This detailed article proposes a research-based conceptual model of how students learn. It identifies nine cognitive challenges that stand in the way of learning:
Developed in the corporate training sector, microlearning is drawing attention from higher education as an alternative to traditional courses. As the name suggestions, microlearning involves short lessons on a relatively narrow topic, while traditional courses cover a range of topics within a general subject.
I used to question my students’ use of flash cards. Yes, I could see their value in language learning, but in a beginning communication course? In developmental English? My concerns did rest on a bit of academic elitism. I thought college students should be using
Thirty years later, I still remember the first time I went through a stack of student essays in preparation for paper conferences the next day. I was a first-year grad student in a writing program and completely responsible for the learning of the 22 first-year
Another of those loosely defined but favorite words in higher education, metacognition is mostly understood superficially—“thinking about thinking.” We consider it broadly, generically, as it relates to learning. The mental processes involved are not easy to observe or measure. Even though most academics have good
Students claim to be overwhelmed with additional work during the 2020–2021 teaching year, while faculty say that they are assigning no more work than usual (McMurtrie, 2021). Squaring these contradictory self-reports provides important insights into issues with determining workload for an online class.
Recently I’ve undertaken a new learning project: identifying the trees in the woods around my home. I’ve lived among trees for most of my life and feel a special affinity toward them, but I can’t name most of them. I’ve bought a tree book and
Now more than ever, teachers are turning to instructional video to supplement online instruction. However, finding tools to create interactive instructional content can be difficult. Happily, PlayPosit (formerly known as eduCanon) provides instructors with a means of adding interactions—such as questions, comments, and links to
Feedback has been proven to be one of the most important factors to student success (Hattie, 2009). Unfortunately, students are starved for feedback from their instructors (Purdue Global, 2013). Graduate programs focus on teaching their students how to publish, lecture, and grade but not how
As you prepare your next asynchronous lecture, you set up your laptop on an appropriately sized delivery service box for the best camera angle, turn on the ring light, click start on the extension that embeds your webcam, and press record. You did your best
