Search Results

Negotiating European Integration Yourself: Role Playing, Simulations, and Counterfactuals in Teaching Political Science

by Sener Akturk, Political Science All theories “make sense” at some level, making it difficult for students to find their weaknesses. Hence, many students believe that the political development of the region they study (Europe, Middle East, etc.) could not unfold differently than it did...To overcome these problems, I set aside a section in mid-semester for students to act out 50 years of EU political development in a simulation.

Searching for the ‘Big Picture’

by Ladan Foose, Chemical Engineering My goal was to figure out how to address this lack of “big picture” understanding in my sections and office hours, while still getting to the material I was asked to cover by the instructor and the many homework questions that the students had. My favorite tool is actually very simple. Some of my students call it “storybook time."

The Kitchen as a Laboratory

by Naomi Kohen, Materials Science and Engineering In order to make the demos more relevant and interactive for the students, all of the soft material systems examined were food-based...The promise of a lab that yielded edible results provided an effective motivation for the students to stay for the extra credit labs.

Factors that Can Contribute to Academic Misconduct

Why does academic misconduct happen, and what can GSIs do to prevent it?

Strategies to Provide Information Without Providing Answers

by Christie Dowling, Civil and Environmental Engineering It seemed to me that many students had not come to the discussion section to learn the lecture concepts, but rather to just be told how to do their homework. I was immediately faced with a challenge: how to create meaningful discussion sections that provide useful information without simply giving the answers away.

Plagiarism

Different types of plagiarism, and common causes.

Increased Class Participation: Accommodating for Diverse Styles and Skills

by Elzbieta Benson, Sociology Well-prepared and active students make successful discussion sections. However, not all students read and not all of them participate. As a Graduate Student Instructor, I strive to encourage all students to read their assignments and engage in class discussions.

If ‘Writing about Music is Like Dancing about Architecture,’ Maybe it is Time to Draw: Using Visual Aids to Introduce Musical and Stylistic Analysis

by Francesca Rivera, Music Without the terminology or solid knowledge of the historical context in which the composers worked, students can't move beyond simplistic taste statements...or value-laden judgments. My problem, then, was to help them quickly memorize key musical concepts with sufficient depth of understanding to recall the term and apply it effectively, and, to help them connect the works of individual composers with the larger time period in which they lived.

Incorporating Practice into Theory-Based Curriculum

by Lyn Paleo, Public Health I believe that students in a practice-based field...should receive a combination of theory and skills development. Theory-based lectures are critical; however, they alone are insufficient to the task of teaching people how to design and conduct evaluations for health promotion programs.

Online Discussion Forums

An example of using the bSpace Forums tool.