Best Practices in the Classroom
Managing a classroom is one of the key aspects of teaching excellence – how do we gain our students attention and pique their interest in the classroom? How do we ensure that they are able to learn and retain knowledge? How can we best communicate our expectations to students? These are questions that will be answered by the following tips and resources on managing your first day of class, leading discussions, enlivening your classroom and more.
Books on Teaching Strategies in the Classroom
The following books are available at the Yale-NUS library for faculty who want to read more about how to enliven their classrooms and make their teaching effective.
Author(s) | Title | Publisher | ISBN |
Barkley, Elizabeth F.; Major, Claire Howell; Cross, K. Patricia | Collaborative Learning Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty | Jossey-Bass | 9781118761557 |
Barbezat, Daniel P.; Bush, Mirabai | Contemplative Practices in Higher Education: Powerful Methods to Transform Teaching and Learning | Jossey-Bass | 9871118435274 |
Nilson, Linda B. | Creating Self-regulated Learners: Strategies to Strengthen Students’ Self-Awareness and Learning Skills | Stylus Publishing | 9781579228675 |
Stephen D. Brookfield, Stephen Preskill | Disscussion as a Way of Teaching: Tools and Techniques for Democratic Classrooms | Jossey-Bass | 9780787978082 |
Mastascusa, Edward J.; Snyder, William J.; Hoyt, Brian S. | Effective Instruction for STEM Disciplines: From Learning Theory to College Teaching | Jossey-Bass | 9780470474457 |
Bean, John C. | Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom | Jossey-Bass | 9780470532904 |
Bean, John C. | Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom | Jossey-Bass | 9780470532904 |
Kolb, David A. | Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development | Pearson | 9780133892406 |
Davis, James R.; Arend, Bridget D. | Facilitating Seven Ways of Learning | Stylus Publishing | 9781579228415 |
Layne, Prudence C.; Lake, Peter | Global Innovation of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: Transgressing Boundaries (Professional Learning and Development in Schools and Higher Education) | Springer; 2015 edition | 9783319104812 |
Ambrose, Susan A. | How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching | Jossey-Bass | 9780470484104 |
Friend, Marilyn; Cook, Lynne | Interactions: Collaboration Skills for School Professionals | Pearson | 9780132774925 |
Weimer, Maryellen | Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice | Jossey-Bass | 9781118119280 |
Doyle, Terry | Learner-Centered Teaching: Putting the Research on Learning Into Practice | Stylus Publishing | 9781579227432 |
Brown, Peter C.; McDaniel, Mark A. ; Roediger III, Henry L. | Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning | Harvard University Press | 9780674729018 |
Light, Gregory; Micari, Marina | Making Scientists: Six Principles for Effective College Teaching | Harvard University Press | 9780674052925 |
Lowman, Joseph; Lowman, Joseph | Mastering the Techniques of Teaching | Jossey-Bass | 9780787855687 |
Svinicki, Marilla D.; Mckeachie, Wilbert J. | McKeachie’s Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research, and Theory for College and University Teachers, 14th Edition | Wadsworth Cengage Learning | 9781133940555 |
Carnes, Mark C. | Minds on Fire: How Role-Immersion Games Transform College | Harvard University Press | 9780674735354 |
Lang, James M. | On Course: A Week-by-Week Guide to Your First Semester of College Teaching | Harvard University Press | 9780674047419 |
Barell, John | Problem-Based Learning: An Inquiry Approach | Corwin Press | 9781412950046 |
Meyers, Chet; Jones, Thomas B. | Promoting Active Learning: Strategies for the College Classroom | Jossey-Bass | 9781555425241 |
Conderman, Greg; Pedersen, Theresa | Purposeful Co-Teaching: Real Cases and Effective Strategies | Corwin Press | 9781412963393 |
Handelsman, Jo; Pfund, Christine ; Miller, Sarah | Scientific Teaching | Freeman | 9781429201889 |
Hamilton, Adam | Speaking Well: Essential Skills for Speakers, Leaders, and Preachers | Abingdon Press | 9781501809934 |
Nilson, Linda B. | Teaching at Its Best: A Research-Based resource for College Instructors | Jossey-Bass | 9780470401040 |
Erickson, Bette LaSere; Strommer, Diane Weltner ; Peters, Calvin B. | Teaching First-year College Students: Revised and Expanded Edition of Teaching College Freshmen | Jossey-Bass | 9780787964399 |
