Strategies for designing more effective class group projects

Posted on January 11, 2016 by Julie Dodd

by Liudmila Khalitova
Ph.D. student, University of Florida

Liudmila Khalitova

Group projects have many advantages for students as well as for instructors.

Students have an opportunity to learn more working people, decrease their individual work load sharing it with other students, and develop collaboration and communication skills which are essential for their future work.

Instructors can assign more complex tasks and reduce the number of final projects to grade.

However, sometimes group work can be very challenging. In this post I will address those challenges and give some tips on how to minimize the costs of group projects.

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4 questions to ask yourself to determine which technology to use in your teaching

Posted on January 9, 2016 by Julie Dodd

By Aqsa Bashir
Ph.D student, University of Florida

Aqsa Bashir

Technology can both be a virtue and a curse in the classroom depending on how an instructor choses to use it.

Technology can aid and distract at the same time if not managed well by the instructor.

Instructors can utilize a number of technology tools to aid the course and student experience — Learning Management Systems (such as Canvas or Blackbroad), e-mail/listservs, blogs, social media, videos, PowerPoint presentations, Google Docs, and Skype.

Now imagine cramming all these into one 50-minute lecture. That would be a technology overload.

Hence, choosing the right tool for your class is as important as the class content itself.

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Experiential learning – Crucial for college students inside & outside the classroom

Posted on January 6, 2016 by Julie Dodd

Karsten Burgstahler
Master’s student, University of Florida

Kartsen Burgstahler

You’ve probably heard one of your students say (or you remember yourself as a student saying) “When am I EVER going to use this in real life?”

Part of your job as a teacher is to get students to think critically, but you don’t want them to learn just for class and then not be able to transfer that knowledge when they need it out in the field.

That’s why experiential learning is so important.

You give students a chance to work with real world problems – and, in some instances, actually work – and see how what they’re learning now will benefit them in their careers.

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12 strategies for maximizing cultural diversity in the classroom

Posted on December 30, 2015 by Julie Dodd

by Toluwani C. Oloke
Ph.D Student, University of Florida

Toluwani C. Oloke

Here are 12 tips for teachers to help them improve course design and instruction to recognize and promote cultural diversity in the classroom.

Appreciate the diversity; understand the diversity as a quality of wealth of perspectives and differences in terms of: language, personalities and learning styles.
Consider students’ cultures and language skills when developing learning objectives and instructional activities — technology use and familiarity, perceptions of personal space, and individual vs group projects.
Facilitate conducive learning and classroom environment that promotes sense of belonging, mutual respect and value for others’ opinions.
Incorporate multiple assessment and teaching styles to engage all students in ways that are culturally, cognitively and linguistically responsive and appropriate. individually.
Monitor student progress individually when possible, even when they are working in groups.
Build a relationship with students.
Culturally contextualized illustrations in class do not always help. Use neutral non-stereotype illustrations that all students can understand or easily learn.
Make class participatory.
Use simulations.
Let students explore their strengths and understanding in multiple ways.
Hold all students to high expectations.
Eliminate stereotype biases and myths about students; instead, know your students as individuals.

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4 questions teachers should ask themselves to improve their students’ motivation

Posted on December 21, 2015 by Julie Dodd

by Barbara Myslik
Ph.D. student, University of Florida

Barbara Myslik

Motivating students to can be one of the most challenging tasks a teacher faces, but it can also be one of the most exciting. There are several factors important to consider when thinking of ways to achieve that goal.

Here are four questions teachers should ask themselves as they consider how to motivate their students.

Question #1: Is the student intrinsically or extrinsically motivated? (Motivation type)

Students who learn for their own satisfaction, and are motivated by internal factors, more then by external rewards, respond well to tasks that are both challenging and give them sense of personal control. For an intrinsically motivated student sense of control over the task is fun and rewarding, so it is important to let them create as much of their learning experience as possible.

Students motivated by external rewards respond well when the subject is made applicable to them. It is important to praise their accomplishments, as positive feedback motivates them to work harder. Also, introducing an element of friendly competition can work really well for an extrinsically motivated student.
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Tips for teaching college students with different learning styles

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Julie Dodd

by Sining Kong
Ph.D. student, University of Florida

Sining Kong

Learning style can be described as a set of factors, behaviors, and attitudes that facilitate learning for an individual in a given situation. It influences how students learn, how teachers teach and how the two interact with each other. The idea of learning styles usually refers to a preferred way of learning. It implied that each individual has a natural inclination toward learning, and if that preference can be identified, both teaching and learning experiences can be more effective.

