A few years ago, I had a student (let’s call him George) whom I suspected was neurodivergent. He had many of the classically male neurodivergent traits: a propensity to explode with speech before I could finish answering a question and a tendency to get up
You’ve just finished a full morning of grocery shopping in a busy supermarket. After navigating packed store aisles and paying at the till, you head to your car and load up your bags.
It was the middle of the semester, and I had put my class in groups to discuss case studies. After the allotted time, students had to report their findings to the whole class. One student began speaking and pointed to a member of his group
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
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
As July fades into August, faculty across the country gear up for the fall semester. We have spent our summer resting and relaxing, reading, and mentally preparing to welcome a new cohort of students into our classrooms. This is about the time when we scan
In modern classrooms, where students have diminishing attention spans, some freeze when called upon, and others seem to unravel at the slightest sign of critical feedback, old methods of teaching are caving under the weight of a new, trending reality. Across higher education, faculty are
When faculty tell me their online students “just don’t engage,” I always want to ask a simple question: Do your students actually know you? Not your credentials. Not your syllabus. You.
During finals week, I sit down with a stack of blank note cards, my favorite purple gel pen, and write to each student in my Principles of Managerial Accounting course.
Although a range of pedagogical methods use storytelling, evidence of their connection to academic outcomes in specific disciplines is lacking. We present a form of biographical storytelling with the potential to improve academic outcomes. It has five components: narrative structure, characters, emotional resonance, imagery and
