Backward design is a powerful, evidence-informed approach that begins not with content, but with the essential questions that spark curiosity and guide meaningful student engagement.
Designing a grading system can be challenging in the context of student anxieties around grades as well as our own teaching contexts: How do we measure growth when each student has a different starting point? What do we grade and when?
Students frequently have trouble keeping up with the pace of our course lectures. Adjusting the pace of our instruction can be complicated, but by reflecting on the learning cycles we design, and the lecture strategies we implement, we can find some ways to be more responsive to student learning needs.
Instructors can support students by setting the stage and thoughtfully addressing their course goals for reading, by helping students begin the semester with a basic understanding of what reading effectively means for your class, and by intentionally building reading skills into their course activities and assignments.
Scaffolding is the process whereby instructors provide students with temporary supports to relieve some of the cognitive load, assisting students in focusing on particular dimensions of learning.
One approach to preparing students to use their critical thinking and problem-solving skills is to give them an authentic task that they might encounter in their professional careers.
Explore ways to create office hour experiences that are more attractive and meaningful to students.
Focusing on student autonomy supports learning by empowering students to follow their interests, bring their lives and full selves into the classroom, draw on their own strengths, and take responsibility for their learning.
To maintain trust, ensure fairness, and prioritize student growth alongside content mastery, instructors can adopt strategies for prevention, identification, and measured response.
Each structure has its own goal and process. Depending on your learning objectives, class environment, and course content, one structure might make better sense for you and your students.
Strategies for navigating and managing yourself during hot moments during class discussions, and helping students process conflict.
Practices and strategies that you can use to help you and your students talk in ways that support positive engagement and minimize harm and unproductive conflict
Would it surprise you to hear that nearly a third of the learners you see may have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder? This page details how instructors can make course design decisions that ease student anxiety, increase wellbeing, and make learning more possible.
Faculty can utilize an array of strategies to support course learning outcomes and increase student engagement with assigned readings.
A well-designed, detailed syllabus serves as a roadmap of the course for both instructor and student
A flowchart designed to assist in thinking through the implications of choices about the use of generative AI tools in courses.
Faculty and instructors often identify students who seem to be struggling academically in their classes--missing class sessions, performing poorly on exams, or failing to turn in assignments. The Academic Alert Initiative can help faculty and their students by providing faculty with a powerful way to connect with their students and offering students a community of support and a wide range of resources.
This approach is characterized by attention to the full student experience, an interest in transformative learning, and the integration of contemplative practices into the learning environment.
Students engage and participate when there is a class climate in which they feel safe, supported, and encouraged to express their thoughts, values, experiences, and perspectives.
We can support our international students through relationship building, explicit communication, resources, relevant course content, cognitive load, scaffolding, various ways of participation.
It is important that you have a plan for helping students minimize their own risk so they can have the best possible educational experience.
Faculty can support student learning by designing courses to include compassion, communicating often, and connecting students to wellbeing resources on campus.
Instructors can help students make more positive decisions about class attendance by discussing how attendance supports their learning, supplying guidance on how to use supplemental course materials, and promoting incentives rather than penalties.
This page covers the six principles of an inclusive syllabus design: learning-focused, essential questions, UDL connections, inclusive & motivating language, supportive course policies, and accessible design.
Students may be interested in using artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to enhance their own writing. As you reflect on your course expectations, we encourage you to review the following strategies and examples when considering AI use in your courses.
This page offers strategies to help student reduce textbook costs, provide students multiple options to access course materials and high-quality content.
Involving your TAs in class communication, behind-the-scenes work, and community building can support your students' learning.
Flexible teaching strategies allow students to choose a learning path that works best for their needs.
Increase your students' ability to learn by delivering course content in sequenced chunks.
Memorable lectures emphasize key concepts and connects them to what students know, have a structure, and allow time for processing.
You can use the videos you create to connect with your students, communicate with them, teach, and engage them.
Crafting higher-order questions, giving practice opportunities, and clarifying your testing conditions are approaches to designing a good exam.
Quick tips for incorporating writing assignments into your class, no matter the context.
In the context of readily accessible AI tools, educators may need to transform assignment and assessment design, balancing the need to make tasks AI-immune with the potential for integrating AI into learning activities.
A good start to your class can help build community, establish the depth and character of your learning environment, provide hands-on engagement, give students an opportunity to connect their experience to course topics, and set an inclusive foundation for learning.
Frequent check-ins, building in interactions, and bringing in real-world examples can help keep your students engaged in large classes.
You decided to offer synchronous class sessions to your students, but to fully use the possibilities these tools offer, you need to consider the specifics of this media and intentionally redesign the content and learning activities for it.
Build successful group work characterized by trust, psychological safety, clarity of expectations, and good communication.
Note catchers, shared collaborative documents accessed in real time, keep students focused and help you monitor online or in-person group work.
Students engage and participate when there is a class climate in which they feel safe, supported, and encouraged to express their thoughts, values, experiences, and perspectives.
Carefully structuring discussions can promote deeper learning by giving space and time for processing new material.
There are a range of strategies that can help you and your students reinforce learning at the very end of the semester, including reflections, celebrations, framing course evaluations, and more. Read our page on ending the semester on a positive note, and pick up some new ideas.