classroom climate

Establishing Class Norms That Promote Learning

In 1936, psychologist Muzafer Sherif reported a landmark study on the creation of social norms. Sherif made use of an optical illusion called the autokinetic effect. When people view a stationary pinpoint of light in a dark environment, they will perceive the light to move

Read More »

Tailgating for Teachers: Building Community before Day One

I’m hopelessly unathletic, which means I’ve usually observed the rituals at the so-called sports school where I teach from a distance—until recently, that is, when a student invited me to something called “tailgating.” My takeaway? The sense of belonging and excitement that I witnessed during

Read More »

Teaching in a Polarized Classroom

I teach psychology to students who are largely from rural and low-income areas. In my courses we discuss a wide range of topics that have the potential for controversy, such as sexuality and gender, best parenting practices, racism and implicit bias, and the neuroscientific

Read More »

Your Learning Space: Friend or (Secret) Foe?

While teaching and working from home during the pandemic, I developed a new respect for staying active and getting outside; new studies prove how much physical movement and nature matter to human wellbeing.

This is a takeaway worth applying to campus environments: academic spaces tangibly affect

Read More »

Transforming Classroom Culture

For all the talk in faculty development circles about transforming our classrooms, there is very little guidance for faculty attempting to navigate the mindset shifts necessary to approach their work differently. We each want to create a classroom where our students feel included and able

Read More »

Classroom Climate and the Syllabus

Classroom climate “profoundly shapes” the experience of both instructor and students. That’s a claim made by two authors of a study that looked at syllabi from sociology courses to see what they said about classroom climate (Valentin & Grauerholz, 2019, p. 219). They found that

Read More »

Connecting with Students in an Online Class

Relax. Deep breaths. It is going to be okay. How many times do you say something similar in face-to-face classes? After giving out assignment directions, what kinds of additional verbal instructions or tips do you offer students? These unplanned pep talks and additional information help

Read More »
Archives

Get the Latest Updates

Subscribe To Our Weekly Newsletter

Wellbeing Elixir
The Teaching Professor Conference 2024

June 7-9, 2024 • New Orleans

Connect with Fellow Educators at The Teaching Professor Conference!