As Jessamyn Neuhaus explains in Geeky Pedagogy, truly effective teaching centers on sharing knowledge enthusiastically. However, sometimes instructors get so enthusiastic about conveying knowledge that they skip foundational steps, leaving students feeling frustrated or behind. Navigating an expert blind spot can be a challenge for both novice and experienced educators, but doing so thoughtfully can… Read more »
Entries by Sarah Pedzinski
How can I support and encourage my students to complete course readings?
When my colleague, Madeleine, and I sat down to discuss why students don’t read, we began the conversation with a recap of all the reading we were behind on. Madeleine was happy to share a resource on mind-mapping that she warned me she hadn’t yet finished, whereas I complained about the 10-book stack of dissertation… Read more »
Quick Tip: How to learn more about your students’ reading motivation, practices, and comprehension
If you are concerned about your students’ reading habits, why they complete or don’t complete readings, and whether they comprehend the readings, ask them. Here are a few survey questions you can use. In the CITL’s current Faculty Learning Community, “Designing and Building Equitable Large Classes,” participants are surveying their students about their reading practices…. Read more »
Unspoken Expectations and Student Success: Revealing the Hidden Curriculum
What is the hidden curriculum? The “hidden curriculum” or “invisible curriculum” refers to the unstated norms, policies, and expectations that students need to know to succeed in higher education but are often not taught explicitly. Your students might not know how to do things that seem quite rote and standard to someone more experienced, like… Read more »
Creating an OCQ Game Plan
With end-of-term deadlines, grading turnarounds, and rapid student emails, it is easy to get overwhelmed in December. Then, when your inbox quiets and holiday chaos has begun, online course questionnaires (OCQs)—IUB’s version of student ratings of instruction—suddenly appear. If you’re like me, you stare at the email announcing their availability for a few days before… Read more »
Course Design for Graduate Students: You’ve Got This!
Midway through the 2022 spring semester, I walked into my classroom and was greeted by one of my students giving her classmates an impromptu presentation on educational best practices, punctuated with examples of work I’d been doing in her classroom. Despite the student’s praise and the fact that she was connecting claims and evidence (a… Read more »