Imagine this scenario: students taking physics—one group with a faculty member who lectures effectively, the other with one who uses active learning extensively. In both cases what students learn is tested after the class session along with their reports of how much they think they’ve
Having never viewed myself as an expert and periodically believed I’m an imposter just waiting to be found out, I went a long time without worrying about the so-called curse of knowledge. I couldn’t possibly know too much math and chemistry, the content I teach.
Relax. Deep breaths. It is going to be okay. How many times do you say something similar in face-to-face classes? After giving out assignment directions, what kinds of additional verbal instructions or tips do you offer students? These unplanned pep talks and additional information help
Most of us teaching at the college level like to read. We read professional materials and sometimes even read for pleasure. Much about teaching can be learned from reading as well. But we work in a profession where there are a lot of demands on
Designed as guide for faculty reading groups, this resource includes quotations from and questions about an article on a seldom-studied topic: the connection between course goals and assignments.
There is no shortage of productivity and efficiency advice for entrepreneurs. An overflowing supply of books, websites, newsletters, podcasts, and videos offer tips, tricks, and strategies to help entrepreneurs manage their time, attention, and priorities. But that advice also applies to online instructors. With this
As a writing teacher, I’ve discovered that counseling writers to sequence details logically does more for their writing, their readers, and their intellectual development than encouraging them to take risks or to make art. Plot really is everything. Not just in story writing but in
About seven years ago I wrote a blog post about a family meltdown. My manually dexterous and spatially oriented engineer spouse was trying to tell me and my not mentally gifted brother how to tie a load of boards on a cart. From his tractor
Long ago I learned that the best way to tour a city is by bike. A car isolates a tourist from a city, while a bike immerses them in it. A car is a means of racing from tourist destination to tourist destination in as
A few months after I received my university’s undergraduate teaching award in 2009, my classroom anxiety dreams went from merely hairy to absolutely hair-raising. For years, I’d dreamed about my classes erupting in chaos: rebellious students flipping over desks, watching pornography while I lectured, or—most
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