Teaching

What I learned by moving to a test-forward approach

A recent Chronicle of Higher Education essay suggests that classrooms are nonsocial spaces where facilitating belonging is not within educators' scope of practice. We forcefully disagree.

Musings on Teaching a Difficult Topic Stepping into the classroom of an academic integrity session has a distinctively different energy than a regular university classroom. For one thing, almost no one in the room is there by choice - and you can feel it. The body language, the facial expressions, and the overall lack of

Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes I mentioned in my last post that I'd be talking a bit more about something that is giving me hope and...

Open-access tools developed at Baylor U. and MIT help instructors be intentional in their syllabus language.

Biomimicry Teaching & Learning Checklist This doc lives at: https://bit.ly/biomimicrychecklist This checklist has been prepared for higher educators as a tool to explore the concept of biomimicry, which is a design practice of learning from the natural world (of which humans are also a part). B...

In this special collaborative episode with the L&S Exchange Podcast, we explore how college changes what we trust and what higher ed can do to become more trustworthy. With special guest philosopher Tony Laden, author of Networks of Trust: The Social Costs of Higher Education and What We Can Do About Them (2024). Aftershow featuring the L&S Instructional Design Collaborative and UW–Madison philosophy professor Harry Brighouse. Notes: "20 Things Teachers Do" by Tim Brighouse Produced by Carrie Welsh and Jennifer McCord. Thanks to Avrie Marsolek, James Dempsey, and Tony Laden. And a special thanks to the L&S Exchange for collaborating with us on this episode. We are grateful to Merit library at UW–Madison for the use of their recording space.

joy cards Tiny ways to infuse delight into teaching and learning Curated by Eugene Korsunskiy, Dartmouth College DOWNLOAD THE PDF SUBMIT YOUR IDEA We do our best work when we're having fun. And the world needs our best work, so we owe it to the universe to bring joy into what we do. As ...

One week of David's uncensored thoughts about grading

pInstitutions all over the world are setting up microcredentials in responses to calls from governments and industry. These are short courses, usually offered online, with an emphasis on the needs of the workplace. More targeted than typical degree courses, they cover role-specific knowledge and help with essential workplace skills. They enable learners to study alongside their work, refreshing and updating their skills. With microcredentials, individuals can access the qualifications they need to get the jobs they want, retraining and upskilling whenever necessary./p pThese are exciting possibilities, but how can they be achieved? Written for everyone with an interest in the policy, practice, or production of microcredentials, this book takes a realistic look at what is possible. Rooted in experience, research and practice, it identifies what makes these new courses distinctive and provides guidance on how to go about producing them and supporting learners./p pDifferences in scale, funding, learners, and presentation are just some of the factors that mean microcredentials are not typical courses. Setting them up and sustaining them effectively requires thought and change in all areas of an institution, as well as new or extended partnerships with employers and professional organisations. iMicrocredentials for Excellence: A Practical Guide/i examines the range of roles that contribute to a successful microcredential as well as processes and frameworks developed to help with the development of a microcredentials programme./p pThe book:br- describes approaches to teaching and learning that work well with these courses;br- identifies methods of course production and learning design that have proved successful when making the move to microcredentials;br- suggests ways in which learners can be supported during their studies, especially in terms of wellbeing, accessibility, and mental health;br- examines innovative practices in assessment and feedback that address some of the challenges for microcredentials in these areas;br- explores the internal and external quality standards that may be applied, together with ways of evaluating and developing courses to meet these standards; andbr- looks ahead to possible futures for microcredentials, taking into account the different visions proposed by those developing them and those influencing that development./p

Faculty development is often about putting out fires. This program is meant to offer some fun.

Curiosity, course design, and ungrading in the Middle East

A rant

David Gooblar, The Missing Course: Everything They Never Taught You About College Teaching. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2019.

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As I sit at my laptop, I’m wondering how it can be the 21st of June. I’ve completed my first full academic year at UCD and planning for my second autumn. Summer seems to be a time to ca…

I think author of this @insidehighered.com essay means to be helpful, and I like the shift from participation to engagement (plus he cites @cjdenial.bsky.social so that's always good!), but I think it still misses the mark significantly. 1/x https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/career-advice/teaching/2025/01/22/making-class-participation-grades-meaningful-opinion

I am thankful to historian Seth Bruggeman for writing this piece at Inside Higher Ed. It put into words much of what I was feeling last semester in one of

How can we best teach a hybrid or HyFlex class? This week I’m starting my gaming in education seminar and the students are almost exactly balanced between in person and online.  I’ve ta…

How one professor uses a “math memoir” assignment to give students a reference point for their own learning.

Next week I’m launching my gaming in higher education seminar for Georgetown University’s Learning, Design, and Technology program. I am very excited, as ever, because it’s a grea…

Joe Hoyle reflects on his decades-long teaching career, revealing how the most impactful classrooms are built on trust, ambition, and collaboration. He chall...