When you return a graded exam to your students, you know they’re going to focus in on the grade, to the exclusion of everything else. That’s understandable, but problematic: there’s a lot more information in a graded exam than just the grade – and it’s information that students could use to improve their performance. They… Read more »
Do you live in dread of blank stares from students when beginning a classroom discussion on a new topic? There are many reasons for this, one of which being that students can struggle completing pre-class reading assignments. A recent study by Jae-eun Russell et.al. (2023) found that if students are not supported through the process… Read more »
Are you struggling to learn student names? Here are ways that our IUB instructors learn and use student names. Use name tents. Ask students to create tents using card stock, index cards, or erasable table tents. When using erasable tents, students write their names on one side and use the other side to respond to… Read more »
I hope you enjoyed Dr. Sean Sidky’s previous blog post, Creating a warmer and more inclusive syllabus. Now that you have created your syllabus, how do you introduce it to students? Can you share the decisions you made in constructing the syllabus and designing the class? This transparency along with giving students input on parts… Read more »
Whether you are the instructor of record or facilitating small group labs or discussions as a teaching assistant, engaging students in inclusive, collaborative learning can be challenging. This blog post explores three collaborative learning tools available to Associate Instructors that help actively engage learners and build a community among students no matter how big or… Read more »
As instructors, many of us may prioritize the materials and skills that we want students to learn. But studies have shown that too much of a focus on the skills and knowledge that students have yet to develop may perpetuate bias and inequitable learning environments within the classroom (Williams & Toldson, 2020; Garriott, 2020). Specifically,… Read more »