Category: Tips on Teaching

by Kristin Broussard, Graduate Assistant, Reinert Center As many of us have just recently experienced, things change – sometimes very rapidly. The recent pandemic forced many university instructors to move their planned in-person instruction to online formats in a very short span of time. This is obviously quite stressful, even for those familiar with online… Continue reading How Thinking in the Backward Design Framework Saved Me from an Instructional Design Meltdown

by Konnor Brennan, Graduate Assistant, Reinert Center In-class discussions are one of the most frequently used instructional strategies, and when intentionally designed, can yield many benefits for students. In-class discussions can fit into the overall design of a course in several ways. They could be used to formatively assess student learning, be used to develop… Continue reading Leading Effective In-Class Discussions

by Eric Royer, Instructional Design Specialist, Reinert Center As a social scientist, my disciplinary training repeatedly instilled the belief that emotions must be separated from virtually everything we think about and do as successful, respected academics. “Good science,” as the narrative goes, involves letting objective facts and data speak; “bad science” is the ill-advised enterprise… Continue reading An Emotion-Based Teaching Toolbox

by Debie Lohe, Director, Reinert Center As we head into the final stretch of the term, you may be thinking about how best to support your students as they prepare for final exams (assuming you give final exams!). Often, students ask for study guides. But even when we provide them, we often find that what… Continue reading Study Guides or Guidance for Studying?

by Konnor Brennan, Graduate Assistant, Reinert Center Grading student work is an essential part of the instructional process. Instructors are well aware of and value the benefits of providing graded work to students in a timely manner. Graded work can provide our students with feedback that is essential to the learning process. Students often use… Continue reading Effective Grading Techniques

by Kristin Broussard, Graduate Assistant, Reinert Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning A key challenge for educators and for learners is applying specific knowledge across domains. As teachers, we may struggle to find ways to get students to apply their knowledge from our disciplines or courses to other courses or have difficulty getting students to see… Continue reading Using Effective Learning Strategies to Apply Knowledge Across Disciplines

by Konnor Brennan, Graduate Assistant, Reinert Center The tools and methods instructors use to assess to student understanding in their courses play many roles in course design. Assessing students throughout the course is important to ensure that students passing the course are meeting certain standards that are required to pass the course, and/or ensuring that… Continue reading An Overview of Assessment