This resource covers strategies for facilitating academic discussions in a variety of teaching settings, including tips for planning discussions, options for whole and small-group discussion types, considerations for assessing student discussions, and relevant research.
Keywords: discussion, small group discussion, discussion forums, active learning, community agreements, discussion norms, strategic questions, participation.
At the March 2024 “A Closer Look” CET workshop on information literacy in courses, USC librarians Ariana Varela & Bridgid Fennell, and Dornsife Professor of Latin American and Iberian Cultures Lori Mesrobian discussed the importance of information literacy across disciplines and strategies for faculty to incorporate more support for these skills with students – including a variety of approaches to instructional collaboration with USC librarians.
Tara Mastro of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology discusses utilizing the power of group learning where student groups design a pitch for a public awareness campaign during the February 2024 Faculty Showcase.
This resource provides tips for streamlining grading and making student assessment and feedback more efficient.
This resource provides considerations for converting assessments that require proctoring or time-intensive grading typically done by TAs to shorter, or more automated options.
This resource provides options for faculty who may need to teach their labs online because teaching assistant support is not available to them. It includes pedagogical considerations, links to databases of STEM content, and links to simulation and video resources.
This resource provides tips and considerations for instructors in facilitating discussions or activities in large enrollment classes without teaching assistant support.
This resource provides a checklist of considerations for providing student feedback verbally, in writing, or through video.
This resource provides suggestions for effective communication with students to advance your teaching goals and to help maintain work-life balance and wellbeing for both instructors and students. It lists an array of options for communicating with students and identifies campus resources available to faculty when communications require intervention.
This resource provides a summary of what students report is important to them in an online learning or LMS environment.
Center for Excellence in Teaching