When I began designing my course activities, I needed a model that would include all modalities of the learning processes. As my blueprint, I chose to incorporate Dale’s Cone of Experience. In the 1960s, Edgar Dale introduced the Cone of…
I found the article, “Testing and Assessment: Looking in the Wrong Places” by Dr. Caristi (Faculty Focus, 11 Sept. 2019) interesting. But, if I am interpreting his arguments correctly, I must kindly disagree with his conclusion that we must do…
Most of us teaching at the college level like to read. We read professional materials, and we read for pleasure. We know firsthand that much about teaching can be learned from reading. But we work in a profession that requires…
There is a vast pedagogical literature spelling out the benefits of student engagement and active participation (1). A recent meta-analysis study of 225 active learning classes further concludes that “active learning has a greater impact on student mastery of higher-…
Regardless of one’s academic discipline or the courses that we teach, college faculty members share a responsibility to prepare our students for success in our courses and academic programs, their professional careers, and ultimately, for life in general. While this…
By: Alison Rogers
Isaac Newton first conceptualized the idea of gravity when an apple fell on his head. This moment was simple, but inspirational—with a huge impact on scientific progress to come. Answers of great importance such as this can originate in the…
By: Christian Aguiar
With written communication becoming increasingly multimodal—from newspaper websites to your social media feed to your learning management system’s announcements page—researchers and practitioners alike have made the case for the value of multimodal assignments. While much of this work focuses on…
By: Kristin Ritchey
Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side. Why did the chicken cross the playground? To get to the other slide. As experts in our field, it is easy to become frustrated with students’ relative…
By: Bob Eierman
At a symposium about teaching projects on our campus, one group of faculty presented a set of projects they had done that involved giving students control over course design issues. The projects had grown out of a reading group that…
“Jason is a bright, ambitious, and warm 22-year-old. He wants to be a Geologist. However, Jason has a hard time staying focused in a large classroom. Group activities, competing deadlines, and fast-paced lectures challenge him. He has trouble asking his…