by Jessica Smith, Ph.D. If you’re like most faculty, you receive an inordinate number of questions from students that they could have easily answered themselves if they only consulted the syllabus. For years, I’ve pondered the question: why don’t students read the syllabus? The answer I’ve come up with after a lot of research…
“I’m tired of looking out at a sea of blank faces.” “There’s nothing but crickets when I try to get a discussion going.” “It’s like talking to a brick wall!” How many times have you lamented the quality of discussions in your classes? Facilitating engaging conversations is one of the most challenging aspects of teaching…
We may not want to admit it, but most of us are terrible listeners. We’re distracted, mentally overburdened, and typically fail to practice perspective-taking. Too often, we interact with people on auto-pilot, without giving them much thought. In the busy worlds we live in, it can certainly be challenging to devote our attention to someone…
A couple years ago, I had a startling wake-up call as an instructor. While wandering the aisles at Target, I received an email from one of my students informing me that she is blind and may need accommodations in my class. I leaned against my cart and realized I had never before considered how accessible…