“If the shift from the instructional to the learning paradigm is to have a lasting impact on education, it must influence not only how people think about teaching but also how teaching is evaluated. Evaluation is one of the primary means by which an institution conveys what is valuable and important to its members. If [...]
Blog » Teaching and Learning
Sharing the Feedback
Posted Thursday, August 6th, 2009 by Maryellen WeimerIn a study exploring what motivates students to provide faculty feedback about teaching and learning, results indicated students find it “desirable” when faculty share the results of the anonymous feedback they have provided the instructor. The study’s author identifies five reasons why it’s beneficial to share feedback results with students.
Knitting Teacher
Posted Tuesday, July 7th, 2009 by Maryellen WeimerEvery teacher aspires for her students to learn and perform well. And in theory every teacher endorses the idea that some students will excel, might come to know as much as the teacher, maybe, after years of dedicated work, even know more than the teacher. But when a student leapfrogs right over the teacher, acquiring the skills and knowledge with such speed and ease, it does test one’s commitment to that theory.
Those Who Can …
Posted Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 by Maryellen WeimerDuring my drive down to Pennsylvania this week, I was listening to an interview with a sculptor. The interviewer asked if he was still teaching. “No, I’m not. Teaching sculpture is easier than doing it. I need to devote my efforts to doing it.” His comment reminded me of that old adage. “Those who can, [...]
The Power of a Good Question
Posted Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009 by Maryellen WeimerWe need to spend more time thinking about the questions we ask students and how they can do more than just test what students know (or don’t know). They can also hook students and pull them into our fascinating content domains.
When Students Say ‘Thanks but No Thanks’ to Feedback
Posted Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 by Maryellen WeimerHere’s something I was surprised to find. A group of researchers in the UK decided to show students how to use written feedback on papers to improve their writing. They collected feedback given students on eight previous writing assignments and had writing tutors review and analyze the comments. Then they looked at the writing assignment students were to complete next, paying special attention to the stated criteria for grading, and developed a specific set of recommendations for each individual student.
Against Critical Thinking
Posted Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 by Maryellen WeimerI enjoyed as an especially well-written commentary by Miriam Marty Clark in the current issue of Pedagogy. She confesses to a “growing skepticism” she has come to feel about critical thinking “and the place it holds in discussions of university education.”
Education is a Bit Like Composting
Posted Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 by Maryellen WeimerI’ve been thinking that education is a bit like composting. You take a disparate collection of ideas and information and toss them into a student. Most of us do chop that content into pretty small pieces (something else recommended in the composting booklet), but I’m not sure with courses being as separate as they are, much of the valuable mixing occurs.
Three Multitasking Myths
Posted Thursday, May 28th, 2009 by Maryellen WeimerOur students seem to be masters at multitasking—they regularly do more than one thing at once, or break from one task to work on another and then move on to a third. Even those of us not so adept at managing more than one task at once can “walk and chew gum,” which makes us all multitaskers to some degree. But our students combine so many disparate tasks: biology book open on their knees, they text a friend while listening to rap in the background. Many of them tell us they can’t study when everything is quiet.
