Whenever I’m teaching a film course at the beginning of a new semester, I am transported back to my own experience as a freshman taking my first film class at the University of Michigan, an introduction to cinema course taught by Hubert Cohen. Professor Cohen, who sadly passed away in March 2024 after teaching into his 90s, stood in front of a class of what must have been 250 people and told us, “My plan is to ruin your experience of going to the movies.” Of course, 18-year-old presumptuous me, thought “Who is this guy? And what’s he got to tell me I don’t already know about movies?”
Tag: Engaging Students
Using Storytelling to Engage Environmental Science Students
Engaging students in the principals of physics, chemistry, and biology that underlie environmental science can be a challenge, especially in large and introductory classes, which I frequently teach. Over more than three decades as an educator at the college and high school level, I have honed an approach that I find reaches and engages many students in these large, lecture-based classes—teaching about the environment through the lens of people, their lives, and out-of-the-box ideas.
Is It Poetry?: Engaging Students with Taylor Swift
When is the last time any of us saw that question in the popular press or animating everyday conversation? Lately, those words are on everyone’s lips because of the release of Taylor Swift’s latest album, The Tortured Poets Department.
Specifications Grading: A Before-and-After Tale in My Organic II Course
By replacing high-stakes exams with shorter, focused assessments emphasizing achievement instead of percentage grades, and allowing students to retake those assessments without penalty, I was confident I could reduce anxiety, promote a growth-mindset, and improve student engagement, all while keeping the bar high. So, I jumped in with both feet.
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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Norton Illumine Ebook Q&A
We sat down with two leaders in digital publishing at Norton, Betsy Twitchell and Mateus Teixeira, to discuss the research and development of the new Norton Illumine Ebook. We want to increase transparency around publishing jobs and the work of making educational materials. Can you speak about your role at Norton and a little bit …
From Spectators to Participants: Using Videos to Promote Engagement in the History Classroom
Malia McAndrew is an educator based in Cleveland, Ohio. She has taught introductory history material to a range of audiences, including middle and high school students, undergraduates, medical students, and incarcerated women. Malia believes that studying the American past can help us to think about the future we want to co-create together. Malia McAndrewImage Credit: …
Active Learning in the Online Classroom: Apply Knowledge Activities
Dr. Julia M. Gossard is associate dean for research in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, associate professor of history, and distinguished associate professor of honors education at Utah State University. Dr. Gossard is a proponent of high-impact, innovative teaching, and her teaching portfolio at the graduate and undergraduate levels is expansive with specialties …
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Arguing with American History
Jill Lepore is the David Woods Kemper ’41 Professor of American History at Harvard University, where she teaches classes in evidence, historical methods, the humanities, creative writing, and American history. She is the author of many books, including the best-selling These Truths, which she has expanded into a two-volume textbook edition (publishing December 2022). She …
The Power of Students Teaching Students
Geraldine Woods has taught every level of English from fifth grade through Advanced Placement at both St. Jean Baptiste High School and the Horace Mann School in New York City. She is the author of more than fifty books, including Independent Study That Works: Designing a Successful Program, and the creator of the Grammarian in the …