Skip to content Where Legends Are Made

Tag: classroom culture

Five Activities for the First Day of Class

a curious fox

by Jessica Porter, Office of Educational Technology (eTech) The first class meeting is an opportunity to clarify your goals and expectations for the course and to get acquainted with your students. Who are they, and what questions, hopes, and interests do they bring to the course? Here are a few first-day activities you can use to learn about your students and prepare them for the course. Take an interest inventory An interest inventory is simply a list of questions about […]

Read More from Five Activities for the First Day of Class

Students’ Opinions Instruction are In! Now What?

Computer, headphones, and coffee mug on a desk

by Nathan Loewen, Department of Religious Studies Sometimes there is a considerable difference between a professor’s evaluation of a course and those of the students. The divergence can work in either direction. Perhaps a “terrible” experience for the professor was “absolutely brilliant” for the students. Let’s be honest, however: the opposite situation is difficult news. What are the next steps when a professor thinks a course went “just fine” and the students clearly did not? The situation is not rare, based on […]

Read More from Students’ Opinions Instruction are In! Now What?

Lurkers, Surfers, and Free-riders: Is Under-Participation a Problem?

arrows pointing to over-participation and under-participation

by Nathan Loewen, Department of Religious Studies The group project regularly begets under-participation. No student situation in college teaching better illustrates the free-rider phenomenon. Perhaps Homer Simpson demonstrates the free-rider phenomenon best. Individuals who receive collective benefits without contributing are common in group work. One or more students in a group project can easily slack off while only one student fulfills the assignment requirements. The online discussion forum, like the group assignment, begets under-participation, too. In most cases, it takes the form of lurking, where students observe […]

Read More from Lurkers, Surfers, and Free-riders: Is Under-Participation a Problem?

How to Get Away with Murder, or How to Kill Student Participation

by Nathan Loewen, Department of Religious Studies There is a television show on ABC where a professor takes five students under the wing. The teacher is charismatic, unconventional and named Professor Keating. The plot quickly differs from that of the earlier Professor John Keating in Dead Poets Society, except for one thing: both of them get away with murder. Their command of the classroom kills student participation. The show portrays Professor Annalise Keating teaching in a large-enrollment classroom, where she typically strides into the room exactly […]

Read More from How to Get Away with Murder, or How to Kill Student Participation

Establishing Classroom Culture

A healthy classroom culture requires more than routines and procedures. It also involves balancing your authority as the instructor, maximizing classroom efficiency, and motivating students to achieve. Holly Grout, a professor of history, and Natalie Dautovich, a professor of psychology, offer tips for creating a positive classroom culture in large courses. Make your expectations clear “Clarity is key. Students need to know from day one what the course expectations are. I clearly list these in the syllabus, in the student guide, and verbally […]

Read More from Establishing Classroom Culture