Hayley Glicker, Department of Chemistry Without recognizing students’ varying intersectional identities, students will not feel supported by their educator and feel alienated from their community. A memory of this occurred in my senior seminar/thesis course in my...
Matthew Mahavongtrakul
Case-based Learning in Chemistry
Bronte Charette, Department of Chemistry What is case-based learning? Case-based learning (CBL) is an instructional design model that stimulates active participation by relating course content to real-world examples. Indeed, business, law, and medical schools...
Teaching the Language of Science
Lorrayne A. Serra, Department of Developmental and Cell Biology Reading and the Language of Science Learning science is directly related to understanding the language of science. At first, learning a language is challenging, but if the appropriate tools are provided,...
5 Tips for Providing Feedback in Large Online Courses
Daniel Relihan, MA, Department of Psychological Science Online college and university courses have become increasingly common over the past decade. One reason for this increase is because online courses are cost effective for universities. For instance, they allow...
Thriving in Academia: A Leadership Task More Difficult Than It Sounds
Denise C. Phelps, Department of Public Policy “I want to be a leader,” are words you may hear echoed when a teacher asks their students what they want to be when they grow up. Being a leader and obtaining leadership skills details a lot of responsibility and hard...
Applying Best Practices to Online Classrooms
Colin McLaughlin-Alcock, Department of Anthropology Educators are increasingly recognizing the value of active learning and other best practice strategies which allow students to take ownership of their own education. One domain which remains resistant to active...
Commentary: What Instructors Can Do to Improve Retention of Racial Minorities in Higher Education
Mustafa I. Hussain, MS, Department of Informatics Science has had a problem for a long time. The problem resurfaced recently, when news broke that Nobel Prize-winning biologist James Watson believes that race determines intelligence (Yancy-Bragg, 2019). Many of us...
Service-learning: Teaching Criminology Beyond the Classroom
Gabriela Gonzalez, Department of Criminology, Law, & Society Making a Murderer, The Keepers, Mindhunter, Criminal Minds, How to Get Away with Murder. One need only flip open their laptop to get a glimpse of society’s obsession with true crime and crime drama. This...
Making a Large Class Small
Alessandra C. Martini, Ph.D, UCI Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders There’s a unique set of challenges that can reduce student learning and exhaust faculty members teaching large-enrollment courses. Among so many people, it is easy for...
In with the Good and Out with the Bad: Promoting Healthy Stress in Class
Alicia Hoffman, Department of Chemistry Stress is correlated with both improved and diminished academic achievement. Students are successful when there is a drive to attain high standards, but too much stress negatively impacts learning and memory and increases...