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| In our Denison classes across campus, we often face the challenge of connecting with students across experience and interest levels all in a single classroom in ways that generate thinking and discussion. J. Muthoni Mwangi shares the concept of the “parking lot” (the low-tech version involves sticky notes and a manila folder) as a way to invite questions, create student investment in class, and break down barriers across knowledge and experience levels. |
Teaching Tips
Articles and resources to empower your teaching experience.
Identifying Unsupported Claims
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In my W101, I am using AI-generated writing to teach students two things: (1) the pitfalls of submitting unrefined AI output in their assignments and (2) how to evaluate and revise writing. For example, I developed this group activity to help students learn how to identify unsupported claims.
When prompted to write a college-level essay, AI tends to generate a lot of unsupported claims.
The Challenges of Slowing Down and Thinking Hard
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| One of the themes emerging in my conversations with departments and programs across campus this semester (17 so far!) is our commitment, as teachers and scholars, to helping our students embrace the challenge, satisfaction, and necessity of thinking—deeply, creatively, productively.
Faculty across campus articulate this goal in a variety of ways: Teaching students to value slow thinking in untangling math and programming problems, rather than speed in getting to an answer. |
Learning Goals and Course Objectives
Below are some resources on learning objectives and course goals.
- Resources for creating/revising your syllabus from Denison’s Center for Learning & Teaching
- Harvard’s Bok Center for Teaching and Learning
- Writing Learning Objectives from AAMC
- University of Illinois Chicago
- Graphic Display of Student Learning Objectives by Billie Hara
- How to Write Learning Goals from Stanford Evaluation & Research
- Articles that have been shared in CfLT newsletters over the past five years using “learning goals” in the search box.
Ask Your Students Why They Use AI
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| When it comes to learning and teaching, AI is not a standalone issue. It intersects with many of our longstanding topics of discussion and concern at Denison, from helping our students persist through challenging work to figuring out how to best teach and support students who come from a wide variety of high school experiences. |
Two Truths and a Lie
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| Looking for something different at mid-semester to get your students thinking and your classroom energy flowing? “Two Truths and a Lie” may seem a little worn out as a first-day ice breaker, but Stephen L. Chew has a great idea for how to use the same game to engage students with key concepts in your course materials. |
Characteristics of Good College-Level Writing
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In my W101, in most class periods, students do a graded in-class writing (ICW) assignment. A few weeks ago, I did an experiment: I required students to use a large language model (LLM) like ChatGPT or Gemini to do the ICW.
I gave them the following instructions: “Use an LLM of your choice to write a response to the ICW prompt.
Taking a Midterm Moment
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As faculty, we are not generally in the habit of taking time to pause and appreciate our accomplishments. There is always the next class meeting to plan, the next set of grading to finish, the next book order to submit. And those are only the things on the “classes” section of our to-do lists.
So let me take a post-fall break minute to say congratulations and well done on making it halfway through the fall semester! On
Mixing it up at Midterm Time
When October fatigue hits us and our students at the same time, occasionally it is tempting, against all of our better Denison instincts, to take the path of least resistance and just provide information and hope that students are listening. For days when you feel yourself working to resist that impulse, “3 Ways to Liven Up Your Lectures” has some great tips and reminders for small changes to help keep your students (and yourself) engaged with the material and one another.
Helping Our Students Connect with Each Other
It’s easy to assume that on a small campus like Denison, our students are already well-socialized and highly connected with one another before they ever get to our classrooms. But in the wake of Covid-19 and other dynamics of the 2020s, even Denison students often need some coaching to connect with each other. “Why One Professor Fosters Friendship in her Courses” offers some specific reasons and strategies for encouraging student connections, and if you take a minute to ask around, your Denison colleagues probably have even more!