Literature reviews are often used as part of teaching undergraduates about secondary research. The assignment, however, presents challenges for inexperienced researchers and writers and can be difficult for instructors to read and grade. This "quick fix" piece offers an alternative assignment to begin students in gaining secondary…

E-journaling invites students to reflect upon and synthesize their experiences, readings, discussions, and presentations in a series of electronic entries, usually viewed only by the student and the instructor. E-journaling assignments have become easier to complete and grade in the last few years because they are now supported by learning…

In this article, the author discusses a graphic narrative or comic book writing assignment in greater detail to demonstrate the pedagogical benefits of teaching comics in the writing classroom. She argues that by assigning students a comic book project, writing instructors can promote competence in academic discourse by helping students learn and…

Here the author shares his attempt to add, without financial cost, substantive and dynamic international experiences to the secondary social studies teacher education program he facilitates. He provides thick descriptions of (1) the overarching goals of a collaborative, online, international learning project, (2) the curriculum materials he helped…

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to share methods of teaching health education management students on the importance of time management and learn how to conduct a meeting within a health education management course and eventually in a professional setting. Methods: The assignments used in the course are current-event relevant and…

Understanding the social determinants of health, health equity, and social justice from a social ecological perspective is vital for public health students. This paper provides an example of a creative method for teaching health disparities, using the HBO television series "The Wire." Methods: The pedagogical strength of "The…

The think-aloud approach to classroom writing assessment is designed to expand teachers' perspectives on adolescent students as writers and help them integrate instruction and assessment in a timely way. Emphasizing learning over evaluation, it is especially well-suited to revealing students' strengths and helping them overcome common challenges…

This article, the first of a two-part series, offers readers 13 teaching innovations debuted at the 2017 Association for Business Communication's annual conference in Dublin, Ireland. Assignment topics presented here include communication strategy and message-packaging skills, deep communication insights, and career and personal development.…

Since 2001, the University of Maryland University College (UMUC) Graduate School has been conducting outcomes assessment of student learning. The current 3-3-3 Model of assessment has been used at the program and school levels providing results that assist refinement of programs and courses. Though effective, this model employs multiple rubrics to…

This article, the first of a two-part series, catalogs teaching innovations presented at the 2013 Association for Business Communication (ABC) Annual Convention, New Orleans. They were presented during the My Favorite Assignment session. The 11 Favorite Assignments featured here offer the reader a variety of learning experiences including…

Teachers recognize that frequent independent reading increases student knowledge on a wide range of topics, enhances vocabulary, and improves comprehension. "Ban the Book Report" inspires teachers to go beyond narrow and analytical book reports by exploring the potential of book talks, alternate book covers, identifying features of informational…

Allowing students to improve their grade by revising their written work may help students learn to revise, but it gives them no incentive to turn in quality work from the start. This article proposes a way to invert the process, thereby teaching students how to revise, while enforcing a more disciplined approach to good writing. (Contains 3…

Beginning in third grade, Pennsylvania students are required to take the Pennsylvania State Standardized Assessment (PSSA), which presents multiple-choice mathematics questions and open-ended mathematics problems. Consistent with the Communication Standard of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, while solving the open-ended problems,…

The busy instructor wants to help their students learn but is often pressed for time. This article presents 6 grading techniques that help the students learn without taking a lot of time. First, not grading an assignment saves time and can still be valuable as long as the instructor carefully structures it so the students still have an incentive…

This article introduces an activity based on Standard 12 of the "Standards for Technological Literacy" that will help students develop good writing skills. It also describes the elements of a writing prompt and of a rubric, the advantages of using rubrics, and the writing development process itself. It provides an activity through which students…