Ever walked out of class with that elated feeling where you just know you taught a good class? Perhaps a student or two even said something to you afterward or paid you the supreme accolade with the text “U dun good.” But did you? And while your students might have felt euphoric afterward, did they learn anything? And, more importantly, can you prove it?
By way of background, most of us know the Nosich (2001) strategy of how to introduce a “fundamental and powerful concept” (Learning to Think Things Through, Upper Saddle River, NY: Pearson, 40). S-E-E-I (sometimes called the SEE-ing I)...
Students may lack a sense of the larger world, a serious problem in an age of globalization. I adapted an assignment to bring them into contact with other cultures. The original assignment asked them to write about a topic relevant to the class.
Now, I have them visit a collection of English-language media from around the world (http://www.wku.edu/ teaching/media/reading.html) and research their topic in international media. I specify that they must have 3 continents represented in their paper and that the articles selected should represent the culture of the country and must NOT be about the...
From Teaching Tips #1, Teaching Resource Center, CSU San Bernadino
MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning & Online Teaching) is a collection of over 20,000 FREE and peer-reviewed online teaching and learning materials. MERLOT also offers a free and open community to share, advise, and evaluate online teaching and learning materials: http://www.merlot.org/
1. Define the type of student-content interaction you want to provide (e.g., students interacting with one or a combination of the following content types: presentations/lectures, more explanation, more practice exercises/...
You've carefully prepared your online course -- sometimes with help from others (e.g., instructional designer, multimedia specialist, or librarian). But ultimately, when it's time to offer the course, it's all up to you. How can you successfully guide your students' learning when you can't see the vacant look of confusion or the familiar glimmer of realization as they construct their learning?
The successful online instructor recognizes the four distinct roles he or she must assume to guide students' learning in an online course:
Pedagogical: Naturally, serving as the content area specialist...
Resource
Content
Marzano, Robert, et. al. Classroom Instruction That Works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2001.
Identifies ways of enhancing students' use of knowledge with strategies such as summarizing, comparing, contrasting, classifying, creating metaphors, creating analogies, etc.
Anderson, Lorin, et. al. Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 2000.
Reviews the fundamentals of Bloom's taxonomy and augments it by identifying additional types of thinking and applications of knowledge. Bloom's...
By Kathryn Linder
By offering students a supportive group for writing assignments and research projects, students can form strong learning communities and feel less isolated when they see others around them struggling to generate ideas, craft thesis statements, or write creative transitions. Allowing students to develop friendships around writing is one way to help them to see writing—often viewed as a chore to procrastinate until the last minute—in a more positive light. Based on my experience of using writing groups over several years, here are six tips to help create effective writing...
Plan ahead! Excellence happens by design, and the more time invested in structuring the course and preparing for the lessons, the better. Consider what prerequisites are essential for student success.
Implement Universal Design for Learning into your course structure. UDL helps remove learning barriers for all students.
Ensure that all directions, guidelines, policies, grading criteria, readings, and resources are accessible and available to students in more than a single place and format.
Understand your students, your target audience. Be aware of special needs, special interests,...
Include in the syllabus guidelines for respectful interaction among everyone and model that respect.
In the first few sessions, take time to solicit from students what they perceive as justice or equity issues related to the subject of the course and invite them to identify which ones are the most urgent. Use this information to develop subsequent lessons and student assignments.
Create community service components as requirements for the class, and ensure that reflection on experience is a critical part of the assignment.
Compare and contrast notions of justice historically and...
Include any university, college or department required information (i.e. statement on disability resources, statement on plagiarism, etc.).
Provide a rationale for the course. This is a good place to insert your pedagogical approach and philosophy of the subject.
Identify the key concepts of the subject, and relate these to the overarching objectives of the department or program.
Identify specific outcomes for the course and be direct about what knowledge and skills students will master as a result of the course, including outcomes that represent the means of student expression (writing,...
The objective of interdisciplinary teaching is to assist students with seeing complex problems and solutions from a holistic and global perspective ... reviewing the history of the pedagogical approach may be helpful, as well as linking it to the increasingly global nature of contemporary society (the world wide web, multi-national corporations, etc.)
Identify specific outcomes that illustrate interdisciplinary thinking and problem solving.
Construct lessons around a particular question or problem, and take time to identify the disciplines that may offer insights, responses and solutions....
Clearly communicate your expectations in multiple venues well ahead of the due dates for exams and assignments.
Provide clear rubrics that illustrate how the work will be assessed. Provide examples of excellent, mediocre and unsatisfactory work, so standards are clear.
Assess often, even if such "dip-sticking" is merely for preview or review; this helps monitor student understanding and informs the instructor's course design and pacing.
Assess the process and not only the product. Certain skills related to research, media projects, writing, and scientific research are often overlooked in...
