This essay is the second in a series of short pieces that offer faculty across the campus an insider’s tour of one of the courses that make up UP’s Core program. Since the Core involves almost a third of the curriculum for every UP student, faculty can benefit from these discipline-by-discipline essays, to better understand…Continue Reading Core Matters: Thinking through Literature in English 112
When I first began using digital notes, I was seriously impressed with the positive impact on my work and learning. You see, I have always been a poor organizer of paper notes. Even if I carefully wrote down key points or things I needed to remember, the information invariably ends up lost, crumpled up, and…Continue Reading There Has Never Been a Better Time to Try Digital Notes
The Northwest College Reading and Learning Association conference is just around the corner from May 11-12 at the University of Portland. Register today at www.nwcrla.com. Our theme is “Blazing a Trail for Student Success.” On the Friday afternoon, Leonard Geddes of the LearnWell Projects will lead a three-hour workshop Preconditions for Learning: Establishing the Proper…Continue Reading Learning Commons hosts Northwest CRLA at UP, May 11-12
Last week, Lars Larson challenged us to integrate interleaving into our courses, basing his proposal on principles found in Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel’s Make it Stick (2014). One simple approach to interleaving is to bridge the introduction of material over two classes while also working on a different topic or concept. Although I know to…Continue Reading “…and I was happy not to finish what I had intended.”
Welcome to the fifth week of the semester. By this time, students are dealing with the reality of just how much they have to do for their courses. Those who successfully navigate their busy course loads will likely have developed approaches to managing their time and learning. In the Learning Commons, we’re training our peer…Continue Reading It’s About Time