Category: SIP Post

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 …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-6-10-universal-design-for-learning-in-stem/

SIP 6.9 Debate as Instruction

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? Discussions, in either online or face-to-face classes, can sometimes turn into an exchange of opinions without much evidence for support. In addition, a few students can dominate a discussion while other students’ voices fade into the background. Take a SIP of This: Debate as Instruction Creating discussion in the form …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-6-9-debate-as-instruction/

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 …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-6-8-chunking/

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 6.6 Creating Accessible PowerPoint Presentations

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? Whether we are presenting at a conference, reporting to colleagues, pitching a proposal, or teaching classes, we want our PowerPoint presentations to be accessible to everyone. How do we do that? Here’s how… Take a SIP of This: Creating Accessible PowerPoint Presentations   What to do  Why it is …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-6-6-creating-accessible-powerpoint-presentations/

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/

Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-6-4-email-etiquette/

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 6.2 Meeting Students Where They Are

A professor talking to three students

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? At MSU Denver, we are dedicated to promoting equity for our very diverse student body. There are two facets of equity to consider:  access equity and equity in outcomes. MSU Denver fosters access equity in a variety of manners: we have a modified open enrollment policy, we have a …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-6-2-meeting-students-where-they-are/

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/