Prepared Students: The Secret's in the Assignment Strategy

Tuesday, March 10 | $199

No matter what you say or how often you say it, some of your students just don't come to class ready to learn. They don't read. They don't do their pre-class assignments. They just show up and you have to alter your strategy to accommodate the portion of your class that isn't up to speed. You end up spending too much time just delivering course material and not enough time analyzing or applying it. As a result, so much learning opportunity feels lost or squandered.

Sound familiar?

You are not stuck with that situation. There are changes you can make to your class to ensure that most students show up prepared. And it doesn't take a major overhaul of your course design or teaching strategy to make it happen.

In fact, you can learn everything you need to know to motivate your students to prepare for class in just 40 minutes. Join Faculty Focus on March 10 for Prepared Students: The Secret's in the Assignment Strategy.

After participating in this seminar, you will know how to:

• Design a course using an interactive teaching model in which students come to class prepared and class time is used for higher-level thinking and skill development
• Write class preparation assignments to guide students in their readings and to inform and stimulate class discussion
• Design a definitional grading system for any course (one of the categories should be class preparation)
• Avoid the common pitfalls of using class preparation assignments
• Incorporate student writing assignments without creating a heavy grading burden
• Design an interactive course that allows space and time for student voices and shows respect for students' intellectual abilities

You can focus more of your teaching time on high-level learning when your students come to class prepared. Learn how with Prepared Students: The Secret's in the Assignment Strategy.

Introducing Magna 40-Minute Seminars
New for 2015, Magna 40-Minute Seminars provide focused solutions in a shorter timeframe and at a lower price point than our traditional online seminars. You'll spend less time and money, but still gain the knowledge and skills needed to implement what you learn.

Register now for $199 and you get access to the live event, 30 days of on-demand access, a copy of the recording on CD, the complete transcript, and all handouts and supplemental materials.

---

WEEK IN REVIEW

Monday, February 2

Ten Tips for More Efficient and Effective Grading

Many instructors dread grading, not just because grading takes up a sizable amount of time and can prove itself a tedious task, but also because instructors struggle with grading effectively and efficiently. However, effective grading does not have to take inordinate amounts of time, nor does one need to sacrifice quality for speed. The following tips can help instructors grade more effectively while enhancing student learning.

Tuesday, February 3

Giving and Receiving Instructional Advice

Some of the advice offered by colleagues and in articles is excellent. Most of us can recite the good and wise things we've learned from fellow teachers. But not all instructional advice is equally good, and it's not always easy to separate the good advice from advice that is decidedly ho-hum or just plain not very good.

Wednesday, February 4

Group Work: What Do Students Want from Their Teammates?

Providing students with useful information about how to function effectively when they work in groups stands a good chance of improving what the group produces. It also helps students develop important skills they can use in group activities in college and beyond. Providing the information doesn't guarantee that students will make use of it, but it's a better option than not providing it.

Thursday, February 5

Strategies to Help Transform Your Online Courses

"Online teaching can be a bit of a juggling act," says Oliver Dreon, PhD, associate professor in the School of Education at Millersville University of Pennsylvania. Instructors must be able to handle student concerns, subject material, and delivery modality to create an interesting, engaging course.

Friday, February 6

A Grade Forecasting Strategy for Students

I give my second-year undergraduate students the opportunity to forecast their final course grades while the course is still under way. The goal of this predictive or prognostic feedback is to help the students develop a more realistic assessment of their progress in the course and consequently make better decisions about how much time and effort they need to devote to their learning.