Over a cup of coffee: Winter break edition

As we work on our winter quarter courses, take a look at the Teaching Commons resources on developing a course, writing a syllabus, and assessing student learning throughout a course.

Michigan State University has a large collection of resources for teaching within the disciplines.

Faculty Focus asks us to think about how the differences between us and our students might be becoming more acute and how we can bridge that gap. They also write on the different sources of power between students and faculty members.

University Blog, written by Ferdinand von Prondzynski, President of Dublin City University posts on how we can help students engage in scholarly activity with the overwhelming amount of information available to them.

Winter break is upon us. Wishing everyone a happy holiday season and a joyous new year. We’ll be back in the 2010 with more teaching and learning resources, workshops, notable research, and news of interest.

Over a cup of coffee: December 16th edition

The Chronicle of Higher Ed. presents us with an information graphic that covers 4 Different Models of How Students Learn. We should consider reflecting on these models, the students they represent, and how we can apply the lessons from the models to our syllabi, lessons, and assignments for the winter quarter.

The New York Times reports on faculty who are integrating the current economic crisis into updated, innovative, and relevant lesson plans.

Faculty Focus takes a look at the pros and cons of letting students lead discussion boards.

ProfHacker takes no break during the holiday and offers advice on writing technology guidelines for a syllabus.

A University Blog: Diary of a University President recalls how when he was an undergraduate in 1974, he saw a student taking notes verbatim from the lecture, and he asks if students are still doing this today. If so, what we can do to move teaching and learning to be more active for our students?

This paper from the Air Force Research Laboratory argues for the instructional value of story telling (PDF).

Over a cup of coffee: December 10th edition

It’s bitter cold out, so grab a cup of warm coffee, hot cocoa, or tea and read on:

The IDD Blog asks, “Why Don’t Students Follow My (Clearly-Labeled, Logically Organized, and Bold/Highlighted/Flashing) Instructions?”

The latest issue of The Journal of Higher Education includes a revealing research article that describes “University Students’ Perceptions of Plagiarism.”

Inside Higher Ed. posts advice on writing final exams; worth keeping in mind for the end of the winter and spring quarters.

Two faculty members from the University of Colorado write an opinion piece for the Denver Post on the changes they have seen in teaching over the past 50 years. They find that learning has become more active and ultimately looks “busy, sometimes noisy and usually quite effective.”

eLearn Magazine reviews recent research on using games for student learning and concludes that they do have an effect on learning. However, the studies compare the intervention of games against no intervention, rather than two possible intervention methods.

The University of Limerick provides examples of how to use the mathematics software GeoGebra in teaching.

Over a cup of coffee: December 2nd edition

The Instructional Design and Development (IDD) Blog suggests faculty members to think about why we want to use a particular technology tool before we ask how.

As we prepare for the winter quarter, there are numerous sites that help us with course design. Carleton College provides a comprehensive tutorial Welcome to the Cutting Edge Course Design Tutorial. A less detailed site asks us to reflect on Dee Fink's Five Principles of Good Course Design as we plan our courses.

The Teaching Professor helps us remember the pedagogical value of good examples, and asks us to evaluate the efficacy of the examples we plan to use.

Coming at the end of a semester schedule, Faculty Focus offers Five Tips for Wrapping Up a Course.