The first summer job I ever had was mowing lawns. Back then (this was the ’70s), I would start the power mower, and the blade kept spinning until I turned the mower off. I learned quickly to pull the mower up a slope and not
Current global events, including a rise in nationalistic rhetoric, have put pressure on faculty from all disciplines to be able to facilitate discussions without disenfranchising or excluding any students. I’ve been teaching discussion-based courses for 25 years, and my own methods have evolved and grown,
Many years ago my wife sat in on one of my face-to-face classes to observe my teaching. I was surprised to hear about things I did not know I was doing, such as saying OK every couple of minutes and making puzzled expressions. This showed
What’s the cringiest word in higher ed? Lecture? Nuh-uh. Engagement? Nah. Assessment? Nope.
I have been spouting off for over two decades in my general education (GE) courses that learning STEM helps students increase their earning potential, well-roundedness, and satisfaction from knowing things beyond their common sense. Unfortunately, these arguments have been falling on deaf ears since the
As an undergraduate I didn’t reflect on my learning. I did what I needed to pass my classes but never thought about how I was growing my knowledge base and skills. I was like most students, but this isn’t the best way to learn, for
You form an impression of a student within five seconds of seeing them. This impression is likely to stick even after you interact with them for a while (Ambady et al., 2020). While that thin slice of behavior may or may not provide an accurate
If we weigh our educational systems in terms of communication instruction, we find that almost all of the formal attention is given to teaching reading and writing, some is given to speaking and almost none is paid to listening. -Ralph Nichols and Leonard Stephens, Are
We associate artificial intelligence with text-generating systems like ChatGPT. But AI can also produce content in a variety of digital formats, including images, videos, and audio. These tools allow instructors and instructional designers to create custom content that enriches their online courses without high-level technical
In the fourth season of Gilmore Girls, there’s a memorable episode where Rory, navigating her first semester at Yale, visits her ethics professor during office hours. Under the guise of clarifying notes, she secretly hopes for praise on her recent essay. Confident in her performance,
