News Roundup: Active Learning Resources, Teaching Motivations

This week, one professor offers an array of active learning resources, and a study examines the motivations behind using effective instruction practices.

Active Learning Resources
Bonni Stachowiak presents resources to help instructors promote active learning in their classrooms, including research about how students learn, small teaching changes, and methods for structuring courses. (Teaching in Higher Ed)

Approaching Student Success When Different Definitions Abound
Achieving the Dream President and CEO Karen Stout believes colleges should help students develop educational, financial, and career plans and listen to their input about what resources and guidance will help them reach their goals. (EdSurge)

In Defense of Late Papers
When clearly overwhelmed students ask instructors for extensions, Andrew Moore suggests showing “academic mercy” when the requests are reasonable. This way, instructors are prioritizing the person, showing kindness, and acknowledging that students may face different circumstances that require flexibility. (University Affairs)

Ungrading My Class—Reflections on a Second Iteration
After most students assigned themselves high marks when asked to grade their course performance, Maha Bali revised her approach. This semester, when she led a midsemester discussion about grades and asked students to complete performance assessments before assigning themselves grades, she discovered that students were more self-aware. (ProfHacker)

What Motivates Good Teaching?
Faculty who are intrinsically motivated and believe teaching is important are more likely to use effective teaching practices, while faculty who are motivated by external factors, such as rewards, have little to no relationship with these practices, a new study finds. According to the paper published in Contemporary Education Psychology, optimizing autonomous motivation in faculty could encourage them to turn to effective teaching practices. (Inside Higher Ed)

How a Small Seminar Course Engaged Readers Everywhere
The eye-catching syllabus for the Johns Hopkins course “Black Womanhood” went viral after the instructors, Martha Jones and Jessica Johnson, posted it online. Bloggers, political organizers, and scholars alike are following along with the readings, reposting the assignments, and expressing enthusiasm for the material. (The Chronicle of Higher Education Teaching Newsletter)