Center for Innovative Pedagogy

This article came up at our recent lunch discussion on culturally responsive teaching. When we talk about students and resilience, are we fully informed about what things outside the classroom might be drawing on their abilities, and how they've been taught to act with "grit" in other situations?

Some interesting examples here of questions you can ask students to help cement the major concepts of your courses. (Some of these would fit in nicely as part of your personal questions in the course evaluation system!)

I've heard multiple Kenyon faculty say that the first step of teaching writing in their disciplines is to unlearn the writing habits students used successfully in earlier educational experiences. What can we do to better "communicat(e) what really happens inside our classes" as this author asks?

The CIP is proud to have made a few small contributions to the Latinos in Rural America project. We hope you'll come see the resulting exhibit in Olin and Chalmers Libraries this month, or check out the electronic version of the exhibit (including a marvelous short film of the interviews).

"As I reflected why some groups of students were able to embrace the place of gratitude more than others, or even why some seemed to express more gratitude than others, I discovered that there was an uncanny relationship between my own level of gratitude and that of my students." So what are you grateful for this semester - and what are you doing about it?

Very interesting stuff in this interview about public scholarship and open educational resources, and student privacy in digital scholarship.

Another study showing the relationship between sleep and memory. "The post-sleep boost in memory accessibility may indicate that some memories are sharpened overnight." (It might be worth reminding your students that a good study strategy includes a complete night's sleep!)

Interesting context as we look at expanding students' participation in the high-impact practices as part of the Kenyon 2020 plan.

Three interesting, and very different, tips for ways to use the moments before class. Which resonates most with you - building relationships, displaying context, or "creating a sense of wonder"?

How are you thinking about wrapping up your courses this year?

Some interesting ideas in this article about why students do and don't use office hours, and ways to make your office hours more convenient and less threatening. The idea of offering topical group "office hours" struck me as particularly interesting... maybe office hours would seem less threatening if they weren't always one-on-one.

"It's up to individual students to choose their own educational pathways and majors according to their interests, abilities, and yes, their employment prospects. But they should do so based on accurate information, not myths."

I suspect this will resonate with lots of folks regarding internal communication at Kenyon. Does it apply to communicating with our students as well?

Two interesting approaches to getting students to regulate their cell phone use in class. What do you do to help students learn to focus?

An interesting design suggestion for multiple-choice tests - after the student gives an answer, ask them to identify the core principle which makes it right.

If a student's level of academic stress is one reason they abuse "study drugs" like Adderall or Ritalin, then pedagogies which reduce stress might have a positive impact on this campus health issue. Also note the point that just being more focused doesn't make cramming a productive study technique...

"Transdisciplinary" work asks students to apply knowledge from diverse fields to a project in an environment which may seem tangential to their academic fields. The model in this article resonates with much that we've heard about community-engaged learning, but it also has implications for any interdisciplinary course.

Interesting ideas here about the connective power of a recording of your voice for answering frequently asked questions or providing review copies of some of your short lectures.

"A meta-analysis of 62 studies involving 11,837 students indicated that... students participating in SL programs demonstrated significant gains in five outcome areas: attitudes toward self, attitudes toward school and learning, civic engagement, social skills, and academic performance. ... Furthermore, as predicted, there was empirical support for the position that following certain recommended practices--such as linking to curriculum, voice, community involvement, and reflection--was associated with better outcomes." (This link requires Kenyon authentication; the full citation is doi: 10.1177/105382591103400205 Journal of Experiential Education September/October 2011 vol. 34 no. 2 164-181.)

Do bullet points oversimplify the nuanced arguments in a lecture? I'm not prepared to give an unequivocal "yes" like this author, but I think questioning your PowerPoint style (and perhaps your students' lecture-attending style) is a good exercise.