Teaching Tips and Strategies
CELT has collected resources on teaching in higher education for you to use in your teaching. Some have been developed by your colleagues specifically for IPFW faculty. If you find a resource that you think would be useful to IPFW faculty, please email celt@ipfw.edu.
Online Teaching Problem Solver
Got a teaching problem to solve? Not sure why it's occurring? Need some suggestions? Give the Carnegie Mellon Eberly Center's "Solving a Teaching Problem" web site a try. A variety of commonly encountered problems are described and explained. Pedagogical principles behind suggested remedies are offered. Call CELT if you would like to follow up on anything you see at the site.
http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/solveproblem/index.html
The CELT Library has books that you may borrow on most of the teaching topics listed below.
Assessment & Evaluation
Copyright Guidelines for Teaching Materials
Syllabus and Course Design
Critical Thinking
Evaluating Teaching Effectiveness
Motivating Students
Online Teaching
Preventing Plagiarism
Reflective Practice
Miscellaneous topics
Assessment & Evaluation of Student Learning
“Nine principles of assessment”
This document was developed under the auspices of the AAHE Assessment Forum with support from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education with additional support for publication and dissemination from the Exxon Education Foundation. Copies may be made without restriction.
Using Classroom Assessment Techniques
Prepared by the CELT Teaching Fellows
Test development resources can be found at the Kansas State "IDEA" web site, or visit the CELT Library in KT 234, where you may read hard copy versions of these papers.
- Improving Multiple Choice Tests, IDEA Paper 16
- Improving Essay Tests, IDEA Paper 17
- Matching Instructional Objectives, Subject Matter, Tests, and Score Interpretation, IDEA Paper 18
Evaluating your Assessment Instrument
Prepared by the CELT Teaching Fellows
Case studies by faculty about innovative assessments
Rubistar is a free rubric creation tool for "Project-Based Learning Activities" in a variety of subjects, including Art and Math. It's a good tool to get you started. You can customize any aspect of your rubric, too.
Staying on Solid Ground with Rubrics, a link to resources from the CELT Fall 2007 Teaching Conference.
Wholistic critical thinking scoring rubric
Improving College Grading, IDEA Paper 19
From the Kansas State "IDEA" web site, or visit the CELT Library in KT 234, where you may read a hard copy version.
Grading: Making it Fair, Time Efficient, and Conducive to Learning
A self-guided tutorial based on a seminar by Barbara Valvoord, Director Emerita of the Kaneb Center for Teaching and Learning, Coordinator for the North Central Association Accreditation Self-Study, Concurrent Professor of English, and Fellow of the Institute for Educational Initiatives at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana.
Copyright Guidelines for Teaching Materials
The Helmke Library has assembled extensive resources on obtaining permissions, fair use, the TEACH act (distance education) and more.
Syllabus and Course Design
Sample/Model Syllabus for IPFW Faculty
Especially useful are the links to campus resources that you may copy and paste into your own syllabus, and pre-prepared statements on diversity, civility, and special needs that you are welcome to include in your syllabus.
General Education Learning Objectives (Baccalaureate Framework)
You are encouraged to incorporate general education learning objectives into your syllabi, when appropriate. Click here for a list of general education objectives by area. For more information about the general education requirements see the document entitled “Goals and Objectives of the IPFW Baccalaureate Degree
Learning Outcomes and Examples of Evidence”.
Going Beyond the Basic Syllabus
Prepared by the CELT Teaching Fellows
IDEA Paper #27 Writing a Syllabus by Altman and Cashin. A timeless document that carefully explains the basics of syllabus construction and takes you beyond.
Integrated Course Design IDEA Paper #42 by Dee Fink. A pioneer in professional development in higher education, Dee Fink explains his very accessible systematic approach to designing university courses. The Center for Faculty Evaluation and Development of the University of Kansas, Manhattan, has produced IDEA Papers on a variety of teaching topics in higher education. All papers are also available in hard copy versions in the CELT Library.
The Writing Center can also assist you in developing writing assignments and grading rubrics. 481-6028.
Critical Thinking
Resources for teaching critical thinking at all levels are available at the web site of the Foundation for Critical Thinking under the Library/Articles > Higher Education menu items.
Critical Thinking Rubric
The Washington State University Critical Thinking Project developed a rubric for critical thinking which faculty from a variety of disciplines from History to Physics adapted. Links to these adaptations appear at http://wsuctproject.wsu.edu/fa.htm .
Wholistic critical thinking scoring rubric
Evaluating Teaching Effectiveness
Constructing a Useful Student Evaluation Instrument
Prepared by the CELT Teaching Fellows This guide can also be used to critique and enhance existing ratings instruments.
Using Student Ratings to Assess Teaching Effectiveness
Prepared by CELT Teaching Fellows A short guide to interpreting student ratings of your teaching that can be used in interpreting survey results.
Myths about Student Ratings of Teaching
Prepared by CELT Teaching Fellows A quiz on the most persistent myths with answers that may (or may not) surprise you.
Research on Student Evaluation of Teaching
Algozzine, B., Beattie, J., Bray, M., Flowers, C., Gretes, J., Howley, L., Mohanty,G., and Spooner, F. (2004). Student Evaluation of College Teaching: A practice in search of principles. College Teaching, 52(4), 134-141. Retrieved Sept. 25, 2006 from EBSCO host at the Helmke Library.
Multiple Methods of Evaluating Teaching
W. J. McKeachie and Matthew Kaplan explain, “Student ratings, classroom observations, portfolios, appraisal interviews . . . . they all could, and should, be used more effectively.” Retreived July 17, 2008 from http://cedar.olemiss.edu/depts/vc_academic_affairs/problems.html.
Evaluation of Teaching Effectiveness
Research articles on use of student ratings and peer review to evaluate teaching effectiveness as well as articles on creating an evaluation plan. From the University of Michigan Center for Research on Learning and Teaching. Retrieved July 17, 2008 from http://www.crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/tseot.html.
Motivating Students
Todd Zakrajsek, Director, Faculty Center for Innovative Teaching, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, spoke to IPFW faculty in Fall 2007 on the topic of using psychological principles to overcome apathy in the classroom. View a video of his keynote and download materials from the sessions here.
Straightforward answers to the most frequently asked questions about motivating students are available from the Teaching Effectiveness Program at University of Oregon.
Teaching strategies for Motivating Students from the University of Michigan Center for Research on Learning and Teaching.
Tips for motivating students to do their best work from the UC Berkeley Compendium of teaching tips.
Online Teaching
Quick Tips for Distance Teaching
Video clips prepared by the DECCO Faculty Support committee with 11 IPFW teachers who share their most effective practices.
See Designing and Teaching Online Courses on the Teaching at a Distance page in the CELT web site under Teaching with Technology.
The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system has prepared excellent self-guided tutorials on the following subjects:
- Getting Started Online http://vfc.project.mnscu.edu/
- Instructional Design for eLearning http://ctlinstdesign.project.mnscu.edu/
- Active Learning in an Online Environment http://ctlactiveonline.project.mnscu.edu/
The Online Classroom is a newsletter published bi-monthly filled with tips and tactics to enhance your students’ learning and make your life easier. Follow this link to the Helmke library holdings. Articles are available in .pdf format.
Journals and Professional Associations pertaining to Online Teaching are listed in this document.
Preventing Plagiarism
Designing Plagiarism-Proof Assignments: Deterring Scholarly Dishonesty
A self-guided tutorial based on a seminar given by Christopher M. Anson, Ph.D., Professor of English, Director, Campus Writing and Speaking Program, North Carolina State University
Reflective Practice
Learning the Art of Reflection
Prepared by CELT Teaching Fellows. A detailed guide to reflection useful to teachers and peer consultants.
The Process of Reflection
Prepared by the CELT Teaching Fellows. A step-by-step guide to recording and interpreting reflections.
Are you a reflective practitioner?
A self-guided tutorial based on the work of Daniel D. Pratt, Professor of Adult and Higher Education, University of British Columbia. A rich set of resources and activities designed to rev your capacity for productive reflection.
Miscellaneous Topics
Active Learning
Active Learning in Diverse Classrooms
A self-guided tutorial based on a common scenario, available from the Minnesota Colleges and Universities Center for Teaching and Learning.
It's Not What You Tell Them That Counts: Getting Started With Active Teaching
A self-guided tutorial based on the work of Mel Silberman, a psychologist known internationally as a pioneer in the areas of interpersonal intelligence, active learning, and facilitation/consultation.
Classroom Management
Creating Active Learners through Classroom Management Strategies
A self-guided tutorial based on a seminar presented by Dr. Joyce Weinsheimer, Director for the Center for Teaching and Learning Services at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
Scenes from a Classroom: Managing Conflict
A free set of videos that can help you learn to handle some of the most frequently experienced conflict situations that you will face in your classroom. Watch the conflict situation unfold and then listen to two different perspectives on what happened and what you could do about it if it happened to you. From the University of Minnesota Center for Teaching and Learning web site and designed for graduate assistants and first-time college teachers.
Cooperative Learning (Using Small Groups Effectively)
Prepared by the CELT Teaching Fellows
Diversity
"I Hear You, Do You Hear Me?" Teaching in Racially Diverse Classrooms
A self-guided tutorial based on a seminar presented by Franklin A. Tuitt, Ed. D., Assistant Professor, Higher Education, College of Education, University of Denver. Dr. Tuitt was a Cabot Post-doctoral Research Fellow at Harvard
My Story, Your Story: Building Respect for Diversity in the Classroom
A self-guided tutorial based on a seminar presented by Suzanne Bunkers, whose teaching specialties include courses such as "Survivors' Stories: Cross-cultural Narratives" and "Coming of Age: Gendered and Culturally Diverse Perspectives," and Sheryl Dowlin, Professor Emerita of Speech Communication, Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Online Communities of Educators
Learning Times is an open community for education-minded people. Members have free access to a wide range of opportunities to interact and network with peers from across the globe – “live” online, asynchronously and face-to-face. Learningtimes.org. A list of the organization’s past webcasts can be found at http://www.learningtimes.org/archive.html. You must register to get access to the webcasts, but registration is free. Topics include: use of student portfolios, information literacy, online mentoring and many other topics related to teaching with technology.
Professional Conferences
A far from comprehensive, but useful list of teaching and learning conferences worldwide.
Theories of Learning and Teaching
Explorations in Learning & Instruction: The Theory Into Practice (TIP) Database
TIP is a tool intended to make learning and instructional theory more accessible to educators. The database contains brief summaries of 50 major theories of learning and instruction. These theories can also be accessed by learning domains and concepts.
Writing across the curriculum
Learning to Write in All Fields
A self-guided tutorial from the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities.
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