Group items tagged

An interesting article exploring the teaching-research nexus in higher education - ie. the interplay (or not) of teaching and research roles.

"The resources listed here can provide you with some quick ideas on key teaching topics or starting points to explore various aspects of teaching. You can browse through the table of contents below or use the search box above to search our site."

"This page features innovative uses of online collaboration tools (OCTs) for teaching and course management. You can browse the full list or use the search criteria to find the examples most relevant to you. Click on any title for a full description or use the Links to watch short videos of faculty describing their teaching strategies and see examples. For a summary of practical recommendations for effectively implementing OCTs in one's teaching, see CRLT's Occasional Paper No. 31: Teaching in the Cloud: Leveraging Online Collaboration Tools to Enhance Student Engagement."

"While classroom teaching and management strategies are well documented, the online learning environment presents different challenges and benefits. Teaching in an online environment requires a special set of teaching skills since many of the strategies and tactics associated with best teaching practices are somewhat constrained by the primarily text-based environment. The VOCAL approach summarizes the key characteristics that a master instructor utilizes to be effective in an online environment. VOCAL is an acronym for Visible, Organized, Compassionate, Analytical and Leader-by-example. The ability of the teacher to effectively infuse these characteristics into their instructional practice - to BE VOCAL - will promote a supportive, challenging, constructive, rigorous and effective instructional environment. Instructors who practice a VOCAL approach will have more productive learning environments, fewer management problems and more positive learning experiences with their students."

Article - "Development and Use of the Approaches to Teaching Inventory " by Keith Trigwell and Michael Prosser - explores faculty conceptions of teaching (from transmission oriented/teaching focused to conceptual change oriented/student focused).

"Many of the decisions affecting the success of a course take place well before the first day of class. Careful planning at the course design stage not only makes teaching easier and more enjoyable, it also facilitates student learning. Once your course is planned, teaching involves implementing your course design on a day-to-day level."

"The most effective teachers vary their styles depending on the nature of the subject matter, the phase of the course, and other factors. By so doing, they encourage and inspire students to do their best at all times throughout the semester. It is helpful to think of teaching styles according to the three Ds: Directing, Discussing, and Delegating."

On this page: 1. You identify the problem you encounter in your teaching (choose from a list) 2. Identify possible reasons for the problem (choose from a list) 3. The site provides a list of strategies to address the problem

"Many of us who teach in higher education do not have a teaching background, nor do we have experience in curriculum development. We know our content areas and are experts in our fields, but structuring learning experiences for students may or may not be our strong suit. We've written a syllabus (or were handed one to use) and have developed some pretty impressive assessments, projects, and papers in order to evaluate our students' progress through the content. Sometimes we discover that students either don't perform well on the learning experiences we've designed or they experience a great deal of frustration with what they consider high stakes assignments. Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (Vygotsky, 1978) proposes that it's important to determine the area (zone) between what a student can accomplish unaided and what that same student can accomplish with assistance. This provides for consistent structural support, when required (Hogan & Pressley, 1997)."

A series of Plymouth University brief case study videos created by educators describing various personal good practices in teaching and learning inclusively. Additionally are provided a series of written case studies, to further explore inclusivity in teaching.

"In any discipline or field, a key goal as well as challenge is supporting the learning of all students despite their many differences. Through programs, consultations, and resources, CRLT supports teachers in creating learning environments where students of all identities and backgrounds can flourish." This website provides an endless supply of fresh resources regarding inclusivity, with one page of invaluable articles or links, leading on to more and more. Spending a little or a lot of time on this site will vastly increase your understanding of inclusive teaching, provide you with tools and ideas to implement, and provide you with some of the research that substantiates all that has been included on the site.

Faculty Focus manages this web resource on teaching strategies. Very useful and diverse spectrum of resources available!

This book (available in the U of S library) is an excellent exploration of the role of disciplines on teaching and learning in higher education (edited by Carolin Kreber, 2009)

"At Carnegie Mellon, we believe that for assessment to be meaningful (not bean-counting or teaching to the test!) it must be done thoughtfully and systematically. We also believe it should be driven by faculty so that the information gathered: * Reflects the goals and values of particular disciplines * Helps instructors refine their teaching practices and grow as educators * Helps departments and programs refine their curriculum to prepare students for an evolving workplace" Check out this website as a resource for assessment at the program level and the course level.

"A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives*" From Iowa State University Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching.

The National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (NCCSTS) has an excellent repository of cases that could be used in teaching in higher education, specific to the sciences. Use their site search to browse the case collection. Educational use is encouraged, according to fair use guidelines, as long as the author of the case is cited along with the source, National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science, University at Buffalo, State University of New York.

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

10 quick ideas for how to use Twitter in your teaching.

"The benefits to a Wikipedia assignment are extensive. Asking students to interact with the largest reference work in the world creates a unique educational experience: namely, a Wikipedia assignment provides a real-life application of the skills and knowledge students develop in the classroom. Asking students to participate in a Wikipedia project challenges them to examine and refine the ways in which they interact with digital resources. Students must develop their media literacy as they assess the reliability of online sources, their online etiquette as they interact with editors around the globe, and their critical thinking skills as they identify articles that need improvement. When students edit articles, they must produce material that is relavant to Wikipedia and consumed by actual readers beyond their classroom. They are confronted with immediate feedback to their work and must learn how to collaborate with writers around the globe. "

Series of videos on clickers, managing TAs, managing teaching along with responsibilities, Q&As including about online courses, diverse students, and feedback (discontent vs. systemic).