Why I Stopped Starting Class with Content—and What Happened Instead
Let me tell you something no one wants to admit: content is boring. There. I said it. It’s not that the ideas themselves aren’t important—it’s
Jeff DeGraff June 16, 2025
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active learning
How to Significantly Improve Student Engagement and Retained Learning in Higher Education
After 13 years of testing higher-order active learning modalities in the classroom, collecting data, building a database, and analyzing student learning results in bi-annual principles
Jeffrey von Freymann May 30, 2025
Conversation and Coursework: Strategies to Engage Undergraduate Students with Course Content
Peer-to-peer conversations can help students to make connections with each other and course content. In a course that requires out-of-class reading, that conversation is highly
Melissa Parks, PhD May 21, 2025
Co-Creating the Classroom: Collaborative Ground Rules for Engaged Learning
Teaching in higher education involves far more than delivering content. It means cultivating an inclusive and participatory environment where students feel seen, valued, and empowered
Angela Rodriguez Mooney, PhD May 14, 2025
5 High-Presence Teaching Tactics for Active Online Learning
Could you run 100 miles? Or climb Mount Everest? Or pass college algebra online? These tasks might seem overwhelming and possibly insurmountable, yet with components
Kirsten K. Meymaris April 21, 2025
Designing College Curricula for Student Success
Efforts to expand access to higher education have resulted in higher enrollment rates and degree attainment rates making higher education an option that is open
Alana Sejdic, EdD April 11, 2025
Supporting Non-Major Biology Students: Making the Classroom YOUnique
Supporting biology courses for non-majors involves addressing the diverse needs of students with little intrinsic motivation to study the subject. Many take these courses as
Jack Sytsma, Robert Bear, and Dr. Eve McCulloch March 12, 2025
Tired of Awkward Silences? Upgrade your Think-Pair-Share
I’ve tried a few different techniques for class discussions over the years, some that I’ve written about previously in Faculty Focus. In recent years, I’ve
Ashley Harvey, PhD, LMFT March 10, 2025
Beyond Syllabus Week: Creative Strategies to Engage Students from Day One
Ever wonder why students don’t read the syllabus, despite the time and effort we put into creating it? It serves as a contract between instructors
Joanne Ricevuto, PhD February 26, 2025
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
Marie McQuade and Todd Conaway January 29, 2025