Brookfield, Stephen D. | Teaching for Critical Thinking: Tools and Techniques to Help Students Question their Assumptions | Wiley | 9780470889343 |
Roberts, Helen; Gonzales, Juan C. | Teaching from A Multicultural Perspective | SAGE Publications | 9780803956148 |
Burnham, Rika; Kai-kee, Elliott | Teaching in the Art Museum: Interpretation as Experience | Getty Publications | 9781606060582 |
Gelman, Andrew; Nolan, Deborah | Teaching Statistics: A Bag of Tricks | Oxford University Press | 9780198572244 |
Meyers, Chet | Teaching Students to Think Critically | Jossey-Bass | 1555420117 |
Huston, Therese | Teaching What You Don’t Knoq | Harvard University Press | 9780674066175 |
Bruff, Derek | Teaching with Classroom Response Systems: Creating Active Learning Environments | Jossey-Bass | 9780470288931 |
Finkel, Donald L. | Teaching with Your Mouth Shut | Heinemann | 9780867094695 |
Plank, Katthryn M. | Team Teaching: Across the Disciplines, Across the Academy | Stylus Publishing | 9781579224547 |
Sweet, Michael; Michaelsen, Larry K. | Team-Based Learning in the Social Sciences and Humanities: Group Work that Works to Generate Critical Thinking and Engagement | Stylus Publishing | 9781579226107 |
Michaelsen, Larry K.; Fink, L. Dee ; Knight, Arletta Bauman | Team-Based Learning: A Transformative Use of Small Groups in College Teaching | Stylus Publishing | 9781579220860 |
Gullette, Margaret Morganroth; Gullette, Margaret Morganroth | The Art and Craft of Teaching: Ideas, techniques, and practical advice for communicating your knowledge to your students and involving them in the learning process | Harvard University Press | 9780674046801 |
Fraser, Kym | The Future of Learning and Teaching in Next Generation Learning Spaces (International Perspectives on Higher Education Research) | Emerald Group Publishing Limited | 9781783509867 |
Kapp, Karl M. | The Gamification of Learning and Instruction: Game-based Methods and Strategies for Training and Education | Pfeiffer | 9781118096345 |
Filene, Peter | The Joy of Teaching: A Practical lGuide for new College Instructors | The University of North Carolina Press | 9780807856031 |
Booth, Alan; Hyland, Paul | The Practice of University History Teaching | Manchester University Press | 9780719054921 |
Braxton, John M. | The Role of the Classroom in College Student Persistence: New Directions for Teaching and Learning, Number 115 | Jossey-Bass | 9780470422168 |
Meyer, Jan H. F.; Baillie, Caroline ; Land, Ray | Threshold Concepts and Transformational Learning (Educational Futures: Rethinking Theory and Practice) | Sense Publishers | 9789460912054 |
Davis, Barbara Gross | Tools for Teaching, Second Edition | Jossey-Bass | 9780787965679 |
Kaplan, Matthew; Meizlish, Danielle Lavaque-manty Deborah ; Sliver, Naomi | Using Reflection and Metacognition to Improve Student Learning | Stylus Publishing | 9781579228255 |
Cultivating Attention and Focus
From Distracted by James M. Lang – Sample Device Contract
Yale-NUS Keynote (Teaching Distracted Minds: Old Challenges, New Contexts) by James M. Lang – PPT Slides
Yale-NUS Keynote (Teaching Distracted Minds: Old Challenges, New Contexts) by James M. Lang – Session Recording
First Impressions – The First Day of Classes
A successful first class sets the tone for all future classes. Three things that can make this happen are:
- Learning to correctly pronounce students’ names to create an inclusive environment in a diverse classroom
- Making good use of the first few minutes
- Clarifying course expectations
- Getting a sense of where students are
1. Learning to correctly pronounce students’ names to create an inclusive environment in a diverse classroom
In various intercultural surveys of students, some students have highlighted that they feel that some faculty members cannot pronounce their names and therefore do not call on them. Although we are sure that many faculty members have their own, effective ways of learning names, we thought we would provide support with this simple method that some people may find helpful. Using these card is not required. If you need more name cards, they can found in the stationery supplies cabinet in the respective RCs and CTL office. If you have more than you need, you can return them. We would be glad to hear if you have found this helpful so please share your feedback with the Dean of Faculty’s office or the CTL.
