January 2008

Student Attention Spans
Have you heard that advice about chunking content in 10- to 15-minute blocks because that’s about as long as students can attend to material in class? It’s a widely touted statistic and given the behaviors indicative of inattentiveness observed in class, most faculty haven’t questioned it.

Creating a Safe Classroom for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Students
By Kevin Christophersen, MA
A greater number of students are coming to terms with their same-sex orientation at an earlier age. Many educational institutions offer gay-straight alliances and gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (GLBTQ) clubs, and many administrators support policies that oppose bias based on sexual orientation.

Consider Learner Characteristics, Learning Conditions in Course Design
In the early days of online learning, text was the primary medium of instruction. Now options abound, but finding the appropriate tools and using them effectively is another matter.

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Last month's question was "How does your department reward innovative teaching?"