Category: Effective Teaching

Prepare Early for Accommodations

Reading Time: < 1 minuteConnect with Accessibility Service’s resources for faculty to prepare to connect students with on campus supports. Be sure to read and take action on emails from Accessibility Services so you know if you have students seeking accommodations related to disabilities. Requests usually come in at the start of the semester, but a student may also activate or set up accommodations at any...

Preventing Classroom Management Challenges

Reading Time: 7 minutesHow do expert teachers handle classroom management? The research into expertise in teaching shows that expert teachers do not behave like experts in high-risk professions (e.g., paramedics, fire fighters, policing, etc.) in regards to speed. In high-risk fields, experts analyze the situation quickly, come up with a plan of action, and implement the plan more quickly than novices, in part because novices...

Accommodation-Related Classroom Management

Reading Time: 3 minutesWhat are some avoidable occurrences when providing instruction to students when some students may have accommodations? How can I best manage student behaviours while always keeping accommodations in mind? Conestoga Context This will be the first of four tips about classroom management. This past week has brought up many questions about responding to and managing student behaviors in the class...

Hidden Communication Challenges

Reading Time: 4 minutesWhy is it challenging for international students to adapt to new learning environments? How can faculty promptly determine whether international students comprehend class content? Is it ever appropriate to use informal, idiomatic language when teaching international students? Conestoga Context According to International at Conestoga… Scholarship of Teaching and Learning As the number of international students increases at many postsecondary institutions...

Effective Group Work

Reading Time: 4 minutesWhat does the research say about group work and learning?How can I best create groups that work efficiently and collaboratively? Relevant Policies As per the Evaluation of Student Learning Procedure, faculty are responsible for the following. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Well-designed group work can be a useful and motivating experience for students. Collaborative, social teams engaged in problem-solving have proven...