Here I sit in my new, make-shift home office moving my face-to-face courses online with a view of my backyard. For the last few days I have contemplated many…
Nine Benefits of Student-Generated Discussion and Exam Questions
April 1, 2020 Meriah L. Crawford, MFA, PhD
As someone who mostly teaches composition and the occasional literature or creative writing class, I use quizzes most semesters, and occasional midterms and final exams. Over time, I have…
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When the Tide Goes Out: Identifying and Supporting Struggling Students in Online Courses
March 30, 2020 Marie A. Revak, PhD
Students in online courses start with the best intentions—keeping up with the readings and assignments, engaging in discussion, and learning from their instructor’s feedback and comments. Once an online…
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As schools across the nation announce they are switching to online instruction in an attempt to slow the rapidly evolving coronavirus pandemic, teachers everywhere are scrambling to convert their…
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In Online Education, Philosophy of Teaching
Leading Our Classes Through Times of Crisis with Engagement and PEACE
March 25, 2020 Donald A. Saucier, PhD, and Tucker L. Jones, MS
The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has caused a fast and radical shift across colleges and universities to remote and online teaching models. As such, our face-to-face courses have been taken…
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In Effective Classroom Management
A Checklist for Building Community in the College Classroom
March 23, 2020 Julie Sochacki, JD
Instructors have temporary experiences with groups of students each semester. Even so, these brief moments have the power to change lives. As professors, we decide the impact of our…
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As universities rush to get all their courses online quickly, there’s a high probability of error but also a lot you can do to succeed. Problems may occur due…
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One of the most basic principles in education is backward curriculum design. This approach involves beginning with the end in mind. Moore (2015) stated that the backward design model…
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Five Ways to Promote Student Autonomy in Online Discussions
March 16, 2020 Cassandra Sardo and Justin York, PhD
“Write an initial post and then reply to two of your classmates.” These are the standard requirements for students participating in online course discussions. Discussions in an online course…
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No matter your specific discipline, teaching in the 21st century can often feel like you need an advanced degree in IT if you want to reach your students. After…
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In Effective Teaching Strategies
Is Your Real-World Experience Real Enough?
March 11, 2020 Paul Acquaro, EdD, and Steven Goss, EdD
As faculty teaching at a professional school, we frequently explain to our students that the activities and projects they have been assigned will give them the tools they need…
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While I have read the book The Four Agreements five times, I had not perused this book since I accepted a professorship in 2012. When revisiting this book, it…
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Imagine. You’re in the company of more than a thousand educators who are passionate, devoted, and excited about teaching and learning. You start your day by selecting from numerous…
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In Effective Classroom Management, Online Education
Designing for Accessibility: How to Front-Load Your Digital Content with UDL Principles
March 4, 2020 Caran Howard, PhD
Accessibility is a big deal. We include statements about accessibility in our syllabi and on our institutional websites. We also need to ensure that we comply with the Rehabilitation…
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Promoting Online Learners’ Social-Emotional Growth: A Montessori Perspective
March 2, 2020 Catherine R. Barber, PhD
When I first began creating and teaching online higher education courses, I searched scholarly journals, instructional design resources, and quality standards for insights and guidance. Although I followed best…
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In Effective Classroom Management
Using Appreciative Inquiry in the College Classroom
February 28, 2020 Lumbé Davis
For non-traditional students who are working adults or are returning to school years later, the transition to college can be intimidating. Several of my students have expressed how hard…
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In Effective Classroom Management
The Illusion of Good Class Discussions and What to Do About It
February 26, 2020 David Adams, PhD, and Enoch Hale, PhD
Providing a high-quality education where students have the opportunity to take part in active learning is one of the most important things we can do for our students. Doing…
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The ubiquity of online meeting software has made it increasingly easy for professors to include live online class sessions to both brick-and-mortar and online courses. I have learned in…
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In Effective Classroom Management
Understanding the Challenges Facing First-Generation College Students
February 21, 2020 Timothy R. Bussey, PhD
While there have been competing definitions of what it means to be a first-generation college student, one of the most widely accepted of these comes from the Higher Education…
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In Effective Classroom Management
Supporting Students Who Are Moms
February 19, 2020 Wendi L. Johnson, PhD, and Amy Skinner
Imagine constantly feeling pulled in multiple directions while trying to balance life as a college student and a mom. Keeping up with readings, devoting time to studying while also…
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In Effective Classroom Management
Dos and Don’ts When Working with International Students in the Classroom
