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 »
Teaching Strategies
Collaborative Learning Technologies for Graduate Instructors
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 »
Rejecting the Deficit Model in the Classroom
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 »
A Streamlined Method for Enhancing Digital Learning
Are you moving your course fully online? Hybridizing? Flipping? Maybe you just want a smoother, more polished look to your current content? In any scenario, it can seem a daunting task to build out or refine digital content. However, a resource you may not have heard of, which could greatly benefit you, is the self-service… Read more »
Teaching Positive Academic Habits Before Class
Instructors love to discuss the many ways we see our students use their phones or laptops in our classrooms: applying for jobs, selling clothes on Poshmark, looking up sports scores, rapidly writing a speech for their next course, and, of course, social media sites abound. In my courses, I try to model time management by… Read more »
Reflecting on Expert Blind Spots to Improve Skills-Based Teaching
As Jessamyn Neuhaus explains in Geeky Pedagogy, truly effective teaching centers on sharing knowledge enthusiastically. However, sometimes instructors get so enthusiastic about conveying knowledge that they skip foundational steps, leaving students feeling frustrated or behind. Navigating an expert blind spot can be a challenge for both novice and experienced educators, but doing so thoughtfully can… Read more »