Welcome to the Graduate Teaching Blog!
This blog is a space created for graduate students, by graduate students, for us to share answers to common teaching questions. In these pages, you will find suggestions for innovative, evidence-based teaching strategies presented in the context of our own graduate teaching experiences. We, the Graduate Teaching Consultants, hope these posts enrich your teaching practice!
Fostering Intrinsic Motivation In Introductory Classes
Contributed by Federica Bocchi, Ph.D Candidate in Philosophy of Science
(5-minute read)
Fostering students’ motivation to learn is complicated in intro classes, where the demographic is usually highly heterogeneous. If you struggle to figure out how to motivate your students, this post is for you!
Let us start from the basics. Pedagogical literature distinguishes two types of motivation: intrinsic and instrumental. Instrumental motivation refers to the extrinsic reasons a student might have to do well and stay engaged in any classroom: rewards, grades, or the perspective of completing HUB credits. Although extrinsic motivation is a powerful tool that a learner can rely on, educators believe that this is rarely enough for the long-term retention of information or methodological skills (Goldman et al. 2016). Accordingly, as instructors, we should rely on more than this form of motivation in our classes. Intrinsic (or inner) motivation is the reason that drives students, such as passion and curiosity. To be an excellent teacher, we should be able to foster our students’ intrinsic motivation and have them appreciate the subject we teach even if it doesn’t have evident extrinsic rewards.
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Using Self-Explanation in an Introductory Biology Lab
Contributed by Maria Valadez Ingersoll, Ph.D student at BU URBAN Program
(4 minute read)
In a previous post, we introduced the idea of self-explanation as a skill to promote learning fundamental principles behind a task to deepen contextualized understanding and strengthen knowledge transfer to new scenarios. To refresh, while a student is learning something new, they may break the concept into steps and practice self-explanation by answering questions such as: What is my goal for this step? What are the principles that I have learned that apply to this step? Are there any exceptions that can be made in this scenario? How exactly am I going to move to the next step? In today’s post, we are going to discuss how to implement self-explanation in a biology laboratory to enable students to apply theories they have learned in lecture to the living biological world.
Self Explanation Exercise in Philosophy
Contributed by Federica Bocchi, Ph.D Candidate in Philosophy of Science
(4-minute read)
Thank you, Maria, for introducing the notion and the practice of self-explanation as a useful pedagogical technique that can help our students. In the post, you write: “Self-explanation should promote the student to put into words why they are moving from point A to point B instead of just doing it, which will allow the student to contextualize the processes behind the learning and apply those processes to other scenarios.” I'd like to follow up on your key point by discussing how to use self-explanation in my discipline: philosophy.
Instructors often assume that students will develop strategies to retain information and independently transfer their skills from one subject to the other. Nonetheless, instructors might find it beneficial to explicitly address how this skill is developed by introducing a self-explanation activity.
I implemented a self-explanation exercise in my philosophy classes during the 2022 Summer term. For this idea, I am indebted to Prof. Lydia Patton, who uses a similar exercise on the first day of her philosophy of physics classes.
Introduction to Self-Explanation
Contributed by Maria Valadez Ingersoll, Ph.D student at BU URBAN Program
(3 minute read)
Have you ever noticed a student who seems to master a formula in one example but struggles to apply that same formula to a different situation? A subtle skill that many students struggle to master is transferring what they learn in class or on practice problems to new scenarios. This limitation in knowledge transfer becomes evident when students are tasked to apply what they’ve learned to other examples or more complex and in-depth tasks that appear on exams or in subsequent units. As a student, I fell into this pitfall many times in introductory chemistry and mathematics courses. I memorized the steps to solve an example problem correctly through rote repetition believing that it would equip me to solve new problems that followed the same patterns or rules. Yet each time I came across a version of the pattern in a new scenario in an exam or in the following chapter, I got confused and faltered. My mistake, and what many students experience, was not understanding the why of the problem, just the how.
Including Diverse Role Models in STEM Curricula
Including Diverse Role Models in STEM Curricula
Contributed by Bryanne McDonough
In most areas of the STEM workforce, racial minorities, people with disabilities, and women are still underrepresented [1,2]. As college educators, we have a critical role to play in retaining and encouraging underrepresented students in STEM. One way to accomplish this is by creating a sense of belonging through adding diverse voices to our curricula and classroom. It is not always immediately obvious where to add diversity in a STEM course, as we most often teach about facts and data rather than people. However, instructors can make a difference by highlighting the contributions of individuals to the facts and data, and help ameliorate identity threats along the way. Read More
Jump-starting Discussion Using Images (Part 2)
Graduate Teaching Blog Post
Contributed by Phillippa Pitts
(5 minute read)
This post is a follow-up to my entry last week, where I introduced two quick approaches to teaching with images in ways that will get students talking and thinking about your course content in a new way. In this post, I’d like to introduce you to one more technique which uses image-based discussion to develop a slew of academic skills: critical thinking, argumentation, and language development among them. It’s been used to teach foreign language skills, build empathy, and even scaffold scientific observation. More
Jump-starting Discussion Using Images
Graduate Teaching Blog Post
Contributed by Phillippa Pitts
(5 minute read)
Q:I've heard that starting class by asking students to discuss an image can help get students talking, even in a non-arts based course. What are your suggestions for teaching with images?
A: In almost every conversation that I’ve heard about “opening up a good discussion” and “encouraging students to speak more,” someone suggests discussing an image. Usually it is because, in their words, “there are no wrong answers.” But—as anyone who has optimistically put up an image and heard only crickets in response knows—there do seem to be wrong questions. More
Keeping Breakout Rooms On Task
Graduate Teaching Blog Post
Contributed by Phillippa Pitts
(4 minute read)
Q: I hear students benefit from small group work and appreciate using Zoom breakout rooms. But how will I know that they’re staying on task if I’m not there?
A: This is a question that came up frequently in the physical classroom. Now, in the Zoom world, it feels even more pressing. Without the ability to walk around and casually listen in on small group discussions—or even just stand at the head of the classroom and see whether or not students appeared to be on task—it can be very unnerving to release your students into a void and hope that they’re working away successfully. More
Practice, Practice, Practice
Graduate Teaching Blog Post
Contributed by Ben Suitt
(2 minute read)
Q: My students did poorly on the essay questions of the midterm despite acing my multiple choice quizzes. How do I help them do as well on the final essay exam as they did on my quizzes?
A: Seeing a disconnect between class performance in your sections versus the first major test of the semester can be disheartening for even the most seasoned instructors. Surely, if they’re acing the pop quizzes... Read More