Category Archives: research
Self-enhancement and imposter syndrome: neither is good for your teaching
I read a terrific paper this week by Jennifer McCrickerd (Drake University) called, “Understanding and Reducing Faculty Reluctance to Improve Teaching.” In it, the author lists 6 reasons why some post-secondary (#highered) instructors are not interested in improving the way … Continue reading
Making memories stick. With Play-Doh.
My boss, Carl Wieman, likes to describe what we do as “looking for the pattern of how people learn science” (as he does in this video.) And the places to look are classroom studies, brain research and cognitive psychology. I … Continue reading
Why should I use peer instruction in my class?
[Update (June 16): Lead author Zdeslav Hrepic pointed me to a follow-up book chapter [PDF] where he and the study co-authors describe using tablet-PCs to counter the problems uncovered in their study. Thanks, Z.] I’m sure we’ve all heard it … Continue reading
An astronomy education retreat
Last year, Tim and Stephanie Slater phoned me up and invited me to be part of an astronomy education research group they were putting together. I was flattered to be part of the Conceptual Astronomy and Physics Education Research (CAPER) … Continue reading
Going over the exam
How often have you heard your fellow instructors lament, I don’t know why I bother with comments on the exams or even handing them back – students don’t go over their exams to see where they what they got right … Continue reading
