Oct

30

Increasing Student Participation – the Response Sheet

October 30, 2008 | by Leah Schanke | 8 Comments

For those of us who were painfully shy as children – “painful” really is the right word – we recall our teachers telling us that we must participate in class discussions. I still have my high school report cards – the most frequent comment is “needs to participate more.” I remember even being very shy [...]

Oct

27

Breaking the Ice

October 27, 2008 | by Will Millhiser | 1 Comment

Did you meet Mel Silberman, Temple University’s guru of active classroom participation, when he spoke at Baruch in 2006 or 2008? I recently came across a four-page paper (here) that Silberman wrote on the subject of classroom icebreakers. Who would have known that you can promote social interaction while simultaneously engaging students in the course [...]

Oct

23

Grafting onto What Students Already Know

October 23, 2008 | by Glenn Petersen | 4 Comments

When I was a boy I was extremely proud of one of my dad’s apple trees, the one onto which he had grafted three varieties of apples and a pear. By carefully attaching cuttings from these different fruits onto the stem of a single tree he had been able to make it bear a [...]

Oct

20

Intellectual Challenge vs. Grade Inflation

October 20, 2008 | by Elisabeth Gareis | 8 Comments

What are your thoughts on course evaluations? I find them to be a great motivator for reflecting on course content and delivery. My latest project is to increase my ratings on the item: “The course challenged me intellectually.” I feel I have been too lenient at times, not challenging our students enough and falling victim [...]

Oct

16

Getting a Grip on Traditions

October 16, 2008 | by Leah Schanke | 1 Comment

Dennis Slavin, Associate Provost, is to be credited for this blog post’s title. We would like to direct you to a conversation between Dennis Slavin and Mikhail Gershovich, Director of the Bernard L. Schwartz Communication Institute at Baruch College, about teaching traditional essay structures at:
http://cac.ophony.org/2008/10/15/the-deadly-grip-of-tradition/
Below is a link to information on Student Writing at Baruch [...]

Oct

13

Teaching the Work-Life Balance

October 13, 2008 | by Will Millhiser | 6 Comments

Is it me or are many of our BBA students preoccupied with securing the type of prestigious, high-paying jobs that can take a terrible toll on the personal life? How many undergraduate students do you know whose life ambition is to be an investment banker, management consultant or auditor for the Big Four? Don’t [...]

Oct

10

Mind the Gap: Creating Links Between Class Sessions

October 10, 2008 | by sotoole | 3 Comments

My classes meet twice a week. And while my syllabus presents a carefully planned series of linked readings, writing assignments, and in-class activities, I know my students don’t always experience the course as seamlessly as I might like. How could they with everything else they have to do?
One simple technique I’ve been experimenting with aims [...]

Oct

7

Teachin’ Thinkin’

October 7, 2008 | by Tomasello | 1 Comment

Many years ago, I engaged in a short dialogue with a former colleague who had told me that he was hired to “teach music.” I differed with him and insisted that we were hired to teach thinking, writing, study skills, and many other things that were ultimately applicable to all of life’s situations. I told [...]

Oct

2

Multiple Choice Questions for Quants?

October 2, 2008 | by Will Millhiser | Leave a Comment

Lately, I’ve been wondering about the efficacy of multiple choice exams in quantitative disciplines, like operations management, calculus, finance, etc., and discovered this little study that García Cruz and Garret presented at the 2006 International Conference on Teaching Statistics in Brazil (link to proceeding). Using a combination of multiple-choice and open-ended questions about descriptive statistics, [...]