News Roundup: Game-Based Learning and Teaching With Dolly Parton

This week, an instructor experiments with game-based learning, and students at the University of Tennessee learn about the twentieth century through the eyes of Dolly Parton.

Down With 8 a.m. Classes
Mariah Evans of the University of Nevada, Reno, led a study on sleep and cognitive function and found that college students may learn best if they choose their own—often later—starting times for classes. (nprEd)

From Written to Digital: The New Literacy
Students need to learn how to write and think digitally, not only as a prerequisite for many employment opportunities, but also to help them gain intellectual independence, Phil Ventimiglia and George Pullman write. (EDUCAUSE Review)

Teaching Race: On Stereotypes and Privilege
Laura LeVon describes a method she uses to open up the conversation around race and racism in her classes. (Cultural Anthropology)

Students Can Be Parents, Too
An instructor who attended college as a single mother offers a list of suggestions for instructors that could help nontraditional students stay in school. (The Chronicle of Higher Education)

Getting Our Students Wrong
David Gooblar advises instructors to avoid falling prey to the initial assumptions they form about students, and to understand how these biases can impact their understanding of student learning. (Pedagogy Unbound)

Teams and Game Design With Walker White
In a podcast, a gaming instructor explains how he views his job as a project manager instead of a content deliverer and describes the role of student collaboration in his courses. (Teach Better)

The True Basics of Writing
Rather than spending inordinate amounts of time focusing on sentence construction, instructors should teach students to grapple with ideas as the kernels of the writing process, John Warner suggests. (Just Visiting)

Dolly Parton Course Combines Music, History, and Appalachia Pride
A University of Tennessee professor livens up history for students by teaching about the twentieth century through the eyes of Dolly Parton. (The New York Times)

“How Do I Reach These Kids?”: An Experiment in Gamification
In order to test out the merits of game-based learning, an instructor gamified her marketing curriculum so that students progress through “quests” that increase in difficulty based on prior performance. (Teaching & Learning Innovations)

Immersing Yourself With Intention
Laura Schram offers suggestions for making the most of “immersives,” which give graduate students the opportunity to sample prospective careers, network, and learn more about organizations that interest them without committing to full programs or internships. (Inside Higher Ed)

Partner News

Connecticut State Colleges and Universities: State to Offer More Options for Community College Students (Fox61)

University of Nevada, Reno: Nevada Research and Innovation Corporation Launches to Promote Discovery (Nevada Today)

New Jersey City University: ‘Womenomics’ is Focus of Upcoming, Innovative Conference in Jersey City (NJ Biz)

City University of New York: ASAP Expands North and West (Inside Higher Ed)