Center for Excellence in Teaching
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Opening class with a short, current example is a low-prep way to make any course feel immediately relevant, and it works whether your “headlines” are literal news stories or just recent developments in your field. Beyond keeping students engaged, the habit models what it looks like to stay current in a discipline and gives students regular practice connecting course concepts to real-world situations, a skill that carries well beyond any one class. It’s also a flexible format: a biology course might open with a new public health study, a business course with a recent market shift or product launch, an engineering course with a news story about infrastructure failure, and a history course with a current event that echoes a past one. The specific source changes by field, but the underlying habit, briefly tying coursework to something happening right now, travels easily.
Tips for Integrating Current Events in a Course
- Build a habit of scanning and bookmarking relevant sources. Skim a few trusted sources in your field regularly (news outlets, trade publications, journals, professional newsletters) and save articles and items, so examples are easy to pull together each week.
- Keep it brief. A one- or two-page reading, a short clip, or a few minutes of discussion is enough, this is a warm-up, not a full lesson.
- Connect it explicitly. Tie the example back to that day’s topic or to something covered earlier, so students see the throughline rather than a random aside.
- Represent multiple perspectives. Where relevant, bring in more than one viewpoint on the same example to model balanced thinking.
- Use it to invite quieter voices. Because the material is new to everyone, it can be a lower-stakes entry point for students who are hesitant to speak up about assigned readings.
- Watch for signs it’s landing. Students referencing outside sources in their assignments, or seeking out your sources on their own, are good indicators the habit is taking hold.
- Prepare for friction when discussing controversial topics. Give structure and guidance to students when working with texts and media that may spark strong opinions or cause emotional reactions. For more information on navigating controversial topics, see the CET Video Series on Challenging Discussions and the written resource on Discussing Current Events.
Research on Teaching with Current Events
Huerta, J. C., & Jozwiak, J. (2008). Developing civic engagement in general education Political Science. Journal of Political Science Education, 4(1), 42–60. USC Libraries link.
Kiselyov, K., & Schunn, C. D. (2024). Peer-reviewed presentation exchange in an undergraduate classroom. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, 24(1), e0006723. USC Libraries link.
Moryl, R. L. (2021). Economics ripped from the headlines: “The Economist” as course text. The Journal of Economic Education, 52(4), 343. USC Libraries link.