“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” 
― Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

One of the most fundamental and time-tested strategies to help students build their content knowledge in any discipline is to read. Traditionally, this has meant purchasing backpacks full of textbooks and other printed texts for each course.

Key features of the strategy
Irish statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke remarked, “To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting.” If students are to make the most from their reading, they must be taught to do so actively and with purpose. To prepare for a class session, faculty can provide students with guiding questions, key features to explore or at least some purpose for their reading. Otherwise, students read passively and may not retain information well. A number of different strategies, techniques and tools can be used to set up a reading experience that will not only prepare students to come to class and engage with ideas, but also to organize their thinking or help them to construct their knowledge in the discipline.

Examples and Variations
Gillette and Gillette (2015) offer a practical strategy to help ensure that students read and prepare prior to coming to class.  Rather than assigning readings for homework, they suggest assigning students “class preparation assignments” (CPA).  A CPA is a four to eight question assignment that covers the key elements from the required readings to be prepared prior to class. The authors suggest that students bring two copies of their responses to the CPA to class – one that they leave with the professor and the other they use to refer to in class during discussion. The CPA’s are then assessed on a pass/fail basis, according to a “good faith effort” on the part of the student. The grades on these assignments are weighted significantly along with the students’ performance on exams and quizzes. This method of grading helps to ensure that students attend and are prepared for class.

One key strategy in helping students read with purpose is to encourage them to identify what they already know relative to the topic and what they hope to learn from the reading. Zhang (2010) explores a purposeful use of the Know-Want-Learn (KWL) strategy of teaching reading comprehension to non-English majors, specifically in the context of English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction. The KWL strategy encourages students to consider what they already know about a topic, what additional information they want to know, and then to reflect on what they have learned. Zhang describes the use of the KWL strategy with 80 students divided into two groups, one control group and one experimental group that used the KWL strategy as part of their reading process. The student work was evaluated by instructors, and a survey was provided for additional evaluation of the effectiveness of the strategy. In comparing the control and experimental groups, Zhang found a positive significant difference in student performance in terms of written responses and comprehension of the material for the group that utilized the KWL strategy to engage with their reading. Seventy-five percent of the students that used the strategy scored their satisfaction with the strategy as either a 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale.

In a blog post, Maryellen Weimer summarizes a study by Roberts & Roberts (2008) on strategies to “make reading experiences meaningful so that students will want to learn via the written word and will develop an appreciation for the various strategies good readers utilize” (p. 127). Specifically, they suggest five different strategies that students can choose from to respond to weekly course readings. Connecting to the text encourages students to mark up the reading through underlining key passages, making comments in the margins, and then asking and answering five “big” questions from the reading. Alternatively, students can summarize and visualize the key ideas from a reading. In this approach students create a visual/graphic organizer or chart for the content of the reading. They can also choose to keep a reading response journal, including questions and comments. They can discuss the reading together as a group, taking notes on the ideas and discussion generated and written up for the professor. Finally, more creative-minded students can choose to create a song or rap about what they have learned from the readings. These options illustrate multiple ways that students can actively engage with the text.

Connections to 21st Century Skills and Technologies
When structured productively, student reading will engage them in one of the most critical 21st century skills – knowledge construction. Knowledge construction activities require students to generate ideas and understandings that are new to them. Students can do this through interpretation, analysis, synthesis, or evaluation of materials they have read (as well as through lectures and other learning activities). The strongest activities focused on knowledge construction require students to apply the knowledge they constructed in a different context, helping them to deepen their understanding further, and to connect information and ideas from two or more academic disciplines. Course readings can be a key building block in preparing students to leverage their knowledge in a new way.

Technology can support student construction of knowledge through reading in a number of ways. While many students and faculty prefer printed books, there are many other reading forms and media to help students build their knowledge in this way. They can consume digital versions of their books that allow them to highlight, annotate and share their insights in digital format. We can also leverage other types of media like Web-based resources, applications, and digital databases to supplement traditional texts.  We can even look beyond texts and consider images, videos, and animations as alternative forms of text. One very efficient and effective tool for students to use to markup online documents is the “Web clipping” and annotation feature built into different digital note taking tools like OneNote or Evernote. With a simple browser plugin, students can quickly highlight and capture a block of text to send to their notebook and then annotate these snippets for further analysis. A strategic use of these different forms of text and digital tools can be very effective in helping students to construct disciplinary knowledge. 

