When you return an exam to your students, you know they’re going to focus in on the grade they earned, to the exclusion of practically everything else. That’s understandable, but there’s a problem with that focus: there’s a lot more information in a graded exam that students could benefit from. They could review what they… Read more »
Teaching Strategies
Quick Tip: Notice and Focus
I teach analysis-based discussion classes , and in them, I struggle knowing how to approach a common reaction I hear from students. This reaction begins with, “I like” followed by the first detail the student observed. Notice and Focus is a three-step process for guiding analysis that has helped my students move away from reactive… Read more »
Transparency in Learning and Teaching: Small Changes, Big Impact
If you want to improve your teaching and your students’ learning, one challenge you face may be finding the time to make major revisions to your courses or teaching practices. But what if you could make small, easily implemented changes in your teaching methods and assignments that would have a big impact on your students’… Read more »
Taking Attendance with Self-Portraits: A Two Minute Exercise
Outside Woodburn Hall, mostly sitting and mostly alone, students’ heads gesture down and into their devices and many ears are occupied by noise canceling headphones. As I biked by on my way to teach, I was struck by their complete stillness. At first glance I thought statues had been erected in the courtyard. Upon second… Read more »
Quick Tip: Next Steps When Students Stop Attending
Do you have a student who mid-semester stopped showing up to class, and yet they are still enrolled? You have emailed them numerous times expressing concern and you have not heard back? Consider the following next steps: 1) Record your recommendations and observations in the Student Engagement Roster (SER), and 2) Submit a Care Report… Read more »
Strategies for Handling Absences in Labs
We know that instructors (and their students) are concerned about making up missed classes. This is particularly true for lab courses where it is not always easy to provide students with extra opportunities to complete missed labs and/or for students to take advantage of them. We have asked several IU lab instructors, as well as… Read more »