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Academic publishing house John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has teamed up with TED to produce instructor material for a recently launched series of videos called the "TED Studies." The link takes you to a press announcement from Wiley, in which there is a link to the first two inaugural courses. One of these is in psychology, the other is in statistics. The instructor material is online in these first two cases, but I cannot see where Wiley precludes potential print material in the future. I also cannot find the TED Studies area of the TED web pages, and I am trying to discover the difference between TED Studies and the previously announced TED-Ed initiative. I will update this comment when I can find more information.

The American Anthropological Association has a "Teaching Materials Exchange" which faculty can use to submit syllabi, lesson plans, activities, and assignments. Some materials are relevant to other disciplines (or interdisciplinary/cross-disciplinary approaches). If your professional association has such a resource, please let the CIP know.

This paper gives good examples of ways to get students to work with course material in ways which lead to more complete and lasting understanding, instead of the surface acquisition of facts. Most of the activities listed are team activities.

This paper gives good examples of ways to get students to work with course material in ways which lead to more complete and lasting understanding, instead of the surface acquisition of facts. Most of the activities listed are team activities.

Educators rely on the fair use of copyrighted material heavily - but not always with a clear grasp of what "fair use" really is as a legal principle. The Copyright Office has released a new tool for exploring case law on fair use; this article looks at the usefulness of the tool, and its limitations.

Educators rely on the fair use of copyrighted material heavily - but not always with a clear grasp of what "fair use" really is as a legal principle. The Copyright Office has released a new tool for exploring case law on fair use; this article looks at the usefulness of the tool, and its limitations.

The author argues for thinking of students as a vehicle for communicating core course content (not just the related material which is most often covered in student presentations). He has two reasons - student presenters do not have "expert blind spots", and peer-to-peer interaction has a differently engaging dynamic.

The author argues for thinking of students as a vehicle for communicating core course content (not just the related material which is most often covered in student presentations). He has two reasons - student presenters do not have "expert blind spots", and peer-to-peer interaction has a differently engaging dynamic.

This is a question we need to start asking up-front. When a textbook vendor calls, ask about accessible materials. When you see a documentary, ask if it's closed-captioned. When we think about new technologies, ask about screen readers and other accessibility tools. Better still, ask vendors (and colleagues) what accommodations they'd make to get all students an equivalent educational experience.

The author uses multiple-choice exams to make sure that students have at least read the material, and as a counterweight to any bias she might have about the content. What is your "theory of exams"?

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"?

It's a common complaint that our students aren't comfortable taking risks, and don't deal well with setbacks. This article provides a set of classroom techniques, from showing your own struggles with disciplinary material to celebrating success when it finally comes, which will help students get used to "fail more, fail better."

The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education provides a resource center full of materials related to ecological sustainability on campus, including resources for classes which address sustainability.

Students tend to hate cumulative exams - partly because they're harder (which is good and proper) and partly because they may not feel prepped for them. This article suggests some teaching strategies which you can use to help students integrate material across the semester.

People learn best when they are forced to retrieve the information and concepts repeatedly over time but most people haven't learned to study in ways that do this. Consequently, it may be more effective to move from the common practice of giving a few, high-stakes tests to giving numerous low stakes quizzes to assess and improve learning.

This is an interesting discussion about vulnerability, trust, and power in the classroom (and outside it). It comes from the Connected Courses community, which focuses on teaching courses with a large public online component, but the discussion is applicable to any class where students are asked to take risks. It's an hour long, but well worth it. (It's also an interesting case study in bringing material from the backchannel into the foreground.)

Many classes already use library materials (physical or online) as course readings. Have you looked, though, at the open textbooks and other instructional materials available in your field?

Lynn Gillette uses a definitional grading system to prioritize meaningful preparation for class. His Class Preparation Assignments (don't call them homework!) help students learn to read disciplinary material, serve as a structure for better note taking, and allow for more discussion and active learning in his classes.

A review of recent papers on the effectiveness of video lectures as supplemental material in a traditional class. From the article: "I think it suggests that screencasts, when done well and deployed properly, help all students - they certainly don't hurt - and they help most those students who need the most help."

MOOCs are in the news -- not surprising. I decided to pass along two articles from yesterday's Chronicle of Higher Education; this is the first. The title basically tells the story, but underlying the main point are two sub-points. First, the ho-hum nature of the GSU attitude: "the Georgia State University Senate had little difficulty in finding a way to provide credit for MOOCs." I wonder about that. Second, the offhand announcement of what could significantly ratchet up departmental work loads: "academic departments (will) determine if (students completing MOOCs) have the required understanding of the material."

Billed as the first peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the writing (and sharing) of excellent syllabi, this is an interesting approach to the teaching commons. Is this a viable approach to the twin problems that many syllabi have moved off professors' web pages and into the Learning Management System (a.k.a. Moodle), and that those syllabi which are on the web haven't been peer reviewed?

The authors describe a simple two-stage exam method used in the physics department at the University of British Columbia. Two-stage exams provide an engaging collaborative learning opportunity which very effectively increases student mastery of the material.

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.