If we named the purposes of college, chief among them would be ideas surrounding the transfer of knowledge and content delivery. This is accurate but incomplete. A more exhaustive list of college goals would also include growth and transformation. Change happens all around, and within,
Higher education has traditionally taught from theory to practice. Students first learn the underlying principles of a subject, such as the forces that determine bridge load, and then apply those principles to examples. But this is not the only way to teach. Socrates taught in
Two truths and a lie is a popular social icebreaker game. In case you aren’t familiar with it, this is the way it goes. Each person thinks of three statements about themselves, two of which are true and one of which is a lie. It
“How do we know students are earning the degrees we confer?”
That question, which a board member at my university recently posed, is deceptively simple, yet it strikes at the heart of our work as educators. And in an era where generative AI tools are
E-learning literature and research strongly suggest that online instructors should build their presence into a successful asynchronous course. Many faculty, however, often assume that replicating in-person presence requires a talking-head video in every module. Richard Mayer’s (2005) 12 principles for multimedia learning cast doubt on
How should we respond when students complain about their professors—aka our colleagues?
Facilitating experiential learning is central to my teaching philosophy. As an instructor of application-based coursework, I continually seek ways to help students engage deeply with course material and explore practical avenues for applying it within their field of study. Research has shown that application-based and
Errors are an inevitable part of learning. But many students perceive mistakes as threats to their self-esteem, associating them with failure rather than growth. By cultivating a constructive error climate, we redefine mistakes as valuable learning tools. This involves shifting the classroom narrative from “don’t
Have you noticed what students do when they’re curious about something? A few years ago, a common response to having a question about a text (or the world, for that matter) was to “ask Google.” Nowadays the common refrain seems to be “ask ChatGPT.” When
Few roles in higher education have transformed as dramatically as that of the academic advisor. Historically, advisors were often behind-the-scenes figures signing special permission forms that students submitted and retrieved through administrative assistants, with little direct contact or guidance. Today, advising has become deeply integrated
