Teaching Your Course

Students will come to your class with a variety of experiences, backgrounds, and expectations that will impact how they approach learning. As the instructor, you can create an environment where all students are engaged and able to learn by intentionally designing your course and employing teaching strategies that account for these differences and meet students where they are when they arrive in the classroom.

Active Learning

Embrace active learning to engage students in the construction of their knowledge through dynamic strategies that foster interaction, collaboration, and critical thinking.

Active Learning Classrooms

Learn about Berkeley’s Active Learning Classrooms designed to enhance teaching and learning through flexible layouts and advanced technology and explore the steps to request these spaces to support your instructional goals.

Delivering Effective Lectures

Explore ways to enhance your lectures by setting clear goals, minimizing content overload, focusing on problem analysis, incorporating active learning, and using frequent assessments to keep students engaged and informed of their understanding.

Encouraging Attendance

Boost class attendance by clarifying the value of participation, designing engaging activities that deepen learning, and creating opportunities for students to actively engage with the content.

Flexible Instructional Strategies

Adopt flexible instructional strategies to meet students where they are, incorporating self-assessments, depth-focused learning, and student feedback. These evidence-based approaches cater to diverse learning needs and provide adaptability to handle disruptions effectively.

Implementing Gamification 

Integrate gamification in your course to boost student engagement and achievement, enabling multiple pathways to success, fostering safe experimentation, and promoting progressive 'leveling up' for a more interactive educational experience.

Managing Deadline Extensions

When a semester draws to a close, the flood of deadline extension requests can feel overwhelming. Students juggle exams, final projects, and personal challenges, often turning to their instructors for flexibility. But how can we balance compassion with fairness and practicality during this critical time? Explore strategies and practical approaches to managing deadline flexibility with compassion and structure.

Reflective Teaching

Embrace reflective teaching to continuously enhance your educational practices. Use multiple perspectives—your own, your students', colleagues', and theoretical insights—to critically assess and evolve your teaching strategies.

Sustaining Engagement Without Laptop Bans 

Maintain student engagement throughout your class by integrating thoughtful technology use, leveraging interactive multimedia resources, and fostering active participation with minimal distractions. 

Teaching a Mixed-Level Disparate Class

Navigate the challenges of teaching mixed-level classes by implementing differentiated instruction strategies, leveraging diverse assessments, and fostering inclusive group work to meet varied student needs and goals.

Working with Students in Groups

Enhance group learning in your classroom by guiding students to understand and navigate diverse roles, value constructive criticism, and embrace effective meeting and project management practices.