Read more about the article “Everybody with Me?” and Other Not-so-useful Questions

“Everybody with Me?” and Other Not-so-useful Questions

“Any questions?” “Is everybody with me?” “Does this make sense?” I have asked my students these vague types of questions many times and the most common response was...silence. But how should I interpret the silence? Perhaps the students understand everything completely and therefore have no questions. Maybe they have questions but are afraid to ask them out of fear of looking stupid. Or it could mean that they are so lost they don’t even know what to ask! Only our boldest students would say; “Um, you lost me 10 minutes ago, can you repeat the whole thing again?”

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Read more about the article Preparing Your TA for the Job

Preparing Your TA for the Job

The Teaching Assistant (TA) job is typically filled by an upper-level university student or graduate student. It’s a job that requires one to play several different roles. First and foremost, the TA is a student and must complete all responsibilities to maintain this status. Second, the TA has a responsibility to the hiring professor. To the professor, the TA is the assistant and must abide by the requirements set out by the professor. Third, the TA has a responsibility to the students in the class. The role here is that of teacher, tutor, and occasionally advisor.

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Read more about the article Taking Notes on the Reading

Taking Notes on the Reading

Every course has assignments, but do they get the attention they deserve or do the same versions end up in the syllabus year after year? How much variety is there in the assignments students complete, in degree programs or even across their years at the institution? Bottom line: we think there’s more that could be done with assignments, and this feature aims to provide examples that illustrate innovative approaches and thoughtful attention to design details.

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Read more about the article From Summiting Bloom’s to Promoting Lifelong Learning

From Summiting Bloom’s to Promoting Lifelong Learning

Bloom’s Taxonomy has long been regarded as the holy grail in leading students through a process of content mastery. The traditional journey begins with imparting information to learners and finds its apex in enabling learners to evaluate and assess knowledge claims. In theory, each step of the journey to mastery builds on prior steps.

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Read more about the article The “Big Bang” of Motivation: Questions That Evoke Wonder in Our Students

The “Big Bang” of Motivation: Questions That Evoke Wonder in Our Students

“If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength.” - Rachel Carson, A Sense of Wonder

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Read more about the article Office Hours Alternative Resonates with Students

Office Hours Alternative Resonates with Students

Faculty regularly face the problem of getting the students most in need of help to come to the office for help. Not only do a small number of students take advantage of office hours, typically those who show up are not those who most need to be there. In previous issues we have reported on research that offers some reasons why this happens. When students start getting feedback that they are doing poorly, some begin to doubt their abilities. They conclude that they just don't have what it takes and so getting help isn't going to make any difference. Other times, it's the stress of having to face the professor with their failure. Some students are so lost, they don't even know what to ask, and their confidence is so shaken, they have trouble processing helpful information when it's delivered.

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Read more about the article Teaching News Literacy in Politically Polarized Times

Teaching News Literacy in Politically Polarized Times

It is no longer news that the 2016 U.S. Presidential election revealed and exacerbated a political polarization that has been growing in and beyond the United States. The heated nature of modern news reporting and political discourse both reflects and feeds such polarization. It also presents significant challenges to teachers who hope to foster critical and reflective thinking.

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Read more about the article Role Play Gives Students Valuable Pre-Practicum Experiences

Role Play Gives Students Valuable Pre-Practicum Experiences

In today’s college practicum experiences, it is sometimes quite difficult for students to find quality field or clinical placements to log hours of pre-professional experiences. Hospitals, clinics, and school districts maintain busy schedules and are not always willing to allow interns into their facilities to practice their professional skills on an ongoing basis.

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Read more about the article Class Discussion: From Blank Stares to True Engagement

Class Discussion: From Blank Stares to True Engagement

Thirty years of research in the scholarship of teaching and learning in higher education have demonstrated that when students are engaged in the classroom, they learn more (Pascarella and Terezini 1991, 2005). Classroom discussion is likely the most commonly used strategy for actively engaging students. Whether it is a seminar course centered on discussion or a lecture punctuated by moments of interaction with students, discussion is likely second only to lecture as the most frequently used pedagogical strategy.

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