Weekly Teaching Tips

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Tip #9 Undergraduate Student Research for Teaching & Learning

Sarah Johnson, Department of Psychology and Director of Student Opportunities for Academic Research (SOAR)
Access her 10 minute recording that summarizes that various research opportunities available to undergraduate students at Moravian University.

Tip #8 Discussion and Classroom Community

Carmen Ferrero, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
Access her 5 minute recording that describes several activities she uses to develop and foster a sense of community in her Spanish language classroom.

Tip #7 Agency and Student Learning

Akbar Keshodkar, Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Access his 5 minute recording that describes the active-learning methods he has used to engage his students before, during, and after class in his Anthropology courses.

Tip #6 Digital Inking in the Classroom

Anastasia Thévenin, Department of Biological Sciences
Access her 5 minute recording that describes how she uses an iPad, an apple pencil, and the Notability app to model for students how they can "Draw it to know it" in her in-person classroom.

Tip #5 Primary Sources for Student Learning

Sandra Aguilar-Rodriguez, Department of History
Access her 5 minute recording that describes how she has scaffolded student assignments with primary sources to achieve learning goals in her History courses.

Tip #4 Are your Students Getting It?

As teachers, I think that might be the most important question we can ask ourselves. You can "cover" as much content as you want, but if your students aren't understanding it, it doesn't matter. In addition to providing you the feedback you need in order to reteach or move forward, formative assessment also provides students the opportunity to learn. Retrieval practice is gaining traction in education and is showing some promising results. One problem - time. Constant quizzing (and therefore feedback) takes time. So how can you get the data you need and help students learn"

Technology! Isn't teaching in the 21st century great? Technology can provide you with opportunities for formative assessment and retrieval practice without adding too much to your already full plate. Here are some of my favorite tech tools for these low stakes, informative assessments:

  • Plickers: You probably know about clicker technology. This is a lower tech option. You print cards for your students and download the app, so only the instructor needs technology. Scan the classroom and quickly see what students know or don't know. Pro Tip: Just embed the questions into your PowerPoint so you don't have to switch back and forth to the website.
  • Quizezz: This is a fun, student-paced review game of multiple choice questions. Students are awarded with a meme based on if they are correct or incorrect. Students are able to review their answers after the quiz. Students need devices but no projector is needed. Pro Tip: You can add your own memes for the game. This could be a great get to know you for students at the beginning of the semester - have them send you a meme they create!
  • Quizlet Live: Turn flashcards into a highly collaborative review game! Once you make (or find) a flashcard set on Quizlet, you can use the Live feature which groups students and has them compete together to match the cards to their definitions. Students need devices but no projector needed. Pro Tip: Assign students chapters to make the flashcard set for you.

Additional Resources

Submitted by:
Rebecca Taylor
Instructional Technologist
Center for Teaching Excellence
Heidelberg University

Tip #3 Supporting Student Learning with Transparent Assignments

Have you ever graded an assignments and found that some students completely missed the mark? While it may be tempting to blame the students, it is also possible that you haven't provided them with enough information to complete the assignment successfully. A study by Winkelmes et al. (2016) found that making assignments more transparent helped students navigate assignments more successfully and had the additional affect of increasing students' sense of belonging and improving retention rates. Transparent assignments simply make the purpose, task, and criteria for an assignment explicit.

To create more transparent assignments, consider the following questions, which are adapted from resources developed by Mary-Ann Winkelmes:

  1. PURPOSE: Communicate to students what knowledge or skills they will gain from completing the assignments and how they will be valuable to students.
    1. Knowledge
      1. What knowledge will students gain from completing the assignment?
      2. How does that knowledge relate to other topics in your course or other courses?
      3. How will the knowledge be relevant for students in their lives beyond your course and beyond college?
    2. Skills
      1. What skills will students practice while doing the assignment?
      2. How do those skills relate to other contexts or examples where these skill were important, within your course of beyond?
      3. How will these skills be valuable to students in their lives beyond your course or beyond college?
  2. TASK: Communicate the steps that students should take to complete the assignment.
    1. Are all of the steps needed to complete the assignment laid out clearly? If any steps are implied, consider making them more explicit. 
    2. What are the common pitfalls that students fall into on this assignment, and how can you help them avoid those?
    3. Are there opportunities for students to get feedback on parts of the assignment before the larger assignment is due?
  3. CRITERIA: Share the rubrics or checklists that you will use to evaluate student work with students before the assignment is due.
    1. Would a rubric or a checklist be most appropriate for evaluating your assignment?
    2. If you use a rubric on this assignment, is it written at a level that would be clear to a student?
    3. Are there opportunities for students to evaluate their own work or other student work using the rubric or checklist that you have provided.

Additional resources and examples of transparent assignments can be found at https://tilthighered.com/tiltexamplesandresources.

