TEACH Program : course preparation

Course Characteristics that are Most Important to Students

mmeixner — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:56:00 GMT

Here is another great blog posting from Maryellen Weimer from the Teaching Professor. In the posting, “Course Characteristics that are Most Important to Students,” Weimer references an article from Issues in Accounting Education regarding millennial student values and trends. The article talks a look at a list of factors students take into consideration as they decide what course to take. The findings are very interesting…take a look and let me know what you think! Are you surprised? What would you have thought were the most important?

First Day of Class

mmeixner — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 21:06:00 GMT

Happy New Year! I hope that you have all had a restful and fun break and are ready to get back into the swing of things.As you each prepare for your first day of the semester, I thought you might be interested in some strategies related to having a successful and productive first day of class. While there are innumerable resources on this subject, many seem to touch on the same ideas including things like:

1.    Be enthusiastic about the course and the subject you are teaching…remember that if you don’t want to be there, neither will they.
2.    Establish communication. Use ice-breakers or other activities to get the students talking to each other and to you. Set a precedent for what you expect throughout the semester.
3.    Tell the students about yourself and about the class. Be explicit so they know exactly what to expect.

For more ideas and for some great recommendations for ice-breakers check out The Most Important Day: Starting Well, The First Day of Class: Advice and Ideas, and the First Day of Class: List of Useful URL’s.

Another important thing we deal with as we get to know our new students is learning their names. If you have a difficult time learning names, don’t forget about the articles posted at the beginning of the fall semester: Learning Your Students’ Names and Not Quite 101 Ways to Learning Students' Names.

Looking ahead...preparing for next semester

mmeixner — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:11:00 GMT

You may hate me for this, but as the semester comes to a close it will soon be time to start thinking ahead and planning for next semester. If you don’t have time (or the mental strength) to think about this now, that’s okay! Either way, here are some helpful resources for preparing for a new semester.

Tomorrow’s Professor Msg #871: Designing Courses

This is a very thoughtful article from the Stanford Center for Teaching and Learning. They offer great advice for learning-centered course design and provide an overview of the steps involved in a course design or re-design.

Preparing or Revising a Course

In Tools for Teaching, Barbara Gross Davis always provides great pedagogical advice that consistently proves to be effective and efficient. In this chapter, she identifies general strategies for preparing for a new semester and addresses 3 major points: “what to teach, how to teach it, and how to ensure that students are learning what is being taught.”