News Roundup: Post-Graduation Dreams, the Theater of Teaching

This week, David Brooks suggests that colleges prepare students for life after graduation by asking questions about what they hope to achieve, and one professor compares teaching to acting and advises instructors to make themselves vulnerable in the classroom.

News and insights delivered to your inbox every week: The Q Newsletter.

All the Classroom’s a Stage
Just as actors build connections with audiences, Sarah Cavanaugh advises instructors to connect with their students by making themselves vulnerable and taking risks. (The Chronicle of Higher Education)

Mis-Educating the Young
Colleges should help students prepare for the uncertainty of life after graduation by asking what adulthood means to them and what they hope to achieve, David Brooks writes. (The New York Times)

Dear New Instructor: It’s Not All on You
David Gooblar shares advice for how new professors can create a classroom climate in which the responsibility for keeping the class going is shared between the instructor and the students. (Pedagogy Unbound)

Finding Inspiration Somewhere Besides Best Practices
Instead of looking for “best practices,” Bonni Stachowiak seeks “seeds of inspiration” from other instructors that she can use to refine her own teaching. (Teaching in Higher Ed)

What’s Wrong with Too Many Required Courses
Rather than overloading curricula with a host of required courses, colleges should focus on ensuring that students learn the required skills and content throughout their coursework, Donal O’Shea suggests. (Inside Higher Ed)

What Does It Really Mean to Get an A?
Casey Smith explores some of the reasons why grade inflation appears to have become more common in higher education. (USA Today)

ICYMI: The Importance of Checking for Student Understanding
Elizabeth Barkley describes techniques she uses to evaluate the effectiveness of her teaching and document evidence of student learning. (The Q Blog)