Looking for inspiration on teaching or some specific strategies? David Gooblar, a former lecturer in rhetoric at the University of Iowa who is now associate director of Temple University’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching, writes about classroom issues in these pages. Here is a sampling of his recent columns.
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AdviceWe Know What Works to Close the Completion Gap
Why is it so rare to find “diversity initiatives” that have anything to do with teaching? -
Advice
What Elizabeth Warren Can Teach Us About Teaching
Warren’s version of the Socratic method, cold-calling on students in her law courses, is actually deeply progressive. -
Advice
3 Questions That Can Improve Your Teaching
Many instructors have an intuitive sense of how to behave at the front of a classroom but have never really given much thought to how best to teach. -
Advice
What Is ‘Indoctrination’? And How Do We Avoid It in Class?
The idea that professors indoctrinate students is actually a very old accusation. But there are teaching strategies you can use to be sure you are promoting open-mindedness. -
Advice
‘Is It Ever OK to Lecture?’
New instructors — trained in the importance of “active learning” techniques — often aren’t sure when lecturing is still a valid teaching strategy. -
Advice
How to Help a Student in a Mental-Health Crisis
You’re a faculty member, not a trained counselor. But you can play a significant role in guiding a struggling student. -
Advice
Will Students Actually Believe They Can Do This Assignment?
The more that students believe they can succeed in your course, the more motivated they will be to try. -
Advice
Will Students Actually Want to Do This Assignment?
The best way to start motivating students to do well in your course is to ask them what they want out of the class. -
Advice
How to Teach Information Literacy in an Era of Lies
Whatever your discipline, you should also be teaching students how to understand, assess, evaluate, and apply information. -
Advice
Give Students More Options When They Have to Take Your Course
Motivation is key to their success. When we give them choices, we benefit as much as they do. -
Advice
Your Students Learn by Doing, Not by Listening
Yet another example of why we should all be lecturing less and using active-learning strategies more in the college classroom. -
Advice
3 Ways Colleges Can Help Faculty Members Avoid Burnout
If institutions hope to flourish, it’s in their interest to make sure their professors flourish, too. -
Advice
4 Ideas for Avoiding Faculty Burnout
Teaching is the main source of faculty burnout. So doesn’t it follow that our teaching — and our students’ learning — will suffer the more stressed and exhausted we become? -
Advice
I’m Not Ready to Quit Grading
But I am ready to ask students to do more self-assessments, and to give their “grading” as much weight as mine. -
Advice
No More Formulaic Composition Essays
How to use movie trailers, social media, and other nontraditional forms of rhetoric to improve student writing. -
Advice
‘What Is Your Position on Citation?’
Just follow the writing rules, kid, and there won’t be any trouble. -
Advice
Yes, You Have Implicit Biases, Too
Teaching techniques like “the progressive stack” are a way for faculty members to circumvent our own buried prejudices.