Please post your comments below.

I love buffets. Yes, I often eat too much, but I love seeing the full array of options – especially at breakfast. It’s a great way to try new things, rediscover foods that I haven’t eaten in a while, or just to add some variety to my typical bagel with cream cheese. I often like to “get the lay of the land” before I even pick up my plate. I like to get a sense for all the options before I commit to filling my (first) plate. It’s easy to get in a culinary rut at home, and buffets are a great way to break out and shake things up.

I think of teaching strategies in much the same way. It’s easy to fall into routines and patterns in setting up a class. You find what seems to work that engages the students and you go to it again and again. This is only natural, and in many ways, it makes sense to “go with what works.” There are two potential challenges with this, though. It can become stale for you and the students. Even engaging learning experiences, when used too often, can lose their appeal. When you add to this the need to appeal to diverse learners in the classroom, it can be very helpful to vary the teaching strategies and learning activities you employ in your classes.

Getting the lay of the land in higher education pedagogy
For the last several years, I have worked with my colleague, Judi Harris, and a range of content experts to develop comprehensive taxonomies of learning activities in nine different curriculum areas (e.g., Mathematics, Science, K-6 Literacy) that can serve as instructional planning aids for K-12 teachers. These taxonomies, along with a number of publications and presentations related to this work are available on the Learning Activity Types Web site. Through my involvement with faculty development in the Technology Enriched Instruction project, I wondered whether similar resources were available for college and university faculty.

Like any academic worth his salt, I began to comb through our library databases and pulled every book on higher education pedagogy off the shelves to see if I could find similar work in college and university teaching. While I encountered some fantastic books, articles, and blog posts on a wide range of pedagogical strategies, I didn’t come across what I saw as a comprehensive collection of learning activities for faculty. I then systematically began to note, track and organize the learning activities I found across all these sources.

My draft working version of the taxonomy includes twenty different learning activities, many of which are broad (e.g., discussion) and have many different ways to implement them in teaching. This is still definitely a work in progress. I have shared it with some colleagues and will also be presenting this work at two upcoming conferences on teaching and learning this Spring. I’m eager to hear the reactions and insights of my colleagues.

Purpose and structure of the taxonomy
Like with the series of learning activity types taxonomies we developed for K-12 teachers, I hope that this first draft of a collection for teachers will assist us all in designing learning experiences in ways that meet the needs of a range of students and help us to keep things fresh for our own sake, as well. In our research with K-12 teachers, they report that the use of this kind of taxonomy helps them to be more deliberate and strategic with their choice of strategies and to enhance the engagement of students with course content.

To make it easier to navigate the taxonomy and enable users to find what they are looking for quickly, I’ve arranged them according to the revised version of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Each learning activity is categorized by the relative level of cognitive activity required of students (i.e., remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, create). Due to the focus on levels of student learning outcomes reflected in Bloom’s taxonomy, the activities are framed from the student perspective. Finally, because my academic discipline is educational technology, I have also provided suggested educational technologies that can uniquely support each learning activity.

Invitation for feedback
I see this as a work in progress that will likely change and develop over time. I wanted to begin sharing the work, however, to encourage others to provide their feedback and contributions to the work. On this blog, I will be introducing the learning activity types one at a time, with a description, rationale for use, examples and variations, along with technology tools and resources that can serve to support each learning activity. As I introduce the learning activities, I hope that you will share examples of ways you have implemented them in your teaching or reference blog posts or articles with good additional examples. I look forward to building this taxonomy and collection of learning activities together over the next several weeks.

Please post your comments below.

