Online Learning “Being There” in Online Courses By intentionally monitoring how you project social presence, you can enhance the sense of community in your online course.
Online Learning “Teaching Presence” in the Community of Inquiry Framework What is "teaching presence"? Faculty whose teaching experience has all occurred in a physical classroom may wonder what it means…
Online Learning A Roadmap for Online Course Development Putting a course online challenges educators to transform content, activities, and their approach to interacting with students.
Foundations of Learning Active Learning Methods "The teacher can advance learning only by influencing what the student does to learn." - Herbert A. Simon
Teaching Strategies Active Learning Outputs Active learning techniques that create an output or artifact can provide concrete evidence of your students' thinking. (One post of a three-part series.)
Teaching Strategies Active Learning with Student Groups Students working in groups is a common method to increase engagement and activate learning. (One post of a three-part series.)
Teaching Strategies Active Question and Answer Techniques Some simple structures you can use on-the-fly to engage all your learners.
Teaching Strategies Adapting the Faculty Peer Review Process to Your Context Establish goals for the observation and provide useful background information for the observer.
Teaching Strategies Aligning Course Learning Outcomes The process of backward design helps you align sessions and student work with desired learning outcomes, leading to deeper understanding
CATLR Tips and Resources Are Graduates Learning What We Want Them to Learn? Assessing student learning involves articulating measurable outcomes, designing measures, and sharing results with stakeholders.
Experiential Learning Before the Semester To communicate the importance of linking their past experiential learning activities to your course, include an explicit learning outcome about it on your syllabus.
Foundations of Learning Building Knowledge Through Transfer Taking the time to connect knowledge as it is learned to both past and potential future contexts, substantially increases the likelihood of transfer (Engle et al., 2012).
Diversity and Inclusion Checking and Addressing Our Implicit Biases Implicit biases can cause educators to unintentionally alter the way they interact with learners.
Teaching Strategies Collaborating With Learners on Gathering Feedback A feedback team is a small group of students who meet with an instructor throughout a course with the goal of enhancing learning.
Teaching Strategies Course Learning Outcomes Learning outcomes identify the specific knowledge and skills that one should be able to do at the end of the course.
Diversity and Inclusion Creating a Course Climate that Enhances Learning Even in the most content-focused course, climate plays a dramatic role in what, how much, and how effectively our students are able to learn.
Foundations of Learning Creating Outcomes that Guide Learning Focus on the knowledge and skills that you want students to acquire and be able to demonstrate at the end of a course, rather than on the nature of the content covered
Foundations of Learning Critical Thinking Instruction A critical-thinking attitude and specific skills are as important as the ability to transfer learning among contexts and continually re-consider how one is thinking about a given problem.
Diversity and Inclusion Culturally Inclusive Teaching Strategies We are all shaped by our pasts—our backgrounds inevitably influence what we bring to the moment, how we experience it, and what we can learn from it as individuals.
Teaching Strategies Deepen Conceptual Understanding Through Writing-to-Learn Informal writing-to-learn activities can support student learning in powerful, process-focused ways.
Teaching Strategies Developing Rubrics A rubric communicates expectations for quality. It can be used to introduce, provide feedback on, and grade assignments.
Teaching Strategies Developing Skills and Promoting Skills Transfer When students in higher education perform well on exams, papers, projects, and other academic activities, it may seem that they…
Experiential Learning Early Semester Opportunities Linking your course to growth students have done in professional contexts can help them understand your course as a professional setting.
Teaching Strategies Early/Midterm Course Evaluation Gathering feedback by the middle of the term from students can be a valuable tool.
Spotlights Educator Spotlight: Christina Agostinelli-Fucile Assistant Teaching Professor Christina Agostinelli-Fucile (CSSH) discusses her use of open educational resources in her Spanish language courses.
Diversity and Inclusion Educator Spotlight: Crissy McMartin-Miller To avoid burnout among instructors and to benefit our students, being strategic and scaling back the feedback can be liberating.
