DePaul's new sustainability website illustrates some of the important new initiatives taking place across the university. After learning more about sustainability at DePaul, these resources may provide some ideas for bringing the subject into the classroom:
An easy-to-use online Carbon Footprint Calculator will prompt students to consider their own impact on the environment.
Vanderbilt's Center for Teaching offers some concrete tips for teaching sustainability and points to further resources on the topic.
The Ecological Society of America provides helpful ecological fact-sheets that instructors could use to spark discussions or in-class writing exercises.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Spotlight on Teaching and Learning: April 7th Edition
This month's Teaching Carnival is now posted on ProfHacker and features dozens of carefully selected teaching articles, resources, and blog posts.
An article from Inside Higher Ed addresses the NCTE's "Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing," which points to the ways in which teachers must increasingly adapt traditional measures of "standard" student writing.
Faculty Focus offers an interesting perspective on how the language used in online discussion rubrics might not be sensitive to increasing international and cultural diversity at most schools.
Melissa from Faculty Instructional Technology Services (FITS) addresses how instructional technologies are evaluated and adopted at DePaul and why it's so important for faculty voices from across the university to be part of that process.
An article from Inside Higher Ed addresses the NCTE's "Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing," which points to the ways in which teachers must increasingly adapt traditional measures of "standard" student writing.
Faculty Focus offers an interesting perspective on how the language used in online discussion rubrics might not be sensitive to increasing international and cultural diversity at most schools.
Melissa from Faculty Instructional Technology Services (FITS) addresses how instructional technologies are evaluated and adopted at DePaul and why it's so important for faculty voices from across the university to be part of that process.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
The First Two Weeks
Welcome back from spring "break"! Or, in reality, welcome back from your week of grading! Here are some helpful resources for the first two weeks of class:
Make the most of the first day of class and take the time to introduce yourself effectively.
Spend some time getting to know your students (without relying too heavily on the Beloit College Mindset List...).
Gauge your students' prior knowledge early in the quarter. One good way to do this is through the use of low-stakes assessment exercises.
Design effective assignments that in some way reflect the course goals and learning objectives that you articulated on the syllabus.
Make the most of the first day of class and take the time to introduce yourself effectively.
Spend some time getting to know your students (without relying too heavily on the Beloit College Mindset List...).
Gauge your students' prior knowledge early in the quarter. One good way to do this is through the use of low-stakes assessment exercises.
Design effective assignments that in some way reflect the course goals and learning objectives that you articulated on the syllabus.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Notes from the EDUCAUSE Conference
Several Teaching Commons contributors recently attended the EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional Conference, which focuses on the use of technology in higher education. Here are just a few of the pedagogical and technological highlights from the conference:
Keynote speaker Michael Wesch shared his thoughts on the role of new media in contemporary teaching. As part of his presentation, Professor Wesch shared two YouTube videos that he and his students made together (which have been viewed a combined 15 million times!): "Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us" and "A Vision of Students Today."
An open-source photo and document organizer called Gallery is a potentially useful tool for those teaching classes that focus heavily on images.
There was quite a buzz in the air about the emerging open textbook trend, which is summarized in "7 Things You Should Know About Open Textbook Publishing."
The popular (and free!) screencasting program Jing allows teachers to record video of their computer screen as well as audio, which is useful for disseminating specific instructions, feedback, or short explanations to students.
Keynote speaker Michael Wesch shared his thoughts on the role of new media in contemporary teaching. As part of his presentation, Professor Wesch shared two YouTube videos that he and his students made together (which have been viewed a combined 15 million times!): "Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us" and "A Vision of Students Today."
An open-source photo and document organizer called Gallery is a potentially useful tool for those teaching classes that focus heavily on images.
There was quite a buzz in the air about the emerging open textbook trend, which is summarized in "7 Things You Should Know About Open Textbook Publishing."
The popular (and free!) screencasting program Jing allows teachers to record video of their computer screen as well as audio, which is useful for disseminating specific instructions, feedback, or short explanations to students.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Spotlight on Teaching and Learning: March 7th Edition
One ProfHacker blogger reflects on the pedagogical benefits of replacing his regularly scheduled "jeremiads" with more subtle and effective pedagogical approaches.
Lauri Dietz, Director of the University Center for Writing-based Learning, discusses the often misunderstood relationship between peer tutoring and assessment.
Faculty Focus raises the important issue of faculty expectations and also challenges instructors to help students take responsibility for their learning.
Cartoonist Matthew Henry Hall captures a student's perspective on note-taking in the digital age as part of his Teachable Moments series from Inside Higher Ed.
Lauri Dietz, Director of the University Center for Writing-based Learning, discusses the often misunderstood relationship between peer tutoring and assessment.
Faculty Focus raises the important issue of faculty expectations and also challenges instructors to help students take responsibility for their learning.
Cartoonist Matthew Henry Hall captures a student's perspective on note-taking in the digital age as part of his Teachable Moments series from Inside Higher Ed.
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