A lot has been written about the syllabus, but as the authors of the article referenced below point out, almost all of it focuses on “the nuts and bolts of crafting a course syllabus.” It’s literature that helps “the instructor anticipate student information needed to
Creating global learning environments has become an important goal for many institutions. Faculty are being encouraged to create environments conducive to learning for both native speakers and non-native speakers. They can cultivate those environments by designing course assignments and class activities that use the strengths
When students have completed what they think is the final draft of an essay, I find it useful to do the following editing activity. I don’t tell students what we are about to do. I want them to discover the process of omitting needless words.
Not if grades are involved, would be the likely answer of most faculty. The need for good grades does cloud student objectivity. But what that doesn’t change is the fact that the ability to accurately assess your work contributes much to learning experiences in college
It is time to get beyond asking whether active learning works. We know it does, most of us have seen it firsthand, and those who haven’t would be hard-pressed to argue against the still accumulating mountain of evidence. What we need now are answers to
In an instructional experiment, I split students into three groups––no quiz, announced quiz, and pop quiz. I used the same instructional style and teaching materials (including the same textbook and handouts) with each of these three groups. I also gave the same two midterms and
Unfortunately, various analyses of multiple-choice test questions have revealed that many of them do not test higher-order thinking abilities. Questions that test higher-order thinking abilities are difficult and time-consuming to write. But for many teachers, those teaching multiple courses and those teaching large sections, multiple-choice
Clearly written goals and objectives serve several important functions in an online course. They provide students a “successful pathway to learning,” indicate to the instructor teaching points to hit when teaching the course, and suggest appropriate teaching and assessment methods, says Sandra Bennett, instructional designer
Online course content should be challenging, but the course itself should be straightforward and include “purposeful redundancy” to aid navigation and provide multiple ways to learn, says Michelle Manganaro, who teaches online education and communications courses at several institutions, including Massasoit Community College. In terms
Incivility in an online course can reduce student satisfaction and negatively affect retention. This is why it’s important to understand what causes it, design your course to minimize it, and know what to do when you encounter it.
