Teaching tip: using video in lectures

Many of us like to support our lectures with documentary or films that support learning activities, give students a different way to apply knowledge and afford them a break from listening to us rabbit on. But how do students respond to this?

Teaching tip: Attendance dropping off?

This is a common issue, once week seven or eight rolls around and all the assignments are due, it can be hard for students to get motivated to attend. Even attendance/participation marks seem to be little motivation, and many unis prohibit their use as it can be difficult to verify and moderate.

Teaching Tip: Assessing Reflective Journals

Reflective learning is increasingly used in higher ed, particularly for team projects or situated learning where the academic has no direct access to the learning environment. An online journal is a popular format, either an open blog, or more commonly one within the closed confines of an online learning system managed by the uni.

Teaching tip: An alternative to the roll

There is little more depressing than taking a roll in class. It is a symbol of a certain kind of top down education, the classroom of Pink Floyd's 'We don't need no education'. However, if we take no notice of student attendance they can often feel anonymous, disconnected.

Drawing instead on the conference metaphor, I like to use name badges and then collect attendance data on the basis of which badges are left in the box, or if using team based learning, by moving from group to group and taking note of who is working with whom. It is also a good way to put names to faces, which I can never achieve when taking a roll.

I generally find this is a much more positive way to start a learning activity and it supports the role of the professional rather than the student as a subject of academic disciplining. I'm keen to hear what others do.