Over a cup of coffee: July 29th edition

DePaul blogs and sites keep on posting: The IDD Blog posting on tools for course planning and the University Center for Writing-based Learning write for DePaul magazine on “The Decline of Writing?”

A University of Iowa professor uses Wiki software to teach the differences among state laws. Her students come out of the class having produced a 1,300 page Wiki.

Chris Perry, a professor at Hampshire College, has his students produce a short animated film as a type of experiential learning. Read more about the innovative approach and see a preview of the final film.

The Nature Publishing group continues to produce quality content on Scitable, a free online resource for genetics education.

We happen upon Wonders and Marvels, “now a place for specialists and non-specialists to revel in the stories of the past. It is provides learning opportunities for the college students who are involved on a daily basis in building the site.”

The NPR program On Point with Tom Ashbrook broadcasts a show on “Re-imagining Higher Ed.”

Over a cup of coffee: July 22nd edition

The Teagle Foundation reports on a recent study asking, “What has recent psychological research taught us about learning and how can we best apply these findings to improve teaching and enhance student learning?”

The Visible Knowledge Project provides tips for coding Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) research as well as resources for developing SoTL research.

The Higher Education Academy in the UK releases a publication arguing for all undergraduate students to be involved in research and inquiry activities.

The Chronicle of Higher Ed. posts a recommended practices report arguing for the more effective use of technology in the classroom. They also posted a site redesign.

We came across a website that has a number of royalty free graphics, movies, sounds, and texts for teaching.

Over a cup of coffee: July 15th edition

The DePaul Center for Writing-based Learning posts another podcast episode- Hot Topics in Writing with Shaun Slattery.

The International Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning publish their July 2009 edition. Articles include “A Measure to Assess Student-Instructor Relationships”, “A Method for Collaboratively Developing and Validating a Rubric”, and “Effects of Inquiry-based Learning on Students’ Science Literacy Skills and Confidence”,.

The ALA - American Association of School Librarians post their Top 25 Web sites for Teaching and Learning.

The Teaching Professor reflects on the accuracy of student self reflection.

Over a cup of coffee: July 8th edition

The Campus Technology Blog asks us to consider writing assignments as consisting of two parts. The first is the written paper itself and the second is a student reflection on the paper. The second part allows the student to respond to the paper in the context of their course/program and in comparison to other papers they have written.

The Chronicle of Higher Ed writes on the value of good teaching. The conclusion affirms what we already know, but can always be reminded of, “It’s the instructional technique that matters, not the technology.”

Western Washington University's Center for Instructional Innovation describes authentic learning as: 1. The classroom is learner centered, 2. Students are active learners 3. It uses an authentic task.

The Teagle Foundation's Liblog challenges us to understand and align our discipline and course goals so that “at every stage [we] make explicit the connection between the desired result and the actual practice in assignments.”

Over a cup of coffee: July 1 edition

Ken Bain (What the Best College Teachers Do) and James Zimmerman ask us what it takes to overcome student misconceptions through deep learning. In their article Understanding Great Teaching they claim that students "are most likely to learn deeply when they are trying to solve problems or answer questions that they have come to regard as important, intriguing, or beautiful."

But what makes a question important, intriguing, or beautiful to a student? Those kind of questions “both capture the students’ imagination and challenge some of their most cherished paradigms. The best teachers found questions that were already on the minds of their students and helped them move to new inquiries that those students had never imagined.”

Read the entire article for a further discussion.


Inside HigherEd points us to a quality citation management tool for Mozilla Firefox.

Build assessment techniques into your next course with these helpful tools and ideas from Carnegie Mellon.