“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…
The important role professors play in helping our students appreciate cultural diversity cannot be overvalued. There has been much written about what a Culturally Responsive educator can do to help his or her students engage with the course content, their…
What began as a routine summer workshop on incorporating games and game-like elements into instruction, turned into a surprise for summer; two weeks of fun and intense online game-play from an engaged and committed cadre of faculty and staff who…
By: Faculty Focus
Although Kathleen Koenig was terrified of public speaking as a student, she now teaches lecture classes with 135+ students. As an associate professor in the Physics Department at the University of Cincinnati, Koenig says her former teachers would never have…
By: Scott Rios
Students from different walks of life converge in a classroom for learning. They have different capabilities and personalities, adding to the diversity that comes with learning institutions. As such, if you want to be an effective teacher, you need to…
By: Sara Schley, EdD
The teaching process not only involves content knowledge, but also an understanding of teaching and learning principles with insights about different learning needs (note: not the same thing as “learning styles”). Instructors must understand what pedagogical strategies meet those learning…
Don’t I Know You from Somewhere? This whole thing started when I played two video games, one after the other, that I imagine almost no one plays in sequence. My partner and I enjoy open-world games that incorporate a number…
By: Tierney King
It’s that time of year when spooky stories emerge and haunted traditions appear! From ghost stories to pumpkin-carving competitions, we found a few colleges and professors who have made their own Halloween traditions. The Halloween Tree On Halloween (or the…
I credit my husband as the inspiration for this article. He is a writing professor who is exceptionally good at waiting. He has a unique ability (and probably disturbing to some) to ask his students a question and then wait…wait…
Instructional designers can help with many different course-based problems and challenges, including helping you figure out where and how to start with your course design. When a course is new or needs a little design love, knowing where to start…