It was a syllabus used in a small, upper-division political science seminar, which explains the name and the question of interest to the teacher of the course. “Can giving students more power over course content enhance their understanding of democratic authority and process?”
“Enabling interaction in a large class seems an insurmountable task.” That’s the observation of a group of faculty members in the math and physics department at the University of Queensland. It’s a feeling shared by many faculty committed to active learning who face classes enrolling
Whatever philosophical and empirical issues college teachers may have with the Rate My Professor (RMP) website, there is no denying that the site in now a huge repository of information on college teachers. The website reports that it contains 15 million ratings for 1.4 million
Current thinking about the role of feedback in learning is changing. Several important articles that we’ve highlighted in previous issues have proposed less focus on teacher-provided feedback and more consideration of the role that can be played by peer- and self-assessment activities. As noted in
“From the way students act at the beginning of a class we can tell a great deal about the profs who taught them previously.” It’s an insight offered by David Johnson and Roger Johnson, the well-known cooperative learning researchers and advocates.
The evidence that students retain content longer and can apply it better when exams and finals are cumulative is compelling. When I pointed to the evidence in a recent workshop, a faculty member responded, “But I can’t use cumulative exams. My students would
Is it time to change the online learning conversation? The debate about whether online courses are a good idea continues with most people still on one side or the other. Who’s right or wrong is overshadowed by what the flexibility and convenience of
The emergence of different kinds of group work is a welcome outgrowth of the move away from lectures. There’s still plenty of lecturing going on, but there’s less than there used to be. In its place are a variety of activities that more effectively
As every instructor knows, whether it’s shouting in class or shouting online, a student’s rude or aggressive behavior can have unfortunate consequences in the classroom. Two online instructors decided to explore how face-to-face classroom management skills can translate to the online environment. Reviewing a series
Autonomy is a key ingredient of motivation. Students are motivated by the ability to choose how they accomplish their learning goals. However, not all students are used to having autonomy, which is why it’s important to find ways to make them more comfortable with taking
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