May 8, 2013, 11:00 am
By Prof. Hacker
As this academic year winds down, it’s time to start thinking about next year (after you finish up your semester, of course!). Looking back over the previous year is likely to remind one of things that didn’t go as well as they should have, and to spark ideas for how to do things differently in the future. However, as Jason has written, it’s important not to overcorrect. In some situations, it might be best to stick to one thing to change with regard to your research, teaching, service, or personal activities. That way, you can better track what effect that change has.
Next year, if you could change just one thing under your control, what would it be? Please share in this week’s open thread!
[Creative Commons-licensed flickr photo by Fabio Penna]
May 1, 2013, 11:00 am
By Prof. Hacker
April 24, 2013, 11:00 am
By Anastasia Salter
Many of us at ProfHacker have written about digital projects for classes that demand collaboration. I teach game design, so my students are often involved in projects that demand a range of skillsets and are modeled after an industry that is largely team-based. It is essential that my students develop their skills at collaboration and playing different roles on teams in demanding projects. However, as the end of the semester looms, a few teams always fall apart. A student drops out of the class or disappears; a student is ill and misses several supervised team development days; a student proves unable or unwilling to do the work or team dynamics go awry.
Here are a few of the policies I’ve been trying for handing these breakdowns in collaborative work:
- Invisible teammates are ex-teammates. After a certain number of absences from essential days, or one unexcused absence from a…
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April 3, 2013, 11:00 am
By Prof. Hacker
Each Wednesday, ProfHacker hosts an open thread discussion. Sometimes a specific topic is announced, and sometimes the discussion is completely open. Please remember to abide by our commenting and community guidelines. Thanks!
Hey, it’s Wednesday! I think you know what that means. It’s time for an open thread!
What’s on your mind? Do you need advice or feedback about something related to life and work in higher ed? Do you have advice or feedback to share about something related to life and work in higher ed? What would you like to see covered at ProfHacker? Do you have any suggestions for Open Thread topics? Do you have any interesting, ProfHacker-y links to share?
Let us hear from you in the comments!
[Creative Commons-licensed flickr photo by PhotKing]
March 13, 2013, 11:00 am
By Prof. Hacker
Regardless of what you think of “massive open online courses” (MOOCs), they are currently getting a great deal of attention in the media.
Perhaps most prominently, syndicated columnist Thomas Friedman wrote not one, but two recent columns that sing the praises of MOOCs. This morning the New York Times reports that a legislation is in the works in California to “force colleges to honor online classes” for credit, including those offered by private vendors. If passed, this legislation seems likely to create a gold rush (sorry) to California by commercial educational technology companies.
There have been a number of persuasive critiques of the rush to MOOCs (see, for instance, Mark S. Byrnes’ “MOOCs and Books” and “MOOCs and Books, continued.”), but today we’re interested in hearing from ProfHacker readers who have actually been in one of these online courses.
Have you participated…
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March 6, 2013, 11:00 am
By George Williams
Many of us are now approaching the halfway point of the semester, which means it might be a good time to revisit a topics we’ve covered a number of times here at ProfHacker: mid-semester course evaluations.
Most recently, Meg Worley shared her advice about how to get the most out of such evaluations. (You might also want to read Amy’s tips on mid-semester sanity maintenance, while you’re at it.)
I’ve used mid-semester course evaluations successfully in several of my classes over the years. With today’s open thread, though, we’d like to hear from you.
What has your experience been with these kinds of evaluations? Are you conducting them this semester? What advice do you have for others who might be considering mid-semester course evaluations? Please share in the comments.
[Creative Commons-licensed flickr photo by Fabio Penna]
February 27, 2013, 11:00 am
By George Williams
Much of the material we generate for teaching is digital, perhaps most obviously lecture notes and presentation slides. Some instructors put this material online as part of the course materials available to students.
For most of us, I think, this kind of material is not consciously designed to be used by students in this way, but that doesn’t mean that it would be impossible to do so.
One of our readers recently suggested that we cover this topic: Do you share your teaching materials online with your students? Why or why not? If you do, what do you do to make sure the material is both useful to you as the one teaching the class and useful to your students as the ones taking the class? Any stories of success (or failure) out there? Please share in the comments section!
[Creative Commons-licensed flickr photo by Denise Chan]
February 20, 2013, 11:00 am
By Prof. Hacker
Each Wednesday, ProfHacker hosts an open thread discussion. Sometimes a specific topic is announced, and sometimes the discussion is completely open. Please remember to abide by our commenting and community guidelines. Thanks!
Hey, it’s Wednesday! I think you know what that means. It’s time for an open thread!
What’s on your mind? Do you need advice or feedback about something related to life and work in higher ed? Do you have advice or feedback to share about something related to life and work in higher ed? What would you like to see covered at ProfHacker? Do you have any suggestions for Open Thread topics? Do you have any interesting, ProfHacker-y links to share?
Let us hear from you in the comments!
[Creative Commons-licensed flickr photo by Rock Cousteau]
January 16, 2013, 11:00 am
By Brian Croxall
Recently, I’ve been thinking quite a bit about shame. Some of this comes from the Freakonomics podcast, which I’ve become enamored of. (If you’re looking for something to listen to, ProfHacker readers have previously chimed in about their favorite podcasts.) An episode from January 2012 discussed the problem of hand-washing among doctors who—contrary to what one might guess—tend to have the worst hand hygiene practices at hospitals. The solution to the problem: shame. Public announcements of those who have not been following hand sanitation procedures at staff meetings led to a dramatic increase of hand-washing at L.A.’s Cedars Sinai Medical Center. Shame, as the Freakonomics team likes to point out, is a tremendous incentive to change behavior.
Changing behavior is also something that my wife and I have been thinking about: specifically that of our children during dinner time….
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January 9, 2013, 8:00 am
By Brian Croxall
Last weekend, two of the largest academic conferences of the year took place: the annual meetings of the American Historical Association (AHA) and the Modern Language Association (MLA). A good portion of the ProfHacker team was at one of these two gatherings, giving presentations, listening to talks, and tweeting up a storm.
One of the staples of these two conventions (as well as any other that I have ever attended) is the book exhibit. Academic publishers bring their most recent titles to show off, hoping to sell a few copies that might turn into larger course adoptions. The sales are often made more attractive by the inclusion of a discount of 15%, 20%, or even 30% off list price. As Jason and I wandered around the MLA’s book exhibit on Saturday, we not only took in the amazing demonstration of the ChronoZoom beta by Microsoft Research but also shared something like the following …
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