Learning Innovation staff regularly share articles and other media in a section at the bottom of our main page titled “What We’re Reading.” These articles pique our interest and often spark discussion among our team. ICYMI, here’s what we read last month. We hope some of these articles inspire and challenge your thinking around teaching and learning.
Teaching in Fall 2022: Balancing Flexibility and Accountability
University of Michigan’s Center for Research on Teaching and Learning blog
Over the past two years, instructors across the university have learned a great deal about ways to build flexibility into their courses, a core principle of equitable teaching. We know that students have benefitted from this approach to course elements such as absences and deadli… Continue reading >>>
Your Teaching Doesn’t Need to Be Perfect
The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Teaching Newsletter
This week:
- I share insights on what to do when even solid teaching strategies seem insufficient in class.
- I ask what you’ve noticed about student participation so far this semester.
- I point you to a Twitter discussion about reframing office hours. Continue reading >>>
Why Students Are Skipping Class So Often, and How to Bring Them Back
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Last April, I was a month out from the end of the spring semester when I read in The Chronicle about the “stunning’ level of student disconnection.” At the time, I was teaching three in-person courses, two of them large, and speaking to a lot of empty seats. The story confirmed… Continue reading >>>
‘Quiet Quitting’ Isn’t the Solution for Burnout
Inside Higher Ed
If you work at a college or university, you’ve probably read some of the many news articles about how the Great Faculty Resignation is underway and faculty members are reporting greater rates and intensity of burnout. Recent surveys indicate that half of university staff are… Continue reading >>>
Is It Time to Redefine Class Participation?
The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Teaching Newsletter
This week:
- I describe one professor’s new approach to grading participation.
- I ask you to tell us how it’s going so far this semester.
- I share articles and opinion pieces on teaching you may have missed. Continue reading >>>
Mythbusters: Ungrading edition
Grading for Growth
Early this year, one of my blog posts — My first experiment with ungrading: Final review — blew up a bit. As its title implies, it was a reflection on my first semester of attempting to “go gradeless” in an upper-level geometry class. As my post got passed around the Internet, I… Continue reading >>>
Variation in individual engagement in team-based learning and final exam performance
International Review of Economics Education
I analyze the relationship between individual contributions within a team in a team-based learning environment and performance on the final exam in three different economics courses over thirteen years. All students are assigned to teams but vary in their degree of engagement or… Continue reading >>>
‘Spaces Matter’
Inside Higher Ed
Active learning, or instructional methods that actively engage students in their own learning, is on the rise. So, too, are physical spaces dedicated to this kind of teaching. These are positive developments from the perspective of groups such as the Association of American Universities… Continue reading >>>
Planning for Grading for Growth: The Final Countdown
Grading for Growth
With this post, we are concluding our ongoing series on how to build an alternative grading system into one of your courses. To recap: Part 1 gave a framework of five questions for getting clear on the context of your course. Part 2 was about determining the course’s module… Continue reading >>>
EDUCAUSE QuickPoll Results: Transforming Teaching and Learning with a Digital Learning Strategy
EDUCAUSE Review
As institutions navigate digital transformation, a defined plan can identify areas that should be targeted to achieve desired teaching and learning outcomes. The development and implementation of a comprehensive digital learning strategy (DLS) will be essential to transforming the… Continue reading >>>
How Should Professors Evaluate Class Participation?
The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Teaching Newsletter
This week:
- Readers share creative ways to encourage and evaluate class participation.
- Should students be allowed to use phones in the classroom?
- I point you to articles about teaching you may have missed. Continue reading >>>
Pulling Distance Learning Tools Into In-Person Classes
Inside Higher Ed
My calendar has a note on March 19, 2020, that says, “CUNY online model.” On that day, the City University of New York, the largest urban university in the country, with over 250,000 students and 50,000 teachers, canceled all in-person classes and instituted remote learning. Now, we… Continue reading >>>
Advice From Students Who’ve Taken Your Course Before
The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Teaching Newsletter
This week:
- I share how a professor sought her past students’ advice for her current class.
- I pass along readers’ ideas for improving class participation.
- I point you to some recent articles on teaching you may have missed. Continue reading >>>