Category Archives: Pedagogy

“When McGraw-Hill Education polled more than 600 college faculty in 2017, 70% said students were less willing to ask questions and participate in class than they were five years ago.”

Posted on September 28, 2017 by Kate Stover

I’m with the 70%. At some point in every class, I say, “What questions do you have about this?” Seldom do students respond. However, if that same question is included in a quiz, about a third ask for more information … Continue reading →

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“Our challenge as culturally responsive teachers is knowing how to create an environment that the brain perceives as safe so it can . . . turn its attention to learning.”

Posted on September 9, 2017 by Kate Stover

Most often, “culturally responsive teaching” focuses on students of color and students who are linguistically diverse.  After reading iGen by Jean Twenge, however, I would argue that students born between 1995 and 2012 have unique cultural characteristics that we need … Continue reading →

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“The surprising result of this research was that self-transcendent purpose produced the strongest driver for students to persist through challenging academic tasks.”

Posted on August 31, 2017 by Kate Stover

Jim Lang’s wonderful book Small Teaching was the first one I reached for after finishing the profoundly disturbing book iGen last week, which described in precise, scientific terms the characteristics of many of the students who are entering our classrooms … Continue reading →

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“In 2016, for the first time, the majority of entering college students described their mental health as below average.”

Posted on August 27, 2017 by Kate Stover

If you teach college students, stop what you are doing and get your hands on this book. The data collected here will change how you see the people who sit in front of you. Twenge argues that the generation born … Continue reading →

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“Students rated sociability (e.g., friendliness, warmth) as significantly more important than did faculty.”

Posted on August 11, 2017 by Kate Stover

A 2014 study by Megan Gerhardt evaluated how instructors and students ranked contributors to teaching credibility. While everyone agreed that competence in subject matter and character are most important, students noted a desire for sociability that “has important implications for … Continue reading →

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“Of the students who report having disabilities, the largest and fastest-growing group is students who have ‘invisible disabilities.’”

Posted on June 23, 2017 by Kate Stover

One of my greatest challenges as an English instructor is to address the learning needs of students with invisible disabilities, such as anxiety disorders. This population is growing at an astonishing rate. Between 2008 and 2016, the number of college … Continue reading →

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“Education, when rightly understood, will be found to lie in the art of asking apt and fit questions…”

Posted on June 16, 2017 by Kate Stover

Bronson Alcott continues, “…and in thus leading the mind by its own light to the perception of truth.”  Using discussion questions to develop ideas instead of using the rote learning method to reinforce “the” right ideas was considered outrageous in … Continue reading →

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“More often than we think, our limits are self-imposed.”

Posted on June 9, 2017 by Kate Stover

I once asked the director of our program for non-traditional college students what the biggest challenge was for these students.  Was it ability?  “No,” she said. “It’s their perception of their abilities.  They don’t think they’re smart enough. Then they … Continue reading →

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The students felt that a few could carry the discussion for the rest of the class . . .

Posted on March 30, 2017 by Kate Stover

. . . while the majority of students adhered to a ‘norm of silence’ – not perceiving themselves as obligated to participate in the conversation (50).  Jay R. Howard, a sociologist, calls this the norm of “the consolidation of responsibility,” … Continue reading →

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“Researchers found that students who wrote prolifically before high-stakes performances, like examinations and final papers, significantly improved their performance on their final work” (69).

Posted on February 2, 2017 by Kate Stover

Interestingly, in this study by Ramirez and Beilock (2011), as summarized by Gary R. Hafer in Embracing Writing, it didn’t matter whether students wrote about the subject matter or about their emotions and anxiety – what mattered was how frequently … Continue reading →

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“This all sounds very messy”

Posted on January 12, 2017 by Kate Stover

What I’m looking for – perhaps what we’re all looking for – are learning principles that are most likely to lead to long-term retention – even if they’re messy. In Small Teaching, Jim Lang describes a learning principle called “interleaving” … Continue reading →

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Five Intriguing Ideas from 2016 Books

Posted on December 29, 2016 by Kate Stover

This blog focuses on one idea from one book each week, and so selecting just five from the 50 or so that I’ve published in 2016 is a challenge. But after looking through them all, I have to say that … Continue reading →

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“Attributes like confidence, enthusiasm, and likability can be perceived in the briefest of exposures.”

Posted on December 15, 2016 by Kate Stover

In The Spark of Learning, Sarah Rose Cavanagh describes a study where students were asked to rate professors after seeing 30-second videos of lectures that had no audio. The students’ ratings predicted with surprising accuracy the professors’ actual end-of-semester evaluations. … Continue reading →

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“If anything has been learned from this century of research on learning, it is that learning is not one thing but many things.”

Posted on November 17, 2016 by Kate Stover

What I love about this book is its informed and nuanced contribution to the “lecture vs. active learning” discussion that has been bubbling up for some time now at college campuses.  The authors say that decisions about teaching methodology must … Continue reading →

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The 10 Best Books for College Teachers — Part 2

Posted on October 6, 2016 by Kate Stover

My list of the books that have sparked the biggest changes in how and why I teach continues this week.  What are your favorites?  Share your recommendations in the “Leave a comment” box below or email me at CStover1@madisoncollege.edu. 6. … Continue reading →

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