Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? Two professors were overheard chatting about their classes: Professor A: This semester I am really doing a lot in my classes! Over the course of the semester, all of my students do paired work, group presentations, individual projects, and other fun activities in and out of class. Professor B: Cool! This semester, I am using …
Tag: student engagement
Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-7-12-the-difference-between-methodological-variety-and-universal-design-for-learning/
Mar 16 2018
SIP 7.9 Specifications Grading
Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? It is 9pm on a Sunday night. You spent much of yesterday and most of today grading and you still aren’t done. You try to provide such thoughtful feedback to your students, but you can’t be sure that they read it. You …
Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-7-9-specifications-grading/
Mar 01 2018
SIP 7.7 Creating “True” Breaks — Not Assigning Work Over Break
Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? Have you ever noticed that the energy in the classroom after Spring Break can be a little . . . subdued? If you are like many academics, you work through Spring Break and expect your students to use the time to get caught up on reading and assignments. You might have …
Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-7-7-creating-true-breaks-not-assigning-work-over-break/
Feb 26 2018
SIP 7.6 The Class Notetaker
Dear Readers, In January, the SIPsquad celebrated three full years of bringing Strong Instructional Practices to the MSU Denver community! As a special treat, we wanted to take you back to where it all began: SIP 1.1, The Class Notetaker. This SIP and all past SIPs can be found on our website, The Well. Take a …
Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-7-6-the-class-notetaker/
Feb 15 2018
SIP 7.5 Normalizing Asking for Help
Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? Have you ever sat alone in your office during office hours only to have your students tell you in class that they didn’t understand the reading or an assignment? Or perhaps you’ve urged a student to go to the Writing Center for help organizing a draft, only to watch that student …
Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-7-5-normalizing-asking-for-help/
Feb 07 2018
SIP 7.4 Productive Failure
Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? As educators, we know that college as not just about learning disciplinary content—it is also about the holistic growth that helps to form a mature, well-rounded person. Sometimes the achievement is measured by “successes”—persisting from semester to semester, earning a strong GPA, securing a coveted internship, etc. But sometimes the real lessons are found in a student’s failure. It is our job …
Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-7-4-productive-failure/
Jan 29 2018
SIP 7.2 Teaching Military Veterans
Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? They look like their peers. They sound like their peers. They act like their peers. Students who are military veterans often have different needs than their peers, however. Faculty who understand and respect differences in military and civilian life can help faculty support those who have already given a lot of themselves to support us. Take …
Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-7-2-teaching-military-veterans/
Dec 08 2017
SIP 6.15 Helping Students Practice Self-Care
Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? Having a student nod off in class or show up to class with a large and very distracting fast food meal can seem disrespectful, but it’s entirely possible that both scenarios can be attributed to a lack of self-care skills. College students are notorious for being sleep deprived, …
Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-6-15-helping-students-practice-self-care/
Nov 20 2017
SIP 6.10 Universal Design for Learning in STEM
Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? While many of us who work and teach in the STEM fields think of our disciplines as “neutral” and empirical, there are lots of ways our teaching strategies can either increase or decrease access to the content. Traditional “weed-out” methods of STEM teaching are designed to push struggling students out …
Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-6-10-universal-design-for-learning-in-stem/
Nov 14 2017
SIP 6.8 Chunking
Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? Our working memory can only hold about seven items of information at a time (Miller, 1956). Breaking skills into bite-sized chunks and mastering them one at a time until the learner reaches fluency is a more efficient way of learning. Understanding and retaining complex information or lists of dates, facts …
Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-6-8-chunking/