Why do you teach what you teach? Why should students care to learn what you teach? I think almost all instructors care deeply about the subject matter they’re studying and teaching because we understand the impact of our scholarship on the world, although this isn’t true with all our students. Community engaged learning is a… Read more »
Tag: course design
Activities for the First Day of Class
Our previous blog post talked about ways to ensure your students feel welcomed and included in your course from day one. However, welcoming students to class and establishing course goals are only the first steps. As James M. Lang has argued, “On that first day…your students are forming a lasting impression not just of you… Read more »
Planning your first day of the semester
Our previous posts in this series focused on creating and introducing inclusive syllabi. While the syllabus is often “the first point of contact with instructors,” your students’ first impression of you and the course is solidified on the first day of class. Inclusive Teaching: Strategies for Promoting Equity in the College Classroom (Hogan & Sathy,… Read more »
Unspoken Expectations and Student Success: Revealing the Hidden Curriculum
What is the hidden curriculum? The “hidden curriculum” or “invisible curriculum” refers to the unstated norms, policies, and expectations that students need to know to succeed in higher education but are often not taught explicitly. Your students might not know how to do things that seem quite rote and standard to someone more experienced, like… Read more »
Course Design for Graduate Students: You’ve Got This!
Midway through the 2022 spring semester, I walked into my classroom and was greeted by one of my students giving her classmates an impromptu presentation on educational best practices, punctuated with examples of work I’d been doing in her classroom. Despite the student’s praise and the fact that she was connecting claims and evidence (a… Read more »
Leveraging Seminar-Style Dynamics for a Close Knit Online Course
Throughout consultations and events this fall, instructors have shared that the “magic” of their typical, in-person class wasn’t as strong in their online or hybrid courses. The common thread among all the stories is that instructors are missing the closeness felt among students in the class. These stories drive me as a graduate student studying… Read more »