Have you used the new Say My Name feature from NoteBowl to learn how to pronounce your students names? This article from Inside Higher Ed explores the importance of using and correctly pronouncing the names of Hispanic and Latino students in the New York City school system, and how this impacts their later learning.
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 – Interactive Video Lessons
Creating interactive videos for your class offers a different learning experience for students, increases student engagement with media content, and provides a way to gauge student comprehension of content through checking in on what they understand. Check out this post “Interactive Videos for your Classes” to see some of the options that ETS recommends for creating these videos.
Teaching – How to hold a better class discussion
Now that we are back in-person, many of us are excited to engage in those lively classroom discussions. Could you use a few pointers? The Chronicle article, How to Hold a Better Class Discussion, has many practical tips and suggestions. The article is nicely divided into sections:
- Why Discussion Matters
- 7 Strategies to Change the Norms of Class Discussions
- How to Keep a Discussion on Track
- Common Challenges: Participation Grades, Bad Answers, and Divisive Topics
- Resources
Don’t forget, you can access Chronicle articles directly through Denison’s institutional account.
Tech – discussion boards on Notebowl
Back in classrooms does not mean we have to leave behind the opportunities to create meaningful asynchronous class discussion in Notebowl. This summer, ETS hosted a workshop titled “Engage Students with Meaningful Discussion Boards.” This ETS blog post covers the main takeaways from the workshop, and it also includes resources for creating discussion boards in Notebowl (on the ETS YouTube Playlist).
Teaching II – how is class going?
Trying something new this semester? It’s never too early to get feedback from your students. Here is a simple feedback technique I head from Dr. Sarah Wolff in Mathematics she calls KQS. Students complete the following:
- Keep doing this
- Quit doing this
- Start doing this
It only takes a few minutes, and is a low-cost way to get some valuable feedback and act as a conversation started of why you do something a particular way.
Teaching – how to access participation
Class discussion plays a key role in many of our classes at Denison. So much so that many of us include class participation as a percentage of the course grade. But how do we access participation? Is it just how many times a student speaks in class? Does this reward the risk-taking extrovert and penalize the introvert who needs time to process?
Tech II – Transforming back to campus
Want to know what Denison faculty and staff think about Equity? Watch this week’s ETS Word of the Week: Transformation. You can also catch the last three weeks of videos on community, technology, and equity on the playlist here. ETS used these interviews to design the August sessions for faculty, which started last week and continue for the rest of this week.
Tidbit – what’s the right amount of reading?
A reading list is a tricky thing. You want to assign enough for students to get a better understanding of the topic, but how much is too much? Checkout the Course Workload Estimator at Rice University. In this Teaching in Higher Ed podcast, co-creator Dr. Betsy Barre explains why she created the estimator and how it is used.
Tech – Pronouncing Student Names
We all know that names are important and pronunciation matters. In a recent Times Higher Education article, the authors discuss just how important correct pronunciation can be for our students, and also provide tips for Chinese names in particular. If you struggle with name pronunciation, you might be interested in one of the newest Notebowl features available for students and faculty.
Teaching – the first day of class
I’ve had quite a few first days since I taught my first class (last century, cough cough). Regardless, I’ve always reviewed Lang’s How to Teach a Good First Day of Class since it first appeared in the Chronicle a few years ago. It is always updated for the new school year and focuses on four key concepts to help set a productive first impression:
- Curiosity
- Community
- Learning
- Expectations
The article is chockfull of good ideas and useful tips that can be skimmed quickly.