Notes on Teaching and Learning

Were you unable to attend last week’s workshop on early semester evaluations? It’s not too late to start thinking about early semester evaluations. This is a great way to get feedback from your students to help you improve your teaching, and it shows that you are invested in their learning. One of the most popular […]

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The following entry from the 2013-2014 Teaching Issues Writing Consortium: Teaching Tips was contributed by Karen M. Kortz, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Physics, Community College of Rhode Island ————————————————————————————————————– An essential lifelong skill for students is to think about their learning, or be metacognitive about it. Although metacognition ties directly to student success, it is often […]

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(Based on Carnegie Mellon’s Instructional Strategies webpage.) How can we use class time effectively to promote student learning? In addition to lectures, there are many other instructional strategies that can help facilitate class room learning as well. (Click the links below for more information on each instructional strategy) ————————————————————————————————————–——————————– Lectures: Traditional lectures are one of the most […]

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The following entry from the 2013-2014 Teaching Issues Writing Consortium: Teaching Tips was contributed by Judith Longfield, Ph.D, Georgia Southern University ————————————————————————————————————– One of the best ways to promote deep learning is through the use of collaborative learning. To plan for collaborative learning, ask yourself: How can I structure the learning tasks? What kinds of groups should […]

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The following entry from the 2013-2014 Teaching Issues Writing Consortium: Teaching Tips was contributed by Dr. Michelle Jackson Manager, English Language Institute, Professional & Public Programs at The University of Texas. ————————————————————————————————————– Favorite Teaching Quote: “A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary.” – Thomas Carruthers Contributed Activity: On the first day of class, I […]

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The following entry from the 2013-2014 Teaching Issues Writing Consortium: Teaching Tips was contributed by Valerie Lopes, PhD Professor, Centre for Academic Excellence Seneca College and  adapted from the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, Harvard University Online Document Course Design Tip Sheet – available at: http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/html/icb.topic58474/CourseDesign.html ————————————————————————————————————– In preparing to teach a course, it […]

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As we begin the last full week of classes, it is important to think about how we want our classes to end. Review sessions can help students study for the final exam, and also reduce their exam anxiety. The following tips for planning a review session come from the “The Last Day of Class” section […]

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The following entry from the 2013-2014 Teaching Issues Writing Consortium: Teaching Tips was contributed by Claudia J. Stanny, Ph.D., Director, Center for University Teaching, Learning, and Assessment, University of West Florida. ————————————————————————————————————– Faculty are experts in their disciplines. The cognitive skills that comprise expertise can also create barriers to instruction. Experts internalize disciplinary cognitive skills and […]

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The following entry from the 2013-2014 Teaching Issues Writing Consortium: Teaching Tips was contributed by Todd Zakrajsek, PhD Executive Director, Academy of Educators, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. ————————————————————————————————————– Conventional wisdom is that new information is acquired while studying and then the extent to which the material has been successfully learned is assessed through […]

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The following entry from the 2013-2014 Teaching Issues Writing Consortium: Teaching Tips was contributed by Belinda Richardson and Debi Griffin, Bellarmine University. ————————————————————————————————————– In order to retain student attention and facilitate learning, consider integrating a variety of activities into a lecture-based course. Start by finding natural breaks in the content material and break up the lecture into […]

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