Teaching Strategies and Techniques

The Science of Learning Can Improve Teaching

The Science of Learning Can Improve Teaching

In the 2017 Hans O. Mauksch Address presented at the American Sociology Association annual meeting, Melinda Messineo argues that we aren’t using as much of the science of learning as we could to help students learn. “In many ways, our efforts in the classroom are

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teaching Strategies

Modifying Strategies

Let’s start with an example. In a recent issue of College Teaching, Forrest Cooper describes how he modified the well-known and widely used “Think-Pair-Share” strategy. It continues to be an effective way to get students talking with each other about course content. But Cooper’s goal

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Encouraging Students to Use the Dictionary

Encouraging Students to Use the Dictionary: The Results

Previously in The Teaching Professor (31.7), I wrote about my efforts to help students get what John C. Bean in Engaging Ideas (2001) calls the “Dictionary Habit.” As I wrote, I had always assumed that my approach to teaching the “Dictionary Habit” was effective. However,

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Encouraging Classroom Participation

Encouraging Classroom Participation Through In-Class Reviews

I teach introductory biology classes; the students in these classes are typically new to the discipline at the college level and often find the amount and level of material challenging to absorb and retain. However, many students are nervous about asking or answering the questions

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teaching with technology

Flipgrid—A New Way to View Online Content

Flipgrid (https://info.flipgrid.com) is a new collaboration system that’s drawing quite a bit of interest in education circles as of late. Flipgrid provides an alternative way of displaying content from the traditional LMS discussion forum. An LMS forum is linear, with each posting falling below the

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motivating students

Mining the Analogy

“Genius without education is like silver in the mine.” Benjamin Franklin may not have realized at the time that he was actually using a tool for the education he espoused, namely, the analogy. More than a simple witticism, the statement can be explored for rich

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Study Abroad and Learning Outcomes

Study Abroad and Learning Outcomes

Do study abroad experiences promote learning? One could assume so, but it’s nice to know for sure, and Varela’s (2017) meta-analysis of 72 study abroad investigations offers the most definitive answer we have to date. The study looks at learning in three areas: (1)

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time-saving tips for teaching large classes.

Time-Saving Tips for Teaching Large Online Classes

Reduced enrollments and state budget cuts have led to increased class sizes at for-profit and nonprofit colleges and universities. “There are 2.4 million fewer college students in the United States than there were just six years ago” (Marcus, 2017). Schools must be creative in implementing

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Reading to Learn

Reading to Learn

For some time now, students in my first-year biology course have been protesting that I’m assigning too much pre-class reading. I use the flipped classroom structure in most of my courses and that means students prepare for class by reading assigned pages in the textbook.

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active learning

What to Do When They Don’t Understand

You’ve explained something. You can’t tell from their bland expressions if they understand or not. “Do you have any questions?” The silence is long; finally a hand goes up and one of your better students admits, “I’m totally confused.” “How about the rest of you?”

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