Teaching

Personality is how you respond on a typical day. Character is how you show up on your worst day.It's easy to demonstrate fairness, integrity, and generosity when things are going well.The real question is whether you stand by those values when the deck is stacked against you.— Adam Grant (@AdamMGrant) August 14, 2021

This tutorial shows you how to use my free Google Drawing template to create easily modifiable and printable seating charts for your classroom. Follow the li...

FUN in Higher Education

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Start by trusting students ~Jesse Stommel accept students, even as they resist learning. ~Cindy Kernahan, Teaching about Race and Racism in the College Classroom. IntroductionToday, we're going to turn our attention to what we do when we design our teaching and curriculum – and how we do that from a place

IntroductionI recently offered a series of "small things you can do tomorrow to start ungrading." I’ve never been a fan of best practices. In Teaching to Transgress, bell hooks writes about bringing our full selves to the classroom, and creating space for students to bring their full selves. This

IntroductionWe are coming to the end of our week together in DPL 😭, and today we will spend time thinking about the documents that influence the work we do as educators. One of the primary documents for consideration is the syllabus, which has become such an administratively foundational feature of higher

The Office of Teaching and Learning is offering a series of active workshops designed to support your planning for your Fall 2021 courses. Workshops are focused on topics related to course design, assessment, and active learning, and our discussions will be relevant across course delivery modes (e.g., in-person, blended, hybrid, virtual). All session handouts and worksheets are available under each session box below. August Workshops Expand the session boxes to view information about each session, register, and to download the session handouts and worksheets. 1. Balancing High- and Low-Stakes Assessments in your Course Session Date: August 4th, 1:00-2:30pm - Cancelled. Expand to view Session Resources. General Description: This workshop offers an opportunity to review the overall structure of your course assessments, including the balance and distribution of high- and low-stakes assessments and assessment workload. We’ll discuss strategies that can improve workload balance for you and your students, assignment transparency, and student effort. Ideal for faculty and instructors who: Would like to modify the overall structure and design of their course assessments using strategies that consider instructor and student workload, effort, and well-being Want to gather ideas and feedback from colleagues that have tried various assessment strategies and/or are considering similar strategies and approaches Learning Outcomes: Reflect on previous offerings of your course to identify and discuss challenges with assessment balance, flow, organization and consider what modifications are needed. Identify key considerations and strategies to balance assessment workload, distribution, and weighting for students and instructors. Discuss options for improved assessment workload balance in your course and the pros and cons of various approaches. Design or modify an assessment plan for your upcoming course(s) that take into account instructor and student workload, effort, and well-being and the benefits and challenges of different approaches. Session Materials and Worksheets: Finding the Balance Between Low and High Stakes Assessments (Handout 1) Common Challenges and Potential Solutions for Balancing the Workload, Flow, Organization, and Weighting of Course Assessments (Handout 2) Session Worksheets 2. Transitioning Exams to Other Forms of Assessment Session Date: August 9th, 10:00-11:30am - Register General Description: This workshop offers an opportunity to discuss the current challenges with your exams, explore alternative assessments that could replace your exams and align with your student learning outcomes, and share pros, cons, and strategies for different assessment approaches. Ideal for faculty and instructors who: Want to explore different forms of assessment in their course instead of traditional closed-book exams Want to gather ideas and feedback from colleagues that have tried various assessment strategies and/or are considering similar strategies and approaches Learning Outcomes: Identify the challenges associated with the use of exams in previous course offerings. Explore different approaches to replacing exams with alternative assessments Evaluate alternative assessment options for your course through session materials and discussions with colleagues. Session Materials and Worksheets: Principles of Effective and Inclusive Assessment (Handout 1) Exploring Alternative Assessment Types (Handout 2) Assessment Checklist (Handout 3) Session Worksheets 3. Synchronous and Asynchronous Active Learning in In-Person, Virtual, or Hybrid/Blended Modes Session Date: August 16th, 1:30-3:00pm - Register General Description: This workshop offers a guided opportunity to review asynchronous and synchronous active learning strategies and consider which activities to add or modify for your upcoming courses to facilitate student engagement and learning. Our discussion will include active learning activities completed individually (e.g., polling, reflection, guided notes) and in groups (e.g., collaborative brainstorming, small group discussions, think-pair-share), and activities that are in-person, online/virtual, or a combination. Ideal for faculty and instructors who: Want to refine or add synchronous or asynchronous active learning strategies to their course(s) Want to gather ideas and feedback from colleagues who have tried various active learning strategies or are considering similar strategies and approaches Learning Outcomes: Reflect on previous offerings of your course to identify what active learning opportunities worked well, what opportunities need modification or to be removed, and where you might want to add active learning opportunities to facilitate student engagement and learning Identify where synchronous or asynchronous active learning activities might be most beneficial within the overall structure of your course Collaboratively brainstorm with colleagues to discuss potentially effective strategies and their implementation, and to address gaps, challenges, and questions related to your course(s) Select promising active learning strategies for your course that align with your other course elements (e.g., learning outcomes, assessments, other teaching and learning activities). Session Materials and Worksheets: Effective Practices for Designing and Implementing Synchronous Active Learning (Handout 1) Effective Practices for Designing and Implementing Asynchronous Active Learning (Handout 1) Exploring Synchronous Active Learning Activities (Handout 2) Exploring Asynchronous Active Learning Activities (Handout 2) Using a Backchannel in In-Person Synchronous Classes Session Worksheets June/July Workshop Sessions The following workshops were held in June/July 2021. Expand the session boxes to view and download the session handouts and worksheets. 1. Keep the Best, Ditch/Change the Rest: Reflecting on What Worked, What Didn’t, and Deciding Where to Go From There General Description: This two-part workshop offers a guided opportunity to plan the overall structure and balance of your Fall 2021 courses through guided reflection, collaborative brainstorming, sharing, and problem solving, and a discussion about different course structures (e.g., blended, hybrid, flipped). We will explore how you might repurpose materials from your remote courses as you plan for your Fall 2021 courses. Ideal for faculty and instructors who: Want to reflect on, revisit, or reconsider the design and structure of their courses, especially with respect to how to integrate and repurpose aspects of face-to-face and remote teaching into hybrid/blended/flipped designs Want to think through their course planning and design ideas, challenges, and questions with colleagues Learning Outcomes: Reflect on previous offerings of your course to identify what worked well (gains, promising practices, assessments, or outcomes) and what you’d like to modify (gaps, challenges, unanswered questions) Evaluate the benefits and drawbacks of different course delivery model options, including blended, hybrid, and flipped approaches Collaboratively brainstorm with colleagues to address gaps, challenges, and questions related to your course planning Plan the overall structure, flow, or balance for your course(s), including how different elements of your course (e.g., instructional activities, learning activities, assessments) might be delivered, and incorporating gains and effective or promising practices from prior course offerings Session Dates/Times: May 31 & June 2, 1:00-2:30pm - Register June 8 & 10, 9:30-11:00am - Register Session Materials and Worksheets: Course Design Models: Blended, Hybrid, Flipped, HyFlex (Handout 1) Delivery and Engagement Modes for Each Course Element (Handout 2) Key Effective Practices in Blended and Hybrid Courses (Handout 3) Session Worksheets 2. Balancing the Flow of Assessments in Your Course General Description: This two-part workshop offers an opportunity to review your assessment workload balance in previous course offerings, learn about strategies that can improve workload balance for you and your students, and design alternative assessment plans for your upcoming offering. We will also discuss assignment transparency and student effort. Ideal for faculty and instructors who: Would like to design or modify an assessment plan using strategies that consider instructor and student workload, effort, and well-being Want to gather ideas and feedback from colleagues that have tried various assessment strategies and/or are considering similar strategies and approaches Learning Outcomes: Reflect on previous offerings of your course to identify and discuss challenges with assessment balance, flow, organization and consider what modifications are needed. Identify key considerations and strategies to balance assessment workload for students and instructors. Evaluate assessment distribution and weighting across the term in previous delivery modes, or planned assessments for upcoming course(s). Discuss options for improved assessment workload balance in your course and the pros and cons of various assessment plans. Design or modify an assessment plan for your upcoming course(s) that take into account instructor and student workload, effort, and well-being and the benefits and challenges of different approaches. Session Dates: June 14 & 16, 9:30-11:00am - Register Session Materials and Worksheets: Finding the Balance Between Low and High Stakes Assessments (Handout 1) Common Challenges and Potential Solutions for Balancing the Workload, Flow, Organization, and Weighting of Course Assessments (Handout 2) Session Worksheets 3. Transitioning Exams to Other Forms of Assessment General Description: This two-part workshop offers an opportunity to discuss the current challenges with your exams, explore alternative assessments that could replace your exams and align with your student learning outcomes, and create an assignment outline for your n