Learning students’ names signals your interest in their performance and encourage student motivation and class participation. You can ask students to include preferred pronunciation and how they prefer to be addressed as well. Some students may choose to display which pronouns they prefer to be addressed by: some people prefer the conventional “he” or “she,” (his/her) but some may have adopted alternatives like “they,” “them” and “theirs” as personal pronouns.
2. Making good use of the first few minutes
As we all know, first impressions are important. Don’t let a poor introductory session tune your students out. Here are some tips for getting your class hooked from the very first session:
Give the course a face.
The first few minutes are a great opportunity to secure student interest. Students need to feel your personality and enthusiasm about the class, to associate the course with a real person who is curious, excitable, and passionate like themselves.
Keep it warm and cool.
A useful way for you to introduce yourself is to weave in a balanced number of warm points—things that show how your experiences or personality will inform this course—as well as cool points—things that are more serious, setting the expectation and tones for the class.
Something curious and something personal.
You may share with students how something personal relates to their intellectual curiosities, and have students share how they anticipate engaging with the materials of the course would relate to their living experience. This might encourage a deepening of learning goals with desired personal outcomes, which would in turn facilitate not just a better attitude towards the class, but also retention as they apply what they know to how they live.
3. Clarifying course expectations
This involves bringing students through the overview of the course, what they can expect to learn, and the kinds of topics they look forward to engaging with. It is also a great time to ask for feedback and a general sense of how the class is feeling towards the course. If changes are necessary, it is still early enough to make adjustments to the syllabus. Considering student feedback also makes them feel more involved in their own learning. If you decide to make adjustments as per the feedback obtained, make sure to let your students know what you’ve changed.
4. Getting a sense of where students are
College students enter the classroom with their own ideas of how things work. It will be helpful to test the waters and see where they are in terms of the subject matter at hand. A kickoff test will help you understand more about your class. This test can include factual elements to see how students differ in terms of content exposure. You can also take this time to learn about how your students perceive certain issues, as well as their motivations for taking the course.
For more information, you can read through this article written for Carnegie Mellon University, which examines the impact of students’ prior knowledge, intellectual development, cultural background and general experiences on learning.
Flipping your Classroom
How to Flip your Class
The ‘flipped classroom’ is probably a term you have encountered before. Although traditionally this is a style of teaching in which pre-recorded lectures and materials are uploaded before class, with the class time itself being used for discussions, you will find that many variations of this classic strategy have been created since. Below, you will find a comprehensive list of resources to help you learn how to flip your class. The online manuals will guide you in getting started, whilst the online tools and platforms provide valuable resources for making your flipped classrooms effective and interactive.
If you would like to know more about how flipped classrooms developed as a strategy, we have a prepared a summary of resources that can provide you that information on its origins.
Online guides and manuals
Quick start guide: This quick, 1-minute (or less) start guide offers you an overview of the steps to ‘flipping’ a classroom in a lightning-fast glance.
Step-by-step video manual: This virtual manual on the website of the University of Texas at Austin is a gem. What you will love most about this are the accompanying videos that accompany each step, which not only explain, but offer recorded footage what each step is laying out, featuring actual instructors who have adopted the flipped classroom model in their courses.
Detailed ‘How-To’ manual: University of Queensland’s comprehensive manual, with links at crucial points to help you figure how exactly to make your flipped classroom happen.
Tips and advice
6 expert tips for flipping the classroom: Offers targeted advice and strategies to make the best of the flipped classroom experience.
5 best practices for the flipped classroom: This offers some strategies for conducting the ‘flip’. It also offers you thinking questions and/or reminders to have at the back of your head so that you stay true to the purpose of a flipped classroom and make full use of it.
9 video tips for a better flipped classroom: Similar to the link above, this online article gives you more tips on creating engaging content for flipped classrooms.
Free tools and platforms
7 free flipped classroom creation applications: Free applications for you to create audio and visual content for your flipped classrooms, some even allow interactions between users!
Lecture-Free Teaching and Active Learning
New research in educational literature has validated lecture-free and inquiry-based learning at all levels, particular in science courses. In addition, initiatives to combine “case studies” and content from multiple disciplines have helped increase the relevance and impact of science courses.
