assessment of learning

Using the Peer-Review Process to Stimulate Classroom Discussion

by Bryan Zeitler, Molecular and Cell Biology One thing I find particularly frustrating is achieving a meaningful class dialogue after student presentations. Despite repeated calls for questions or comments from the class, it is not unusual for me to be the only one speaking after a student talk...[so] I implemented a written and oral peer review process that encouraged students to actively participate during and after student presentations.

Improving Laboratory Courses

by Nicholas L. Pivonka, Chemistry I sought to improve the laboratory portion of the course by improving the quality of experiments the students were asked to perform. One of the experiments was clearly a candidate for replacement.

Transforming Quizzes into Teaching and Learning Tools

by Jennifer Powell, Molecular and Cell Biology To address my goal of encouraging the students to take the quizzes seriously so they would be useful to everyone as a tool to evaluate their progress in the course, I developed a quiz strategy for my discussion section...Rather than just telling them the [quiz] answers, I asked volunteers to come up to the chalkboard and write their answers for the rest of the class.

Encouraging and Affirming Diverse Forms of Class Participation

by Paul Dosh, Political Science Encouraging diverse forms of participation began on the first day of class with the tone that I set and the grading system I presented...[and] required persistent and explicit efforts throughout the semester.

Not Exactly Dick and Jane: Using Children’s Books to Make Theory Accessible

by Anne Marie Richard, Education I...[had] students divide into teams and create a children's book that reflects the issues and concepts of one of the topic areas of the course. Each group was thus challenged to convey complex theoretical issues in simple and practical terms through developing a story (either fiction or non-fiction) that included a plot and illustrations.