Tag: student engagement

SIP 6.7 1Book/1Project/2Transform

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? Universities have traditionally been seen as places where students can participate in active intellectual debate around current events and ideological topics that impact society. At MSU Denver, these conversations are happening in relative isolation all the time—but campus-wide dialog can be hard to achieve with our commuter students and the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-6-7-1book1project2transform/

SIP 6.5 Action Research in the Classroom – Using Your Classroom as a Research Lab

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? With teaching, service, and increasing research expectations, we are all stretched thin. One way to “kill two birds with one stone” is to turn your classroom into a research lab – and to bring students along for the journey. You can do this by conducting action research in your …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-6-5-action-research-in-the-classroom-using-your-classroom-as-a-research-lab/

SIP 6.3 Using Social Media in the Classroom

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? Social media…Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, and YouTube are just a few examples of how we connect in a digital world. Although many of us might spend a good deal of time trying unplug from the onslaught of technology, most of our students are digital learners and engage with the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-6-3-using-social-media-in-the-classroom/

SIP 6.1 Re-imagining the First Year of College

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? The classes are chosen, the schedules are printed, and the students show up to your class fresh-faced and ready for their first year at MSU Denver. But just who are these first-year students? Many of them are true first-time-to-college freshmen, part of a class comprised this year of about …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-6-1-re-imagining-the-first-year-of-college/

SIP 5.9 Universal Design for Academic Supports

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? Each semester, students arrive in our classes with a wide array of different learning strengths and needs. How do we acknowledge this academic diversity from the outset? What does it mean to be proactive versus reactive about students’ academic and non-academic needs? Take a SIP of This: Universal Design …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-5-9-universal-design-for-academic-supports/

SIP 5.8 Project Based Learning

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? Opportunities for students to engage in the community and be more self-directed in their learning are important elements of well-rounded curriculum. Yet providing students with a structured opportunity for such can be challenging. Take a SIP of This: Project Based Learning What is Project-Based Learning? Project-Based Learning is a …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-5-8-project-based-learning/

SIP 5.7 Using Games to Reinforce Content

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? You have prepared the “perfect” presentation for your class; your PowerPoint includes stunning pictures, provocative video clips, music and challenging concepts. After ten minutes, your students start to move on their seats; to hide behind the student in front so they can slip unnoticed into the realm of texting; …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-5-7-using-games-to-reinforce-content/

SIP 5.5 Grading Contracts

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? As much as we try to make our instruction student-centered, or to use Maryellen Weimer’s term, learner-centered, we tend to create our assignments and grading schemes free of student input. While this is a common practice, it can leave students feeling disempowered. Grading itself is already fraught with power …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-5-5-grading-contracts/

SIP 4.12 Developing Learner Self-Awareness

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? Last week’s SIP explored the differences between being student-centered and learner-centered, with learner-centered classrooms being focused on what students do and what and how they learn. A key practice of learner-centered teaching is explicit attention to developing learner self-awareness, which is a component of meta-cognitive awareness. Meta-cognitive awareness has …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-4-12-developing-learner-self-awareness/

SIP 4.11 Student-Centered vs. Learner-Centered Teaching

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? For years now, faculty development circles have been tossing around the phrases “student-centered” and “learner-centered.”  We are all pretty clear on the fact that the “sage on the stage” has given way to the “guide on the side,” but how do we “faculty guides” center our practice appropriately?  Aren’t …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-4-11-student-centered-vs-learner-centered-teaching/