do just that.
It is also a good time to revisit this TTT piece from Kaly Thayer, our Coordinator for Multilingual Learning, with tips on ensuring our grading and expectations do not privilege one group of students over another.
Tidbit – What Ted Lasso taught me about my first semester of teaching
Whether you’re a fan of Apple’s hit series or not, the fictional character Ted Lasso has some words of wisdom for those teaching for the first semester or thirtieth. Check out this short piece from The Teaching Professor, What Ted Lasso taught me about my first semester of teaching.
Tech – Workshop: “Seeing Through Your Text with Voyant: Low Barrier Text Analysis in the Classroom”
On Saturday, December 4, the Ohio Five CODEX team, in collaboration with Denison ETS and the Library, hosted a workshop on computational text analysis and using a tool call Voyant. Most of the faculty participating in the workshop left with ideas on how they can use this digital tool to have students conduct distance reading on their texts.
Teaching – Be good to your future self: The importance of self-reflection assignments between essays
As we sit down to grade that last stack of papers, did our students learn from subsequent assignments? That is, did students look at the graded work you returned and take the comments and suggestions to heart? In my experience, they more often look at the grade at the top, then move on.
In this concise piece from Faculty Focus, Julia Colella provides a self-reflection rubric she requires of her students after an essay assignment is returned.
Teaching – Be good to your future self: What Is the Purpose of Final Exams, Anyway?
As we head into final exams, several recent articles have reflected on the nature and need for the traditional final. In this Chronicle piece, Kevin Gannon – the tattooed professor – reflects on the nature of final exams and whether they serve the purpose we intend. In Exams Reimagined by Beckie Supiano, she shares examples of how professors are reimaging their exams.
Tidbit – What Ted Lasso taught me about my first semester of teaching
Whether you’re a fan of Apple’s hit series or not, the fictional character Ted Lasso has some words of wisdom for those teaching for the first semester or thirtieth. Check out this short piece from The Teaching Professor, What Ted Lasso taught me about my first semester of teaching.