7.22.09
Multiple
Choice Questions & Critical
Thinking
|
This
webpage from the Massachusetts Department
of Higher Education is a great overview
of creating good multiple choice
questions that spur critical thinking.
It includes general information.
(link)
|
5.12.09
SPARC [The Scholarly Publishing
and Academic Resources Coalition] resources for authors. |
This
set of resources is for authors of
information to be saved on a repository
system. It has resources on topics
such as posting articles that have
been published, alternative publishing
options and NIH funded researcher
guidelines for posting in a repository.
(link) |
5.5.09
Article: Institutional Repositories:
Hidden Treasures. |
This
article focuses on an overview, definition,
strategic importance and future developments
of institutional repositories. [Drake,
M.A. (2004, May). Institutional
Repositories: Hidden Treasures. Searcher 12(5)].
(link) |
04.28.09
SPARC [The Scholarly Publishing
and Academic Resources Coalition] resources
for authors.
|
This
set of resources is for authors of
information to be saved on a repository
system. It has resources on topics
such as posting articles that
have been published, alternative
publishing options and NIH funded
researcher guidelines for posting
in a repository. (link) |
04.21.09
Writing Effective Essay Questions |
While
lengthy, this step-by-step workbook
teaches one how to construct well-written
essay exams. It includes good/bad
examples of questions as well as
a bibliography. (link) |
04.14.09
Writing
Essay Questions |
This
excellent four-page overview of essay
questions is from the Center for
Teaching and Learning at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
(link) |
04.07.09
Center for Teaching, Learning
and Faculty Development at Ferris State
University
|
This
website has an overview of Writing
Effective True-False Questions and
includes tips for writing for higher
level thinking true false questions.
(link) |
03.31.09
Instructional
Assessment Resources from the University
of Texas |
This
webpage from the Instructional Assessment
Resources webpage for assessing students
at the University of Texas has a
nice compilation of information about
true/false exams with strengths,
limitations and tips for writing
effective questions in this format.
(link) |
03.24.09
Hot Potatoes Software |
The
Hot Potatoes is downloadable software
that enables one to create multiple-choice,
short-answer, jumbled-sentence, crossword,
matching/ordering and gap-fill assessments
that can be posted online or printed.
Hot Potatoes is not freeware, but
it is free of charge for those working
for publicly-funded non-profit-making
educational institutions. (link) |
03.17.09
Hot Potatoes Multiple Choice Writing
tutorial
|
This
is an online tutorial teaching how
to create meaningful multiple choice
questions. It is clear and easy to
understand and a great review of
good technique. (link) |
03.10.09
Some Ideas for Motivating Students |
This
site is called Virtual Salt and is
prepared by Robert Harris, a writer
and educator with more than 25 years
of teaching experience at the college
and university level. (link) |
03.03.09
Motivating
Students |
This is a richly detailed article on motivating
students by Barbara Gross Davis, University
of California, Berkeley from Tools
for Teaching.
(link) |
02.24.09
Teaching Meta-Cognition |
This
webpage is a summary of Marsha Lovett's
presentation at the 2008 Educause
Learning Initiative Conference.
(link) |
02.17.09
Meta-Cognition Elements |
This
site from the North Central Regional
Educational Laboratory explai ns
the three basic elements of meta-cognition:
developing a plan, monitoring the
plan and evaluating the plan. (link) |
02.10.09
All
about learning objects |
This
site has lots of information about
learning objects as well as a tutorial.
(link) |
02.03.09
Learning
Objects |
This
is a multipage website that has
a lot of details about learning
objects. (link) |
01.27.09
Successful
use of CATS |
This
website from Indiana-Purdue at
Fort Wayne outlines several CATs
(Classroom Assessment Techniques)
and describes how to use them successfully.
(link) |
01.20.09
Classroom
Assessment Techniques |
This
website at Iowa State is a great
overview of Classroom Assessment
Techniques (CAT) with an overview,
information on how to use them
and a table to help you choose
the appropriate CAT for your course.
(link) |
01.13.09
Encourage
Active Learning Through Technology |
This
webpage showcases real-life examples
from a variety of faculty as they
used technology to help implement
the third of Chickering and Gamson’s
seven principles to improve undergraduate
education (encourage active learning).
(link) |
01.06.09
Active
Learning in the Classroom |
This
short, to-the-point article by Virginia
S. Lee gives some excellent advice
on preparations for using active
learning in your classroom. It is
from the Professional and Organizational
Develop IDEA Center. (link) |
12.02.08
The
Last Day of Class |
This link
is to the University of California,
Berkeley’s faculty compilation
of teaching tips for the last day of
class. An excellent set of ideas from
several different disciplines.
