Dr. Laura Gonzales teaches technical communication at the University of Florida. In academia, many of the conversations about generative AI focus on surveillance and cheating. If students can have AI generate content for them, how can teachers assess students’ work? In the introductory technical communication course, many traditional assignments focus on teaching students to generate content—the …
Category: In the Classroom
Creating an Achievement Mindset in Your Course
It’s about a month into the semester and my students have just received feedback on their first major exams. For many, their score is a positive affirmation of their hard work. For others, well . . . let the gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair commence! This has happened in every course during my twenty-year teaching career, and no matter how thoroughly I think I’m preparing students or coaching them with study suggestions, the first exam always becomes a major decision point for students.
Rethinking How to Engage Students in the American Government Classroom
Bobbi Gentry is Associate Professor of Political Science at Bridgewater College and a youth voting scholar. Gentry is the author of, Why Youth Vote: Identity, Inspirational Leaders, and Independence and coedited Internships in Political Science. Her current work investigates youth identity development and intersectional identities and civic engagement through the lifetime. Bobbi GentryImage Credit: Kirsten …
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The Whys of Poetry: Affordances of Poems in the Classroom and Life
With National Poetry Month underway, the authors of this post wanted to share why we read, write, and teach poetry. The curriculum in today’s English Language Arts classroom is often over packed, and poetry offers an immediate entry to a classroom experience that allows young people to be critical and reflective thinkers. In a time …
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Rereading and Annotation to Support Secondary Reading and Writing
Tara B. Johnston, PhD is an assistant professor of education at York College of Pennsylvania. She is a former elementary school teacher, reading interventionist, and literacy specialist. Her research interests include content literacy practices, teacher knowledge and beliefs in relation to literacy, and pre-service teacher training in literacy instruction. Tara JohnstonImage Credit: Emily Rund The …
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(Course) Design Your Way to Better Work/Life Balance
There is a plethora of advice out there to help instructors design courses and teach in ways that reduce student academic and learning anxiety and support student mental health. But what about instructors and our levels of anxiety and distress?
At Play in the Classroom for Thirty-Five Years: Recollections and Recommendations for Keeping Our Spirits—and Our Students—Soaring
Retirement is looming. Each day ticking by comes with a thought that I might not ever give that specific lecture again, and with a nagging feeling that I still—after more than 30 years—didn’t perfectly nail it. And with that thought, each day ahead becomes even more important, bringing butterflies to my stomach, and questions like: What can I do differently this time? What can I do to really make an impact, to help make the next class even more effective?
Structure Isn’t Spoon-Feeding—Providing Students with Models and Support
Susan Pagnac is the assistant dean for learning enrichment and director of writing at Central College in Pella, IA. Her work has appeared in Journal of Business and Technical Writing, Praxis: A Writing Center Journal, WPA: Writing Program Administration, and Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition, and Culture. She has presented at the …
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Three Ways to Make the Most of Midterm
Isis Artze-Vega serves as college provost and vice president for academic affairs at Valencia College in central Florida, a Hispanic-serving institution long regarded as one of the nation’s best community colleges. She provides strategic leadership in curriculum, assessment, faculty development, online learning, career and workforce education, and partnerships for educational excellence. She is the lead author …
Now More Than Ever: Humanizing Online Courses in the Post-COVID Era
Milton W. Wendland (J.D., Ph.D.) is a professor of instruction in the Department of Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies at the University of South Florida, where he specializes in equitable and inclusive online education. He regularly teaches Queer Film & Television; LGBTQ+ Cultures; Gender Sexuality & the Law; Intro to Women’s & Gender Studies; and …
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