Notes on Teaching and Learning

Now that spring sunshine has arrived, some instructors’ thoughts have turned more darkly to the stack of final grading they will soon face.  Here are a few quick tips to make the most of these final moments of the semester:   Use Rubrics Studies tout the benefits of rubrics in grading reliably, increasing transparency, and promoting […]

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Conflict is a natural part of social interactions, and thus it is no surprise that conflict occasionally arises in the classroom. Ranging from a minor disagreement about grades to more disruptive instances, we typically think of conflict as something to be avoided in the course of teaching and learning. On the other hand, what would […]

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When you sit down to write a final exam, where do you start? Ideally, in the process of designing your course, you already put some serious thought into how to assess and measure student learning.  Perhaps you followed the steps of “backward course design”—a course design strategy which makes the development of an assessment strategy […]

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During your career, you will inevitably be asked to write a letter of recommendation for a student. Below are some ways to deal with student requests and advice on how to write the letter itself.   Set up Expectations Be Transparent: Since you are likely to be asked for a recommendation at some point during […]

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