A few years ago, toward the end of the semester, one of my advisees sat in my office and asked me about an upper-level science course she was taking: “How is this going to make me a better person?”
At the start of each new semester, I look out at a room of nontraditional students and see the hidden superheroes of higher education. Returning to college after years of managing careers, family, and life’s many demands, they bring remarkable strength, resilience, and perspective to
The recent report from Harvard College on grade inflation (Claybaugh, 2025; hereafter “the report”) is an important reminder of how complex grading is and the many ways it can go wrong. The report focuses on grade inflation, but negative outcomes of poor grading systems include
Students often enter a new course with some degree of trepidation wondering whether they belong (Wilson & Wilson, 2007). During the first few weeks of the semester, classrooms can feel intimidating as students learn names, establish routines, and determine whether their instructors see them as
Online students are not only reading our words; they are interpreting our intentions. That realization changed the way I teach.
I’ll probably never stream Netflix’s The Chair or read Julie Schumacher’s Dear Committee Members trilogy, even though colleagues have been recommending them to me for years. After a long day, I don’t always want to commit several hours—or several hundred pages—to a fictional version of
As we gear up for a new semester, how can we ensure our planned collaborative activities and related student teamwork will actually work? A high-impact practice, collaboration deepens student learning and helps cultivate the kind of relevant professional competencies, like critical thinking and collaborative problem-solving,
When instructors sit down to write their syllabi before the semester, one challenge they face is how to communicate to students the skills and habits they need to succeed. Syllabi primarily outline course policies, learning objectives, and assignments, which means they typically focus less on
I love family trips. Whether it’s a summer or winter getaway or a long weekend during the school year, travel often yields opportunities for new discoveries and unparalleled critical thinking. You may think I mean the thrill of learning about or experiencing new places. While
Just as collaboration strengthens the quality and rigor of our research, it can also strengthen the quality and rigor of our teaching in the development of course materials. Most of us would never hesitate to share data within our research collaborations, so why do we
