Today we welcome to the Mosaic Blog our Mosaic Research Assistant, Merve Basdogan. Merve is currently an Instructional Systems Technology PhD candidate at Indiana University. In this first blog of the year, Merve shares her recent research on one of our newly redesigned Mosaic classrooms: “Learning space is an agent that shapes the teaching… Read more »
Tag: collaboration
It’s the Fiftieth Mosaic Blog!
We’re Golden at Fifty! Big blog news today! This entry marks the fiftieth Mosaic Initiative blog. This notably numbered issue appears just three years since the debut of the inaugural Mosaic blog in November 2017. So much has happened in that short time that we have published a blog and a half per month (on… Read more »
Digital Whiteboards in the Pandemic Classroom
Physical and Digital Whiteboards In previous semesters, I’ve written about the variety of ways that Indiana University instructors use writable surfaces (white boards and glass boards) in their classrooms to facilitate active learning, including supporting collaboration, encouraging class discussion, and facilitating ice breaker activities. Writable surfaces are one of our most popular learning technologies at… Read more »
Teaching in the Pandemic Classroom: Creating and Developing Classroom Community Throughout the Semester
Concerns About Community Over the summer, I’ve been speaking with a lot of Indiana University instructors about what fall 2020 teaching will look like in, what I’ve been calling, the “pandemic classroom.” I’m defining the pandemic classroom as a fall (and, likely, spring) semester marked by mask-wearing, social distancing, fewer students in the classroom (and… Read more »
Active Learning with Verb Boards (or any writable surface)
What features do your instructors most like to have in a room? What classroom tools or technologies do they like to use most for teaching? I’m frequently asked these questions at conferences and from colleagues at my own and other institutions. My response: easy-to-use, writable white or glass board surfaces are most often requested by… Read more »
The Mosaic Fellows’ Reflective Portfolio
In this blog I want to highlight a key artifact that our Mosaic Fellows produce during their tenure in the Mosaic Fellows program: the Mosaic Fellows’ Reflective portfolio. At each Fellows session, and based on prompts we provide, the Fellows are asked to reflect (in writing) on the meeting activities and readings. Then, after the… Read more »
Teaching Tips: GISB West Wing Edition
We recently interviewed four instructors who taught in the west wing large classrooms of the Global and International Studies building — (GISB) rooms 1100, 1106, 1112, 1118, 1122, 1128, and 1134, on the Bloomington campus. We asked instructors to share their perspectives on, and experiences with, teaching in the building’s larger classrooms, which seat around… Read more »
Make a Participation Rainbow

When Dan Richert, Senior Lecturer of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, asks his students to work in groups at their whiteboards, he gives each student a different color marker. Before they begin their group assignment, Dan tells students that he expects them to “make a rainbow” on the board by the time they are finished. In… Read more »
Teaching Tips: Student Building SB015 Edition

We recently interviewed several instructors who taught in Student Building 015, located on the IU Bloomington campus, and asked them to share their perspectives on, and experiences with, teaching in this unique learning space. In this blog, Bloomington instructors Tessa Bent, J Duncan, Shabnam Kavousian, Julie Knapp, Jill Robinson, and Susan Siena, generously share their… Read more »
The Mosaic blog: looking back on 2018
Last year, we launched the Mosaic Initiative blog to share our story of research, classroom designs, and resources for teaching in Indiana University’s active learning classrooms. We’d like to take a moment and reflect on the 2018 blog entries, and highlight the many people who contribute to and shape this initiative. Instructors Over the last… Read more »