Category Archives: Teaching

Radiometric Dating: Need to Practice?

Posted on May 18, 2017 by

Last year, we posted a video explaining how to do three types of radiometric dating problems; we wrote about it in this blog post. I am pleased to report that the prodigious Matt Taylor has now released an activity with … Continue reading →

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One Good Clicker Tip

Posted on April 26, 2017 by

The end of the semester is not a great time to introduce a tip for using clickers; I am sure this post would have been more useful in January! But I can’t control when ideas for blog posts drop into … Continue reading →

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Cultivating a Growth Mindset in Your Students

Posted on April 7, 2017 by

This semester, I’ve been reading a lot about teaching with a growth mindset. I wrote about this topic at the end of last semester in a blog post called At the End, I’m Looking to the Start. Since that time, … Continue reading →

Posted in Study skills, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Reblogging: GMOs vs. Artificial Selection

Posted on March 28, 2017 by

The Ricochet Science blog post below—written by a talented college senior—is an interesting introduction to the difference between GMOs and organisms that are the products of artificial selection. I want to share it with you because it’s informative and entertaining, … Continue reading →

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TED-Ed video: The Cancer Gene We All Have

Posted on February 28, 2017 by

My friend and colleague Michael Windelspecht recently produced a useful video about cancer. Complete with compelling animations, narration, and analogies, it’s a great launching point for in-class group work or for a homework assignment. The video’s explanations span from genetics … Continue reading →

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Teaching cell chemistry with Legos

Posted on January 24, 2017 by

Behold, my trusty bag of Legos … well they’re not actually Legos because I couldn’t find a bag of plain old Legos. All of the Legos nowadays are sold in kits with wheels and roofs and other things I don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Active learning, Chemistry, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

At the End, I’m Looking to the Start

Posted on December 19, 2016 by

I turned in my course grades yesterday and thought I’d spend some time looking back at something that my TAs asked our students in lab to write about during week 1. After the TAs introduced themselves and talked about their … Continue reading →

Posted in Study skills, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

On Obstacles, part 2

Posted on November 11, 2016 by

My last blog post described three questions we asked students in my nonmajors biology class a few weeks ago. That post described some of the responses to question 1 (“What do you feel is your greatest obstacle in achieving the grade … Continue reading →

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On Obstacles, part 1

Posted on October 31, 2016 by

A couple of weeks ago, I asked my lab TA’s to have our students write their answers to these questions: What do you feel is your greatest obstacle in achieving the grade you want in this class? What is one … Continue reading →

Posted in Course design, Engaging students, Learning at home, Study skills, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

FOH: Finally, a cure for FMOOWMP

Posted on October 3, 2016 by

If your students are like mine, no location on campus is scarier than your office. Did you know that their reluctance to come to your office hours actually has a medical cause? I didn’t until I saw this funny new … Continue reading →

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