I am proud to live in a city that officially recognizes Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a holiday that celebrates the history and contributions of indigenous peoples of North America. I am a bit saddened, however, that we still recognize Columbus Day as a federal holiday, given what we know about his “discovery” of America—the start of… Read more »
Providing Feedback Early and Often with the Student Engagement Roster
One of the classic texts on undergraduate teaching—Chickering and Gamson’s “Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education” (AAHE Bulletin, March 1987)—notes the importance of providing prompt feedback to students, giving students “frequent opportunities to perform and receive suggestions for improvement.” In many cases, this means providing low-stakes quizzes and assignments early in the semester,… Read more »
The French Bread Gambit
This week’s post comes from Carl Weinberg, Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of History Things were not looking good for a student pretending to be King Louis XVI. The revolutionary forces had proclaimed that France was now a democratic republic, and the radical Jacobins were calling for the king’s head. Fearing for his life… Read more »
Who uses the CITL? (Geeky Data Warning!)
Ever wonder who uses the services of the CITL—our consultations, workshops, grants, and other programs? Well, you may not consider that question too deeply, but part of my job as CITL director is to understand who uses our services, what that tells us about our reach and impact on campus, and how it might inform… Read more »
Finishing the Semester Strongly
The semester is nearing its end, and it is easy to just grind out the last few weeks before finals, like the last mile of a long race. Just like in a race, though, it is often that final stretch that really counts, both for your performance and how you feel about it, so it… Read more »
Nudging your Students to Vote
On Tuesday, I attended a presentation on student voting sponsored by IUB’s Political and Civic Engagement (PACE) program, which featured Nancy Thomas from Tufts University’s Institute for Democracy and Higher Education. Within a great discussion of ways to improve student civic engagement and voting came a very sobering fact: In the 2014 midterm election, 56.4%… Read more »