It is the first day of the semester in a junior-level preservice teacher course, and 40 students sleepily shuffle in and choose spots at a table with their safety blanket—their friends. As I announce to not get too settled, I am met with muffled groans.
It’s hard to determine just how well students understand the concepts we teach. Our usual criterion for understanding is that students give a correct answer on an exam, but that leaves much to be desired (Uminski et al., 2024). In multiple-choice exams, the student may
We often think of learning in individualistic terms. The student cognizes in their brain and performs some solitary task to demonstrate learning. For this work, they receive an individual assessment. These assumptions and practices are common regardless of how student-centered the teacher is (Barr &
A common faculty complaint is that students do not read their feedback. This is usually chalked up to laziness or disinterest in learning. But neither explanation has ever rung true with me. Everyone likes, and wants, to learn, and in my experience, nearly all students
“Are those handouts for us?” my student asked, gesturing toward the copies of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 29 that I’d carried into class. “Nope,” I replied. “They’re for the Brit lit class that I teach after yours.” “Oh, OK.” he said, disappointedly.
An abundance of literature exists indicating that students are disengaged, unmotivated, and potentially downright bored in classes. Part of this disengagement may come from the seemingly unending essays and presentations students must complete to demonstrate their achievement of course and program learning outcomes. Incorporating fun
Gamification has been shown to improve student learning (Brull, 2016), and one of the best apps for facilitating gamification in the classroom is Mural, an online collaborative whiteboard with hundreds of engaging, colorful activity templates. It is one of my favorite teaching and learning tools
“When You’re Smiling (The Whole World Smiles with You),” first published in 1928 by Shay, Fischer, and Goodwin, has been recorded by many artists. My favorite is the 1929 version by Louis Armstrong. “Oh, when you smilin’, when you smilin’, the whole world smiles with
I must confess, I’ve always been skeptical about group work. Raised in East Asia, my K–16 education relied heavily, if not exclusively, on lectures. Even during my graduate studies in mathematics at a flagship public university in the US, my classmates and I rarely engaged
Computers have made it easier for instructors to use simulations in their teaching. These are usually self-paced and fully automated, allowing the instructor to step back and watch students work. But this automation tends to illuminate the randomness and sudden changes that happen in a
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