Notes on Teaching and Learning

Teaching college-age students brings with it a host of logistical issues, not the least of which is deciding what to do about attendance.  With their burgeoning independence, many students desire the ability to come and go as they please.  However, as instructors, we want students in the classroom for the classes we spent so much […]

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Welcome back! As the new school year begins (and with it, your new courses), it’s a good idea to consider how you’re going to rock the first day. Here are some tips to start the semester off right: Although many students view the first week of classes as “Syllabus Week,” consider sending out your syllabus […]

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Are you interested in learning more about discipline-specific teaching and learning in the university setting? The university offers short credit-bearing summer graduate courses on university teaching and learning in various fields!  Consider taking one of this year’s courses: GRED 60501: Teaching Engineering Tutorials and Laboratories GRED 60601: Preparing for an Academic Career in Physics, Math, […]

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Forty-four Notre Dame Graduate Student Teaching Assistants (TAs) have been named as the recipients of the 2014 Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award. Created to recognize graduate student instructors and TAs who demonstrate commitment to exceptional teaching in lectures, seminars, labs, and across the academic profession, the Graduate School and the Kaneb Center for Teaching and […]

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Metaphorically, if each student has a bucket that he or she progressively fills with knowledge throughout the semester while learning in your course, is it not important for that student to keep the contents of that bucket even after the course is over?  Undoubtedly, most instructors would shudder at the idea of students walking out […]

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The following entry from the 2013-2014 Teaching Issues Writing Consortium: Teaching Tips was contributed by Freya Kinner, Instructional Developer, Western Carolina University ————————————————————————————————————– You turn a test back to your students. They look at their papers, and you span the room. Your students’ visages are telling – some look shocked, others proud, and still others […]

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The following entry from the 2013-2014 Teaching Issues Writing Consortium: Teaching Tips was contributed by Emma Bourassa, Experiential Learning and Field Test Instructor Vancouver Community College ————————————————————————————————————– Here are a few ideas for encouraging critical thinking and self-reflection on learning that can be used during the semester as feedback on learning for the instructor. At the […]

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With Spring Break rapidly approaching, what better time than now to check out the Kaneb Center’s library?  Housed at the Kaneb Center are hundreds of books, periodicals, and other materials on a variety of topics related to teaching and learning in higher education.  Whether you’ll be traveling or staying in town, borrowing and reading one […]

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With midterm season quickly approaching, many instructors are concerned with how to curb cheating in the classroom.  In his talk  at Notre Dame in November 2013, Dr. James Lang (Associate Professor of English at Assumption College) noted that when students engage in academically dishonest behaviors, often times they are reacting inappropriately to a learning environment […]

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The following entry from the 2013-2014 Teaching Issues Writing Consortium: Teaching Tips was contributed by Ken Sagendorf, Ph.D., Director, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), Regis University ————————————————————————————————————– In the last couple of weeks, I have had multiple faculty approach me asking about their multiple-choice tests that they have given in their classes and specifically, […]

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