Tag: peer relationships

SIP 7.13 The Snowball

Thirsty for Strong Instructional Practice? The SIPsquad is excited to bring you this Throwback Thursday selection! Take a look at this gem from Year Two: the Snowball.  As the weather gets warmer, the Snowball is sure to make your classroom chill with a fun and inclusive activity that encourages whole-class participation — even from students who …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-7-13-the-snowball/

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 4.10: Cooperative Learning Strategies/ Using Jigsaw

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? Lecturing is typically the most efficient but not always the most effective means of ensuring student learning.  While listening to a lecture students are passive learners and student engagement with the material is typically low.  In addition, researchers have found more attention lapses by students in a lecture setting …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-4-10-cooperative-learning-strategies-using-jigsaw/

SIP 4.9 Making Group Work, Work: Ensuring Accountability

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? Why do we assign group work? How does it benefit students? How does it benefit professors? If not planned for appropriately, group work can create a lot more work than necessary for both  students and professor. For students, the disadvantages of group work could mean having to coordinate schedules; …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-4-9-making-group-work-work-ensuring-accountability/

SIP 2.11 Student-to-Student Peer Evaluation

Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice Do you ever feel like you spend all your time grading or have grading piling up no matter how hard you try? What if assessing what students know and do not know in a class is not just up to the instructor? What if students could be involved in …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-2-11-student-to-student-peer-evaluation/

SIP 2.6 Equity

Thirsty for Strong Instructional Practice? “Equity” is a word that seems to be tossed around a lot in higher education these days.  But what does it mean?  And how can we promote equity in the classroom or in our student services interactions?  MSU Denver prides itself on being very diverse—doesn’t that mean we already practice …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-2-6-equity/

SIP 2.5 Classroom Discussions

Female student speaking in class with another student watching

Thirsty for Strong Instructional Practice? Discussions can be an excellent strategy for enhancing student motivation, fostering intellectual agility, and encouraging democratic habits. They create opportunities for students to practice and sharpen a number of skills, including the ability to articulate and defend positions, consider different points of view, and enlist and evaluate evidence.  While discussions …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-2-5-classroom-discussions/

SIP 2.4 First-Year Students

Thirsty for Strong Instructional Practice? As professors, faculty, and administrators, most of us are familiar with the challenge of engaging first year students in academic work and social life on campus.  However, it is important to take note of the special attention that must be given to first-year students during this critical time of transition.  …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-2-4-first-year-students/

SIP 2.3 Class Discussions

Four students having a discussion in a classroom

Thirsty for Strong Instructional Practice? Class discussions in which every student participates are a dream for faculty—and sometimes merely a fantasy. We may assume that students who are quiet during discussions are unprepared or disengaged, but another very likely explanation is that they are simply introverted. Many studies put the percentage of introverts in the …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-2-3-class-discussions/

SIP 2.1 Ice Breakers

Thirsty for Strong Instructional Practice? Welcome to the first day of the new semester!  Everyone is excited, the room is filled with promise.  You don’t want to kill the mood by spending the entire first day going over the syllabus, but when you enter the classroom and look at 25 new students, you wonder how …

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Permanent link to this article: https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-2-1-ice-breakers/