We’ve all been there: you’ve handed out the research assignment. Your students have begun working on it. But there’s a snag—the material isn’t as easy to find or as abundant as you thought; your students are missing crucial context; the instructions are ambiguous on a key point; you hadn’t anticipated what would happen when students … Continue reading »
You’ve probably encountered a library research guide before—perhaps you’ve taken a course that had its own LibGuide, or consulted your department’s guide for graduate study—but have you thought about using a research guide as teaching material? Library guides are not just lists of amazing resources, though they are that, too. They’re also glimpses into particular … Continue reading »
The central feature of contract grading is the contract: a clear and detailed set of guidelines that stipulate exactly what a student needs to do in order to earn each possible grade. In a regular grading situation, such guidelines might rely heavily on a one-time performance or a somewhat opaque set of expectations: to get … Continue reading »
Around the Web is going on summer break. As I reflect back on a year’s worth of stories, arguments, and ideas in education, there are a few that have really stayed with me. In no particular order, here they are: “In Which Tenured Radical Ponders The Twists of Fate That Can Mean Everything To An … Continue reading »
In the Washington Post last week, Daniel de Vise discussed new findings that the amount of time college students spend studying, reading or otherwise preparing for class is about 60% of what it used to be. Possible culprits include softer academic standards, increases in study efficiency thanks to technology, and more demands on students’ time … Continue reading »
Last week there were a couple of stories in the news about how standardized testing can dovetail with curriculum development. This week, the College Board announced that David Coleman will be its new president and CEO. Coleman co-founded the non-profit that helped develop the Common Core standards, and the move demonstrates the College Board’s focus … Continue reading »
Conservatives are pushing back against the Common Core, arguing Continue reading »
Extended learning time is widely recognized as a central piece of school turnaround strategy, and it’s one of the interventions that the Education Department requires of K-12 schools that applied for NCLB waivers. But how much time is too much time? Myopia rates have quadrupled among kids in Asia, and one of the leading theories as … Continue reading »
Here we are: the point in the semester where many a dedicated instructor quails before the giant stack of papers on his or her desk. If your students are handing in their papers only a day or two before they leave campus, writing carefully considered comments can feel like putting a message in a bottle. … Continue reading »
MOOC start-up Coursera announced this week that it would partner with another three major universities. What’s a MOOC, you ask? It’s a Massive Open Online Course, and an acronym that you’ll only see more of. Coursera, like Udacity, grew out of one of Stanford’s early MOOCs. (Wired recently did a profile of Udacity’s co-founder, Sebastian Thrun.) As … Continue reading »
