Tag: communicating with students

SIP 7.15 Skills-based Syllabi

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? Regardless of the topic or level of the course—intro-level general studies or upper-division requirement for the major—we have all heard our students ask, “Why do I have to take this class?” While this is a genuinely annoying question, the “translation” might inspire a bit of empathy: when students ask …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-7-15-skills-based-syllabi/

SIP 7.14 Exemplars

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? At this time in the semester students are often in a panic about what exactly professors want for an assignment, even though there are directions. Students know from prior experience that every professor has a few idiosyncrasies and preferences, which means directions can be open to some interpretation. Rather …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-7-14-exemplars/

SIP 7.11 Sustaining Resilience in the Race to the Semester Finish Line

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? No matter when the semester break occurs nor the length of the respite, the last weeks of a semester regularly fill with malaise, procrastination, anxiety, and exhaustion. When the weather is inviting, attendance and productivity wane as students (and faculty) prefer to be outdoors more than indoors. You might …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-7-11-sustaining-resilience-in-the-race-to-the-semester-finish-line/

SIP 7.10 Proactive Accessibility

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? How do you feel at the beginning of the semester when you know students are going to give you letters asking for accommodations (accessibility letters)? Do you think about what you will have to change on a day-by-day basis or the extra work you will have to do to …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-7-10-proactive-accessibility/

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 …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-7-9-specifications-grading/

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 …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-7-5-normalizing-asking-for-help/

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 …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-7-4-productive-failure/

SIP 7.3 Leading Difficult Discussions in Class and Online

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? Difficult discussions are on the rise in the academy. As the political landscape in the United States becomes more intense and polarized and as the MSU Denver community feels the impact of legislation such as rescinding of the DACA program and the removal of workplace protections for transgender people, the focus of classroom discussions has gone beyond course content and into the need to discuss personal lived experience as it …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-7-3-leading-difficult-discussions-in-class-and-online/

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 …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-7-2-teaching-military-veterans/

SIP 6.13 Helping Students Plan for Study Abroad

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? The  American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) has identified study abroad as one of ten high-impact practices (HIPs) in teaching and learning that positively impact student success in college. Some, like first-year experience courses and learning communities, tend to happen toward the beginning of a student’s time in college, …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-6-13-helping-students-plan-for-study-abroad/