The
Reading Room Archives
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It's that time of year again...
Starting
a Course. A very comprehensive resource from EKU
Nine
things you should do on the first day of class. A guide by Dee Fink.
Learning Student Names. A collection of successful strategies.
Interested in research on teaching and learning? Here are two resources you might find valuable.
Reinert CTE White Papers: Focus on Teaching and Learning Research and reflections from SLU faculty and graduate students.
A comprehensive list of journals that publish research on teaching and learning.
Guide to Discussing a Crisis. From University of Washington
Suggestions for Leading Class Discussion Around Tragedies such as 9/11. From University of Michigan
Teaching and Learning in a Time of Crisis. From Western Kentucky University.
Suggestions for working with SLU's emergency notification system.
Critical Thinking in Online Discussions
Effective
Grading
Its that point in the semester where most faculty are busy grading
student work. Here are some tips from around the web to make grading more accurate
and effective.
Effective Grading
Strategies from Park University
Student Assessment & Cheating from University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.
Kathleen Mckinney, from Illinois State University, offers some suggestions for grading group work.
A Conversation on Grading occurring on the Chronicle of Higher Education "In the Classroom" Discussion Forum
Active learning through interactive teaching “involves students doing things and thinking about the things they are doing (Bonwell & Eison, 1991, p.2).” Much of the doing “involves students’ engagement with others---talking and listening, giving and receiving feedback, and undertaking collective or collaborative projects (Smith, MacGregor, Matthews, & Gabelnick, 2004, p.119).” Although a lecture style of teaching remains popular among teachers, the lecture was ranked as the teaching method first year college students least preferred in 2000 (Smith et al., 2004). Today’s millennial learners also prefer experiential learning to lecture (Sweeney, 2007). Consider incorporating more interactive learning strategies into your teaching style. The following resources may give you some ideas about how to take the first steps. Also check out the website through Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA for information about active and interdisciplinary teaching.
Universal Instructional Design (UIE) is a pedagogical approach that can help you make your course more useful for all students, avoiding singling out students with disabilities for specific accommodations. You are probably already incorporating many elements of UID into your courses without even realizing it. Here are some resources to help you learn more.
Uncertain Welcome. A video from the University of Minnesota features students with disabilities explaining why accommodation is so important and how easy it can be to do.
Enhancing the Inclusiveness of First-Year Courses Through Universal Instructional Design. Higbee, Chung, and Hsu. (Pages 23 through 35 of this pdf file available online). This article defines the elements of UID and includes practical examples of how three professors have included UID in a physical science, a psychology and a symbolic logic course.
Universal Design: Applications in Post Secondary Education. This website from University of Arkansas at Little Rock outlines their elements of UID, and suggests easy ways to incorporate each element into course design.
Here are some resources to help you process and utilize data from student course evaluations.
Dealing with Hurtful Student Comments.
New Questions on Student Evaluations
Responding to Negative Student Evaluations of Your Teaching.
From the Student View: Student Course Evaluations.
The end of the semester and the last day of class can be just as important as the first day. Here are some resources to help you help your students make sense of the semester.
How to Approach the Ending Semester. from TLC Teaching Tips at EKU.
A Collection of Ideas from Berkeley
A Suggestion for the Last Day of Class. A Berkeley Compendium.
Last Day of Class video. from CMU. Quicktime required.
Did you miss Dr. Chris Dede's recent presentation at SLU or just want to learn more about technology and neomillennial learning styles? Here are some resources.
A Podcast Interview with Dr. Dede. This page also has a pdf of the PowerPower presentation.
Planning for Neomillennial Learning Styles: Implications for Investment in Technology and Faculty.
Millennial Behaviors and Demographics. by Richard Sweeney, University Librarian, New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Richard Sweeney will be at SLU on May 15 to present Understanding The Millennial Student: Strategies to address the needs of today's students. Details and registration.
Looking help writing objective test questions? Here are some resources.
A Test Construction Manual from Cornell University
Writing Good Multiple Choice Exams from the University of Texas
Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes. a taxonomy from University of South Australia.
Looking for ideas to start the new semester? Here are some resources?
The First Day of Class from Tools for Teaching by Barabara Gross Davis
101 Things in the First Three Weeks from Joyce Povlacs
Motivating Students from the Vanderbilt Center for Teaching
Looking for some ideas to increase the effectiveness of your classroom discussion? Here are some resources to get you started.
Idea Paper #15: Improving Discussions by Cashen and McKnight. Timeless tips and approaches.
Getting More Out of Classroom Discussion. Outlines four factors that feed into good classroom discussion.
Ten Techniques for Energizing Classroom Discussion. Some specific activities, including think/pair/share and the jigsaw technique.
Academic integrity, specifically plagiarism is on the minds of many teachers and students as we head into midterms. Here are some resources that will be useful to share in the classroom.
Academic Integrity: A Letter to My Students a open letter from Bill Taylor, Professor of Political Science at Oakland Community College to his students on issues including the role of integrity for both student and teacher.
Understanding Plagiarism a resource from Indiana State University. Includes interactive quizzes and resources to help teachers identify plagiarism.
The Owl at Purdue University Tools to understand and avoid plagiarism in a different types of writing. Includes info on proper citations.
Millennial, Net Gen or Digital Native: no matter what we call them, they are our students. September's Reading Room topic is Teaching the Net Gen.
Who is the Millennial Student and What can Faculty Members Do to Improve Learning? a short podcast interview with Dr. Diana Oblinger and Maureen Wideman of UOIT
This Educause ebook, edited by Diana and James Oblinger is a collection of articles on different aspects of the issue.
Teaching, Learning & the Millennial Student. Maureen Wilson examines strategies for teaching Millennials in the context of Seven Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Teaching.
Want more? Contact the CTE at cte@slu.edu for access to a teleconference on New Standards for the New Students. We also welcome your suggestions for future Reading Room topics.