Eric Mazur, Harvard University Physics. Eric Mazur pioneered collaborative learning in large lectures, with peer instruction and with new technologies to dynamically assign partners to solve in-class physics problems. His work has been extensively validated and assessed. A wide range of resources can be found at his website.
Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative, University of British Columbia. Carl Wieman, a Nobel Laureate in Physics, has developed great resources for assessing and implementing new techniques in science teaching. He continues his work as a member of the Presidential Committee on Advanced Science and Technology (PCAST), and more recently as a newly appointed Director of a Science Education Initiative at Stanford University.
Physics Education Research at the University of Colorado. The UC Boulder group is very active in experimenting with new instructional technologies and new ways of teaching physics at all levels. One of their members, Noah Finkelstein, is also a member of the PCAST committee.
NASA Center for Astronomy Education – Astronomy 101. This resource clearinghouse is home to a number of excellent lesson plans and educational papers that promote lecture-free learning, and in-class activities that are based on the latest research on exoplanets, dark matter, and other exciting topics.
Diane O’Dowd, HHMI Professor of Biology, UC Irvine. Diane O’Dowd has been developing lecture-free learning strategies for large classes at UC Irvine, as well as new techniques in mentoring research students, both undergraduate and graduate.
Harvey Mudd College Computer Science programme. At Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, the computer science class CS5/6 is required of all students, and is based on the Python language. Harvey Mudd College has been recognised as a leader in bringing women into computer science, and is now providing a biology-based course known as CS6 that blends computer science with problems in biology and environmental science. Find out more about on the HMC computer science course through the New York Times article.
Annie Murphy Paul on why College Lectures are Unfair. Annie Murphy Paul is a book author, magazine journalist, consultant and speaker who helps people understand how we learn and how we can do it better. Annie writes that a growing body of evidence suggests that the lecture is not generic or neutral, but a specific cultural form that favors some people while discriminating against others, including women, minorities and low-income and first-generation college students.
Ralph Bouquet Interviews David Waddington on Games and Teaching. David Waddington, a professor at Concordia University in Canada, investigated how Fate of The World (2011), a climate change simulation game, could impact people’s opinions about climate change. This articles argues that as games continue to become a more prominent part of K-12 classrooms, it’s imperative that we take advantage of their full potential to both augment content knowledge in science.
Last updated: 30 December 2020.
Leading Discussions
Below, you will find a few useful links for leading discussions, setting the space and climate, and communicating effectively.
Helpful guidelines for leading discussions
Facilitation Techniques: This downloadable PDF file offers some general guidelines and tips for leading discussions.
Effective classroom discussions: This document outlines what counts as a discussion, how to create expectations for student participation, clarify student/teacher roles and foster participation from students.
Setting the space and climate
Align seating arrangements with teaching objectives: Seating arrangements can have a tremendous impact on student participation. You will find that different arrangements have their respective benefits. This can help you plan your classes more effectively.
Communication
Characteristics of effective listening: This article compares the difference between an effective, interested listener and an uninterested, ineffective one.
Techniques for responding: Building off listening skills, this resource provides ways for professors to respond to student enquiries, giving helpful suggestions and framing strategies in point-form no longer than two lines.
Tactics to asking effective questions: Lists types of questions that can be asked to students so as to encourage thoughtful and sustained discussion.
Strategies for good conversation: 10 strategies for having good mentor-mentee conversations, useful for one-on-one meetings between professors and students, during office hours and even in class.
Last updated: 30 December 2020.
Starting the Semester Strong
To learn more about how CTL can help you out for the rest of the semester, read our Beginning of Semester Welcome.
For ideas on how to manage the first weeks of class and start strong, read our Tips and Tricks for the First Weeks of Class.
From the Library: Selecting High-quality, Diverse Sources.
Identifying Authorities & Selecting High-quality, Diverse Sources
Introduction
In our current information environment, misleading news, questionable producers of information, and inaccurate information are widespread. While these issues are not new, they are bolstered by easy dissemination and access in the digital environment. Thus, it is important that students develop skills and habits to examine and analyse information sources critically in order to evaluate, select, utilize, and build upon reliable resources for research, study, personal interests, and decision making.
