Rebecca Williams-Wagner

I teach a biology course, which requires some form of lecture. I learned it's best to break lectures down into 10-15 minute mini-lectures for best delivery of content. Also, videos are sometimes better than lectures at converying information.

Introductions to the instructor and to peers are very important!

I learned about the importance of the syllabus. I have a syllabus provided for my course by my institution, but I feel additional details may be helpful for my students. Therefore, I will prepare my own "supplemental syllabus" for my course to ensure my students' success.

It seems the best way to be an effective instructor is to act and be professional. A lot of professional behaviors are intuitive to me - dressing appropriately, being on time and prepared to teach, and respectfully addressing students without trying to become a "friend."

I will incorporate more of my enthusiasm for my subject area when teaching students, to really emphasize that I find biology fascinating! 

Use of collaborative and problem-based learning strategies are part of the active learning classroom. It is important to know that each learning path is valuable and valid, and the evaluation of learning must reflect this.

Incorporating "low-risk" active learning strategies slowly is a way to ease into an active learning classroom. Use of rubrics makes grading fair/less subjective. It also gives students the ability to grade their own work before submitting an assignment, ensuring they've completed it accurately. 

Students often find the active learning classroom format difficult becuase it requires more work on their part. They sometimes complain that the instructor is "not teaching them anything." Similarly, the instructor must do more prep work ahead of the class to guide students in their learning. The instructor often feels a loss of control of learning. Other difficulties can include technology problems when implementing active learning activities online.

The traditional lecture-style classroom is not an effective method for students to learn. Active learning is anything where the students engage with the material and take learning into their own hands. This can involve reading and reflecting, doing activities, or group work. Group work is very effective, especially for the digital native generation. I will incorporate more group activities into my classroom in the future.