Sep 08
Back in June of 2014 Saga Briggs wrote The Science of Attention: How To Capture and Hold the Attention of Easily Distracted Students. In this article she describes the findings of research which indicates that university students do best when their attention is captured by periods of active learning. She then gives the reader 15 Tricks …
Sep 03
I always think we learn best from our colleagues and I recently heard from Susan Mircovich, Assistant Professor of Chemistry for Kenai Peninsula College of something that she did which was very successful. I asked Susan to write it up for me so I could share it with all of the faculty reading the FLC. …
Aug 05
We often think of the syllabus as a contract between faculty and student. Dr. Lolita Paff, Professor of Business and Economics at Penn State Berks, thinks this may actually foster a negative learning environment. In Mary Bart’s A Learner-Centered Syllabus Helps Set the tone for Learnings she describes another approach to the syllabus that she thinks creates a better beginning …
Jul 31
It’s Friday again, so we’ve dug up a little humor for you with a reminder that humor is in the eyes of the beholder. As we begin the semester, it is always wise to remind your students of this too. What they post as “humor” might be offensive to another student reading it. And while …
Jul 24
Sometimes we aren’t sure what our students are seeing, hearing or focusing on. Do your students even listen to video lectures/presentations that you post online? Do they notice the things that you are emphasizing or is their attention elsewhere? Here is a humorous example from the news highlighting our own attention span. What captured YOUR …
Jul 08
We all have different strengths and different weakness. Some of us prefer to read directions, others prefer to be told what to do. Some learn best from videos, others prefer to have detailed step-by-step written diagrams. We’ve all been told that good instructors pay attention to the different learning styles of their students and deliver …
Jun 16
Make your images come alive with video, text, images, music and more with ThingLink! Create interactive images and videos for the web, social, advertising and education channels. Teachers and students can sign up for free accounts. ThingLink works on all modern web browsers as well as iPad, iPhone and Android. Hover over the image below …
May 20
Today Faculty Focus shared a post titled “Let Students Summarize the Previous Lesson” by Maryellen Weimer. It struck home to me and I want to share her post and add some ideas. She emphasized the importance of making connections between class sessions or online, between weekly modules/presentations. However, rather than the instructor making these connections Weimer suggests …
Apr 13
Best-selling authors know that the first sentence of a book sets the stage for the rest of the read. In fact, a bad first sentence may entirely discourage readers from continuing on. The start of your course is actually very similar. How do you make sure you aren’t the only one in the classroom? That …
Mar 23
What is the purpose of the “Getting Started” or “Start Here” module that many of us put in our online courses? Is it a generic orientation to Blackboard with bland but important information that applies to any online course OR is it a personalized walk through of your expectations, your course organization and a warm …
