Category Archives: curriculum development

3 tips for teaching large classes

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by Ilyoung Ju
Ph.D. student, University of Florida

Ilyoung Ju

Ilyoung Ju

The number of large classes at universities has been increased due to the efficiency and the financial pressure of budget cuts from state legislatures. For this reason, it becomes important for instructors to have an ability to teach in a large class setting.

Teaching a large class can have several challenges:

  • Involving students in active learning.
  • Personalizing the class environment.
  • Working with diverse students’ needs and backgrounds.
  • Managing classroom disruptions.
  • Adapting one’s teaching style to the large lecture situation.

Here are some tips for being more successful in teaching a large class:
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Grading rubric provides clarity for instructors and students

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by Greenberry “Tripp” Taylor
Master’s student, University of Florida

Greenberry "Tripp" Taylor

Tripp Taylor’s teaching assistantship is working with undergraduates in the Innovation News Center.

Having a checklist usually makes things simpler and more efficient. For example, if you go to the grocery store with a list, chances are you can make it in-and-out quickly because you know exactly what you’re looking for.

This is a good way to think of a rubric – a very advanced, evaluative checklist used by instructors. Just like a grocery list, instructors can take time and think about what objectives they want an assignment to have. Having set expectations can help eliminate subjectivity, and also shave some time off the grading process.

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3 strategies for promoting discussion in college classes

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by Huishan Wang
Master’s student, University of Florida

When I taught class in Mass Communication Teaching, we talked about the experience we’ve had with class discussions, the relationship between discussion and active learning, and the advantages and disadvantages of discussion.

To demonstrate one discussion strategy, I used an activity — the Fishbowl — to discuss more about the discussion teaching strategy.

Use Fishbowl strategy as way to encourage discussion

The class was divided into two groups. Three of the class were with me in the inner circle (the Fishbowl), and the others were in the outer circle. The inner circle participated in the discussion that I led, while the class members in the outer circle took notes based on the discussion, which included noting the discussion’s content, any problems or things are interesting to them, or any comment on this Fishbowl activity.

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Strategies for promoting cultural diversity in college classes

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by Linwan Wu
Ph.D. student, University of Florida

Linwan Wu

Linwan Wu

Cultural diversity in classroom involves two important aspects: one is to help international students adapt to American cultures, and the other one is to encourage all students to respect cultural diversity.

International students’ cultural-related problems:
(1) Social customs
(2) Language problems
(3) Culture shock

How to help international students in your courses:
(1) Help international students understand “culture is relative.”
(2) Encourage them to be open-minded.
(3) Ask them to use their communication skills.
(4) Encourage them to ask questions.
(5) Help them to find a cultural ally.

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Strategies for creating multiple-choice test questions

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by Julie Dodd

students taking exam in auditorium

I took this photo from the back of the auditorium, while my 130 students were taking an exam. Photo by Julie Dodd

Which of the following is correct about multiple-choice testing?
(A) Multiple-choice questions are easier to write than essay questions.
(B) If you don’t like multiple-choice tests, you won’t ever have to use them as a teacher.
(C) Multiple-choice tests can measure all student learning objectives.
(D) Students like talking multiple-choice tests better than writing essays.
(E) All of the above.
(F) None of the above.

Those were some of the issues we discussed in Mass Communication Teaching, as we talked about student assessment and multiple-choice testing.

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Tips and checklist for creating college course syllabus

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by Julie Dodd

checklist of developing course syllabusWe spent much of our last class meeting discussing the many decisions involved in creating an undergraduate course syllabus.

We talked about how Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956), updated by by Anderson and Krathwohl (2001), can help with one of the most important first steps in developing a course — determining the student learning outcomes (SLOs) for the course.

Developing specific and measurable SLOs can be aided by using action verbs to operationalize each SLO — http://uwf.edu/cutla/slo/actionwords.pdf

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Prepare for discussion of curriculum development with readings and writing proposal for a course you’d like to develop

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by Julie Dodd

Curriculum development is an important part of a faculty member’s work. Curriculum development can mean creating a brand new course, updating and revising an already existing course, or creating lesson plans, class plans or assignments and grading criteria.

We’ll talk about both the big picture of curriculum development and the specifics next week in class.

To prepare for Monday’s class (Jan. 13):

  1. Identify an undergraduate communications course that you’d like to develop. You can select a course that is offered in our college or that is offered in another communications program, or you can develop a new course.
  2. Use the template that I’ve provided to develop a proposal for the course. Bring the printed proposal to class next week. mmc6930_course_proposal_template
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Brainstorming activity helps us develop agreed-upon list of topics to challenge us during semester

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by Julie Dodd

In starting the semester for a class like Mass Communication Teaching, hearing from you (the students in the course) about topics you are interested in covering is a good way to match what my plans for the semester are with what you hope you will be learning about.

From brainstorming with a partner, here are some of the topics the you said you hoped we’d discuss:

  • Fairness in grading
  • Motivating students to complete outside-of-class activities, like reading the course syllabus and reviewing rubrics.
  • Technology use in class — and keeping technology from being a distraction
  • Establishing guidelines to promote appropriate conduct in class, especially in group discussion

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7 steps for getting ready for the start of Mass Communication Teaching, Spring Semester 2014

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by Julie Dodd

We’re getting ready to start a new semester at the University of Florida. Classes start on Monday, Jan. 6.

One great aspect about teaching is that, as the instructor, you have opportunities throughout the year to update and rethink how you do your job. Each semester offers that opportunity as you design the course syllabus — whether you are teaching a course for the first time or whether you are teaching a course that you’ve taught before.

Teaching a course like Mass Communication Teaching (MMC 6930) gives me the opportunity to use a combination of advance planning and of course development based on the students in the course each semester.

I’ve developed a course syllabus — mmc6930_syllabus_dodd_Sp2014_1 — but I also have built in flexibility to select topics and activities based on the class size and the students in the course.
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Students with Learning Disabilities: An Opportunity for Inclusive Pedagogy in College Classes

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by Erica Newport
Ph.D. student, University of Florida

As a particular semester wrapped, I found myself in a final meeting with a student who was physically handicapped and who had multiple learning disabilities. We had journeyed together through my class, learning how to create the most from this learning and teaching experience.

Our society has grown rather fixated on measuring one’s impact. Oftentimes, people in my community outside of academe ask me if I feel my impact as a journalist was greater than that of Ph.D. student. Then there’s this reality, contributing to the “impact” conversation: Social media platforms offer instantaneous connection and some level of measurable outcome via analytics. As a teacher, I remind myself that each and every student is minimally an opportunity. But what about measurable impact, especially when a student is challenged in his or her learning due to emotional, mental, physical, and learning disabilities?

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