When students arrive in college, faculty often make the assumption that they know how to read for comprehension and retention. Unfortunately, and for a variety of reasons, many students are not well versed in how to read for class. In today post, I want to share an excerpt from my book, Teaching for Learning, about how you can use SQ3R to help college students read.
One of the best ways to set yourself up for a great semester is to take advantage of the first day of class. Many faculty fail to effectively use the first day, but doing some of these small tips can be a game changer for you. In today’s post, I will highlight some of the ways you should be preparing for the first day of class.
The research on how people learn continues to show the value in helping students make meaning and learn through reflection. The process of reflection helps students take a step back to carefully consider that they learned, absorb the information, and process what it means to them. Fortunately, fostering reflection in the classroom can be relatively quick and easy. In today’s post, I share a simple, but powerful reflection activity, Today I Learned, from my book Teaching for Learning.
Lecturing is one of the most common and oldest forms of instruction. In recent years, lecturing has also become one of the more controversial teaching strategies as well. Recently, my campus hosted my friend and co-author, Todd Zakrajsek, who spoke on his book, Dynamic Lecturing: Research-Based Strategies to Enhance Lecture Effectiveness. In today’s post, I want to share some of the highlights from the book and advice regarding planning dynamic and effective lectures.
In an essay for InsideHigherEd, Deborah Cohan, an associate professor of sociology at the University of South Carolina at Beaufort, makes the case for why she does not assign term papers to her students. Cohan contends that the term or research paper does not allow students to sufficiently develop their own voice or connect ideas. I found myself agreeing with her stated goals for writing assignments, but coming to dramatically different conclusions. In fact, in my own classes, I only assign research papers in an attempt to meet the goals Cohan seeks. In today’s post, I want to discuss why I assign term papers, my take on Cohan’s essay, and why I believe her goals of writing are right although her conclusions on research papers are wrong.