February 17, 2020 Stefanie T. Baier, PhD
Annually, approximately one million international students study in the U.S. where they advance science and research in various fields. Many international students go great lengths to accomplish their goals…
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Why Learning About Toxic Leadership Can Help Your Leadership Practice and Knowledge
February 14, 2020 Stephanie Hinshaw
Over my nineteen years in higher education, I have worked for some pretty phenomenal leaders. These leaders have mentored me, supported me, and have created environments where I (and…
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In Effective Classroom Management
Eight Simple Ways to Increase Student Retention in Higher Ed
February 12, 2020 Edna Murugan, PhD, and Noura Badawi, EdD
Educational institutions have a great responsibility of graduating all students with the essential knowledge and skills necessary for success in their chosen field. As faculty, we are responsible to…
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*Editor’s note: Every so often we like to give Faculty Focus readers an inside look into The Teaching Professor. The following article was recently featured on The Teaching Professor.…
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No one can deny that the world in which we live and work is changing at a tumultuous pace. We live in a knowledge economy, driven by technologies that…
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In Effective Classroom Management
Fired Up and Ready to Discuss
February 5, 2020 Ashley Harvey, PhD, LMFT
As an instructor for large classes, it is a challenge for me to get a range of students to speak up in class. When I invite comments (“Who would…
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A Discussion About Online Discussion
February 3, 2020 Amanda Page and Miriam Abbott
When it comes to facilitating online classroom engagement, discussion boards are a great go-to. They’re practically omnipresent; a tool used in every virtual classroom in every college curriculum. Ideally,…
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The syllabus—most of us use them, many of our students don’t read them. We wondered if this venerable artifact of teaching might merit a revisit. So, last fall we…
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In Effective Teaching Strategies
Reading Textbooks: The College Plague
January 29, 2020 Dimple J. Martin, PhD
First, let’s acknowledge this universal epidemic. College students despise reading textbooks and e-books that cover content with academic information. Fortunately, I discovered a cure for the reading plague that…
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Organic Online Discussions: Saving Time and Increasing Engagement
January 27, 2020 Beth René Roepnack, PhD
I used to dread online discussions as much as many students do. However, after implementing a simple change, I was as eager to join my online discussions as I…
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In Effective Teaching Strategies
Dare to Ask the Expert
January 24, 2020 Pamela den Ouden and Tanya Helton
Years ago, as a high school graduate applying for a college scholarship, I tried an innovative research strategy. I was investigating the case of a Canadian man who was…
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Faculty recruitment is important because it is the first step in the process of developing qualified and engaged faculty. Over-recruiting makes it challenging to fully engage faculty and under-recruiting…
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Culturally Responsive Teaching and UDL
January 20, 2020 Gwen Bass, PhD, and Michael Lawrence-Riddell
Creating educational experiences for our students that integrate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT), a philosophy of education that centers students’ cultural backgrounds as essential…
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Purposeful Pauses and Mindful Communication: Good Techniques for Teachers
January 17, 2020 Tena Long Golding, PhD
The life of a faculty member is filled with noisy busyness—planning class sessions, grading, meeting with students, advising, committee work, research, scholarship, and publications. We are consumed by the…
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In Effective Teaching Strategies
It’s Been a Privilege: A Series of Successful Teaching Techniques
January 15, 2020 Richard A. Giaquinto, PhD
It’s been a privilege to teach over some two decades, and during that time, I’ve found a series of techniques that were successful in the classroom. Here, I will…
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In Blended and Flipped Learning
UDL and 21st Century Learning
January 13, 2020 Gwen Bass, PhD, and Michael Lawrence-Riddell
Put simply, “people learn more deeply from words and pictures than from words alone” (Mayer, 2005). Multimedia theory posits the idea that people’s brains more effectively integrate new information…
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In Effective Classroom Management
2,700 Minutes: How to Make the Most of Your Office Hours
January 10, 2020 Margaret Walsh PhD.
Most faculty schedule at least three office hours per week—that’s 2,700 minutes a semester. If you have 135 students, that’s 20 minutes for each student. Even if you have…
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Thomas Pfaff, PhD, is a professor of mathematics at Ithaca College. Pfaff’s primary scholarly work includes incorporating sustainability ideas into mathematics courses, where he maintains a blog on the…
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In Effective Classroom Management
Emergency Takeover: 4 Tips for Taking Over a Course Midway
January 8, 2020 Shari Harding and Kara Wasnewsky
Unexpected circumstances can strike at any time, taking faculty away from their teaching duties before the end of a semester. Often, other faculty to have to step in to…
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Increasingly, instructors at the college level are called upon to create classroom learning experiences that can be characterized using terms like academically rigorous, accessible, differentiated, trauma-sensitive, inclusive, culturally relevant,…