Dear Cassandra and Colleagues,

I love this question because I think that one of the biggest and most frustrating challenges I have encountered as an instructor is the challenge of inspiring students to take ownership of their learning. I teach literature and writing courses, and so often students seem to approach these courses as though they were just another item to check off their list on the path toward the degree. This can lead to a lot of hand-holding, cajoling, and, worst case scenario, punitiveness on my part.

I have learned that an important technique for preventing excuses is simple… >>>

I love the concept of learning by teaching. I teach composition and literature courses, and I discovered in my first semester of teaching composition that I learned more about writing in that process of teaching my own courses than I ever did in taking composition courses myself. This is why I have tried, in both on-ground and online courses, to make collaboration and peer review an essential and frequent tool for learning. When students are responsible, at least in part, for another's success, as well as their own, they seem to invest more and to internalize and actualize course content… >>>

I love the concept of learning by teaching. I teach composition and literature courses, and I discovered in my first semester of teaching composition that I learned more about writing in that process of teaching my own courses than I ever did in taking composition courses myself. This is why I have tried, in both on-ground and online courses, to make collaboration and peer review an essential and frequent tool for learning. When students are responsible, at least in part, for another's success, as well as their own, they seem to invest more and to internalize and actualize course content… >>>