Group items tagged

"Excerpt from High-Impact Educational Practices: What They Are, Who Has Access to Them, and Why They Matter By George D. Kuh A Brief Overview The following teaching and learning practices have been widely tested and have been shown to be beneficial for college students from many backgrounds. These practices take many different forms, depending on learner characteristics and on institutional priorities and contexts. On many campuses, assessment of student involvement in active learning practices such as these has made it possible to assess the practices' contribution to students' cumulative learning. However, on almost all campuses, utilization of active learning practices is unsystematic, to the detriment of student learning. Presented below are brief descriptions of high-impact practices that educational research suggests increase rates of student retention and student engagement. "

"Research indicates that students learn best by doing (the higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy: applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating).  Because projects that incorporate these levels of cognition take time, they're often not included into the curriculum.  The flipped model helps to solve this issue."

"The goal of Teach With Tournaments is simple -- immerse students in the personalities and character of the great men and women of history through competition. For this school year, the tournament focused on one theme: the most courageous figure in U.S. history. Each student chose a historical figure he or she thought best embodies courage in U.S. history, from military heroes such as Alvin York to civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks to humanitarian pioneers such as Clara Barton. Each choice was then paired off in the bracket system. Students were required to research their character's accomplishments and then defend their choice in front of the class. Afterward, the class voted and the winners moved on to the next round, eventually narrowing the field of 64 to one champion."

The Guardian HE paper in the UK recently published an article highlighting 12 UK blogs on higher education worth following (on things from HE planning, pedagogy, online learning, research, etc.)

"Alec Couros explains some of the strategies that seems to bear fruit when it comes to the adoption of technology for faculty members. He also touches on how to get started with Twitter, and shares some ideas on how to leverage social media for research."

Research poster on using a rubric to grade exams in a Calculus-based physics for science and engineering course that shows the level of specificity in the output possible with a rubric.

"Evaluating creativity can be difficult: is one evaluating process or product? Achievement or effort? Evaluating creative effort can also be more time-consuming than other forms of assessment. Researchers have developed many specific tools for assessment. This page presents only an overview of the topic." This page is just one part of a section of their Website (Iowa State University - Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching) dealing with creativity in education.

"Today the Getty becomes an even more engaged digital citizen, one that shares its collections, research, and knowledge more openly than ever before. We've launched the Open Content Program to share, freely and without restriction, as many of the Getty's digital resources as possible."

"A collection of rubrics for assessing portfolios, cooperative learning, research process/ report, PowerPoint, oral presentation, web page, blog, wiki, and other social media projects."

"In this course, we will examine the tools and practices associated with networked, open, and digital scholarship. In particular we will investigate the emergent practice of scholars' use of social media and online social networks for sharing, critiquing, improving, furthering, and reflecting upon their scholarship. Recent reports indicate that social media are at an early stage of adoption in academia, even though mindful participation in digital spaces is a significant skill for today's academic and knowledge worker. Participants will study scholarly presence online. They will examine how particular tools and practices may enhance the impact and reach of scholarship, and will explore the challenges and tensions associated with emerging forms of scholarship. By gaining an understanding of modern forms of scholarship, participants will be better equipped to use digital technologies and networked practices in their own work. This course will be of immediate relevance to doctoral students, academics, and knowledge workers. Faculty members who teach research methods courses and faculty development professionals may also find this course valuable."

Great looking resource with a CC-BY-SA license on it. "In this online resource, the model used for course development is a project team-based structure. The framework still can be used by those who have a "lone ranger" approach to the course development process. All of the resources can be used as they are and are in development, based on the feedback received and ongoing research in the field. You can evaluate/modify your courses using the checklists provided in this module. "

"This site provides practical strategies to address teaching problems across the disciplines. These strategies are firmly grounded in educational research and learning principles."

"Welcome to Smithsonian Open Access, where you can download, share, and reuse millions of the Smithsonian's images-right now, without asking. With new platforms and tools, you have easier access to nearly 3 million 2D and 3D digital items from our collections-with many more to come. This includes images and data from across the Smithsonian's 19 museums, nine research centers, libraries, archives, and the National Zoo. What will you create? #SmithsonianOpenAccess"

This is a great resource introducing inquiry-based learning.

"Fun, interactive, research-based simulations of physical phenomena from the PhET™ project at the University of Colorado." These are great simulations to use in class or to have students use at home.

"What is open access? Nick Shockey and Jonathan Eisen take us through the world of open access publishing and explain just what it's all about."

Very cool resource on inquiry-based learning from the CILASS project in Arts and Social Sciences at Sheffield.