Topics Archives

Three Teachers, One Challenge: Improving Student Engagement with Course Readings

Lonna Summers Rocha, Carrie L. La Voy, and Steven H. White February 16, 2026

We often hear faculty complain that students are not reading the course material. Studies consistently report low rates of reading compliance across disciplines, with students citing time pressures, unclear purpose, perceived irrelevance, and weak accountability structures as reasons for skipping assigned materials (Hoeft, 2012; Brost

Using Snorkl AI to Enhance Learning and Engagement

Ann Wheeler and Sarah Cooley February 16, 2026

Every teacher knows the challenge: Students complete homework at 9:00 p.m., get stuck, and have to wait until the next day’s class for help. By then, you’re facing a mountain of assignments that all show the same misconception.

Stop, Slow Down, Go: Challenging the Myth of the Single-Speed Reader

Nichole DeWall February 9, 2026

“I spent hours on the Gulliver’s Travels reading—yes, hours—and I still didn’t get through the Lilliput section!” my student, Sarah, bemoaned after class one morning. I asked her to walk me through her approach.

Teaching When Listening Comes First: What I’ve Learned About Engagement in Indigenous-Serving Classrooms

Yuqing Zou February 9, 2026

Faculty training in higher education often emphasizes verbal participation as the primary indicator of student engagement. In graduate preparation, instructors learn to value quick interaction, frequent discussion, and other visible forms of participation. An “active” classroom commonly means one in which students speak often. Over

What You and Your Students Need to Know About AI Prompt Engineering

John Orlando February 9, 2026

Instructors and students waste many hours struggling to get what they want out of an AI chatbot due to a lack of understanding of prompt engineering. With AI playing an increasingly important role in work, prompt engineering is one of the most important skills our

Every Class Is the Super Bowl: The Complexity of Predicting Learning and Winning

Regan A. R. Gurung February 2, 2026

Even if you can’t tell a pigskin from pigs in a blanket, have no idea where the Seahawks or Patriots are from, or couldn’t care less who is playing in one of the most-watched sports events in the world—the Super Bowl—it’s hard to avoid the

Photovoice: A Research Method Turned Class Assignment

Lori O’Malley February 2, 2026

Last year I added an assignment to an online aging and end-of-life transitions course I had taught multiple times. The assignment, which became the first in the course, used one of my favorite research methods, Photovoice. This process, developed by Caroline Wang and Mary Ann

Using Student-Generated Case Studies to Personalize Learning and Boost Engagement

Vincent J. Granito February 2, 2026

Students often struggle to understand complex or abstract concepts, especially when they cannot see how those ideas connect to their lives. I’ve learned that if students cannot see themselves in a concept, they usually cannot fully grasp it. Case studies can help by placing course

Why Hope Must Endure in Our Courses

Mays Imad January 26, 2026

When Kahlil Gibran speaks about pain, he likens it to medicine and connects healing to understanding. The understanding is of the self and its relation to the larger order of things. When I think of his use of the word shell, two things come to

A Blue Book–Worksheet Sandwich to Increase Attendance and Engagement

Claudia Kale January 26, 2026

As the Covid-19 pandemic ran its course, you most likely found yourself adapting classroom policies and activities to meet the challenges of remote and hybrid learning. Perhaps you flipped your classroom for the first time, saving precious class time to have students work through activities

Topics