Posts Tagged ‘learning environment’
March 22 - Reflections on Teaching: From Surviving to Thriving
By: Chris Palmer in Faculty Development
Editor’s Note: In part one of this article, the author shared openly some of the mistakes he made early in his teaching career. In this entry, he outlines some of the changes he’s made to his teaching over the years and the principles he uses to guide his teaching.
I had known it all along at some level, but now it suddenly became glaringly obvious to me. Deep down, sometimes out of conscious reach, students want to be transformed and their lives made more useful, productive, and powerful. I added the following new goal to my personal mission statement:
January 28 - Love the One You’re With: Creating a Classroom Community
By: Cynde Gregory in Effective Classroom Management
It’s the first day of class. They shuffle in, spot similar life-forms, and slip in with that group. Hipsters sporting wild hair and tats, buttoned-up and serious young scholars, middle-aged moms and dads, maybe a couple of aging hippies. One or two sad souls choose spots isolated from the others; they don’t want to identify with them for reasons of insecurity, arrogance, or something else.
September 19 - Cultivating Curiosity in Our Students as a Catalyst for Learning
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Teaching Professor Blog
There’s not much pedagogical literature on the topic of curiosity. In fact the article referenced here is the only piece I can remember seeing on the subject, which is a bit surprising because curiosity does play an important role in learning. One of the definitions offered in the article explains how the two relate. “Curiosity, a state of arousal involving exploratory behavior, leads to thinking and thinking culminates in learning.” (p. 53)
August 9 - Digital Storytelling Brings a Human Connection to Online Education
By: Deborah A. Raines, PhD in Instructional Design
Once upon a time people told stories to share experiences and to teach. With the growing popularity of distance learning modalities educator have been searching for ways to enhance social presence and reflective thinking in the online learning experience. The use of digital storytelling might be a strategy to bring human thought and emotion into online education.
May 10 - Teaching Outside Your Area of Expertise
By: Mary Bart in Effective Teaching Strategies
For most teachers, a room full of bright students is the stuff dreams are made of. Unless, of course, you’re teaching a course that’s outside of your area of expertise – then it can be a nightmare. You feel like an imposter, and worry that your students will call you out. You cram for each class like you’re back in school.
February 15 - Learning Spaces that Facilitate Student Learning
By: Mary Bart in Instructional Design
As a college student, I always liked it when I had a course that met in Edwards Hall – if for no other reason than a lot of the classrooms in that building had theater-style seating with chairs that swiveled. The fact that I would remember that after all of these years is an indication of the effect a more welcoming learning space can have on students.
January 13 - Making the Most of the First Day of Class
By: Rob Kelly in Effective Classroom Management
The first day of class is an important time. In addition to the usual housekeeping tasks that need to be accomplished, there are other critical functions of the first day of class – not the least of which involves setting the tone for the course.
November 3 - Helping Your Learning Community Reach Its Goals
By: Barbara Leigh Smith in Learning Communities
Learning communities come in all shapes and sizes. Some simply link courses and put students in a cohort; many go considerably beyond that to build a learning environment around core practices known to promote student learning. Some are new, while others have been in place for nearly 20 years. If you would like to take
September 9 - PICM Feedback Model Helps Keep Online Students Motivated
By: Elwin Jones in Distance Learning Administration, Teaching and Learning
In an online learning environment, it’s easy for students to feel isolated or unsure of themselves, particularly if they’re adult students who’ve been away from school for a long time. In the absence of frequent and relevant instructor feedback, these students can get discouraged and may even become reluctant to submit assignments. Soon satisfaction and
September 2 - Assumptions about Setting the Right Classroom Climate
By: Maryellen Weimer, PhD in Effective Classroom Management
For quite some time now I’ve been interested in a widely held set of assumptions faculty make about the need to assert control at the beginning of a course. The argument goes something like this: When a course starts, the teacher needs to set the rules and clearly establish who’s in charge. If the course goes well, meaning students abide by the rules and do not challenge the teacher’s authority, then the teacher can gradually ease up and be a bit looser about the rules.
