iTeach Instructional Resources

General Strategies

Close the Distance Gap

Create a Sense of Community

Make the Large, Small

Monitoring Progress

General Strategies

• Research shows that breaking down the walls of anonymity promotes learning.
• Be flexible with your class plan and allow the serendipitous to occur.
• Make the space small (see "Make the Large, Small" tip).
• Let your personality and interests come through the lecture.

Close the the Distance Gap

• Move away from the podium and engage students close up.
• Arrive early to chat with students in class.
• Seek out students who are doing poorly and ask them to meet with you during office hours.
• Solicit email questions from students and use them in class to foster discussions.

Create a  Sense of Community

• Encourage your students to get to know one another
• On the first day of class have your students introduce themselves to the person next to them.
• Learn the names of some students and refer to them by name in class.
• Ask the students to create a short autobiographical sketch within an iLearn blog or wiki.

Make the Large, Small

• Break the classroom up into segments and devote a part of your lecture to each section of the room.
• Teach to one section for a period of time, then move on to a different section. The students will feel that they are getting individual attention, and you will feel like you are teaching to a smaller class.

Monitoring Student's Progress

• Ask questions during the course of the lecture.
• Using clickers to do a quick poll is a great way to break up the class time and to gauge your students' level of understanding.
• Ask your TAs for progress reports and use them in class to discuss topics that students are struggling with.
• Use frequent quizzes and two or more mid-terms so you have multiple assessment points.
• Gather feedback in the nature of a diagnostic quiz.