It’s not often I write a column and then continue to wonder about the arguments it sets forth, but that’s been happening with my recent “Fair Grading Policies” column. Author Daryl Close, a philosophy professor, makes the case that fair grades should be based solely
It’s well known that group work benefits the learning process but also that learners can dread the idea of doing group projects. So, as online instructors, what can we do about this situation? Research shows that group projects in online courses are fraught with mixed
Extra credit can be an overused classroom tool. As a learner, I always viewed extra credit as teachers bribing students to work for points instead of cash. And as a new teacher, I thought the same and acted accordingly. We’ve all done it! You need
Exchanging ideas, sharing information, and voicing opinions in an online course isn’t the same as doing so when the class meets face-to-face. Even so, some of the same problems emerge: not all students participate, and some offer observations unconnected to previous comments in the exchange.
Educators have come to realize that videos are highly effective and engaging ways to create online course content. One of the most engaging forms uses a green-screen backdrop to project images or videos behind or next to the speaker. Barbara Oakley used this technique in
When I began teaching just about 30 years ago, the classroom norm was chalk and chalkboard. Not a computer in sight! Over the decades, I have learned to use courseware and various digital applications, augmenting my once wholly analog approach to teaching step-by-step with digital
Quiet and talkative students find their places on opposites sides of a continuum. At the ends are students who never speak and students who never miss an opportunity to speak. Most talkative students aren’t at the extreme end, but research consistently finds that a fairly
This is a time of heightened and collective awakening. In response to the George Floyd murder, numerous other atrocities, and public outcries for change, universities have been called upon to respond. Specifically, instructors are encouraged to enhance attention to diversity in their courses and facilitate
I advise a fraternity on my campus, and in early August, several of the officers came to me concerned about how to keep students on track academically this year. Their main worry was most students’ lack of interest in a fully online educational experience. The
In most courses the quiet students outnumber the talkative ones. And although some quiet students occasionally speak, there are others who make their way through the course silently. Quite appropriately, with publication of Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t
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