Whether you’re a new or a seasoned instructor, there’s always something new to learn about the practices and strategies that lead to student success. The short articles below draw from the current research on teaching and learning to answer some key questions about how we can teach in ways that ensure student learning.
Please note that the resources on this page continue to be under development, which means that some articles haven’t been posted yet. Please feel free to contact us if you are interested in learning about a topic that does not yet have an article posted.
Support success and sense of belonging for diverse students
- Research-based practices to support diverse learners using the principles of belongingness and growth mindset
- Use peer learning to create a welcome, high-impact learning community
- Use a welcome letter to foster belonging and success for diverse students before the semester begins
- The inviting syllabus: Motivating, welcome, and guiding diverse students toward success
- Help diverse students use your syllabus to build a relationship to your course and take ownership of their learning
- Use transparent assignment descriptions to ensure success for diverse students
- Help students use your assignments and feedback to persist and remain hopeful
Get to know your students and what motivates them
- Who are the students in my class?
- How can I ensure that students are motivated?
- How do students learn best?
- How do I get my students to pay attention?
- How can I help my students become more self-regulated learners?
- How can I teach in ways that minimize cheating and plagiarism?
Get students active, interacting, and engaged
- What should I do on the first day of class?
- How do I plan an effective and engaging class meeting?
- How can I design discussions that will help my students learn?
- How can I help my students engage in discussions of controversial topics?
- What can I do to engage students and facilitate learning in a large class?
Get your course ready (and even better than it was before!)
- What is the best way to design a course for student learning?
- How do I communicate my course so that students feel invited to take on the challenges of my discipline?
Get the most out of assessing student learning
- What do I need to consider when I assess student learning?
- How can I design effective writing assignments?
- How can I give students useful feedback on their writing (without spending all my time grading!)?
- How can I design, implement, and grade group projects that ensure student learning?
- What are the principles of effective grading?
- How can I discourage students from using AI and other web resources in academically dishonest ways?