The following resources were compiled by Maryellen Weimer to address questions related to the essential components of effective small-group activities and experiences. A list of common group activities can be found in this conversation around active learning: https://blogs.iu.edu/luddyteach/2022/02/22/helping-students-engage-in-active-learning-during-class/ Group formation Should teachers form the groups or let students form their own? If teachers form the… Read more »
Pedagogy
Wait Time
Faculty Focus https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/student-learning-in-3-seconds/ notes that when Mary Budd Rowe coined the phrase “wait time” to describe the period of time between a teacher’s question and a student’s response, teachers typically waited between .7 seconds and 1.5 seconds before speaking after they have asked a question to students. Kent States Center for Teaching and Learning explains – Rowe… Read more »
Making Thinking Visible
This summer, faculty from the Texas Institute for Discovery Education in Science (TIDES) at the University of Austin, held a workshop on metacognition which started with a couple basic assumptions: Instructors want students to learn Learning is the result of thinking. They argued that the connection between learning and thinking is a connection we often… Read more »
Coding Strip – Using Comics to Teach Core Computer Concepts
The article Coding Strip: A Pedagogical Tool for Teaching and Learning Programming Concepts through Comics https://sanghosuh.github.io/assets/pdf/codingstrip_vlhcc.pdf describes the design process researchers at the University of Waterloo used to teach many of the core concepts taught in introductory computer science courses. Building on the concept books like Lauren Ipsum https://iucat.iu.edu/catalog/15607718 and Secret Coders https://iucat.iu.edu/catalog/15934462 which use comics to teach the concepts of coding without any… Read more »
Quick Tips: Preparing for the first day of classes (Part 1)
5-6 minute read: I’ve collected tips from a variety of sources and summarized them below. Some of these ideas may be ones you already do, but I have found reminders never hurt. The Eberly Center at Carnegie Mellon University suggests the first class meeting should serve at least two basic purposes: To clarify all reasonable… Read more »
Inclusive Pedagogy
The Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship at Georgetown University recently launched an Inclusive Pedagogy Toolkit. The kit looks at different aspects of teaching (pedagogy, content, assessments, climate, and power) and provides several key strategies for making classrooms inclusive, equitable, and meaningful. Each aspect has 3-4 key takeaways. For example, in the content section,… Read more »