Let's Talk Teaching

Ever have your students complain that they were caught off guard by your exam or quiz? They may actually have a point. In this week's episode, CTLT's Julie-Ann McFann explores ways to ensure that your tests actually measure what you are teaching. She takes the fear out of scary concepts like alignment, tables of specification... and unicycles. Plus, learn how to avoid the very real pitfalls inherent in test banks.

Like the 60s western of the same name, this "Magnificent Seven" is a classic. Claire and Jim discuss the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. Nearly 30 years later, this short essay continues to be one of the best foundations for any college-level teaching experience. Whether you're a new face to teaching or a grizzled veteran of the classroom, Chickering & Gamson's work is a must-read (or re-read) for any university instructor.

What do you do when you lose a student to tragedy? A colleague? This week, we continue our discussion from earlier in the semester on "teaching in times of crisis." In this episode, we focus on coping with crisis that occurs on a more immediate, personal level for you and your students.

Get inspired again about teaching! This week, we take a look at a few of the "must read" books we always recommend to those who teach at the university level. Claire shares why she finds these particular works so compelling and how they have impacted her teaching and the teaching of countless others.

Formative assessments can sound like a formidable undertaking. But they don't have to be. Dr. Julie-Ann McFann, CTLT's Program Team Lead, shows us how little, frequent "check-ins" can help us know if our students are really getting it. She helps us wrap our brains around the differences between formative and summative assessments and the differences between assessing and grading. We'll also explore how using formative assessments might assuage your students' constant craving for study guides.

How do you create a "community of learners?" You've probably heard that phrase before, but what does it really mean, and how do you achieve it? This week, we explore those questions with CTLT's Dana Karraker. Discover the philosophy behind this important concept, techniques to apply to your teaching, and signs that show when it's actually working.

ReggieNet is Illinois State University's customized learning management system, or LMS. It's powerful collection of online tools… but it's not always as easy or intuitive to use as one might think. CTLT's Charles Bristow joins Jim to highlight some of ReggieNet's most popular features. They discuss where instructors can get help with common problems, and they also share tips that instructors should pass on to their students about having a frustration-free ReggieNet experience.

So far, 2016 has been a tumultuous year, marked by truly horrific acts of violence. When a crisis occurs, how should we address it with our students? How can we balance the need to cope with traumatic events against the need to keep learning on track? There are no easy answers. As we mark the fifteenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, we look at the research resulting from that national crisis, explore options, and offer a few practical tips for teaching in times of crisis.

Evaluating our own teaching is just as important as evaluating our students' learning. Too many of us simply rely on end-of-term surveys. In this episode, we explore ways to plan and conduct an assessment of teaching in the middle of the semester. We highlight a few options that might fit your teaching situation. Learn about the Small Group Instructional Diagnosis-- informally known as a Midterm Chat-- and how it can not only inform your teaching, but it can also provide your students with a sense of agency and empowerment in their own learning.

Teaching portfolios are about more than just promotion and awards. The process of creating a teaching portfolio can be a powerful form of professional development for faculty. But what should be in it? And how can we, as teachers, use it to better student learning? In this special episode, CTLT Director Claire Lamonica dives deep into portfolio philosophy with Erika Kustra, director of teaching and learning development at the Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of Windsor, Canada. Kustra was a guest at CTLT during the summer of 2016.

Avoid inflicting a syllabus snooze-fest upon your students! We continue our discussion from our last episode. This time, we move from a larger perspective to the nuts and bolts of how a syllabus is put together and what needs to be included in it. How do you balance “official” language with the need to offer students a welcoming and accessible introduction to the course?

We often think a syllabus as a contract with our students. But who wants to read through a contract? In this episode, we take a “big picture” perspective of the course syllabus. Discover ways to tap into your students' natural interest in the course by making the syllabus about them… and not just about the rules and policies of your class.

Read the syllabus, get out early… right? Wrong! We challenge common assumptions (made by both faculty and students) about what should happen on the first day of class. Discover how to set expectations, establish the culture of your class, and lay the groundwork for an enthusiastic and productive semester.