December 5 Friday Forum Focuses on Student Success
December’s Friday Forum will take place on Friday, Dec. 5 from noon-1:30pm in Founders Hall 110 and addresses the question: What about the other life factors that are keeping students from succeeding? Lunch is provided, good conversation is guaranteed. Please RSVP by...
The Joy of Teaching at NMC
The Joy of Teaching at NMC "It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge." -- Albert Einstein Let me just say, as a newbie, I have no candle to hold…and no lesson to teach my wonderful colleagues. I can, however rejoice,...
Moodle Tip: Date Report is Now Back!
We are happy to announce that the Moodle Date Report is now back and operational. As you prepare for your spring semester courses you can once again change the dates for your assignments, quizzes, and all other Moodle Activities by using the Date Report. You are...
Giving the Game Away to Students Via Learning Outcomes
What happens when you change the rules of the game for students, and let them know the outcome before it begins? The following video shares students talking about their experience when they rose to the challenge presented in week one of their course. (Video...
Robert Goulet and Aurora Borealis; Only Connect
Do you believe there is something germinal to our lives? Is there something planted in us, perhaps even before there was an us (imagine that one!), something of eternal weightiness, our uniqueness, the reason for OUR being here, OUR being human, which welcomes our...
My students can’t write! Part 4: Grading and Rubrics
The dreaded pile of papers. We assign writing with high hopes, walk our students through the process, give feedback and direction at every step, and then it all comes down to that: one giant stack for us to wrangle. Instructors sometimes avoid assigning papers just...
Enough, But Not Too Much: Discussing Significant Learning Outcomes
Writing an effective and appropriate Significant Learning Outcome is in some ways similar to creating a work of art. You have to know what to put, where to put it, and when to stop before you put too much on your page. See the video below for one version of what a...
Taking surveys with Moodle’s Feedback module
How well did I design this lesson? I think it's in good shape, for I've polished and PDCA'ed many times over the years. Could I find out how well students have prepared for a lesson? How long did they spend? Where did they struggle? Could I discover external events -...
Accessibility: How the Scribe Accommodation Works
One of our students came to me the other day with a situation regarding his accommodation. Background: the student has a condition that affects his fine motor skills leaving his handwriting illegible. One of the approved accommodations is a scribe during tests and...
What Should Learning Be?
Well, learning, from a behaviorists standpoint, is a persistent and measurable alteration in an organism's behavior. We know we can measure the alteration in behavior fairly easily in our own test subjects (i.e. students). Give them some form of assessment and "see"...