Volume XXXIX, No. 7 | March 2, 2017 Action Learning in the Classroom What is Action Learning? Action learning is an approach to solving problems that involves taking action and reflecting on the outcomes. According to the World Institute for Action Learning: Action learning is a process that involves a small group working on [...]
Volume XXXIX, No. 6 | February 23, 2017 Interdisciplinary Instruction: An Honors Program Requisite and Informing General Education Courses With the implementation of Common Core-guided curricula in 42 states, the incoming class of college students will be significantly different from students who enrolled as recently as three years ago. These incoming students expect, and [...]
Volume XXXIX, No. 5 | February 16, 2017 Building Technology That Works for Teachers, Not the Other Way Around In the early 2000s, my job as an IT professional in higher education was to support the technology needs of the faculty, staff, and administrators on my campus. Time and again, I saw that the [...]
Volume XXXIX, No. 4 | February 9, 2017 Tale of Two Department Chairs When you think of the job title “Department Chair” what comes to mind? Roles and responsibilities are ever-changing in higher education. The division or department chair position at community and technical colleges has morphed into a myriad of roles, including business [...]
Volume XXXIX, No. 3 | February 2, 2017 Navigating a Topsy-Turvy Classroom “The only constant is change.” In fact, even that well-known saying was altered from the original: “Change is the only constant in life.” Either way, as educators, it’s safe to say we’re familiar with change. Often, the hardest adjustments—decisions made by campus [...]
Volume XXXIX, No. 2 | January 26, 2017 Don’t Reinvent the Critical Thinking Wheel: What Scholarly Literature Says About Critical Thinking Instruction As colleges face accreditation requirements, or as departments undergo program review, they generally seek to integrate formal statements about critical thinking into their documentation. Yet, it is not uncommon for these institutions to [...]
Volume XXXIX, No. 1 | January 19, 2017 Teaching Applied Education Courses Online There is growing demand for online courses in higher education, and applied education courses are no exception. This alternate mode of delivery leverages advances in information and communication technology to increase the geographical reach of education and training. Not only does [...]
Volume XXXVIII, No. 29 | December 1, 2016 Using a New Tool in a New Way Many students find studying difficult, perhaps because they’ve never been taught how to study. There is ample evidence that shows repeated exposure to course material, especially in different contexts, helps move course material into long-term memory (Baddeley, [...]
Volume XXXVIII, No. 28 | November 17, 2016 Teach Students HOW to Learn: Metacognition is the Key! “Miriam, a freshman calculus student at Louisiana State University (LSU), made 37.5 percent on her first exam, but 83 percent and 93 percent on the next two exams. Robert, a first-year general chemistry student at LSU, [...]
Volume XXXVIII, No. 27 | November 10, 2016 Close Reading With Open Eyes Learning to read a text closely and carefully is a practical skill that serves students in any discipline—and introductory literature is no exception. Every semester of my English 1302 course begins with an introduction to tragedy and the ancient Greeks, [...]