Teachers can use VARK questionnaire http://vark-learn.com/the-vark-questionnaire/ to know students’ learning styles. According to VARK inventory, there are four types of learning styles:

* Visual learners prefer to use pictures, images, diagrams, colors, and mind maps.
* Aural/Auditory learners prefer using sound, rhythms, music, recordings, clever rhymes, and so on.
* Reading and writing learners enjoy reading and taking notes, turn diagram and charts into words.
* Physical (Bodily-Kinesthetic) learners prefer to use their body to assist in their learning, such as drawing diagrams, using physical objects, or role playing.

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5 tips for writing blog posts on teaching topics

Posted on November 28, 2015 by Julie Dodd

by Julie Dodd

Every teacher can use some advice about teaching — whether you’re new to teaching, you are new to teaching at the college level, or you are an experienced college teacher.

You may need insights on an issue you’ve never experienced in your teaching, or you may be looking for tips on how to improve some aspect of your teaching.

One great source of potential help is available by doing a Google search on the topic. You’ll find research articles, university teaching centers, and blog posts.

You are joining the education blogosphere by publishing a blog post about the topic of your teaching presentation. For many of you, this is the first time you’ve written a blog post. So here are five tips for writing a post that will be helpful for others and that will bring readers to your post.

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11 steps for rubric development

Posted on November 12, 2015 by Julie Dodd

by Bruce Getz
Ph.D. student, University of Florida

Bruce Getz

The first time I heard the word “rubric” I was in my first faculty meeting as a first-year teacher, and I had no idea the meaning of the term.

It took several weeks to work up the courage to ask more experienced teachers what a rubric was. As a new teacher, unfamiliar with assessment practices, I had no idea the design and implementation of rubrics would play an integral part in my professional development and experience as an educator.

I have distilled the lessons I learned throughout my teaching career into the following approach to rubric development.

Before I outline the process of rubric development, it is important to understand the role of the individual teacher in rubric design. Of the many assessment tools available to us rubrics may be the most versatile. Rubrics allow individual educators an opportunity to create a custom-grading tool, which aligns directly to the course, lesson, and learning objective they are teaching.

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Developing an undergraduate course provides opportunity to develop skills in instructional design

Posted on September 6, 2015 by Julie Dodd

by Julie Dodd

The major assignment in Mass Communication Teaching (MMC 6930) is to develop an undergraduate communications course — creating a syllabus, lesson plans, instructional materials, and an assessment tool.

Creating, modifying and updating courses is an important part of university teaching. So this assignment helps you develop instructional design abilities.

The first step is determining what course to develop.

Should you select to develop your materials for an already existing course or a new course?

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Motivating college students — recognizing learning styles and role of intrinsic & extrinsic motivation

Posted on May 4, 2015 by Julie Dodd

by Jung Won Chun
Ph.D. student, university of Florida

Jung Won Chun

Motivating students is not easy but is one of the most fundamental and important issue in teaching. If students lose their motivation to learn and engage with you as a teacher, they not only aren’t gaining as much as they could from your class but they could become academic discipline problems.

So, the key question is: “How can we motivate students?”

To answer this question, we need to understand different types of motivations. Here are two types of motivation:

Extrinsic motivation

Goal-driven: “I need a B to get into law school.”
Rewards: “I can earn extra credit if I do well on today’s quiz.”
Pressure to perform: “If I flunk this course, I will lose my scholarship.
Competition: “I should do a better performance to win the first prize in this project.”
Achievement: “I want to earn A for this course.”

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Strategies for Successful Teaching

Promoting more effective teaching and learning

Category Archives: Mass Communication Teaching (MMC 6930)

Strategies for designing more effective class group projects

4 questions to ask yourself to determine which technology to use in your teaching

Experiential learning – Crucial for college students inside & outside the classroom

12 strategies for maximizing cultural diversity in the classroom

4 questions teachers should ask themselves to improve their students’ motivation

Tips for teaching college students with different learning styles

5 tips for writing blog posts on teaching topics

11 steps for rubric development

Developing an undergraduate course provides opportunity to develop skills in instructional design

Motivating college students — recognizing learning styles and role of intrinsic & extrinsic motivation