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You’ve asked me to write a response to my student evaluations. I’m sitting in my living room, my feet are cold because I haven’t been wearing shoes. Who wears shoes to work at home? My dog runs into the room and then looks at me and runs out. “If you pee on the carpet one more time, I swear to god!” I yell in his direction. My students have heard me yell the same thing at him during class. “The quiz on this section will be an asynchronous OH MY GOD YOU DID NOT JUST DO THAT TO MY CARPET AGAIN ess

As we shift into fall term, students who have never set foot on campus (incoming and second year students) are going to realize that perhaps they DO need accommodations now that in person classes have started again. Accommodations are time consuming, lengthy, and expensive. 1/10

h/t Mike Truong Hybrid Teaching Resources

A classic study finds some eye-opening effects of different feedback on learning

After enrolling in an online course during the pandemic, Roger Martin, a former college president, has some suggestions for current leaders about instructional changes they may want to consider.

Podcasts are a versatile medium that have become more and more a part of the higher education landscape. Your students may encounter podcasts alongside other materials in their reading and ...

Recommended books, journals, and podcasts about college teaching and learning

Just getting rolling(already a day behind! argh!) in a week-long @BCcampus FLO Micro-course on Alternative & Authentic Assessment with @NickiRehn and @olaoluadeleye. I'll use this thread to drop in stuff about what I learn throughout the week!

A simple tool for saving web pages to read later on your iPhone, iPad, Android, computer, or Kindle.

Are you thinking of implementing mindfulness, breathing, yoga or other wellness-focused social-emotional learning in your classroom? These practices can be powerful ways to develop self-awareness a…

h/t Josh Eyler Two common ways that instructors assess participation in sociology courses are recalling participation by memory or counting times spoken during class in real t...

"To be able to mentor students effectively, we first need self-care in the wake of this global health crisis. Self-care, under these circumstances, is nothing short of an act of defiance in the face of exploitation."

A little strategising can go a long way in increasing contact points with students without sacrificing work-life balance, says Sarah Rose Cavanagh

ok but for real, professors, if you have strong preferences about how your students address you, state them clearly on your syllabus. don't make 'em guess and actually, if you don't have strong preferences about that, state that too. it's stressful for students to have to guess!

You are not a visual learner — learning styles are a stubborn myth. Part of this video is sponsored by Google Search.Special thanks to Prof. Daniel Willingha...