It happens every time. Months ahead of the event, I sign up to attend a teaching conference and essentially commit to spending three days (sometimes more with travel) away from home. Then the semester starts, and I get caught up in the whack-a-mole that is
In an ever-changing academic environment, instructors are constantly seeking innovative ways to engage our students and prepare them for success, both in our courses and beyond. How can we increase the likelihood that our class material translates into skills that students will use later in
While much of academia is focused on how to prevent students from using generative AI (GenAI) in their work, what if this tool can be used to help students with their writing in ways that prepare them for writing after college? Instructors can teach this
One of the courses I am teaching this semester is a senior-level course titled Autonomic Nervous System Regulation. In this class, we examine the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which is the part of our nervous system that governs involuntary physiological processes, such as our heart
Simple and inexpensive software has made it easy for students and teachers to create video and audio for learning content and projects. But this still leaves many students and teachers struggling with the stylistic elements that make multimedia interesting and engaging. In particular, it is
Are you still lecturing? If so, you are like most faculty. The lecture continues to be the most used teaching approach. Although the lecture has often got a bad reputation for not being active enough, you may be pleased to know that a substantial body
Do people learn in the same way or different ways? According to cognitive science, the answer is the former. There are general principles of learning that apply to everyone, such as the importance of attention and the value of good learning strategies like spacing and
When watching a movie, you might use the first few minutes to decide whether you will like it or not. This same phenomenon also happens in the classroom: the initial moments often set the tone for the entire session. Many educators discuss using the first
Instructors in face-to-face courses can roughly gauge how well students understand the material by facial expressions and audience response systems. This immediate and informal feedback enables them to adjust their teaching in real-time. But this is not the case in asynchronous courses. Students have to
My mother was not your typical 1990s Beanie Babies collector. She didn’t care whether the little pellet-filled critters that she scavenged for at flea markets and rummage sales and on eBay were in mint condition or whether their heart-shaped name tags were still intact.
