That red dot. It's calling your name. Emails, Slack messages, voicemails. Family and pets. Distractions! If you're distracted, chances are your students are distracted. Perhaps they are distracting themselves from having to deal with the reality of the world right now. But you really want them to not be distracted while in class because you really want them to be learning!  This semester you're invited to join us as we explore James Lang's latest book, Distracted: Why Students Can't Focus and What You Can Do About It . The book explores why and how we get distracted, and shares ways instructors can encourage the practice of attention in the learning environment.  What Can You Do? Studies have shown that academic procrastination is real, and some ways to counter it are found in the cognitive and behavioral strategies to increase executive functions, such as self-regulation in students ( Rabin et al., 2011 ). But author James Lang provides a different perspective, on...

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...