Follow

• 

  Using Problem-Based Learning to Promote Self-directed Learning at UNLV School of Medicine

  Rosalie Kalili

  It is imperative that medical students develop skills that promote life-long learning and manage the doubling rate of medical knowledge. Through the use of problem-based learning (PBL), self-directed learning (SDL) can be practiced; and both can serve as ongoing learning approaches beyond medical school.

• 

  Design Data-driven Assignments for Clear, Transparent, and Efficient Teaching

  Julian Kilker

  Working with students in hybrid, inperson, or online courses involves many data interactions. Data-driven assignments are structured to gather and evaluate student work at both macro and micro levels needed to evaluate learning and improve course materials. This practice uses Google Forms and linked Sheets to create data-driven assignments and custom dashboards.

• 

  Fostering Student Engagement: Four Strategies

  Erica Marti, Ryan Sherman, and Haroon Stephen

  In response to studies demonstrating that poor teaching was the cause of many students leaving math, science, and engineering programs, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) developed the ExCEEd(Excellence in Civil Engineering Education) Teaching Workshop. Several faculty from the UNLV Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Construction have attended the highly intensive five-day workshop. To evaluate the impact on student engagement, four basic instructional strategies from the ExCEEdworkshop, applicable to all fields, were tested and assessed during the Fall 2018 semester: Questioning techniques, physical models, instructor involvement, and group work.

• 

  Trauma-Informed Schools and Educators

  Carolina Meza Perez and Michelle Paul

  Educators, staff, and administrators in the school community will be prepared to recognize and respond to those who have been impacted by traumatic stress.

• 

  Professional Development: COLA 100L

  Kassandra Moore

  The need for professional development integration into curriculum is vital for student success. Colleges and universities across the country are implementing career and professional development opportunities into classroom curriculum to better prepare students for life outside the classroom. Specialized events and focused learning opportunities help students successfully navigate through the career development process, and is exactly what students need.

• 

  Infographics as Data Visualization Class Assignment

  Kim Nehls

  Data visualization is commonplace. UNLV students need to be prepared.

• 

  Student-Led Discussions

  Deborah A. Obara

  According to constructivist learning theory informed by cognitive and educational psychology, the optimal conditions needed for learning include accurate assessment of student background knowledge; engaging, scaffolded activities; cognitive elaboration; and more knowledgeable others available to assist when needed.

• 

  Mentoring Meetings Increase Student Performance on “High Stakes” Projects in STEM

  Elana A. Paladino

  The current project addresses whether one-on-one, mentoring meetings to discuss poster rough drafts will impact learning more consistently.

• 

  The Importance of Universal Design in Teaching

  Maria Pena

  Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an educational framework based on research in the learning sciences, including cognitive neuroscience, that guides the development of flexible learning environments that can accommodate individual learning differences.

• 

  Student Polling in WebCampus

  Benjamin Root, Jennie Tran, Joey Kim, and Philip Cheung

  Our goal was to increase student engagement with online courses by building a student polling system that works inside of WebCampus.

• 

  Designing Engaged Learning Experiences: Service-learning at UNLV

  Rian Satterwhite

  “Service-learning is a form of experiential education in which students engage in activities that address human and community needs together with structured opportunities for reflection designed to achieve desired learning outcomes.” Jacoby and Associates, 1996

• 

  Active Learning and Transparency in Teaching Gateway Mathematics Courses

  Viktoria Savatorova

  The need: we concentrate our attention on the gateway courses (for example, PreCalculus ) which have had traditionally low passing scores and retention. Objectives: in our teaching practice we aim to be consistent assuring: Active participation in the class work based on understanding the concepts and ability to implement them; Clear understanding of the requirements and the grading system (what should be done, when it needs to be done, and how to do that?)

• 

  Dynamic Lightboard Videos

  Kristina Schmid, Peter McCandless, and Eddie Gomez

  STEM content in online courses can be difficult to convey. Instructional videos are often limited to voiced-over, handwritten examples which can limit the quality of dynamic presentation. The need is for a technological medium that facilitates a personal connection. The Office of Online Education’s new lightboard technology enhances video presentation. This solution supports online learning and student engagement to promote student success.

• 

  Reality in the Classroom: Teaching Critical Thinking with Scenarios

  Timothy T. Self

  One of the challenges for hospitality educators is to develop critical thinking skills in the future leaders of the industry. It is often thought that students will develop this skill as a by product of course work, but research indicates that it must be explicitly taught.