Reference:
Winkelmes, M., M. Bernacki, J. Butler, M. Zochowski, J. Golanics, and K. H. Weavil. 2016. A teaching intervention that increases underserved college students’ success. Peer Review, Vol. 8, No. 1/2.

Submitted by:
Sarah Dalrymple
Center for Teaching and Learning
Boise State University

Tip #2 Early Engagement

As we prep to begin a new term, our collective energy comes into focus and we breathe life into our classrooms. Whether a brick-and-mortar building or a web-based instruction, there is something truly electric about the buzz of energy a new session generates; a true opportunity to rise from the asses like the proverbial phoenix and create something anew. 

Building community is one of our most essential roles in the early days of the term. The family of learners we knit together in the first week will be a crucial foundation that will support each initiative we undertake in the coming weeks within our classrooms. What can we do to build this collective footprint, ensuring that our students feel genuinely connected and vested from their very first interaction with the learning environment?

Whether on campus or online-genuine, authentic communication matter...greatly. While we often have  "get to know" activities or an "intro" discussion forum, we simply cannot ask out students to jump in and share of themselves without also being willing to do this ourselves. What life circumstances have you lived through, and grown from, the most? I challenge you to share-openly and honestly-with your students. Create raw, candid opportunities for real human engagement right from the start of class. In a world of surface-level interactions, making way for truth in the human experience is a panacea for creating a group of learners who feel tangibly connected to the learning sphere. In my classes, I give my students "Day One Mom Speech". I describe what it was like to be a full-time college students, and parent, while navigating childhood cancer with my young son. I tell my students how tough it was...and what trauma looks like on the other side; what we incur when we harness the instinctual grit we each possess. The boldness of speaking my truth shocks them each and every time-and from the very first day of class, my students truly know who I am and what I am about. The personal sharing not only builds community, it builds trust. Trust is an essential, but often overlooked, tool of instruction. In the classroom, strategic and relevant sharing doesn't make us vulnerable; it makes us empowered educators with the potential to inspire and motivate our team. 

What meaningful life experiences do you bring to your classroom this term? I hope you will go forth and share authentically...with purpose...to build lasting connections in the classroom in our relentless drive forward supporting and championing our students.

In solidarity,
Angelica M. Lohr
Manager, CAEX Graduate Writing/Faculty Development
Walden University

Tip # 1 Starting off the Semester Strong!

Leigh Nataro, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
Functions and Derivatives (MATH 108):   
To help students see that they have (or can have) the qualities of “a person who is good at math”, I did a brief activity that helped to set a positive tone for the semester in Functions and Derivatives. Plus, I shared some information about myself that I think helped the students see me as a learner.  You can read about it in my blog entry at mathteacher24.blogspot.com.  I encourage you to try a similar activity to set the tone in your classes.

Kin Chueng, Department of Global Religions
Asian Traditions through Film (COMM-REL 128, LinC M6), Death, Dying, and Rebirth (FYWS, LinC 101 Y F1), Ethics in Asian Cultures (PHIL-REL 299, LinC U2)
I use a recycling bin and paper to run an exercise on privilege, explained in detail here:  https://www.buzzfeed.com/nathanwpyle/this-teacher-taught-his-class-a-powerful-lesson-about-privil?bffb. I modify it by giving students a perfect score on their first quiz if they throw their paper into the bin. This activity is sandwiched between earlier ones that 1) focus on the unhelpful assumptions we make when we think others are wrong, and 2) show how we can be viewing the same image but have radically incompatible experiences of that image; and later ones that 1) have them reflect on the privileges and obstacles they grew up with, and 2) learn how simply abstaining from adding harm or inequality is not enough in a world where inequality is the baseline.

Michael Bertucci, Department of Chemistry
Organic Chemistry I & II (CHEM 211 & 212):   

The first day of class is critical for setting the tone and expectations for the semester.  My first year teaching, I delegated the responsibility of reading the syllabus completely to my students to avoid spending time on it in class.  However, I found (as I’m sure many of you do) that they didn’t read it thoroughly and missed deadlines and key class policies as a result. The following two years, I completely reversed my approach and spent 25-30 minutes reviewing the syllabus with them on the first day.  As the students’ eyes glazed over in boredom listening to me recite the language in front of them on course objectives and forms of assessment, I realized that wasn’t working well either. So, I have settled on a syllabus quiz!  I tell the students they must review the syllabus and ask questions on it before arriving to class on the first day.  I prepare a quiz highlighting what I feel are the most critical, need-to-know-now components of the syllabus.  Then, when they enter, they are put in groups of 3 and have 10 minutes to complete the quiz.  After 10 minutes, I collect the papers and we go over the answers together. This simultaneously allows me to review the most critical parts of the syllabus, implement a small group ice breaker, and set the precedent that when I tell my students to prepare for something before coming to class, I MEAN IT!