As we approach the end of the term, students will be asked to provide feedback to instructors using U-M's course evaluation system. At CRLT, we often hear from faculty and GSIs who are discouraged about a number of issues related to student ratings, including the tone of some written comments, relatively low response rates, and uncertainty about how best to use the results productively. This post provides some resources for each of these concerns.

1) Minimizing Unhelpful Comments: Student ratings comments can be unhelpful when vague or irrelevant, whether positive ("Great course!") or negative (e.g., criticism of instructor attributes not linked to the learning environment). To encourage students to avoid rude or personally hurtful comments, CRLT worked with ADVANCE at U-M on a handout that instructors can give to students before they fill out their evaluations. The handout, Course Evaluations: Providing Helpful Feedback to Your Instructors, asks students to keep three key issues in mind when completing their ratings:

Nikolas Sweet Ph.D Candidate 2019 PFF Program Assistant

Are you considering a faculty career after graduation?  Want to know more about how to prepare? The Center for Research on Learning and Teaching offers a month-long seminar, “Preparing Future Faculty” (PFF), which helps graduate students navigate the transitional period between graduate school and becoming a faculty member.

*updated November 7, 2018

During U-M's Veterans Week, it's a good time to reflect on the needs of our students who have served in the military. Did you know that record numbers of veterans are enrolling in U.S. colleges and universities--and many of them are here on U-M's campuses? Since January 2014, the university's tuition policy has allowed students who have served in the military to qualify for in-state tuition. If you teach at U-M, odds are good you've had or will have student veterans in your classroom.

How might your awareness of veterans in the classroom make a difference in your teaching? The research on student veterans suggests several strategies and cautions for teaching inclusively with veterans in mind. Here are a few:

Faculty and GSIs from across campus are invited to explore our newest resource dedicated to active learning. At CRLT, we work every day with instructors who are committed to engaging their students actively both inside and outside the classroom. As Michael Prince explains, “Active learning is generally defined as any instructional method that engages students in the learning process. In short, active learning requires students to do meaningful learning activities and think about what they are doing.” (Prince, 2004). Research from Prince as well as a number of other sources (Freeman, 2014; Hake, 1998; Ruiz-Primo et al., 2011) indicates that having students actively engaged increases learning outcomes across disciplines (Ambrose, 2010; Bonwell & Eison, 1991). This new resource showcases the diversity of active learning techniques used by instructors at U-M, from the humanities and arts to STEM, from small seminars to large lectures, to demonstrate not just what active learning is, but how it works in classrooms right here on campus.

The website includes:

• Reflecting on Your Practice: We designed this inventory to help you identify areas in which active learning could be used in your classroom and to suggest opportunities to build on strategies that you already use.
• Implementing Active Learning: Integrating active learning can be beneficial to student learning, but it does come with some challenges. We share tips and techniques for integrating active learning strategies while avoiding common pitfalls.
• U-M Faculty Examples: In these brief case studies, U-M instructors share how they use active learning in specific courses, as well as how they have refined their approach over time. From large Physics lectures to small Screenwriting seminars, these examples span the range of complexity and diversity of approaches to engaging students.
• Resources: This section includes discipline specific resources and the research that speaks to the efficacy of active learning. 
• Share your Example: Are you using active learning in your classroom? We would love for you to share your examples, as we hope to grow this resource to include even more voices in the conversation.

The Rackham School of Graduate Studies and the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT) are excited to invite applications for the "Preparing Future Faculty" (PFF) seminar. PFF is a nationally-recognized program designed to help prepare doctoral candidates across disciplines for the academic job search and success in their subsequent faculty positions.

Read below for reflections from past PFF participant and current PFF program assistant, public policy and sociology doctoral candidate Kennedy A. Turner. 

For more information about the program and application process, click here: http://crlt.umich.edu/programs/pffseminar. Applications are due March 1.

The moment I began to seriously consider pursuing a Ph.D. occurred when I was an undergraduate, sitting in a lecture for Introduction to Sociology. My mind was blown as my professor described the social structures that had previously been invisible to me. Through a single lecture, he was able to seamlessly challenge my existing assumptions about our social world. As I listened to his words, I was enthralled by the power and possibility of the university classroom. After also learning about the research side of faculty life, I decided that pursuing a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Sociology was the right path for me.

I know that many of my peers have similar origin stories, of an engaging professor who inspired them to pursue academia in the first place. Yet, the goal of becoming an engaging professor ourselves can easily get lost under the weight of courses, research obligations, and that whole “writing a dissertation” thing. Like research, writing, and other aspects of the job, teaching is a skill that can be learned and cultivated if taken seriously.