Education What to do about Algebra 2? A recent Forbes article calls for replacing Algebra 2 with computational thinking. What's good about that idea and what needs more careful thought?
Teaching Three teaching habits that support active learning Teaching is behavior and behavior is founded on habits. How can teachers build good teaching habits for active learning?
Teaching The power of student-generated examples in mathematics Why don't we have students generating their own examples more often? And how might such a strategy of student-generated examples look in practice?
Productivity Why should academics be productive? Productivity isn't about efficiency or looking good. What is it about and why should it matter to academics?
Productivity Three highly effective productivity hacks for dealing with unstructured time I've worked in mostly unstructured environments over the last two years. Here are 3 productivity hacks that allowed me to get stuff done.
4+1 Interview 4+1 Interview: Bonni Stachowiak In this 4+1 interview, we talk with Bonni Stachowiak, host of the Teaching in Higher Ed podcast.
4+1 Interview 4+1 Interview: Josh Eyler In this 4+1 interview I check in with Josh Eyler about his new book "How Humans Learn".
Mastery Grading Traditional grading: The great demotivator A new study presents sobering facts about the negative effects of traditional grading on college students' motivation.
Productivity Working in a semester that's one month long How I'm learning to love constraints, as I put an entire semester's work into a single month sprint.
Teaching The rise and fall of Slack in my teaching: A cautionary tale Slack looks like a great platform for student communication, especially in a hybrid or online course. But is it always the best solution?
Productivity Planning as an act of hope How do you approach planning short- and long-term goals, when you have no idea what the next 120 days will be like, or even if you'll be around at the end of it?
Research Diving in to flipped learning research If you're interested in reading more research on flipped learning or anything else, but feel overwhelmed about where to start or how to proceed, here's a guide for getting started.
Teaching A turning point in teaching A turning point in my teaching was realizing that I cannot make sense of ideas for students.
Higher Education What I've learned so far as Assistant Chair When I came back from my sabbatical I started a 3-year term as Assistant Chair of my department. It's been an experience. Here's what I've learned so far.
Teaching Double the fun: Two-stage exams in a mastery grading course In my Modern Algebra course, I needed a timed exam to cover certain kind of knowledge, but I also wanted revisions. The solution? Two-stage exams.
Higher Education Encouragement is the antidote for bad culture When you have a dysfunctional working culture, what's the antidote? I think it's encouragement, whenever it's possible and sincere.
Flipped learning The Flipped Learning One-Year-Plan If you're thinking about changing a class over to a flipped learning model, don't try it on short notice. Instead, give yourself a year to get there. Here's a guide.
Higher Education Departmental culture building starts with everyone Positive working cultures in higher education don't just "happen". But whose job is it to build them?
SBSG Return to specs grading: Modern Algebra This is second of two posts on my use of specifications grading, this time in my Modern Algebra course.
GTD Start the semester at Inbox Zero Professors joke about drowning in email, but it's a problem that hampers our professional work. Here's how to get to Inbox Zero and stay there.
SBSG Return to specs grading: Calculus Here's a rundown of how I am using specifications grading in my Fall 2018 hybrid Calculus course.
Flipped learning How much research has been done on flipped learning? Annual update for 2018 How much research has been published on flipped learning? Here's an update to my data on this, including all of 2017, along with remarks and predictions.
Pardon the dust Big changes happening here on the blog. Here's what's happening, what's busted, and what's coming.
Research Engaging with the concept of engagement Engaged learning --- everyone talks about it, but what does the term, engagement, even mean? Does it mean anything? We take a look through an excerpt from a forthcoming literature review on active learning spaces.
Sabbatical Sabbatical lessons, part 4: People and culture In this final post on lessons learned on sabbatical, I focus on the two fundamental forces of change in higher ed: people and culture.
