Specifications grading is an alternative grading scheme that prioritizes transparency and progress-oriented feedback, with the goals of increasing student motivation, fostering clear communication, and achieving educational equity. Despite its recent, rapid increase in popularity, little attention has been paid to the forms of support faculty need…

Much scholarship available on team-teaching focuses on K-12 programming, with limited examples in post-secondary education. Adding to the growing research on college-level team-taught courses, this reflection describes how interdisciplinary team-teaching can offer not only a pedagogically innovative experience for students but also highlight the…

Game-based learning offers a compelling prospect for innovative teaching and student engagement, but popular examples often involve either complex, time-consuming systems that invite high-order thinking, or simpler, quick versions that reward memorization. Far less common are games that fit low-stakes activities (such as concept review) but…

Fernald developed the Monte Carlo Quiz format to enhance retention, encourage students to prepare for class, read with intention, and organize information in psychology classes. This author modified the Monte Carlo Quiz, combined it with the Minute Paper, and applied it to various courses. Students write quiz questions as part of the Minute Paper…

Constructionist principles provide fertile ground for developing innovative approaches to learning. Using a grounded theory qualitative research design, we analyzed participant reports of their experience in an online course in which they collaboratively authored a book. Our qualitative analysis suggested that participants experienced…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the student experience of pre-service teachers in a compulsory primary science education course that adopted a flipped classroom approach. Participants (n = 79) were surveyed at the conclusion of the course exploring their perceptions of engagement, enjoyment, and degree of learning as a result of…

The arrival of the digital age has not only reshaped and refocused critical research in the humanities, but has provided real opportunities to innovate with pedagogy and classroom structure. This article describes the development of a new pedagogical model that integrates learning by teaching with student access to electronic archival resources.…

While team teaching has its difficulties and is used relatively infrequently, research suggests potential benefits. An innovative team teaching approach was designed where faculty and industry professionals coordinate instruction and are in the classroom at the same time. Students associated this approach with greater depth of knowledge and a…

The author began his first year teaching at an open-enrollment university with the belief that "most students can learn to do intellectual work, if they are only given the opportunity." This belief is inspired by the research on teaching and learning and is rooted in the characteristic idealism of teachers. He had seen the principle borne out in…

A long-term study of two faculty development programs on sustainability and the environment reveals enduring changes in teaching, research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and engaged action. Participants in cohorts of Tufts University's Environmental Literacy Institute (12-16 years ago) and Emory University's Piedmont Project (1-5 years ago)…

Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) methodology uses Web-based tools to gather student responses to questions on preclass reading assignments. However, the technological requirements of JiTT and the content-specific nature of the questions may prevent some instructors from implementing it. Our own JiTT implementation uses publicly and freely available…

This article reflects on the authors' experiences during a pilot year of an innovative core curriculum at a state research university and their attempts to create a "collaborative community" characterized by transformative pedagogy. It discusses their students' and colleagues' resistance to their inventive, albeit time-consuming and sometimes…

Describes an experience using students as assistants in a simulation-based instructional unit of a large introductory American government class. The assistants had participated in the simulation as students and came back to serve as part of an independent study project. The assistants facilitated the use of simulation in a large class where it…

How do teachers use the time at the beginning of class before all the students have arrived? Do they simply ignore the latecomers and proceed with instruction, figuring that those who are late will ask fellow students what they missed? Or do they wait a minute or two before starting, filling the space some other way? In this brief article, the…

Asserting that economists must work intentionally to put critical thinking skills into their courses, presents an approach that involves team teaching a course combining economics and another discipline with contrasting assumptions and values. Describes the issues addressed in courses combining economics and English literature and economics and…