Utilizing constructivist teaching approaches in higher education promotes students' engagement and learning. This article centers on an instructor's use and implementation of the fishbowl strategy in two separate undergraduate courses at two different institutions. Originally conceived of as a teaching strategy for face-to-face classes, this…

Groupwork is a useful classroom tool, but may not fully benefit students who are ostracized by peers due to nonacademic factors, like weight. Here, undergraduate students estimated GPAs of hypothetical student peers who were described as "overweight" or "normal-weight" and judged how much they wanted to work with them. We found…

Social science students are often uninterested in studying statistics, and only take these courses because they are required. This disinterest can lead to lower performance. We employ regression analysis to examine the impact of attending Supplemental Instruction sessions on final grades earned in a required social sciences statistics course at a…

The author unpacks and utilizes the pedagogical success of improvisational theatre ensembles, offers core course design elements inspired by improv that match best practices, and gives concrete ideas for immediate use to strengthen community and increase engagement in college classrooms. Ensemble Culture is a framework for building community in…

Collaborative note-taking is a pedagogical technique that asks students to rotate note-taking responsibilities during class meetings in a shared document. Implementing this technique helped me, as an instructor, better leverage my students' strengths and weaknesses in an introductory American government class--though the benefits should extend to…

In creating crossword puzzles themselves, students gain an understanding of a concept in order to create the clue for it. The instructor can make this activity either chapter- or domain-specific, for instance, to encourage reading the textbook and researching concepts. In this unique application of the self-generated crossword, students use free…

This study examined possible ways to increase student engagement in small sections of a large, introductory-level, required university course. Research shows that cooperative group learning boosts achievement through fostering better interpersonal relationships between students. Cooperative group learning is an evidence-based instructional…

In this article Raymond Benton, Jr. describes how he implemented a variation on Eliot Aronson's (Aronson et al. 1978) "jigsaw classroom" activity. While there are similarities between Aronson's jigsaw classroom and what is described here, there are differences as well. In Aronson's system, the classroom was divided into subgroups. Each…

Quiet students are sometimes misunderstood in the college classroom. Students may be quiet for reasons related to personality traits, learned behaviors, or situational factors, but regardless, their silences may be misinterpreted by their instructors as a lack of engagement in their courses. In fact, quiet students are often very engaged in the…

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…

Collaborative group projects have documented learning benefits, yet collaboration is challenging for students because the educational system values individual achievement. This article explores Scrum, an approach to framing, planning, and managing group projects used in Web-software development. Designed for multi-faceted projects, this approach…

Despite the author's initial skepticism, a classroom set of iPads has reinforced a student-directed approach to writing instruction, while also supporting an inclusive classroom. Using the iPads, students guide their writing process with access to the learning management system, electronic information resources, and an online text editor. Students…

We use an experimental course collaboration that occurred in the winter of 2012 as a case study for an approach to interdisciplinary collaboration between Theatre and Humanities courses, and we argue that the theatre methodology of "devising" can serve as a particularly rich locus for collaboration between Theatre students and other…

Group-based learning is common practice in university classrooms. Despite the frequent student complaint of social loafing from teammates, methods for teaching students how to address teamwork issues are rarely incorporated into group assignments. Students are instructed on their final product, rather than their group process. In this article, an…

Graduate students are typically expected to know how to write. Those who write poorly are occasionally penalized, but little in-class attention is given to help students continue to develop and refine their writing skills. More often than not, writing courses at the graduate level are remedial programs designed for international students and…