• 

  Connecting Ethics to FYS Class Participation

  Emily Shreve

  One goal of UNLV’s First-Year Seminars is that students are introduced to, and understand the purpose of, the University Undergraduate Learning Outcomes (UULOs). This activity introduces students to Citizenship and Ethics, focusing especially on applying ethics in situations directly relevant to students’ daily lives.

• 

  Pre-tests Improve Students’ Critical Thinking

  Alison Sloat

  First-year students’ critical thinking and analysis in science is rudimentary in SCI 101, the College of Sciences First Year Seminar. I tested whether the use of Pretests (Figures 1 and 2) can improve students’ inquiry, critical thinking, and analysis skills.

• 

  Quote of the Day: Increasing Student Engagement with Textbooks and Common Readers

  Brandy Smith

  Ensuring that students not only complete assigned readings, but also actively engage with the readings, is a common challenge faced by faculty. Research indicates that approximately only onethird to one-half of students complete assigned readings for any given day (Hatteberg & Steffy, 2013; Hoeft, 2012; Burchfield & Sappington, 2000).

• 

  Body Continuum Polling: A Dynamic Technique for Any Classroom

  Erica S. Tietjen

  Body continuum polling is an active technique designed to engage students physically in the classroom space, by getting them move around the classroom to place themselves along a gradient (less to more, low to high, etc.) that spans the room. Students provide their opinion on a question or topic, combined with a kinesthetic approach that engages them with movement (Mobley & Fisher, 2014).

• 

  A Strategy to Increase Formative Assessment and Student Engagement during Labs

  Jennifer C. Utz and Angela Hammond

  In a 200-level biology laboratory course, we developed learning objectives (LO) for each lab. We also developed practice activities that directly corresponded to each LO. Students earned participation credit through completing the practice activities. As students progressed through their lab work and felt ready, they would request that the lab instructor come check their progress towards mastering a particular LO. If students were successful with the practice, the instructor would mark completion for that LO on the students’ lab handout. If students were not successful, the instructor would provide feedback and recommend additional learning approaches. Since the purpose of the practice activities was to provide formative assessment, students were never penalized for mistakes. The LOs and associated practice tasks address the need for students to know what needs to be learned, to identify gaps or misconceptions in their knowledge, and to gauge their learning progress.

• 

  Civic Engagement and Service Learning Partnerships

  Diane Villa, C. Stockwell, M. Cohen, and K. Stucki

  Service learning is designed to promote volunteerism and civic awareness. Community engagement in higher education specifically involves university members partnering with local community organizations to address a need. Students engage with community partners through service learning and other activities (Moore & Mendez, 2014). Service learning is a practice that connects new knowledge and social responsibility through active learning (Benson & Younkin, 1996).

• 

  Profiling as Pedagogy - Difficult Dialog in Practice

  Erika Abad

  This exercise addresses how to create a safe and inclusive environment needed to discuss unintended racism and racial microaggressions.

• 

  Working Groups as Classroom Management Style

  Emma Frances Bloomfield and Kathryn Rafferty

  There is a need at UNLV to improve student retention across disciplines, which can be done by improving students’ confidence in their performance, improving their satisfaction with classes and their major selections, and providing welcoming and open spaces for participation and inclusion.

• 

  A Teaching Method that Boosts UNLV Student Retention

  Celeste Calkins and Mary-Ann Winkelmes

  Nationally, underserved students are half as likely to graduate in 4 years as their white and Asian peers (US DoE 2014, Tough 2014, Ishitani 2006). UNLV proudly claims the most diverse undergraduate university population in the nation (US News 2017), including many first generation and low-income students. The majority of UNLV students fall into this underserved category, and our retention rates (re-enrollment rates after the 1st year) indicate that roughly ¼ of our 1st-year students do not re-enroll the subsequent year.

• 

  Self-Assessment in the College Curriculum

  Joe Ervin

  The use of self-assessment in the college curriculum is an extensive and wide-reaching endeavor. In essence, through a variety of pedagogical and curricular methods, students are given the opportunity to think about themselves.

• 

  Volunteering in the Community: Combining Service and Learning

  Elena Gandia Garcia

  Most of the patients who use the services offered by the Lied Pediatric Clinic are minorities (70%), and half of those patients are Hispanic. The clinic lacks of professional interpreters to help monolingual doctors and residents to communicate with their patients.