Teaching Your Course

Active learning generally refers to any instructional method that engages students in the learning process beyond listening and passive note taking. Active learning approaches promote skill development and higher order thinking through activities that might include reading, writing, and/or discussion.

Team projects can be rewarding. They give students the opportunity to address problems too large or too deep for any single individual to tackle in the limited amount of time they can devote to your course. By bringing together students with diverse skills and attitudes, team projects give students a chance to learn from their peers - and, through discussion with those peers, to refine their own ideas.

Social media can be a powerful instructional tool when it is used intentionally—tied to course learning goals, supported by clear expectations, and designed with student privacy, accessibility, and equity in mind.

What do you do when your class is divided between majors who easily master the material and non-majors who continually struggle? Or when you see that a few students find the material easy, are bored, and yearn to be challenged, while some still just aren't “getting it” despite your best efforts? Where should the level of content in the class be set? Should it be the same for all students, or individually customized? In almost any course you can have students that come from a multitude of academic backgrounds, divisions (upper vs. lower), preparation, majors and interests.

Learn about the best ways to encourage engagement in a class without running the risk of technological distraction.

Reflecting on our teaching experiences, from the effectiveness of assignments to the opportunities for student interaction, is key to refining our courses and overall teaching practice. Reflective teaching can also help us gain closure on what may have felt like an especially long and challenging semester.

Lecture-style learning can work well for communicating course goals and content. If you are to use a lecture as a way to communicate information to your students, consider implementing the following tips.

Formative assessment of teaching consists of different approaches to continuously evaluate your teaching. The insight gained from this assessment can support revising your teaching strategies, leading to better outcomes in student learning and experiences.

Instructors and students alike benefit from approaching their course design with some room for flexibility.

One common misconception about flexibility is that it means chaos or unpredictability. On the contrary, research shows that structure is the foundation of equitable flexibility.