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Tests and other assessments are effective tools for determining how well students  learned (and how well you taught) earlier in the semester. But they don’t really do much to help students learn in the present, or as the semester progresses. This fast, focused program will provide you with an assortment of tools and techniques to promote better learning.

At the end of a semester, do you find your office full of students wondering what their grade will be? Are they often complaining that their grade is much lower than they anticipated? It’s OK, we’ve all been there. The good news is that there is a way to reduce grading frustration – for your students and yourself. Learn about total point grading today!

Focused, energizing classroom discussions that involve everyone are what higher education instructors dream of. Too bad they don’t just happen. But you can learn the careful planning and structuring it takes to make them happen in How Can I Use Discussion to Facilitate Learning? — a Magna 20 Minute Mentor. This fast and focused video seminar will show you how to structure and plan classroom discussions to maximize student engagement, student participation, and learning.

If you are only asking for feedback at the end of the semester, there’s not much you can do to improve the learning for your current students. That is why it’s important to get student feedback early in the semester - and multiple times throughout - to understand your students and meet their learning needs. This Magna 20 Minute Mentor shares the five times in the semester when getting student feedback is valuable and provides practical ways to obtain that information.

You know teaching and learning are more effective when students are motivated. One of the keys to motivating students is finding out what makes them tick, and the sooner you can do that, the better. In How Can I Use Icebreakers to Connect with Students? you’ll learn how you can use class openings to forge connections with college students through introductory surveys, icebreakers, and more.

Informal writing assignments can be part of your strategy of frequent, low-stakes (FLS) grading. This approach incorporates many informal, low-pressure writing assignments that keep students engaged in the course materials and continually improving.  In this Magna 20 Minute Mentor program, find out how informal writing assignments can create a dialogue between the students and instructor, boost student confidence, and increase student motivation.

A frequent, low-stakes (FLS) grading strategy, when used correctly, can decrease your workload while increasing student motivation and confidence.  As an added benefit, it helps ensure students arrive to class prepared and ready to learn. The idea behind FLS is simple: you give many grades with lower weights.  Learn how this technique can benefit your classroomin this 20 Minute Mentor.

Save time and significantly improve student outcomes by using Voice Feedback. Research shows that students value and are far more likely to incorporate voice feedback in completing their assignments than written feedback. We explain the benefits of using voice feedback and walk you through the process of how to incorporate this approach into your teaching.

Whether you teach physics or philosophy, you’re probably looking for innovative ways to increase student engagement with your course material.  Encouraging students to make new connections is essential in higher education, and How Can Objects and Analogies Improve My Teaching?, a Magna 20 Minute Mentor, shows you what students think about just that.

Veterans returning to higher education face cognitive and physical challenges. Discover effective responses to the learning needs of today’s disabled student veterans and understand the impact of acquired disabilities on learning.

Bullying and teasing takes many forms, but none of them are acceptable in higher education classrooms. In this Magna 20 Minute Mentor session, Brian Van Brunt, Ed.D., an experienced educator and counselor, shares a resolutely practical approach, developed to help you confront the issue of bullying or teasing in your classroom. 

Despite the widespread acceptance and demonstrated success of group learning, many teachers do not know how to create small groups effectively. We discuss key factors involved in successfully facilitating group learning and teach you the benefits of group work.

This 20 Minute Mentor program covers the process of online course conversion, from initial course review to working with technology. You’ll learn her step-by-step approach to maximizing the educational benefits of blended learning—in a minimal amount of time—by making the most of what you’re already doing and using technology to enhance student engagement and learning.

We’ve all encountered “toxic” learning environments–apathetic students, disillusioned faculty, an entire roomful of people waiting for class to just end, already. Keeping the classroom climate positive is the responsibility of both sides. Learn valuable concepts you can put to work right away in every class.

Military service is a formidable educational experience. Learn how to use course design to help student veterans make the most of it. In the process, you’ll also learn how to enhance learning for all students. This program covers situational factors, assessment, and learning activities.

Capstone courses help students synthesize their college education before they embark on professional careers or graduate studies.  This 20 Minute Mentor shows you how to construct a capstone course for specific learning outcomes.

All faculty members have students who cheat in their classrooms. Should our primary response to classroom cheating be prevention, punishment, or indifference? With 11 pages of supplementals, we explain how a developmental approach can ensure that all your students stay on the track to ethical academic success. 

When it comes to classroom participation, research continues to confirm what most faculty members experience each day: A limited number of students make the majority of contributions. Although getting more students to participate is challenging, the good news is that it can be done, and it doesn’t have to involve such tactics as “cold calling” on students or resorting to a points system. We describe 18 strategies that work.

If you’re looking for guidance in integrating service-learning into a new course or an existing one, we provide you with valuable insights on everything you need to develop an engaging service-learning syllabus in your discipline. In this Magna 20 Minute Mentor, learn how you can successfully manage the logistics of service-learning, from transportation to training to risk management.

Many students come to class without having done the assigned reading. Even though many faculty members routinely spell out course requirements in syllabuses and give individual announcements and reminders, students continue to come to class unprepared. We provide several dynamic strategies that you can use to help students learn the value of reading.