How to Build Community in Your Class Without Using Icebreakers

How to Build Community In Your Class Without Using Icebreakers

Research has shown that college students who find a support community in the first 6 weeks of college are more likely to persist and complete their education (Woosley, 2003). Much of this community can be found and created outside of the classroom through co-curricular involvement, however, faculty are in a unique position to influence the … Continue reading How to Build Community In Your Class Without Using Icebreakers

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Building Community in Online Courses: Three Strategies

A professor told me recently that he’s taken nearly a dozen online courses (as a student) and has never felt a strong sense of community in any of those courses. He asked what practical suggestions I had for building community online, and I found myself struggling to offer him any tips that were truly revolutionary. … Continue reading Building Community in Online Courses: Three Strategies

Constructing Effective Online-Learning Environments via the Community of Inquiry (CoI) Framework

As designers developing online courses, we’re always looking for purposeful ways to ensure that the instructor, content, and student interactions are strategic, cohesive, and meaningful. What’s more, we are also tasked with staying abreast of and introducing faculty to research, theories, and methodology associated with constructing rigorous and effective online pedagogy. At the 27th Annual … Continue reading Constructing Effective Online-Learning Environments via the Community of Inquiry (CoI) Framework

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Teaching and Learning While Black

When I was a junior in high school, a classmate who sat next to me in AP U.S. History told me that I needed to be “smart” to get into the University of Maryland. While sitting in the same AP class, this confused me, but I knew why she made this statement because I had … Continue reading Teaching and Learning While Black

Professor Vs. Wild Surviving and Thriving When Time is a Factor
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Prof vs. Wild: Surviving and Thriving When Time is a Factor

As any faculty member can tell you, proper course planning can take a long time. There are a multitude of factors to consider when initially setting up a course, including text selection, developing the syllabus and course objectives, selecting and developing assessments that properly align with module-level objectives, creating communication channels, and many more. In … Continue reading Prof vs. Wild: Surviving and Thriving When Time is a Factor

A Brief History of Academic Integrity Panics about Disruptive Technology
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A Brief History of Academic Integrity Panics about Disruptive Technology

When ChatGPT emerged last year, a segment of academia panicked in response to articles suggesting that students could get an AI to write their term paper and you, the instructor, would be none the wiser. Some are ready to write a eulogy for human authorship altogether.

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Using Genre in the Classroom

During the holidays, I spend the majority of the time with my partner’s family, who are predominantly first- and second-generation Polish immigrants. Many of them can speak Polish to each other with ease. Now, I’ve tried a few times to learn Polish so I can participate in conversations (or at least have a marginal understanding … Continue reading Using Genre in the Classroom

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Post Once, Reply Twice… But Why?

At some point–even prior to the start of COVID-19–most online instructors have relied on the ‘Post Once, Reply Twice’ formula for their online discussions. It is unclear where this formula originated, but like the Pot Roast Principle, there is no real reason we need to be bound by it. Discussions remain a pain point for … Continue reading Post Once, Reply Twice… But Why?

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Identifying our “Oak Savanna”: How HEERF Funds Helped to Regenerate an ID Team Battered by the Pandemic

In January 2021, my husband and I bought a messy piece of land in Michigan. Some of the land is (barely) tillable farmland, and the other parts are weedy prairie, scrubby forest, and swampy muck. This is what we wanted—a biodiverse piece of land that needs support to bring it back to its natural, harmonious … Continue reading Identifying our “Oak Savanna”: How HEERF Funds Helped to Regenerate an ID Team Battered by the Pandemic

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Foundational STEM courses Curated Resources and Action Items

Authors Kyle Grice and Margaret Bell Our faculty learning community (FLC) generated some big ideas to make STEM classrooms more equitable. Below are some big ideas to make STEM classrooms more equitable; we give a brief orientation to the concepts, with links to additional resources, and potential next steps. Of course, this is only a … Continue reading Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Foundational STEM courses Curated Resources and Action Items