An old saying in teaching goes, “Good students laugh at our jokes; weak students write them down.” There is some truth there. Strong students are following our presentation well enough to distinguish between our attempts at explaining concepts and our attempts at humor. Students who
Like millions of people, I play Wordle each day in The New York Times. If you are unfamiliar, Wordle is a logic game in which you get six guesses to figure out a five-letter word. After you submit a guess, you get feedback about each
On July 20, 2007, millions of people around the world were filled with a mix of anticipation and trepidation. What was the cause? The seventh and final book of the Harry Potter series (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) was set to be released at
Students often put in a great deal of time and energy into learning course material, yet their efforts are often less than fruitful. Week after week, we witness students arriving to lecture—seemingly prepared—armed with planners, Post-its, highlighters, and tablets. With such obvious effort poured into
In recent years, the phrase active learning has become commonplace across the academic disciplines of higher education. Indeed, most faculty members are familiar with definitions that go something like this: Active learning involves tasks that require students not only to do something, but also to
