Teaching Information from the 2019 System Scholars Institute: Alabama Demographics, Collaboration, Academic Integrity, Online Services, and Diversity

Posted on May 20, 2019 - Faculty Blog, Professional Development

Dr. Charles Nash opens the 2019 system scholars institute

by Nathan Loewen, Department of Religious Studies The University of Alabama at Huntsville hosted the 12th annual System Scholars’ Institute, established by the Academic and Student Affairs department of the UA System office. UAH kindly posted all the available contents of the 15 presentations, keynote and plenary address. Here are five worth reviewing in-depth: 1. […]

A New Twist on the Multiple Choice Quiz

Posted on June 8, 2018 - Assessment, Faculty Blog

by James Mixson, Department of History Ah, the multiple-choice quiz. An old stand-by for some instructors who love them not least because it can make grading so easy. For others, especially those in more narrative-intense disciplines like mine (history), they are problematic: names and dates and other “data” are only the beginning. What matters is […]

Scan and Deliver! Personalized Feedback in Large Classes

Posted on April 26, 2017 - Assessment, Faculty Blog, Large Courses, Teaching with Technology

barcodes used to scan and return graded exams

by Marco Bonizzoni and Diana Leung, Department of Chemistry Organic chemistry is a surprisingly visual discipline. Molecules, the fundamental entities of chemistry, exist as 3D objects whose shapes often profoundly influence their properties, so students must learn the visual language of the discipline, which attempts to convey the nature of these three-dimensional objects through two-dimensional drawings. […]

Digital Tools for Formative Assessment

Posted on November 4, 2016 - Faculty Blog, Teaching with Technology

Poll results for the question "Who is your least favorite super villain?" Venom is the clear winner, followed by the Joker, Cat Woman, and Magneto.

by Jessica Porter, Office of Educational Technology (eTech) I recently asked my students to participate in a short writing workshop. They were preparing to write argumentative research papers, and I wanted them to focus on their thesis statements and really refine their arguments. In the past, I would have had everyone share their thesis with […]

Let’s Get Digital, Digital (Humanities)! Part One

Posted on February 15, 2016 - Faculty Blog, Teaching with Technology

Michelangelo's David connected to a computer

The Alabama Digital Humanities Center (ADHC) opened in 2010. At the beginning of my second year at UA, I just now discovered the ADHC and its amazing home in Gorgas Library Room 109A . I arranged for a consultation with Emma Wilson yesterday. We enjoyed a vibrant discussion about how my teaching might deploy a digital humanities project. […]

Power-Using and Hacking Blackboard

Posted on January 26, 2016 - Faculty Blog, Teaching with Technology

by Nathan Loewen, Department of Religious Studies Do you use Blackboard in your course? I do. Here’s why: I think it’s easier for me, as well as the students, to have a simple, one-stop place to find and do everything related to a course outside of class. Now beginning my second year of teaching at UA, I find […]

This Professor Likes CATs (classroom assessment techniques)

Posted on January 25, 2016 - Assessment, Faculty Blog, Large Courses

I am going to write about measuring teaching effectiveness. There is a lot of buzz about metrics in higher education media, but not until the mind-meld app is released for iOS will teachers know what their students are thinking. One of the challenges of teaching a large-enrollment course is to regularly determine the level of students’ learning. […]

Be the Grader that You Wish to See in the World

Posted on December 16, 2015 - Assessment, Dealing with Difficult Students, Faculty Blog

Final grades are due tomorrow! My colleague mentioned that eating cold cereal thrice daily was the norm over the weekend in order to minimize the time not spent writing comments on essays, verifying spreadsheet formulates, cross-checking assignments with rubrics, and all the other, sometimes mind-numbing tasks that arrive at the end of the term. And this is […]

Can Multiple Choice Tests Promote Learning?

Posted on September 11, 2015 - Assessment, Faculty Blog, Large Courses

In “Multiple Choices,” a post on the blog Practicum: Critical Theory, Religion, and Pedagogy, Russell McCutcheon ponders how multiple choice tests facilitate learning in large introductory courses: But what about the multiple choice tests? Well, like that definition assignment . . . it’s more about how they study for it and how they come to […]

Giving Quizzes in Blackboard Learn

Posted on August 15, 2015 - Assessment, Faculty Blog, Online Learning

Student completing homework on a comptuer

by Alecia Chatham, Department of Modern Languages and Classics In my online courses, I often post short, weekly quizzes that are graded immediately by Blackboard. There are a few different quiz types that I use for certain things. Key concept quizzes sometimes take students a little more time to figure out on their own, though they may only […]

assessment