Dutton Digest, April 2023

Student Engagement

Because of changes in practice due to the pandemic, some people are now wondering whether or not class attendance and participation really matter in relation to grading. What sorts of barriers to participation do your students face? If a student never comes to class but performs well, is that enough? What if another student attends class without fail, and is awarded points for doing so but doesn’t perform well – does that student’s grade reflect their actual learning? Read about all of this and more in the Inside Higher Ed article, Should Class Participation Be Graded?

The Dutton Institute’s Teaching and Learning Showcase features many ideas for how to engage students, including simple and easy-to-implement practices like Jigsaw and Think-Pair-Share activities. Take a look:

• Using Student-to-Student Interactions to Boost Engagement
  • Using a Jigsaw Activity
  • Using a Think-Pair-Share Activity

For more engagement ideas...See this helpful list: 24 Engaging Synchronous Activities for Online Learning.

Summer Learning!

Faculty Tech Academy is an asynchronous course (2 hr. duration) that introduces academic technologies available to Penn State faculty. Developed by the folks at Teaching and Learning with Technology, this free course is available via the Learning Resource Network (LRN). Search for Faculty Tech Academy to sign up!