A Month of College Teaching Tips - Tip #10 : Improving Student Writing (IDEA Paper)

Readers,

The last IDEA Center white paper in our series is titled, "Strategies to Improve Student Writing". This paper was written by David Smit from Kansas State University.

This article advocates the use of the following..

- journals

- microthemes

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

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A Month of College Teaching Tips - Tip #9 : Effective Lecturing (IDEA Paper)

Readers,

This is the fourth article in the "A Month of College Teaching Tips" focused on the white papers from the IDEA Center. This article was written by William Cashin (Professor Emeritus) Kansas State University.

1 - Define your learning objectives.

2 - Choose a format.

3 - Outline your lecture notes.

4 - Choose examples carefully.

5 - Includes notes for yourself.

6 - Deliver your points with the listeners in mind.

7 - Review the major points from your last lecture.

8 - Put up an outline and give cues.

9 - Connect the new information with previous content.

10 - Pace your presentation according to the complexity of the material.

Enjoy!

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41

A Month of College Teaching Tips - Tip #8 : Learning Portfolios (IDEA Paper)

Readers,

Do you use learning portfolios for your students? Here's a paper from the IDEA Center titled, "The Learning Portfolio: A Powerful Idea for Significant Learning" by John Zubizarreta from Columbia College, SC.

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41

A Month of College Teaching Tips - Tip #7 : Getting Students to Read (IDEA Paper)

Readers,

Today's IDEA paper is focused on "Getting Students to Read: Fourteen Tips" (written by Eric H. Hobson from Georgia Southern University).

These tips range from "Every Course is Served By Requiring a Textbook" and "Use Syllabus as a Teaching Tool" to "Assign Reading Close to Use Date" and "Require Prior Reading".

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41

A Month of College Teaching Tips - Tip #6 : Establishing Rapport with Students (IDEA Paper)

Readers,


I always enjoy reading white papers focused on higher education. The IDEA center has short, white papers (4-5 pages) focused on higher education. This week, I will focused on one of these papers a day to further our "A Month of College Teaching Tips" series.


Establishing Rapport: Personal Interaction and Learning
By: Neil Fleming


This paper is divided into four sections:


1 - Why Rapport Matters
2 - Are Student Ratings of Rapport Accurate>
3 - Improving Performance: Rationale and Strategies
4 - Conclusion and Bibliography


Sincerely,


J. Edwards

A Month of College Teaching Tips - Tip #5 : Read Other Professors's Student Engagement Tips!

Readers,

I have never had the opportunity to attend the Teaching Professor Conference (some of my colleagues have), but it is super expensive. I like the fact that you can download materials from this conference FOR FREE! 

Here's a great resource...

Student Engagement Tips from Teaching Professor Conference Attendees

It seems that these tips emerged from an interactive conference session in which attendees contributed a wealth of ideas. Here are some of their ideas...

Emphasize life skills and life balance in the “start” class for all adult degree programs
a. Associates’ degree-study skills
b. Bachelors degree-org. behavior & work
c. Master’s degree-business, technology thinking skills

Community: I teach a module on using the library’s resources (primarily online resources) in two courses for English majors-one undergraduate, one graduate. I make assignments, and grade them, for 20-25% of the course grade. I have students choose a partner at the beginning of that module and work with the partner, in class, every time we do database research activities. Some of the students have hold of what they need outside of class to work together on their homework assignments for me-and then also on other assignments in other courses.

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41

A Month of College Teaching Tips - Tip #4 : Using Hubii to Gain a Different Perspective on Current Events

Readers,

My daily newspaper routine usually includes reading the Fort Worth Star Telegram (paper format), listening to NPR, and occasionally listening to the BBC. Unfortunately, this is not a well-rounded approach to getting the news (to gain a world-wide perspective).

As a result, I might start using Hubii. This website enables users to discover newspaper articles by browsing an interactive map.

Pros: The stories are timely and the graphics are crisp!

Cons: The websites try to convince users to track their location. :(

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41

A Month of College Teaching Tips - Tip #3 : Adopt a Speed Dating Approach to Public Speaking

Readers,

One of my good friends, Dr. Lora Helvie-Mason is very focused on engaging students in the public speaking classroom. Recently, Dr. Helvie-Mason was asked to author an article for Faculty Focus titled, "Helping Students Find Their Voices: Four Corners of the Classroom".

Read about the activity here - http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-teaching-strategies/helping-students-find-their-voices-four-corners-of-the-classroom/

Enjoy!

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41

A Month of College Teaching Tips - Tip #2 : Dress Like a Professor...

Readers,

Dress the part! I usually wear a suit and heels everyday. It is amazing how a simple clothing switch can make a difference in the classroom environment. When I decide to wear slacks and a nice sweater, the students actually react to me slightly differently than they usually react in most situations.

Here are few Pinterest boards related to the topic...

Dream Closet: Professor Fashion

http://pinterest.com/vferrer/dream-closet-professor-fashion/

 

Teacher Fashion

http://pinterest.com/sohimagazine/teacher-fashion/

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41

A Month of College Teaching Tips - Tip #1 : Attendance is A Beneficial Practice

Readers,

Next year will be my seventh year of teaching and I have always taken attendance in my classes. I realize that students might think that this practice is antiquated, but I strongly believe in a rigorous attendance policy because of the following...

1 - I believe that attendance is pivotal for student success.

Article - Link

2 - I care about my students when they are not present in the classroom.

3 - I want to make sure that my students obtain the total class experience (interaction with classmates, interaction with the professor, etc.)

4 - I enjoy interacting with the students and observing their reactions to the course content.

5 - If anything happens to a student, I am able to verify that the student attended class on a certain day (or days).

Sincerely,

J. Edwards

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Become a fan of Millennial Professor on Facebook - http://goo.gl/gnN41