4 Steps for a Successful Semester – Build and keep a schedule, attend classes, reach out, and believe in yourself!!

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Put your ‘Ducks in a row’  It takes time to transition to a busy college schedule.  And by ‘time’, we mean sometimes several semesters!  If you don’t feel you are there yet, you are not alone!  We all come to new experiences with different strengths, and sets of experiences.   If you are an undergraduate student… Continue Reading 4 Steps for a Successful Semester – Build and keep a schedule, attend classes, reach out, and believe in yourself!!

3 TYPES OF ‘STRUCTURE’ CREATE INCLUSIVE COLLABORATION in a student-centered classroom

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  As we know, collaboration does not typically happen by simply asking students to collaborate. Without structure, students familiar with the still-common passive forms of teaching often default to working independently, or occasionally cooperating with a peer nearby, and then only if they are confident and feel safe in a classroom. Creating the sort of… Continue Reading 3 TYPES OF ‘STRUCTURE’ CREATE INCLUSIVE COLLABORATION in a student-centered classroom

‘Just-in-time facilitating’: Tips for unpacking problems and guiding collaboration in STEM-focused groupwork

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If you are teaching a topic, it is likely that you have a high level of preparedness, intuition, and ability that has been developed beyond the level of many of your learners. Unpacking a complex problem into logical steps, assessing what information is necessary to begin and move forward, and understanding what constitutes a ‘reasonable’… Continue Reading ‘Just-in-time facilitating’: Tips for unpacking problems and guiding collaboration in STEM-focused groupwork

Heading ‘Back to the Future’ of the Classroom not ‘Back to Normal’: Reflections on opportunities to benefit from our online experience

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Ready or not! Here we go, back into the classroom! Back to teaching in physical spaces where we can see each other by simply turning our heads or wandering over to a corner of the room to offer needed support or direction, rather than popping in and out of Zoom breakout rooms like Samantha on… Continue Reading Heading ‘Back to the Future’ of the Classroom not ‘Back to Normal’: Reflections on opportunities to benefit from our online experience

Cornell Engineering Tutors: Exemplifying the Benefits of One-on-One Support

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  “I enjoyed helping other people out, and tutoring also helped me get a stronger hand on the material, which actually helped me in courses I took later on in college.” We are sending off seven ‘21 graduating Engineers with our utmost gratitude for their exceptional support mentoring students in the Engineering Learning Initiatives (ELI)… Continue Reading Cornell Engineering Tutors: Exemplifying the Benefits of One-on-One Support

THE FUTURE’S SO BRIGHT, THEY GOTTA WEAR SHADES! AEW Facilitators Graduate after Teaching Through a Pandemic

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At the close of the Spring 2021 semester we are saying so-long and good luck to 14 Academic Excellence Workshop (AEW) facilitators! These graduates hail from 8 different engineering programs and together they represent 70 semesters of teaching and 72 AEW workshops during their undergraduate careers.  It bears mentioning that all of these facilitators, whose… Continue Reading THE FUTURE’S SO BRIGHT, THEY GOTTA WEAR SHADES! AEW Facilitators Graduate after Teaching Through a Pandemic

Becoming Teachers: Engineering graduate students reflect on their diverse professional journeys at Cornell

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Prologue Teaching is a calling. It’s a calling that can be awakened at different points in one’s experience. But once awakened; evidence-based teaching practices must be cultivated. Part art and mostly science, the research that informs the best teaching practices is as wide and diverse as any. When a passion for teaching finds itself lodged… Continue Reading Becoming Teachers: Engineering graduate students reflect on their diverse professional journeys at Cornell

WISDOM FROM UNDERGRAD PEER EDUCATORS: Hard-won tips for online teaching

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One and a half semesters of mostly online teaching down, and at least one more to go in this COVID-altered academic world. As a growing part of the team supporting student learning outcomes, undergraduate peer educators have worked very hard, received training, and honed their skills as facilitators of engaged, compassionate, and student-centered online learning. … Continue Reading WISDOM FROM UNDERGRAD PEER EDUCATORS: Hard-won tips for online teaching

UNPACKING “ENGAGEMENT” IN THE CLASSROOM and some practical suggestions for turning theory into practice ( PART 1 – Individual student engagement)

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(Vivienne Liu, Cornell Engineering PhD Candidate and TA Trainer Consultant, contributed strongly to this reflection by bringing the paper to our summer development workshops and sharing her ideas for classroom application) ‘Engagement’ is a term used a lot these days in discussions about successful education experiences.  Learning occurs in a complex matrix which makes it… Continue Reading UNPACKING “ENGAGEMENT” IN THE CLASSROOM and some practical suggestions for turning theory into practice ( PART 1 – Individual student engagement)

PRIMING THE CANVAS: Creating inclusive learning environments online

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Be even more cognizant of diversity in your online students. Consider all the ways in which learners can be diverse.  Diverse identities typically come to mind first. Remember also that there is a diversity of ways in which learners process incoming information and a large percent of challenges to learning for students in your classroom… Continue Reading PRIMING THE CANVAS: Creating inclusive learning environments online