Small Teaching Tip #21: It’s Time for a Syllabus Redesign

  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…

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Small Teaching Tip #18: Increasing Students’ Use of Office Hours

Many faculty lament how few students take advantage of office hours. Often, undergraduate students do not perceive office hours to be beneficial unless something has gone wrong, such as a failing grade. But interactions between students and faculty outside the classroom (particularly mentorship-type interactions) have been shown to increase retention, student satisfaction, engagement, a sense…

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