My research on teaching and learning in higher education began when I was hired as a graduate assistant at the Searle Center for Teaching Excellence, at Northwestern University, back in the late 1990s ...

Discussion was the element of my college classes I enjoyed most. I loved sitting in a class with a diverse group of people discussing literature, historical events, and political issues. In those ...

Often we as instructors look for ways to include classroom participation as part of our course design. Student participation can take the form of simply being present in class to actively discussing ...

It makes sense that students are more likely to ask and address questions with teachers who are open, enthusiastic and encouraging, who select interesting and important material to discuss, and who ...

Why Are Class Discussions Challenging? There are a variety of reasons that class discussions are challenging. It’s not necessarily just students being “lazy”. There could be a lot of real issues and ...

The new question of the week is: What are the best ways to organize and lead classroom discussions? Handling classroom discussions can always be tricky. How do we ensure that they are not limited to ...

As an undergraduate, I took a seminar dedicated entirely to Ulysses by James Joyce. Joyce’s modernist novel is mystifying, so question marks hung on the ends of students’ contributions. As we ...

People often ask me to name my favorite online teaching tool. My answer is always the same: Hands down, it’s online discussion forums. As a veteran online teacher, I view discussion forums as the meat ...

Encouraging students to ask effective questions can improve engagement and deepen learning. However, many educators are unsure how to do so. In this resource, I share strategies that you can implement ...