Try Something New
Incorporating new materials, ideas and methods in your course can energize your teaching and can more fully engage students in learning. You should however, be thoughtful in how much new material or how many new methods you incorporate into your course at one time. It is generally wise to make small, incremental changes to a course. In doing so, you allow yourself the ability to monitor and adjust your modifications to best support the goals of your course.
Discovering New Instructional Strategies.
Frequently, instructors rely on familiar methods of conducting class meetings. In truth however, there are many ways to engage students in your course material no matter what your discipline or the format of your course.
Strategies to help you achieve specific goals for your course:
Implementing New Technology in the Classroom
New technologies have the potential to allow you to easily provide access to course material and content, demonstrate concepts and processes, facilitate discussions and engage students. However, each new technology has its costs and benefits. We believe that instructors should be fully-informed about the pros and cons of a technology and should use it only if it supports learning.
Technologies to help you accomplish your goals in the classroom:
Exploring New Methods for Assessing and Evaluating Teaching and Learning.
Assessment means much more that administering a test and assigning grades. Indeed, many simple assessment techniques may be unfamiliar to even experienced instructors. There are many methods to help you help you evaluate how effective you are in the classroom and to offer students an opportunity to demonstrate if they have achieved important learning outcomes.
Integrating New Themes.
Carnegie Mellon, through its mission statement, strategic plan and special initiatives, encourages several broad curricular thematic content areas. These themes can be integrated into specific courses, and when relevant, may be helpful in achieving important course objectives.
Thematic areas with links to helpful resources, including examples from Carnegie Mellon courses:
