Group items tagged

We spend a lot of time thinking about how to make course material "interesting" - what if we spent some of that time looking for ways to make it "affective"?

One of the benefits of group work could be learning to negotiate different expectations about work styles in a group. Recognizing that up front, instead of 3/4ths of the way through the project when the wheels come off, might help students learn better in collaboration, and feel better about group work. I've seen exercises like this used in leadership or "team-building" exercises - there's no reason this activity wouldn't work with a committee or department.

This article came up at yesterday's discussion of neurodiversity, as we considered the emotional support needs of our students. It provides a couple of specific examples of language a faculty member can use to help students get the help they need, while still preserving appropriate teacher-student boundaries.

This week, we read the last chapters in Small Teaching, which focus on the emotional dimension of student experience. Here is one suggestion from an immunology professor on making personal connections with students as a way to improve their performance in your course.

Your circadian rhythms may have as much to do with the feeling of sleepiness as the actual amount of sleep you get. That has interesting implications for class scheduling and advising.