Current Issue – Page 110 – The Teaching Professor

How to Respond to Hostile, Inappropriate Comments in Class

Tasha Souza, PhD April 11, 2017

When hot moments ignite in the classroom, it is important to engage thoughtfully and purposively in strategies that maintain a supportive communication climate. Managing hot moments is a complex endeavor, and it is our responsibility to maintain a climate that is conducive to learning by

participation policies for college classroom

Participation Policy Examples

Maryellen Weimer April 6, 2017

Here’s a collection of five different participation policies. I encourage you to use them to stimulate thinking and conversations about how a participation policy’s content and tone can influence learning and classroom climate. Which policies work best—given the course, its content, the instructor, and the

Student-Led Advice on How to Study

Maryellen Weimer April 6, 2017

Most of the advice students hear on how to study comes from teachers. We offer it verbally in class before and after exams, in online communications, and on the syllabus. We talk about study strategies during office hours, especially when we meet with students who

Understanding Our Strengths and Weaknesses as Teachers

Maryellen Weimer April 5, 2017

Every teacher has strengths and weaknesses. Have you ever tried to list yours? Doing so is a worthwhile activity. I’d recommend doing it in private with a favorite libation—only one, because there is a need to be thoughtful and honest.

I’m still thinking about mid-career issues,

Five Classroom Assessment Techniques for the Online Classroom

Mary Bart April 4, 2017

Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) are valuable tools for helping faculty find out what students are learning and how well they’re learning it. Since the 1988 release of Classroom Assessment Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers by Thomas Angelo and Patricia Cross, college teachers have been using

Creating a Climate for Learning: A Survey for Students and Teachers

Maryellen Weimer April 3, 2017

How well a class functions is the result of both what the teacher does and what the students do. The way we solicit course evaluation feedback reinforces students’ tendency to see the teacher as the one who’s responsible for whether it was a good class.

University students study in classroom with female lecturer

Facilitation Skills: The Way to Better Student Discussions

Jennifer Waldeck and Maryellen Weimer April 1, 2017

Most faculty aspire to engage and involve students in interesting and insightful discussions. But these in-class and online exchanges frequently disappoint faculty. Students come to them unprepared. They engage reluctantly. Their individual and unrelated comments take the discussion in different directions. There can be awkward

Study Guides and Study Groups

Maryellen Weimer April 1, 2017

Most college faculty are terribly well-intentioned. We care about student success. The material in our courses is important; we want students to learn it. And so, we go out of our way, bend over backwards, and give students everything they need to do well in

What Happens in a Course is a Shared Responsibility

Maryellen Weimer March 29, 2017

One thing about student evaluations that troubles me is how they give students the impression that it’s the teacher who makes or breaks the course. A few instruments query students about their own efforts, but I’m not sure those kinds of questions make it clear

Learning Outside Your Comfort Zone

Maryellen Weimer March 22, 2017

When we learn something outside the comfort zone, we attempt to acquire knowledge or skills in an area where we’re lacking. Part of the discomfort derives from learning something we anticipate will be difficult. We have no idea how to do it, or we think