So often, as we teach and reteach the same courses, we accidentally fall into a pattern of repetition. Certainly, for those of us who have taught the same courses with the same student learning outcomes, we have found the activities that work, dismissed the ones that don’t, and only overhaul a course when it becomes… Read more »
Teaching Strategies
What is a T-Shaped Student and why should that be our goal?
Universities are excellent at creating disciplinary expertise at all levels. We ask incoming students to choose a major during the first year, often before even showing up on campus. Then we ask them to take classes in this chosen discipline for years. Upon graduation students may enter the workforce or they may enter graduate school… Read more »
Quick Tip: Handling the Grad School Transition
This is my last “quick tip” in the series sharing what I learned from the amazing IUB instructors who facilitated workshops during our annual Associate Instructor Orientation. In case you missed the earlier ones (although I like to assume you read our blog posts as soon as they land in your inbox), I’ve already shared… Read more »
Generative AI in the Classroom: Large Enrollment Courses (Primer Part 7)
There are lots of ways to use generative AI to improve student assessment, but what about using it to make your life easier as an instructor? If we think about generative AI as an assistant, what kinds of tasks could generative AI help you finish them more effectively (both improving the quality of your work… Read more »
Improving Teaching (and OCQs!) with Mid-Semester Feedback
For both instructors and students, there are a lot of good reasons to administer a mid-semester feedback survey. It gives you as the instructor an opportunity to show that you value students’ feedback and want to improve your teaching and their learning. It also enhances students’ metacognitive skills, which can benefit their learning throughout their… Read more »
Instructor Spotlights: How to Create Productive Group Environments in Class
Around midterms, instructors tend to see student engagement plummet. Over the past few semesters, I’ve written about encouraging peer-to-peer engagement as well as a few tricks for getting your students talking. Today, I’m going to highlight two instructors who facilitate innovative and successful group work during class time. Sarah Fischer (PhD Candidate, Associate Instructor, Lieber… Read more »