Use Revise and Resubmit Instead of Extra Credit
Many faculty provide extra credit or give in to student requests for extra credit, but this is not always an efficient way to produce learning. The major problem with extra…
An Integrative Approach to Student Understanding and Learning
Our primary role as educators is to create learning environments that service a diverse student body. To be successful, this environment should focus on the ability of the student to…
Adult Learners Need More Instructional Support
Expectations of adult learners are generally high. They are assumed to be naturally focused, motivated, and self-directed. While this may be true, some adult students still need significant encouragement and…
How to Implement Active Learning Strategies and Activities Into Your Classroom
Most of us think we know what active learning is. The word engagement quickly comes to mind. Or, we describe what it isn’t: passive learning. Definitions also abound, the one…
Trauma-Informed Teaching: How to Be More Intentional with Course Policies, LMS, and Scaffolding Feedback
In higher education, administrators and educators are constantly rethinking how to further help students best retain course information. Recently, many have focused their attention to brain-based learning since there’s a…
Shuffle the Deck: Establishing a Sense of Belonging
During most of my 36 years of being a teacher, I have found that there has been something almost magical about being physically in a classroom with my students. The…
How Leaders Get Through Tough Times: Six Strategies for Building Resilience
Tough times are no stranger to higher education—financial challenges, enrollment declines, mental health issues, and the erosion of tenure to name just a few. If these issues have become the…
Considering Media Affordances When Designing STEM Hands-on Activities
It is well known that hands-on activities are an inseparable part of the nature of science. Experiments allow learners to understand and engage in a process of constructing knowledge by…
An Era of Change: Remote Engagement, Multi-tasking, and Camera Policies
It has grown cliché to say the pandemic has changed education both rapidly and permanently. Certainly, public health concerns have forced educators at all levels to master remote teaching, learning,…
Six Ways Text Can Make (or Break) Effective Online Course Design
The importance of well-crafted, thoughtful text to effective online course design can’t be overstated. Assuming your learners are literate, it’s simply the most efficient way to communicate virtually any topic,…