News Roundup: Instructor Authenticity and Teaching Current Events

A new study finds that students prefer authentic instructors, and professors use current events and controversial rhetoric as teaching tools.

Study on Students and “Authenticity” in the Classroom
Students perceive instructors who share details about their personal lives, admit mistakes, and show concern for students as more approachable, passionate, attentive, and effective than those who don’t. (Inside Higher Ed)

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ACUE’s Learning Design Earns Quality Matters Certification
Quality Matters (QM), a leader in quality assurance of online and blended learning, has awarded its nationally recognized Quality Matters Certification to ACUE’s Course in Effective Teaching Practices. (The Q Blog)

Pretense of Neutrality: Twitter, Digital Literacy, and First-Year Writing
In an effort to teach students to understand different viewpoints, Trevor Hoag had students analyze the rhetoric and arguments of people and groups representing a range of perspectives on Twitter. (Hybrid Pedagogy)

Combating Initiative Fatigue: Unifying Student Success Initiatives
Student success initiatives can be more effective when institutions define what student success means for them, create a path towards achieving it, establish clear goals and measures, communicate effectively, and celebrate progress along the way. (EdSurge)

In the News, and In the Classroom
Duncan Dobbelman encourages institutions to offer brief “pop-up” courses based on current and controversial events, which would promote cross-disciplinary skills such as research, analysis, collaboration, and creativity, give students a forum for sustained discussion, and encourage active engagement with world events. (The Chronicle of Higher Education)

You Can’t Automate Good Teaching
Technology can’t replace human instructors, because education isn’t predictable and requires instructors to adjust their lessons based on student’s reactions and interactions, Jonathan Rees writes. (Vitae)