The Best of Both Worlds: Using Print and Digital Tools in your AP® Literature Course

As an older Millennial teacher, I find that I am stuck between two worlds: the one I was born in and the one in which I grew up. The one I was born in was analog: paper, pencils and highlighters, and books. The one I grew up in—although it was ever-evolving—was decidedly not analog. It was keyboards, screens, and software updates. Like me, students are caught between these two worlds.

Engaging Biology Students with RNA Storytelling

Thomas R. Cech, PhD, is Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Colorado Boulder and received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1989. His book The Catalyst (2024) is available now in paperback. You can request an exam copy for your courses at the end of the article.  I’ve taught several thousand college students …

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Creating Connections: Tips for Writing Effective Test Questions 

Tests are a learning experience for the test-taker. Tests are not only a way to find out how much students know, but they are also a way to guide the test taker as to what is most important about what they are learning. Whether it is for a chapter test, a semester exam, or a test bank, I write questions that focus on details and the big picture.

Using Courseware to Gain Meaningful Insight and Inform Teaching and Learning

I have long observed in my teaching practice that the most memorable learning tends to occur after students are able to pinpoint gaps in their own knowledge or understanding of course material. Put another way: failure is an effective teacher. However, many college-level courses are delivered in a mode of instruction traditional to higher education: lectures followed by summative assessments, such as term papers or exams. The feedback students receive is delivered and received not as an opportunity for reflection or further inquiry but as a final, definitive grade.  

Behind the Scenes of THE NORTON GUIDE TO TEACHING IN DUAL ENROLLMENT CONTEXTS

When teaching dual enrollment classes, it may be difficult to craft lessons that meet the spectrum of your students' needs and educational interests. W. W. Norton composition and rhetoric editor, Erica Wnek, emphasizes Norton's commitment to dual enrollment instructors and illustrates the importance of supporting dual enrollment courses.