As a faculty member in a School of Education, I see my goals and responsibilities for teaching slightly differently than some other faculty members. While we all focus on preparing students for their careers, in professional schools this is a core part of our mission and emphasis. We have developed a conceptual framework as faculty to identify and assert the key professional capacities we want to help our students to develop, whether they are beginning teachers or future faculty members in higher education.

One pillar of our conceptual framework is leadership. While we might typically think of leadership in terms of formal leadership via serving on committees or in administrative capactities, we consider leadership more broadly. One form of leadership that I’ve begun to incorporate in my teaching is writing as an embodiment of leadership. In this post, I’ll share a brief rationale along with a few examples.

How can writing be considered leadership?
My colleague, Chris Gareis, has a great definition of leadership that has really expanded my thinking. He defines leadership as, “the constructive influence of one teacher on the professional practice of one or more other teachers.” I think when we consider leadership from this perspective, we can begin to consider a range of leadership activities. A teacher might share a particularly effective teaching strategy with her colleagues in the context of a faculty meeting or a conversation over coffee. A teacher might organize a book group or she might offer a session at a professional conference. One often overlooked form of leadership is the sharing of insight, ideas, and learning through writing.

Through writing and sharing the work, educators at all levels have an unprecented opportunity to “constructively influence the practice of others.” In the process of writing to a particular audience as a means to influence their practice, the writer must clarify their thinking and present their ideas in a way that will engage with and inspire their readers. To me, this is a powerful form of leadership that scales well beyond the traditional boundaries of one’s immediate colleagues. I have encouraged, and in some courses required, students to write with leadership in mind in different forms.

Three different forms of “leadership writing”

1. Professional blogging and engagement on social media
   One of the most scalable and influential forms of leadership writing comes in the form of blog posts or contributions through social media. The ease and reach of inexpensive (e.g., Weebly) and free (e.g., Wordpress.org) blogging platforms provides what Michael Hyatt describes as a platform. This platform can literally reach (and potentially influence) a worldwide audience. A number of educators have built their platforms and achieved significant audiences and influence in the education community. Two examples that come to mind are Richard Byrne and Kelly Tenkley. As classroom teachers, Richard and Kelly began these blogs to share resources and ideas with other educators.  The have 77,000 and 17,000 followers on Twitter, respectively. It’s harder to get a grasp of the readership of their blogs, but they have both become international leaders in the field of educational technology. What could be better evidence of writing promoting leadership?
2. Contributing to practitioner journals
   In many fields, professional organizations and other media companies publish paper or electronic journals aimed at the practitioner community. These journals provide a forum for contributors to share ideas, lessons learned, and strategies that have significant potential to inform and influence others’ practice. I consider Educause’s online series, “Seven Things You Should Know About ,” an excellent example of this. Each contribution in the series is centered on a particular trend, issue or challenge in the field of IT in higher education. These kinds of practitioner publications, written in a practical and accessible format, offer powerful opportunities for leadership in the field.  
3. Producing peer-reviewed publications
   In academia, the peer-reviewed publication is obviously the “coin of the realm.” These publications are not only a way that we measure and quantify our contributions to the disciplines in which we work, they also represent an opportunity for leadership. By sharing our scholarly contributions in these venues, we can influence both thought and future scholarship in our area of study. While the scope and scale of many of these journals is limited relative to blogs and practitioner journals, they offer opportunities for influence within a very targeted field of inquiry. 

What do students get out of this kind of experience?
I find that offering students opportunities to share their work with an audience in any of these forms challenges them to clarify their thinking, consider their audience, and consciously select strategies and approaches to communicating their ideas. I have observed deeper commitment, more editing and revision, and more passion in the writing when students know that they will share their ideas with a larger audience than just their professor and classmates. I’m just about to launch an assignment in my Digital Tools for Learning course that will challenge students to mindfully select one of these forms of leadership writing to develop content they can share with the larger community. I am eager to see their leadership potential reflected in this work.

How have you or might you encourage students to demonstrate leadership through their writing?
Please post your comments below.

