Earning Our AI Literacy License
When my son started the fourth grade, his teacher provided a thick bound packet of cursive writing worksheets. She said that completing the packet was optional, but only if completed…
Running a Workshop: Guidelines for Engagement and Impact
Most of us have the experience of registering for a workshop only to discover that it is a lecture or (worse) an advertisement for the presenter. A genuine workshop aims…
Getting Started: A Basic 10 Point Guide to Launching an Academic Career
There are over 4,000 universities and colleges in the United States employing over 1.5 million faculty, over half of which are either tenured or on tenure track. The National Center…
How to Practice Equitable Empathy: What White Faculty Should–and Shouldn’t–Do
In our combined decades of experience with equity in public schools—first as urban teachers and now as professors of early, elementary, and secondary education—we often appeal to empathy. And in…
Effective Strategies for Sustaining Student Attention during PowerPoint Lectures
Despite debate and disagreement about how to define and measure attention spans, numerous studies have put student attention spans in approximately the 10-minute range (Bradbury, 2016). Attention is a so-called…
“How Are You Doing Today?” A Survey for Starting Each Class
This article first appeared in The Teaching Professor on January 22, 2024 © Magna Publications. All rights reserved. Try a FREE three-week trial of The Teaching Professor! Mental health concerns have…
Five-Minute Starts: Fifteen Ideas to Ignite Your Class
The first five minutes of every class in higher education holds far more significance than they might initially seem. These brief moments set the stage for active learning, focus, trust,…
A Wicked Perspective: Faculty and Leadership in Academia
I remember seeing the musical Wicked while finishing my doctoral studies. The experience was so impactful that it led me to change my dissertation topic to focus on the idea…
Direct and Indirect Assessment Measures of Student Learning in Higher Education
Curriculum assessment and evaluation projects may not always spark immediate enthusiasm, but a recent well-organized team project in our higher education program demonstrated the power of collaboration. Thanks to the…
Assume the Best: Trust-Based Strategies for Empowering College Students
Creating a trust-based classroom begins with an essential mindset: students are doing their best. When we approach teaching from this perspective, we move away from punitive measures, fear-based management, and…