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A free and open-source calculus textbook
Allow me to make a shameless plug for a very cool project currently underway by my GVSU colleague Matt Boelkins. He is writing a free, open-source calculus textbook that will be available in PDF form...
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How the inverted classroom works: A manifesto for students
I’ve been sort of quiet on the inverted transition-to-proof course (MTH 210, Communicating in Mathematics) lately, partly due to MathFest and partly because I am having to actually prep said course for...
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And so the flipping begins
The semester for us has gotten underway, and with it the flipped-classroom introduction to proofs class. This class has gotten a lot of interest from folks both at my institution and abroad. In the...
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How do student attitudes toward learning change in a flipped classroom?
Sorry for the absence, but things have been busy around here as we step fully into the new semester. The big experiment this term is with my flipped introduction to proofs class. As I wrote last time,...
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Declaring independence
The flipped transition-to-proof class is now finishing up its sixth week. It’s hard to believe we are nearing the midpoint of the semester. The management of the class is still something of a work in...
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What kind of student preparation should we care about?
Whenever I talk or write about the flipped classroom, one of the top two questions I get is: How do you make sure students are doing the reading (and screencast viewing) before class? (The other is,...
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MOOCs in Minnesota
I just completed my second MOOC, the “Securing Digital Democracy” course from Coursera. Emboldened by actually completing it with a passing grade I’ve jumped into another Coursera offering, this time...
View ArticleWhat do you do with all that class time?
It’s now week 11 of the semester, so it’s time for some updates on the flipped transition-to-proofs class. Also, this blog needs a jumpstart. The flipped structure of the class presents a number of...
View ArticleAdopting new instructional strategies: Going with the gut
I’m really excited to be working next semester as a co-PI on a National Science Foundation grant with my Grand Valley State colleagues Scott Grissom (Computer Science), Shaily Menon (Chemistry), and...
View ArticleThe social element of learning about effective teaching strategies
Speaking of faculty adopting research-based instructional strategies, Theron Hitchman (who blogs at Circles and Tangents) wonders aloud in the direction of math education researchers: Why didn’t you...
View ArticleThree things I learned through teaching a flipped class
Right after my last post — nearly a month ago — I began to ask myself, Why is it taking so much effort to blog? The answer was readily apparent by looking at my OmniFocus inbox, which was filled with...
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Doing linear algebra with peer instruction and Learning Catalytics
I’m excited and happy to be teaching linear algebra again next semester. Linear algebra has it all — there’s computation that you can do by hand if you like that sort of thing, but also a strong...
View ArticleWe need to produce learners, not just students
Paul Pintrich was the creator of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, which I used as the main instrument for collecting data for the study on students in the flipped...
View ArticleMerry Christmas
It’s not Thanksgiving, but during this season I’m very thankful: For all of you who check in on this blog from time to time, who have it in your RSS feeds, and who add your comments. For the Chronicle,...
View ArticleA conversation about teaching preparation
Here’s a piece of a conversation I just had with my 8-year old daughter, who is interested in becoming a teacher when she grows up. Daughter: Dad, if you want to become a teacher, do you have to take...
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Lessons learned from wrestling with a MOOC
I’m currently taking a MOOC called Computing for Data Analysis through Coursera. Ths is my fourth MOOC (the sixth one, if you count the two that I started and then dropped). It’s an introduction to the...
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Inside the inverted proofs class: Why I did it
It’s been a month or so now that the inverted transition-to-proofs class drew to a close. A lot of people, both here at my institution and online, have been asking questions about the design and...
View ArticleGot a moment to help update a classic STEM education study?
Elaine Seymour and Nancy Hewitt’s book Talking About Leaving: Why Undergraduates Leave the Sciences is considered one of the seminal works in the literature about STEM education in higher ed. It’s...
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Inside the inverted proofs class: Design challenges
This is the second post in a series on the nuts and bolts behind the inverted transition-to-proofs course. The first post addressed the reasons why I decided to turn the course from quasi-inverted to...
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Inside the inverted proofs class: Dealing with grading
So, what about grading in that inverted transition-to-proofs course? Other than the midterm and final exams, which were graded pretty much as you might expect, we had four recurring assignments that...
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