(link) |
11.25.08
The
Last Day of Class |
Ted
Panitz, Mathematics, Cape Cod Community
College, Massachusetts has a nice
set of questions that he gives to
students. It is part reflection on
how they could have improved how
they worked in the course and also
what could be changed from the instructor’s
side.
(link) |
11.18.08
The
Authentic Assessment Toolbox: Enhancing
Student Learning through Online Faculty
Development |
Dr.
Jon Mueller, Professor of Psychology
wrote this article for the Journal
of Online Learning and Teaching
(JOLT). It is a how-to guide for
creating authentic evaluation for
online learning and includes methods
for engaging students in real-work
application of their learning.
(link) |
11.11.08
Assessment & Evaluation
of Online Student Learning |
This
is a well defined rubric for online
instruction on the California State
University – Chico site.
It lists three levels of online
instruction, describes five criteria
(activities, learning objectives,
assessment strategies, instructor
feedback and peer feedback) and
outlines three levels (baseline,
effective and exemplary) for each
criteria. The descriptions are
clear, concise and helpful. (link) |
11.4.08
A
Process of Midterm Evaluation |
This is
the full text of an article in ERIC
that identifies a process of midterm
evaluation using small groups. The
steps for the process are outlined
and a discussion of the study indicates
that using this method also positively
affects students’ interest
in the course. (link) |
10.28.08
Midterm
Course Evaluation |
This link
will take you to the University of
Massachusetts (Amherst) Center for
Teaching. It has a good overview of
a Midterm Assessment Process with questions
and ideas for obtaining the best information
and using it well. (link) |
10.21.08
Visual
Aids in Instruction and Their Relation
to Student Achievement - |
This
site from Penn State describes research
from Frank Dwyer on visual aids and
learning. He discusses three findings
from his Program of Systematic Evaluation
research: Time is Everything, Details
of the Image – Realism and
Color and Fast-Paced Visuals.
(link) |
10.14.08
Common
Craft |
If you
have heard of RSS, Wikis, Social Bookmarking,
Twitter, blogs and podcasting and
want a simple, easy to understand,
visual definition, this set of videos
is for you. They are simple cutouts
and line drawings (think flannel
board), that are “short, simple
and focused on making complex ideas
easy to understand.” You can
visit Common Craft, enjoy the videos
and even link to the videos for free
as long as they have attribution
to the Common Craft site. (link) |
10.07.08
The
"Change-Up" in Lectures |
This is
a article from Indiana University that
offers a great overview of how learning
occurs and methods to enhance that
learning in a large classroom. The
authors advocate having a “change-up” in
your lectures to keep learners
awake and engaged. (link) |
09.30.08
Using
Problem Based Learning |
This newsletter
is from the University of Delaware’s
Center for Teaching Effectiveness.
It has an overview of how the writer,
Linda Dion uses problem based learning
in her large biology class. (link) |
09.23.08
Teaching
Large Classes |
This website from
Penn State has excellent tips and techniques
gathered from faculty teaching large
classes. FAQs and large class resources
are organized and presented in an easy-to-use
format. (link) |
09.09.08
Generations
at Work: Managing Millennials |
While
not specifically directed at educators,
this website has some excellent information
about the Millennials’ characteristics,
what has shaped them, how to best
work with them and basically what
makes them tick. The article
is packed with good information that
you can immediately put to use when
teaching. (link) |
09.02.08
The
Oberlin Review: Understanding
Generation Y |
They have
a number of names. They have been called
Gen Y, Echo Boomers, Millennium Generation,
Millennials, the iGeneration, Einstein
Generation or the Google Generation. This
article describes the group that
is in college now and gives insight
into what has shaped them and makes
them unique. (link) |
06.12.08
Learning
Centered Syllabus |
The University
of Delaware Center for Teaching Effectiveness
has a great site devoted to the “learning
centered syllabus.” As
per university policy, you must use
the Master Course Syllabus (MCS),
but within that framework you can
certainly consider ways to focus
on the learning in the classroom
and options that will best help your
students. Please give FaCIT
a call if you have any questions
about how to integrate learning-centered
ideas into your MCS this Fall. (link) |
05.28.08
Journal
of Excellence in College Teaching (JECT) |
CMU
has an electronic site license for
the Journal of Excellence in College
Teaching (JECT), which has published
the scholarship of teaching and learning
for almost 30 years. Articles
include teaching tips, issues related
to plagiarism, use of humor in the
classroom, and a host of other exceptional
topics. They
also have search capabilities, so
you can look up articles on just
about any area of teaching and learning
of interest to you. (link) |
05.14.08
You
work hard! |
Finals
are over. Grades are submitted. Whether
you live and teach atop Mt. Pleasant
or from afar via one of our online
programs, we think you should reward
yourself for all of that hard work.
