Perhaps you’re trying a new teaching strategy this semester, or you’re teaching a new course and you wonder what your students think of it. Or you want to avoid surprises in your end-of-semester evaluations. All of these are reasons get some feedback from your students through a mid-semester evaluation. A mid-semester evaluation gives you an… Read more »
A faculty client of mine recently asked me for some general all-purpose discussion prompts for her class. She was having difficulty coming up with prompts for in-class discussion that were focused on the readings she had assigned, yet were also broad enough to generate many different answers and spur discussion. And ideally, they would also… Read more »
This is an update to a 2018 post, with new details about ordering CATME through the IU eText program. Do you suspect some of your student teams are not performing at their best? Are your students reporting that they cannot find a time to meet with their group members? Are some complaining that not everyone… Read more »
In March 2020 the pandemic began immediately disrupting most aspects of the in-person studio art ceramic class I was teaching. Reflecting on this period now, it feels especially important in my development as a teacher that I was given permission to try new things that had previously not been allowed or that I had not… Read more »
A new instructor recently asked us for general tips and advice for teaching large multi-section courses. I reached out to our seasoned instructors and here’s what they passed on. First steps The main thing that comes to mind is to always keep the scale in mind. Otherwise it can become totally overwhelming! Take time to… Read more »
Let’s face it: getting students to participate in class is a challenge. My discussion-based sections of English composition sometimes felt more like Old Western standoffs than the collaborative learning communities I was striving for. After much trial and error, I found a simple practice that amped up the volume in my classes: attendance questions. Research… Read more »