In the context of diversity and inclusion, such information literacy abilities can help students recognize “how and why some individuals or groups of individuals may be underrepresented or systematically marginalized within the systems that produce and disseminate information” (Association of College and Research Libraries, 2015, p. 6). Information literacy not only enables students to select reliable and relevant sources, it empowers them to make informed choices regarding the types of information sources and various authorities that they consult. Information literacy also encourages “critical reflection on the nature of information itself, its technical infrastructure, and its social, cultural and even philosophical context and impact” (Shapiro & Hughes, 1996, p. 3).In equipping students with information literacy, we can highlight to them how the underlying structures and production of information sources, as well as the selection and promotion of them, may favour certain authorities, or voices, over others.
A large part of this critical evaluation of information sources consists of assessing the authority of the creator of an information source; other considerations include the producer and purpose of the source. “Authority,” as the term is used here, is not a legal, political, or social authority, but authority established by expertise, experience, education, and other conditions. Authority can be contextual; a person who is an authority in one discipline or circumstance may not be recognized as an authority in a different area. “Information resources reflect their creators’ expertise and credibility, and are evaluated based on the information need and the context in which the information will be used” (Association of College and Research Libraries, 2015, p. 4). When working with information sources, seeking out authorities with diverse backgrounds and viewpoints can enhance students’ research as well as their own perspectives. For example, accounts by people who have experienced an event (primary sources) may greatly enrich research that is informed only by secondary scholarly works. Understanding what constitutes an authority, why a person may be considered an authority on a topic (e.g. through scholarship and academic achievements or by other means), and how authority varies in different contexts are essential aspects of information literacy.
How can the Library and faculty collaborate to foster these skills, habits, and reflection?
Faculty may address these aspects of information literacy as part of their teaching activities, and the Library can work with them to help them incorporate elements of information literacy into their syllabi and coursework in several ways. One way is through collaborating on designing assignments. These assignments can address evaluating information sources, how information sources are produced, and how to recognize bias in sources. Librarians can work with faculty to incorporate these elements of information literacy into existing assignments as well.
Librarians teach tailor-made workshops integrated into courses. Faculty and librarians can establish learning outcomes together for these workshops and link workshops to a course assignment, which makes learning more meaningful to students. These workshops may focus on identifying and applying criteria for evaluating information and examining authorities in a specific context, for example a research question or topic. Workshops may also highlight digital tools and platforms that students can use in order to explore information sources, and authorities relevant to their topics and interests. These tools and platforms are often embedded in subscription databases to which the Library enables access. Librarians also give instruction on the effective use of these tools. Librarians can highlight:
- The information cycle and how various information sources are produced; how to locate different types of relevant sources.
- Advanced search strategies to use in order to find sources, and authorities, that students may not discover otherwise.
- Citation searching and relationships between authors and papers.
Subject librarians provide individual research consultations to students and can meet with them to explore issues relating to information sources and authorities in the specific context of students’ research projects. Faculty can list contact information for subject librarians in their syllabi and can also include individual research consultations with them in their syllabi. These individual research consultations may be timed strategically, perhaps at a certain troublesome stage of the research process.
Moving Forward
Central to information evaluation is the understanding of how authority may differ in various contexts as well as how voices may be marginalized when information is produced, disseminated, and shared (Association of College and Research Libraries, 2015, p. 6). By encouraging critical examinations of authority and teaching students about the underlying structures of information, we can help students to think critically about information and to select highquality, pertinent sources from various authorities. Students who cultivate the habits of critically analysing and evaluating information sources will be well equipped to determine the reliability, perspectives, and usefulness of information sources that they select and use in their research, study, and for their personal interests and decision making. Faculty and librarians can continue to collaborate to further these aspects of learning and to integrate information literacy into assignments, the curriculum, and insure that it is part of a Yale-NUS College education.
Works cited
Association of College and Research Libraries. (2015). Framework for information literacy for higher education. Retrieved from: http://www.ala.org/acrl/sites/ ala.org.acrl/files/content/issues/infolit/Framework_ILHE.pdf
Shapiro, J. J., & Hughes, S. K. (1996). Information literacy as a liberal art?. Educom Review, 31, 31-35.
Content contributed by Bethany Wilkes, College Librarian, Yale-NUS College.