In these challenging times, students are experiencing additional stressors exacerbating their anxiety and depression. As instructors who want students to succeed, how can we support our students with anxiety and depression in order to foster belonging and maximize learning? In this week's Resilient Teaching webinar, we talked with SOLS assistant professor Katey Cooper, Ph.D , who shared her research examining what worsens and alleviates anxiety and depression in biology undergraduates. Dr. Cooper discussed two overarching research questions during the presentation that relate to creating inclusive biology learning environments: How does depression and anxiety impact students' affective learning experiences in biology learning environments? What strategies can be implemented to improve the cognitive and affective experiences of students with anxiety and depression in biology learning environments? We began by discussing the percentages of undergraduates who have anxiety and depr...

Summer. That time of year you think you’ll catch up and have more time for “light” reading and thinking. And yet, here we are, summer in the rearview mirror, a new semester already begun. Perhaps you did successfully catch up on your projects? Way to go! One success we had was hosting a “light” version of our SOLS Reading Group. We chose to meet every other week on a Wednesday afternoon, ultimately reading five articles from June through July. One thing we realized is, even if you don’t have the time to devote hours to developing your teaching methods and crafting better learning experiences for students, you can find small moments to read shorter articles with evidence-based practices that you can implement. I encourage you to take breaks from your screen, get a cup of coffee or tea, and spend 15 minutes each day or week reading to develop yourself for teaching. Set a timer. Create a habit. Schedule it into your calendar, and don’t give it up. It’s your time to develop yourself for th...

Some students roll out of bed for early morning classes, bleary-eyed, hair a mess, thankful for coffee, and still wondering if their socks match as they stroll into their 7am lecture. Other students impatiently sigh through stomach rumblings as learning stretches into the evening hours. Does research literature suggest a perfect class time where professors can avoid all the trappings of boredom, hunger, and sleep for maximum learning? What can it tell us about adaptive teaching styles? A Tale as Old as Time….of day. Picture me, the typical college sophomore: I am flip-flopping between these two student roles. I want to be as successful as I can be, but my schedule seems to work against me. I’m often late despite my best efforts as I stumble into my 7am biochemistry class. I force my brain to care about hydrophobicity but wonder why I didn’t sign up for an evening section. Oddly by the end of class, my brain is awake, peppy, excited to learn. Other nights, I go to bed late. My only clas...

What  makes a good question? How do you write effective answer distractors? Is feedback really used on exams? What tools can be used  to engage students with questions and answers? These questions and more were addressed in this week's Teach Talk Webinar, presented by Katrina Fogelson and Sarah Prosory .  What Makes a Good Question? We need better questions to go beyond simply assessing a student's understanding. As instructors, we should be checking a student's ability to apply the material in a meaningful way.  Starting with Bloom's Hopefully you’ve learned about objectives by now, but in brief: learning objectives help answer the question, "what do I want students to be able to do upon completion of this lesson/topic/module?" Learning objectives are one of the foundational pieces to designing and developing a learning experience. Everything in the course should tie back to them, especially assessments. So, why do we need to think about objectives when we a...

As we enter the 3rd full week of Fall 2020 classes, let’s reflect on tips we've learned for conducting successful virtual class experiences. We've gathered advice from faculty this month that will quickly turn you into an expert on the ASU Sync modality. Let's review classroom communication, screen sharing, and setting yourself up for success in ASU Sync and in-person blended classrooms.  Classroom Chatter: Zoom or Slack?  In large classes, you can  turn off ‘chat’ in Zoom , or just have messages to the instructor available. This prevents students from messaging each other in ways that don't support the course goals. Do not disable all communication entirely, as students need a way to ask questions or report issues with the class feed. There are other options outside of Zoom! Consider having students use a Slack channel for their communication during class. This is an independent application that allows for threaded replies, upvoting, and other features not available ...