“Our students aren’t the same as the high profile students you taught at your graduate institution. How would you change your approach to fit the needs of the students at X University?” This question, or a variation thereof, has become common in tenure-track job interviews. Some interviewees stumble through it blindly, hoping to get back…
I have written about my affinity for group projects before and I’ve posted an assignment I use in my survey classes called “The Big Book of ABC’s.” I want to share another assignment from my medical history class that can be modified for any class in which the students examine how more than one group…
Last year, William and Mary lost four students to suicide, leading to collective hand wringing and extensive media coverage. The Dean’s office sent emails – lots of emails. Emails about counseling support for students. Emails listing suicide warning signs. Emails that urged faculty to be understanding of students struggling academically as a result of these…
Last spring, I taught two courses that attracted a lot of STEM students. History of medicine always holds appeal for future doctors and my death in America course drew more aspiring engineers and chemists than it did aspiring historians. This was a very different experience for me, as I was used to having most of…
I am a strong believer in group projects, even if almost everyone else in higher education thinks they are a waste of time. Earlier this month, I had a conversation with a senior faculty member about one of my syllabi for this semester. She was surprised that I included a group project that was worth…
Below is an assignment I have given to three different U.S. 1877-Present survey courses. I present it below in its entirety, exactly as I assign it to my students. “The Big Book of ABC’s” is designed to help students do the following: 1) Work well in a group. I have found that students abhor group…
Many unseasoned (and plenty of seasoned) teachers hate giving lectures. I never feared lectures because I have a background in third-person historical interpretation and this made the transition from talking to the public to teaching a lecture-style class easy for me. I’ve spent years developing methods to engage different kinds of audiences and it has…
As you well know, teaching controversial topics can be tricky. Negative, knee-jerk reactions from students do little to broaden their understanding of American history and hamper their intellectual growth. I have devised a small assignment to encourage my students to carefully examine “unpleasant” individuals and groups that influenced American history. The assignment is below: In…
If we subscribe to the old adage that students retain “10% of what they see, 30% to 40% of what they see and hear, and 90% of what they see, hear, and do,” we are doing a disservice to our students. Including kinesthetic activities enriches the classroom experience, helps students better retain content, and…