In this episode, I'm thrilled to be joined by Dr. Todd Zakrajsek (@ToddZakrajsek on Twitter), Associate Professor in the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill School of Medicine and Executive Director of the Academy of Educators at UNC. Todd is the co-author of two books - The New Science of Learning:  How to Learn in Harmony with Your Brain and the soon-to-be released Teaching for Learning: 101 Intentionally-Designed Educational Activities to Put Students on the Path to Success. Todd is a dynamic speaker and experienced faculty developer focused on high-yield, practical ways to enhance teaching practice. In this episode we discuss strategies to engage students in large classes. 

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive an “affiliate commission.” I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

One thing that always makes me uneasy when I’m teaching is the unasked question. When dealing with a challenging topic, I often get the sense that one or more students might have questions that, for whatever reason, go unasked. It might be that they are reluctant to be judged by me or their peers as asking a simple or uninformed question. During my 7:00-10:00 pm class, it may be that they simply don’t want to extend the class at the end of a long day. For whatever reason, an unasked question robs me of insight into the struggles students may be experiencing and robs the class of a topic that requires further explanation.

Another nagging feeling I often experience is, “what am I missing?” I teach the kinds of courses in which students have at least some experience with the content. At the doctoral level, they of course have considerable experience. I’ve written before here about the benefits of eliciting students’ contributions to course readings and topics. These kinds of contributions can also come up during a class session to extend or enhance the materials that students can access to further their learning.

I’ve found one very simple and flexible tool that I use to counter both of these challenges – Padlet. Padlet is a virtual cork board that can be accessed and added to very easily by any number of users on laptops, mobile phones and tablets. This free and easy to use tool offers many possibilities for the instructor. You can create and distribute the link to one or more “walls,” or virtual cork boards to use in your class. If you create a free account on the site, you can retain the ability to archive and update these walls as students work with them. The students do not have to create an account, they simply visit the link you provide via a Web browser and then click anywhere on the board to add a note. In their notes they can include text, links, images, and attach files. As the creator of the board, you can then rearrange the notes on the wall, delete them, or edit the content. There are a number of additional features, but this will help you to get a sense for what you can do with the tool.

For a helpful video overview of Padlet by Richard Byrne on his excellent blog, Free Tech for Teachers, click here. For a few quick ideas for capturing students questions and contributions, read on.

Capturing Students’ Questions and Contributions

1. Encourage students to post questions from readings prior to class
   As students encounter questions leading up to class from readings and other materials, you can encourage them to post a question on the class Padlet wall. If they see the same or similar question already posted to the wall, they can add their own note just below the original note indicating they have the same question using the word “second” or “ditto.” In this way, you will get a sense for the questions that most arise. You can then prepare for class by reviewing the wall and anticipating questions prior to class.
2. Ask students to post questions during class
   The best time for a student to ask a question is just when it occurs to them. It may be in the middle of a lecture, discussion, video, or student presentation. They may be hesitant to interrupt at just that point. Unfortunately, if they don’t ask it away, they are likely to forget. To counter this, you can encourage students to post their questions during class on the wall. You can then either review them as students are working in small groups, just before dismissing the class, or in preparation for the next class meeting. Whenever you review them, at least you will not have missed this opportunity.   
3. Capture resources and experience on the class wall
   As you move through a class session, you can encourage students to post ideas, experiences, or links to resources. Padlet is uniquely suited to this, as students can post, link to, or attach a variety of types of resources. As you review these contributions, you can determine whether you want to incorporate them into the formal course resources for the rest of the class.
4. Use the wall as an “exit pass”
   In K-12 education, teachers often conclude a class with an “exit pass” activity. Prior to leaving, students are required to jot down a question, a new insight, a new resource, or a topic they’d like to explore further. They then submit these to the teacher as they exit the class. This can be similarly accomplished using Padlet. You can reserve the last 2-3 minutes in class to encourage students to access the class wall and post one of these kinds of responses. If you use a similar prompt to the one above, you can ask students to post their response to a corresponding quadrant of the wall. For example, questions should be posted to the upper left hand corner, etc. This quick activity helps you to capture both questions and contributions in a very efficient and effective manner.

Is there a different strategy or tool you use to capture students’ questions and contributions?
Please post your comments below.