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In The Classroom
Using iMovie to Help Students More Deeply Engage With a Text
I’ve been teaching a long time. I remember the days when I was the young teacher bringing technology to the classroom, but now I’m the old coot in the corner with her arms crossed. That is, until my young colleagues demonstrated an iMovie…
In the College Classroom, Why Print is Better Than Digital
As researchers in learning and text comprehension, our recent work has focused on the differences between reading print and digital media. While new forms of classroom technology like digital textbooks are more accessible and portable, it…
7 Ways to Teach Civil Discourse to Students
I’ve discovered that there are ways teachers and others who work with young people can show them how to deal effectively and respectfully with controversial topics – as well as what controversial topics to take up. Though the list of seven…
If You Move Office Hours Online, Will Students Drop In?
What happens in the office hour is the same virtually as it is for students who show up in person: Students ask questions about particular problems or topics, and the professor works through them as if he were in front of the class.…
I Acted Like a Complete Jerk to my Students Just to Prove a Point
I belittled one student by criticizing him in front of others. I favored another student by telling other students they should be more like her. I responded impatiently to questions. I told one student his contribution to class was…
More States are Allowing Guns on Campus—Are You Teaching in One of Those States?
by Neal H. Hutchens and Kerry B. Melear
A community college instructor in Texas started off the academic year by wearing a bulletproof vest and army helmet to class. He did this to protest a law that, starting this August, authorizes…
Putting the Focus on Student Engagement in Blended Learning Courses
by Meg Gorzycki, Ed.D. Center for Teaching and Faculty Development, San Francisco State University Hybrid teaching and blended learning are fundamentally concerned with providing an environment in which students assume responsibility for…
10th Circuit Rules Profs. Decide Free-Speech Limits in College Papers
by Victoria Prieskop The 10th Circuit ruled March 28, 2017 that the University of New Mexico had the right to reject an academic paper which called a lesbian-themed film “entirely perverse in its desire and attempt to reverse the natural…
I'm Finished Playing Favorites in the Classroom
by Laura Yeager In a previous essay entitled “The Academic Circle of Life & Excellent Usage of Commas,” I wrote about my time in graduate school at Iowa State, where I studied writing on a full fellowship. At this…
Trigger Warnings: Are We Asking Too Much of Faculty and Too Little of Students?
Professors say college students need to keep an open mind about disturbing or unfamiliar academic material. by Joseph Williams Proponents say they’re creating safe spaces for sexual assault victims, combat veterans, or other college…