It's that time of the semester again where students are feeling more burned out than ever. Consider implementing policies or course design changes to help support the well-being of your students. Here are four quick ways:  1. Use macro- and micro-affirmations in your course: You may have heard of microaggressions but have you heard of micro-affirmations (because they’re equally as important)? In their SABER/RISE seminar , Dr. Mica Estrada talks about how an inclusive and welcoming classroom is composed of low macro- and micro-aggressions and high macro- and micro-affirmations . Macro- and micro-affirmations are obvious acts and subtle or ambiguous cues of social inclusion, community, and respect for dignity. Some examples include: asking students how they are doing and listening to their responses, asking others for their opinions, recognizing the achievements of others, and just being - ‘nice ’. What macro- and micro-affirmations can you introduce into your classroom to build an...

Recently the Teaching Innovation Center (TIC) hosted a Coffee and Conversation event that focused on discussing the question, how can we reimagine labs and experiential learning opportunities?  We further examined this question by talking about how lab skills prepare students for future careers, considering both the lab technology and the collaborative nature of the lab environment.  Joining us as a guest speaker was Ara Austin, PhD . Dr. Austin is currently the Director of Online Engagement & Strategic Initiatives at The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University. Experiential Learning So, how do we define experiential learning ? During our conversation, we discussed how experiential learning is about the application of learning rather than just sharing information about a topic. It is the "learning by doing" concept. Most often in biology education, these unique skills are only given in laboratory settings, with a hands-on approach. We also conside...

Who here feels a bit drained when it comes to how this year or semester is progressing? My hand is raised! Often when I feel this way, I find that attending a workshop, conference, or even reading a book and discussing with colleagues, reignites my excitement for education and all things learning. This fall our reading group continues (for those counting, this is the 6th book we have read, having started in Spring of 2019)! We selected the book by Sarah Rose Cavanagh called, The Spark of Learning: Energizing the College Classroom with the Science of Emotion . This book was calling to us because with the return to in-person learning and consideration of various digital modalities, we felt there was a need for conversations around questions such as: What have we learned this past year about our students? How can we engage and find connections with our students, after all that we have been through? What have we learned this past year about our teaching methods? What can be kept, and what...

Cheating is an ongoing concern in higher education and is increasingly more complex as classes and resources become more available online. Students have created online environments to share answers to assignments and exam questions, and will sometimes spend time utilizing resources to cheat instead of studying the course material. Particularly in large enrollment classes where exams are the same semester after semester, answers to full exams can often easily be found online. Students report cheating for various reasons, and promoting and supporting academic integrity can be challenging. Completely eliminating breaches of academic integrity is unlikely, therefore, as instructors, we must decide which approaches to utilize in the classroom to balance efficacy and peace of mind. ASU offers multiple tools to attempt to reduce incidences of cheating, including anti-plagiarism software and online proctoring. Anti-plagiarism software can also be used as an opportunity to further educate st...

Sometimes it seems like the higher education landscape has gone from evolution at a manageable pace to revolution at warp speed overnight. For instance, say you’ve been adapting your course regularly to accommodate learner needs, new technologies, and current trends in your field, when, suddenly, you find yourself facing a complete, top-to-bottom curricular redesign initiative, in partnership with fellow faculty and vested stakeholders--in record time. Presented with such an undertaking, how you structure that limited time, build and maintain relationships, and leverage your resources (including instructional designers!) will make all the difference between “big problem” and “no big deal.” Faculty as Project Manager As noted in a previous post on faculty as writers (and instructional designers as editors), singular job titles comprise a composite of identities; no one is just one thing. How you self-identify will have a direct effect on how you see yourself and how others see you. And...