Resources

CNDLS Resources

• The CNDLS podcast, What We’re Learning About Learning, features episodes on issues that cut across teaching: equity, technology, student well-being, innovation, etc. And the episode “Teaching and Learning as a Graduate Student” features graduates of the AT Program!
• The Inclusive Pedagogy Toolkit offers concrete, evidence-based suggestions for designing inclusive, antiracist learning environments through five key interconnected aspects of teaching and learning relevant to all courses.
• The CNDLS Prospect Blog posts about upcoming events, the reading and research behind CNDLS programs and recommendations, and much more.

You’ll find other CNDLS resources below, in the categories where they’re most relevant.

Academic Job Search

• Carleton Interview Questions Ignore the fact that this page states "Preparing for an Academic Career in the Geosciences." The questions they list are broadly applicable, and include a long list of questions that you can ask deans, faculty, search committees, etc.1. Academic Job Search
• Carleton Interview Questions Ignore the fact that this page states "Preparing for an Academic Career in the Geosciences." The questions they list are broadly applicable, and include a long list of questions that you can ask deans, faculty, search committees, etc.
• "Academic Job Searching for Dummies" An article in the Chronicle of Higher Education which gives good common-sense advice about the job search. There are some basic things you can do to increase your chances to make a good impression during the job search! 
• "The Community College Job Search" Dana M. Zimbleman has written an entire series of articles for The Chronicle of Higher Education about pursuing a career teaching at Community Colleges. We link to one of the articles here, but if you search her name on the Chronicle's site, all the articles will pop up. Check it out!
• Teaching At Community College A two part article in the "Chronicle of Higher Education," in which author Rob Jenkins answers common questions about the two year college job market.
  What Graduate Students Want to Know About Community Colleges, Part 1.
  What Graduate Students Want to Know About Community Colleges, Part 2.

Assessment and Grading

CNDLS’ Assessment and Student Feedback hub offers many practical ideas for how to make assessment, grading, and evaluation work smoothly, inclusively, and effectively in your courses.

Evaluations

• Forms for Mid-Semester Evaluation Want to know how your class is going? Wondering if your students find your classroom activities effective? Using mid-semester evaluations can confirm your suspicions of how your students perceive your class. This link from Princeton University provides a form for evaluations, and a list of questions you can use to create the kind of evaluation you feel will be most effective for your class. Evaluation fun! 
• For those who are leading their own courses (i.e., not TAs), CNDLS offers a Mid-Semester Teaching Feedback service where we meet with you, your students, and then you again, to get a picture of how things are going.

Plagiarism

• "Student Plagiarism: Are Teachers Part of the Solution or Part of the Problem?" In this brief essay from the Professional & Organizational Development Network in Higher Education, author Chris M. Anson argues that teachers can help prevent plagiarism by designing more thoughtful assignments.
• “From Cheating to Learning.” Cheating can happen for lots of reasons, and, as this resource from the University of Virginia argues, each reason requires a different solution.

Rubrics

• Introduction to Rubrics So...you know you want to use a rubric... but you just spent an hour fiddling with the table formatting. If so, this is the site for you. They have a few simple blank rubrics that you can download as word documents. Huzzah! Now you can focus on the grading criteria which will fill in the blanks.
• RubiStar Free Rubric Creation Tool: While this site allows you to create free rubrics, which is cool, be warned that you may need to come up with more advanced guidelines for projects (we doubt your students are designing book covers!). But it's another quick way to start creating a great rubric. 

Course and Syllabus Design

• Creating Your Syllabus CNDLS’ resource page lays out the basic elements of a syllabus and offers some examples from GU courses.
• Writing A Syllabus Great resource from Cornell. Includes questions and thoughts for what you might include in each section of your syllabus, as well as a long list of additional readings and templates.

Effective Discussions and Lectures

Planning Class As this CNDLS resource argues, good class sessions rarely just happen; they usually grow out of careful planning and execution. Full of useful suggestions for creating a session that works.

