by Shanthi Nataraj, Agricultural & Resource Economics (Home Department: Economics) I noticed that the students’ analyses of environmental issues in their problem sets improved. Most students still stated strong opinions about environmental issues – but now, they were able to back up their opinions with economic reasoning.
by Kathryn Jasper, History I wanted the students to realize that historical interpretation, what appears on the pages of their textbook, was written by a human being who is not omniscient. The author’s conclusions are based on primary sources and informed analysis. In addition, that author is subject to his or her own biases. Moreover, the sources themselves are biased, which the students understood when they had to formulate arguments based on...[the] text.
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.
by Jennifer Morazes, MSW, Social Welfare One student exclaimed that the exercise showed him that “social work is not just about services. It’s about relationships, and relationships are about life. Social work touches all aspects of life.”
by Sereeta Alexander, Education Social loafing and diffusion of responsibility may permeate and ruin group work, to the dismay of the teacher and the students who do actively participate. ... I have learned to design group activities that either inherently entice (or even incite!) participation or that are structured in a manner clearly requiring each student's contribution.
by Nicholas Stephanopoulos, Chemistry As a GSI, I fell back on the question that has guided me through countless teaching experiences: when I was trying to learn this topic, what did I wish a GSI had told me to make it truly click in my mind? What allowed me to break past the memorization barrier to deeper understanding?
by Jann Vendetti, Integrative Biology Despite the aural descriptions and visual representations of Raupian parameters presented in lecture and lab, it was evident that most students did not grasp the concepts. After some research and a trip to a craft store, I came up with a possible solution.
by Veronica Herrera, Political Science I thought that many of these students would go on to teach, facilitate presentations in future careers, give public speeches, or otherwise coordinate and instruct a group of colleagues, students, etc. The way sections were commonly taught did not allow for them to be constructors of the material in order to prepare for such a career, but rather the students were often passive digesters.
by Benjamin Freedman, Molecular and Cell Biology Why had the fishing metaphor been so successful? I theorized that it gave the students a way to personally relate to the microscopic events of cell division. In the next class, I decided to take this one step further.
by Jason Ng, Vision Science I knew that I wanted to strengthen the students' understanding of the lab material and provide greater clinical relevance...The challenges were to find a way to tie the labs together over the entire semester, and to focus on creating a more direct link between the basic science experiments in the labs and actual clinical patient testing.