Take a look at this site for links
to hidden treasures and excursions
close to home. Once you feeel recharged
and ready to dive back into your
course prep and research, we are
ready, willing and excited to get
back to work with you. If you're
teaching summer classes, be sure
to take a little time for yourself.
Take a walk, go fishing, throw a
party, play cards ... enjoy some
food for the mind and soul. (link) |
05.07.08
Blackboard
Tutorials |
Need just
a reminder for how to accomplish that
task or want to learn how to do something
new in Blackboard? Look over these
tutorials and find both print and video
versions that range from the most common
tasks to the more difficult ones. Both
print and video tutorials are step-by-step,
easy to follow and sure to get you
up and running in no time. (link) |
04.30.08
iTunes
U & Mobile Learning |
Just
not enough time to get through everything
you want to in the classroom? Want
to beef up your online course? Maybe
your students could use a little
extra time exploring a certain topic?
Class is always in session at iTunes
U! Check out this link for an overview
of iTunes U and then contact Dan
Bracken in FaCIT to learn more
about the exciting options available
here at CMU. (link) |
04.23.08
Plagiarism |
This site
has a lot of very helpful information
with respect to plagiarism. In
addition to information regarding copyright
laws and information on ways to reduce
plagiarism, there is also helpful
information regarding how to properly
cite sources and how to paraphrase. That
is, this might also be a helpful
website for your students. (link) |
04.16.08
Test
Anxiety |
Great resource
to share with your students. This
site includes good information on
test anxiety, but also many other
tips for preparing to take tests. (link) |
04.09.08
Large Classes |
(link) |
04.02.08
Critical
Thinking |
(link) |
03.26.08
Civility in the Classroom |
Chit chat,
cell phones and inappropriate comments
... oh my!
Instructors in today's classrooms
are faced with countless challenges
and obstacles towards an effective
learning environment. Take a look
some great advice from the campus of
University of California Santa Cruz.
(link) |
03.19.08
Problem-Based Learning- UDEL |
Problem-based
learning is an effective teaching
technique whereby students are given
real-world problems to solve using
the concepts presented in class.
This site has MANY examples of actual
problems used in classes. It
requires registering a free account
so they can monitor usage and allow
for posting new problems. (link) |
03.12.08
Cultural
Competence Equity in the Classroom |
This
site offers a great deal of information
with respect to diversity in teaching
and learning. It also includes
quotes from students regarding the
concepts covered, including “what
teachers can do.” (link) |
02.27.08
Teaching With Technology - Merlot |
Merlot
has one of the most amazing collections
of learning resources for technology
in teaching that I have ever seen. The
information is free to use and is
peer reviewed. Just
select “go to information” below
the author’s name for complete
information for the activity. (link) |
02.20.08
Blooms Taxonomy |
This
website provides detailed information
on three domains commonly found in
learning: cognitive, affective, and
behavioral. It is based on the
work of Bloom, and although there are
other systems this is the most widely
known and a good place to start. (link) |
02.13.08
Tips for Powerpoint |
If you
are tired of using the same old Powerpoint
templates, keep in mind there are
many places who now offer free templates. The
following is just one site, with
links at the bottom of the page for
more free templates. (link) |
02.06.08
IDF-II |
Feedback
from students can be done at any
point in the semester. Many
faculty use the Student Opinion Surveys
(SOS), but information from those
forms is not intended to give you
feedback for the current semester. The
following website has literally hundreds
of questions you could use to obtain
feedback from your students. (link) |
01.30.08
Effective
Lecturing |
Lecturing
still does certainly have a place in
the academy. To maximize the effectiveness
of the lecture method, the following
website has several things that should
be considered. (link) |
01.23.08
Classroom
Assessment Techniques (CATS) |
Classroom
assessment techniques (CATS) are
an effective low-stakes method to
assess student learning. There
are many CATS, so you will be able
to find one to meet your needs. (link) |
01.16.08
Service
Learning Clearinghouse
|
On February
7th and 8th CMU will host the Annual
Michigan Campus Compact Service Learning
Institute right here in Mount Pleasant,
MI. For those who are interested
in this area, the following site
is a well-respected composition of
service-learning information. (link)
|
01.09.08
Grading
Rubrics |
Grading Rubrics are amazingly helpful
for speed and consistency in grading. The
following site was developed with grant
funds and has many resources to assist
you in quickly building a grading rubric.
(link) |
