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…
The belief that people fear public speaking more than death has become so readily accepted that Jerry Seinfeld’s joke about preferring to be in the coffin than giving the eulogy is now cliché. Unfortunately, this fear prevents us from honing our oratory skills since we typically recoil from opportunities to practice. But practice we must!…
Over the years, I’ve written a few blog posts about using the first day of class more effectively. But since it’s been a while and a new semester is upon us, I thought I’d revisit this topic. So here are a few ideas to spice up that first day (or first week) of class: Don’t…
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…
