When I was teaching introductory composition, my students often warned me early in the term that they were “bad at writing,” or “just not that good at English.” These statements were frustrating—who wants to begin a semester with unenthusiastic students? However, they also demonstrated a prevalence of what psychologist Carol Dweck dubs as the “fixed… Read more »
The newly-published 3rd edition of Classroom Assessment Techniques: Formative Feedback Tools for College and University Teachers includes over 50 Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) you can use to quickly gauge your students’ learning, help them organize course material, and obtain feedback about their learning. One of the simplest and most useful CATs is the Muddiest Point…. Read more »
This post was written by Lisa Kurz from the CITL and Eric Metzler from the Kelley School of Business. While your syllabus might be your first point of contact with your students at the beginning of a semester, the first day of class is also critical. That’s when students form their first impressions of the… Read more »
Welcome back to another school year! We hope you feel refreshed from the summer and are ready to welcome your new colleagues and our new students to campus. This post will focus on ways to welcome your students to class. It is the first in a series aimed at helping you start your semester on… Read more »
We all know how busy life can be. You’ve got a paper due for revisions, need to prep for that new class you’ll be assisting with in the fall, and your kids are clamoring to go play mini golf. With all the responsibilities we hold, we at the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL)… Read more »
Digital clutter robs our brains of time and mental energy as we rifle through old files, assignments, and quizzes that we keep around “just in case” we want to use them again. Schedules from past semesters, files attached to announcements, outdated readings for which you have now found more recent and relevant replacements. It can… Read more »