Creating an Interesting Lecture

• Lecturing Effectively CNDLS’ resource page offers suggestions for how to make lectures engaging, active, and clear—and also talks about the role of students in an effective lecture.
• Changing Up Lectures Most classes are 50-75 minutes long. A student's attention span is typically 15-20 minutes. See the problem? In their article "The Change-Up In Lectures," authors Joan Mittendorf and Alan Kalish suggest different strategies for maintaining attention during lectures. (As a bonus, author Stephen Brookfield shares his thoughts on critical thinking in the second half of the pdf).
• "Powerpoint: Possibilities and Problems" Powerpoint presentations may be a great way to disseminate information, but they also have many pitfalls. In this short article, authors Eugene V. Gallagher and Michael Reder discuss why we should be wary of PowerPoint, and how we might use it effectively in the classroom.

Leading Productive Discussions

• Classroom Structures Which Encourage Student Participation Are you in a rut? Need some activities to shake up your classroom discussions? Check out this useful sheet of classroom activities from Cornell.
• Conducting Effective Classroom Discussions Article from the Journal of Reading by James Barton which suggests specific techniques for becoming "effective discussion facilitators."

Leading Difficult Discussions

• Difficult Discussions CNDLS’ page on setting up and facilitating difficult conversations offers suggestions and a host of resources to make those charged discussions productive and effective.

Large Classroom Dynamics

• Encouraging Civil Behavior in Large Classes A large class can be a disorienting, alienating experience. This, in turn, may lead students to act out, or take the class casually. In this short essay, author Mary Deane Sorcinelli reviews strategies which can encourage civil and polite behavior in large classes, and discusses dealing with students arriving late/leaving early, decreasing anonymity, and talking during the lecture.
• "Teaching Large:" Resources, tips, and activities for large college classes A series of helpful, engaging videos from the University of Texas at Austin. Teachers of large classes share their strategies in making lectures a more active learning experience. This well designed site includes videos and pdfs of activities. It also includes an interesting model for group work.

Teaching Philosophy Statements 

• Writing a Teaching Philosophy for the Academic Job Search This helpful article lays out step by step how to write a teaching philosophy statement, answers some frequently asked questions, and includes a rubric for statements.
• Four Steps to a Memorable Teaching Philosophy Thoughts from a tenured professor who has served on multiple search committees as to what makes a good teaching philosophy statement.
• Iowa State University Teaching Philosophy Statement This site cuts to the chase, offering in four short sections the raison d'etre for your teaching philosophy statement.
• Drafting a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Statement This resource from The University of Texas at Austin explains the value of a DEI statement (an increasingly common element of an academic job application) and helps walk you through the process of writing one.

Teaching Portfolios

• Exploring E-Portfolios Kathleen Black Yancey is one of the leading thinkers on teaching portfolios. As more schools adopt teaching portfolios for assessment and reflection, it never hurts to think about how you might create your own teaching portfolio, or use them in your classroom. In her article "Postmodernism, Palimpsest, and Portfolios: Theoretical Issues in the Representation of Student Work," Yancey explores the issues of e-portfolios and student work.
• Vanderbilt Teaching Portfolio Divided into brief sections such as "What Role Do Teaching Portfolios Play on the Job Market?" and "Electronic Teaching Portfolio," this resource briefly addresses a few less commonly discussed aspects of teaching portfolios. This site also has a list of links, not just hardcopy references(!), about teaching portfolios.

Technology and Teaching

• Teaching with Technology This CNDLS resource exemplifies ways in which technology can help you pursue your educational goals.
• The Teaching, Learning, and Technology (TLT) Group Although some of these suggestions are a little bit dated (for example, they are really, really, excited about email) this site offers some quick suggestions for incorporating technology in the classroom. The page is arranged according to the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education. 
• Bloom's Revised Taxonomy Bloom's Taxonomy is over 60 years old, and in recognition of today's changing educational environment, has been updated to include technology. What might your educational objectives look like using this new, action-oriented taxonomy?
• "Wired Campus" Blog Stay up-to-date with the latest on education and technology in this blog from the Chronicle of Higher Education. 
• Kairos Interested in the relationship between writing and technology? Kairos is an online journal with dozens of articles about writing, rhetoric, and technology.