Provocative questions from Rick Godden and Anne-Marie Womack regarding recent studies about the benefits of paper-and-pen notetaking and resulting calls for screen bans in classrooms. "Are people with disabilities, then, doomed to substandard learning?"
Bryan Alexander has an excellent, extensive list of terrific tips for public speaking. I particularly like the way he breaks down the stages of preparation and giving a talk. Might be a useful tip sheet for students - or as we enter summer conference season!
A guide to mentoring undergraduate research from the University of Miami, including many concrete suggestions for habits and activities to develop. Also includes a lot of information specific to undergraduate research opportunities at Miami, which might spark conversations about scaffolding research experiences at Kenyon.
Much of the information about undergraduate research is written by professors for professors. This article gives the students a voice, as 5 students from the University of Central Florida give their insights on what practices made their research experiences worthwhile.
Six tips for good professional email style, framed in a kindly "dear student" letter. I've heard plenty of complaints about 2 AM emails consisting only of "hey, what's the reading for tomorrow?"... perhaps circulating this essay might help.
What are the benefits of having students compile a portfolio of their work, and what are the critical choices you make as a teacher in creating a portfolio requirement? This list of 11 key issues is a good place to start.
Interesting review of a new book on writing pedagogy. The central message of the book appears to be one which I've heard many Kenyon faculty members discuss - deliver only a few critical messages to a student per writing exercise, based on their current stage of writing development. There's a much better chance that the student will take those one or two lessons to heart than if they're hidden in feedback which bleeds red ink.
Good tips, not just for new faculty (though that's who the author is preparing to address), but really for anyone in a new job or life stage or just ready for a prompt to reflect on their teaching.
We're having a series of book club meetings (and a book club blog) on Ken Bain's book this summer. This interview is particularly interesting for the way Bain expands on his thinking since the book was published.
An essay on six core titles on teaching and learning by Jose Bowen. (All 6 are in CONSORT and widely available in OhioLINK.) I particularly enjoyed Bowen's personal reflections on techniques he's taken from these books and applied in his own teaching of music.
There are more topics covered here, and these best practices codes are mainly for students learning how to make documentaries and to post online videos. However, there are documents and links in here that would be of use to "regular" professors who simply want to make use of video clips in their courses.
A six-page synopsis by Dee Fink of his seminal book on course design, "Creating Significant Learning Experiences." From the text: "The heart of this approach is to decide first what students can and should learn in relation to this subject and then figure out how such learning can be facilitated. Although this approach requires more time and effort, it also offers the best chance of ensuring that students have a significant learning experience."
Simple suggestions for improving the quality of "flipped classroom" screencasts. Suggestion 1: buy a microphone. (The CIP is recommending the Samson GoMic, retailing around $50.) Suggestion 2: look at your lighting. You may need to turn 90 or 180 degrees, or get a desk lamp, to look your best. (I decided to post this under the title from the print edition of the magazine, instead of the online title "The Problem With Flipped Classrooms: Teachers Shoot Lousy Video.")
I have my students working in groups for lab sessions this term. Admittedly this falls outside the usual scope of what constitutes "group work" (i.e., a larger paper, research paper, project in lieu of an exam, etc.), but I still picked out a few pointers to emphasize when talking to my students about what I expect from them.
Lecture gets a bad rap for not being sufficiently active learning, but when is it actually the best tool for the job? The comments on this article also contain some good points.
Gadget use is an etiquette issue to be addressed formally in the syllabus. This article (and the links in it) have some interesting suggestions. Perhaps the most intriguing idea to me is the "laptop-free zone" of seating - I've noticed that I can be as distracted by the person a row or two ahead of me checking email (or worse) as by the urge to check my own.
This chapter from a University of Virginia handbook gives specific suggestions which can make the classroom more welcoming to people from all backgrounds. Some of the "suggestions" look more like probing questions for reflecting on your own teaching - which is also a good thing! Also available as a PDF at http://trc.virginia.edu/resources/420-2/teaching-a-diverse-student-body-handbook/