Spotlights Educator Spotlight: David Fannon Assistant Professor David Fannon (CAMD, COE) discusses integrating student feedback teams and team-based learning into his courses.
Spotlights Educator Spotlight: John Bleakney Co-op Coordinator John Bleakney (COE) discusses creating a safe and open classroom climate.
Online Learning Educator Spotlight: Laurie Nardone An interview with educator Laurie Nardone about her hybrid interdisciplinary Advanced Writing in the Disciplines course.
Spotlights Educator Spotlight: Lorna Hayward Professor Hayward (Bouvé) discusses service-learning and other ways she engages her students to think holistically.
Spotlights Educator Spotlight: Mark Sivak Associate Teaching Professor Mark Sivak (CAMD, COE) discusses how the Teaching Fundamentals workshop helped him rethink his courses as well as shares his experience as a CALTR Teaching Inquiry Fellow and CATLR Faculty Scholar.
Spotlights Educator Spotlight: Rebeca Rosengaus Associate Professor and Associate Chair Rebeca Rosengaus (COS) discusses fostering inclusivity and diversity among students and faculty in the sciences.
Teaching Strategies Effective In-Class Demonstrations While we value in-class demonstrations for the vividness of the experience, they can add nothing instructionally unless we ask students to predict the outcome first.
Foundations of Learning Engaging in Self-Care Practices During Midterms Studies have shown that academic stress is negatively associated with academic performance (Akgun & Ciarrochi, 2003). Self-care practices such as sleep hygiene and social support are associated with reduction in perceived stress (Myers et al., 2012).
Foundations of Learning Engaging with Exemplars As experts, we can forget how difficult learning our material for the first time can be, and how many of the foundational aspects of our expertise are in fact not obvious to the novice.
Experiential Learning Exams Since most of us hope that our students will carry their learning out into other contexts, our exam questions can and should reflect this value.
Foundations of Learning Facilitating Discussions Regardless of the size or format, certain factors can influence the extent to which a discussion “works” to deepen learning.
Online Learning Faculty Discuss Online Teaching – Pt. 3 When designing an online course, practical advice from those with experience can be invaluable.
Online Learning Faculty Discuss Online Teaching – Pt. 1 When designing an online course, practical advice from those with experience can be invaluable.
Online Learning Faculty Discuss Online Teaching – Pt. 2 When designing an online course, practical advice from those with experience can be invaluable.
Teaching Strategies Faculty Peer Observation and Feedback Teaching is a complex activity, so peer observation and feedback processes must accommodate this complexity to be of greatest service to those who participate.
Foundations of Learning Flipped Course Design Flipping the class moves passive learning outside of the classroom to make time in class for structured application.
Diversity and Inclusion Fostering Belonging Supporting students’ sense of belonging positively impacts their academic success and overall well-being.
Teaching Strategies Fostering Integrative Learning ePortfolios create opportunities for moments of insight and community in ways no other approach can.
Teaching Strategies Fostering Intellectual Agility through Mindfulness in the Classroom Mindfulness activities can strengthen students' habits of attention, equipping them for the hard work of learning transfer.
Foundations of Learning Giving Learners Effective Feedback Good feedback helps your learners get closer to achieving the goals you have for them, and can also bring more meaning to your relationship with them as an educator.
Teaching Strategies Giving Your Students the “Big Picture” Many educators are now discovering the many-faceted value of a “Course Graphic.”
Spotlights Graduate Spotlight: Aeshna Badruzzaman Doctoral candidate Aeshna Badruzzaman (CSSH) discusses her experience as a Graduate Student Liaison and Future Faculty Program participant.
Diversity and Inclusion Graduate Spotlight: Nicole Betz Doctoral candidate Nicole Betz (COS) discusses her experience in the Future Faculty Program and as a CATLR Graduate Student Liaison, as well as strategies she uses in her teaching to create an inclusive learning environment.
Spotlights Graduate Spotlight: Sam Maron Doctoral candidate Sam Maron (CSSH) discusses his experience teaching for the first time, the Future Faculty Program, and how a change in perspective can lead to seeing connections in multiple disciplines.
