Category Archives: Teaching

Instructors: Be kind to your future self

Posted on February 13, 2020 by

I’ve posted a few times on helping your students cultivate a growth mindset. But I think its also important to think about our own mindsets as instructors. How can we cultivate a growth mindset about teaching, learn from our mistakes, and … Continue reading →

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My Students Need Help Asking for Help; Do Yours?

Posted on October 28, 2019 by

We finished exam 2 in my nonmajors biology class last week, and after the exam was over, I had an epiphany: Very few students asked me for help. For context, I’ve been doing this job for more than 20 years. … Continue reading →

Posted in Engaging students, Study skills, Teaching | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

“Practice Perfection”: It’s Not Just for Gymnasts

Posted on April 12, 2019 by

In case you are not focused on the world of college gymnastics, the University of Oklahoma’s men’s and women’s teams are second to none. I am not exaggerating: You can see the 2019 NCAA men’s rankings here and the women’s … Continue reading →

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The Laptop Ban: New Research

Posted on February 9, 2019 by

Faithful readers may remember that a couple of years ago I banned the use of laptops in my nonmajors biology classroom. You can read about the rationale in a previous blog post that summarizes the Mueller and Oppenheimer study, which … Continue reading →

Posted in Instructional technology, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Raise Your Hand: How Do You Start the Semester on the Right Foot?

Posted on August 31, 2018 by

Years ago, I published my best idea for semester prep, a checklist that has proved to be an audience favorite. Over the past 5 years, many readers have asked for my checklist, which I have freely shared. I was knee-deep … Continue reading →

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Another Way to Connect Selection, Phenotype, and Genotype

Posted on May 31, 2018 by

Now that it’s summer, I’m catching up on my American Biology Teacher backlog. I found this interesting-looking activity by Janina Jördens and three coauthors in the February 2018 issue. The title of the article says it all: “Interrelating Concepts from … Continue reading →

Posted in Evolution, Laboratory activities, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Antibiotic resistance in the lab … with actual bacteria!

Posted on April 1, 2018 by

Apparently my post on the antibiotic resistance activity using green, yellow, and red beads was a big hit with instructors, because lots of people want a copy of the worksheet. I have been happy to oblige, and now I want … Continue reading →

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Selling the laptop ban: An activity

Posted on September 9, 2017 by

In my last blog post, I reported introducing a new no-laptop policy in my nonmajors biology class. We just finished week 3, and things are going well — there has been no pushback, and I really enjoy looking out at … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching | Tagged , , , , , | 24 Comments

A laptop ban at last

Posted on August 29, 2017 by

More than three years ago, I wrote a blog post about the debate over allowing cell phones and laptops in class. In the blog post, I summarized a study by Mueller and Oppenheimer showing that students who took notes on … Continue reading →

Posted in Instructional technology, Teaching | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

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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