Tag: Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

The Problem with Best Practices

October 11, 2023 by Eva Grouling Snider

“Best practices” is a bad way of looking at teaching. How can we frame teaching practices more productively to encourage experimentation and innovation? I’ve got a gripe I’d like to share. My hope is that my griping might help you consider your teaching practices in a new light. Here goes: I hate the phrase “best […]

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Six Tangible Ways to Support First-Generation Students

March 22, 2023 by Cheri Madewell

Help first-generation and other students unfamiliar with higher education navigate the business of being a student with transparent course materials, agency, and guided learning through your course design. As a first-generation college student, neither of my parents (or their parents) attended college. The small and private, four-year liberal arts college I attended may as well […]

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Rethinking Syllabus Disability Statements

January 4, 2023 by Eva Grouling Snider

Consider how to craft a syllabus disability statement that students will read and will encourage them to seek help with their learning. When you include a disability statement on your syllabus, do your students… Of course, we’d like to think that it’s always C. Unfortunately, many students at best ignore disability statements and at worst […]

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How Changing Our Assumptions Can Impact Student Learning

December 14, 2022 by Shane Lanning (they/them)

It’s easy to unintentionally make assumptions about the background knowledge students bring with them to class. How can we check the assumptions we make, and how can we assist students who do have background knowledge gaps? In August 2022, I facilitated a workshop on implicit bias and course design. My overall goal was to engage […]

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Bringing the Future of Higher Education to the Here and Now

November 30, 2022 by Shane Lanning (they/them)

In a time of rapid change, these tactics can help higher education faculty “center the needs of the students” and “ensure equitable and inclusive experiences.” For the past few months, I have been thinking about the future of higher education. Recently, I have learned from books like the Great Upheaval and at conferences like OLC […]

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Saving Your Students Money with Open Educational Resources

September 26, 2022 by Dan Jones

Learn how the author adapted an Open Educational Resource (OER) textbook for a course, including the unexpected benefits he discovered. When you get the news from your department that a course you teach is switching textbooks, the first question that likely pops into your head is “Why?” If the answer is that the new textbook […]

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