Year: 2020

Question marks

Questions, Generation, and Provocative Metacognition

Barry Sharpe from Western Governors University gave a thought provoking recorded talk at the Lilly Conference I was able to watch tonight as Amada fell asleep. Sharpe invokes Socrates and the teacher as a gadfly and midwife to encourage us to use practice questions that push students to overcome desirable difficulties and self-reflect on their […]
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Yeast Metabolic Engineering logo

Fonts Choices and Access

I was recently made aware of how font choices can help with readability and support students. I took a module as part of the NCSU Office of Faculty Development Inclusive Teaching Certificate program that focused on supporting students with dyslexia. It was really interesting and well designed! Google Slide decks were embedded into Moodle lessons […]
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BIT 295 Biotechnology and Sustainability flyer

Sustainability, Gamification, and Case Studies

Yesterday we decided to cancel the BIT 295 Biotechnology and Sustainability course we were developing because of low enrollment. I was disappointed, yet relieved because I now have more time to develop a 200-level course that include a course-based research experience and pedagogues and assignments I want to implement. Tonight I was listening to asynchronous […]
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Book with stories on cover

Digital Storytelling

I want to try Digital Storytelling activity suggestions from the K. Patricia Cross Academy: https://kpcrossacademy.org/techniques/digital-story/ While I have used video tutorials and multimedia assignments, I haven’t intentionally incorporated the individual connections mentioned in the activity description and resources. There are numerous suggestions including a step-by-step guide, example rubrics and assessment, and tips for online implementation. […]
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Student taking notes

Simplicity and Notes

How can we encourage note taking that is productive and promotes learning? I’ve been listening to talks and reading about different approaches. In the Metagenomics course I’ve tried using common notes in which the entire class has access to a Google Doc with the learning outcomes for each module. This semester collaborative note taking participation […]
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Learn from the past written in notebook

Reflecting on Feedback

Yesterday I listened to a couple of Lilly Conference sessions on assessment. They all emphasized providing timely feedback and opportunity for growth. Initial drafts were evaluated on completion with extensive feedback and more developed projects were assessed based on a rubric. Multiple-choice questions in the learning management system offer the opportunity for instant feedback that […]
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Library with hooks

Time to go to the Academy?

I’ve been thinking about active learning techniques and alternative assessments. The K. Patricia Cross Academy keeps on reappearing in discussions or references. The website is incredible and allows you to filter a large video resource library by activity type or teaching problem addressed. The website is mobile-friendly, and the videos and resources are excellent. How […]
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Flyer from a course I taught encouraging students to share assignments

Feedback and improvement

This semester I taught two completely online and asynchronous half-semester lab modules. I truly enjoyed the challenge and opportunities for new course design and assignments. The experience certainly made me think about the alignment of my expectations and those listed in course maps and syllabi. Both BIT 479/579 High-throughput Discovery and BIT 477/577 Metagenomics had […]
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