Today I had an interesting experience while teaching my biochemistry class. I had students write the Krebs cycle on their digital whiteboards while keeping track of the specific carbons in the cycle intermediates. The point of this exercise was to have students understand how biochemists
Asperger’s syndrome is a functional type of autism spectrum disorder in which a person might exhibit social and physical awkwardness, slow monotone speech, fixation with certain topics, a reclusive nature, and minimal eye contact. These are a few of the many characteristics of Asperger’s that
Using end-of-course evaluation results to improve a course isn’t always easy. Generally, the results are delivered after the fact. The course is over. The students are gone. That rules out any chance of making adjustments during the course, and it rules out clarifying any confusing
Running undergraduate tutorials and labs is a component of graduate students’ training at most departments in North American universities. The experience is meant to prepare graduate students for the transition into academia, if they wish (and are fortunate enough to land a position), and to
“No scientist wanting to remain at the leading edge of a field would use a research technique judged no longer as effective as an alternative. Shouldn’t we apply the same standard to teaching?” (2151) Substitute the word “scholar” for “scientist,” and it’s a question that
We regularly get course evaluation results, and they aren’t the kind of feedback most of us want. At least, that’s what the results of a recent survey showed. Questionnaire responses from almost 350 biology faculty members representing 185 different institutions found that 41 percent were
Since course evaluations started being collected online, response rates have plummeted. In one study they ranged from 23 percent to 47 percent with the mean at 33 percent, compared with a range of 33 percent to 75 percent with a mean of 56 percent for
Student evaluations can be used to improve teaching, and here’s an excellent resource to inform those efforts. Author Guy Boysen writes, “The purpose of this teacher-ready review is to provide a comprehensive, empirically-based guide for the use of student evaluations to improve teaching” (p. 273).
I’ve been thinking here lately about that long mid-career stretch where there is no clearly defined beginning or ending. You’re no longer a new faculty member, but aren’t yet an old one. From a pedagogical perspective, what makes that time window unique? In a recent
I have been wanting to do a blog post on tired teaching for some time now. Concerns about burnout are what’s motivating me. Teachers can reach a place where teaching does nothing for them or their students. They don’t just wake up one morning and
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