Category Best practices

Best practices

Engage Students: Incorporate Movement and Multi-Sensory Learning

This image was created with ChatGPT 4o and manually cropped and labeled. The first panel on the left shows a woman facing forward with arms at her sides. It is labeled "Extension" near the top of the panel. The second panel shows the same woman, again facing forward with arms from the shoulders to elbow resting at her side, but the elbows to the finger tips are bent upwards with the hands near the shoulders. It is labeled "Flexion".

Are you noticing students struggling to stay focused during your class? The secret to better attention, memory, and productivity is easier than you think: movement. This article covers three simple strategies you can use in your classroom today that can help transform your classroom engagement. Incorporating physical activity into your teaching not only has the potential to make your class more interesting and engaging, but also help boost cognitive function and student engagement.

Using Social Annotation to Support a Classroom Community of Practice

A close-cropped image in an analog film style showing more hands writing on colorful sticky notes and sticking them to a wall in a brightly lit office. The sticky notes are messily arranged, overlapping and scattered in a chaotic way on the wall. The notes are vibrant and feature the letter 'D' handwritten on them in various sizes and styles. The image retains a nostalgic, grainy texture, typical of film photography, with diverse hands actively writing and placing notes on the wall.

Communities of practice in the classroom create opportunities for transformative learning experiences, ones in which students take ownership of their own learning experiences and actively foster a collective learning environment. Social annotation is a tool that leverages collaborative learning to support communities of practice, and can increase student engagement and performance.

Some perspective on the new UAF RSI checklist

A diagram showing the four aspects of RSI as interlocking puzzle pieces

This teaching tip serves as an introduction to the concept of Regular and Substantive Interactions, part of new Federal regulations concerning online education, and offers helpful and specific advice to instructors who are looking to transform their current course into one that not only meets the new regulations, but also increases student success, all while being efficient with the instructor's time.

Supporting Students with Mental Health Challenges

An illustration of people cultivating a stylized brain as if it were a plant.

Campuses across the nation are seeing a rise in the frequency and intensity of mental health challenges among college students. This trend is apparent at UAF and many staff and faculty members are left wondering how to best support students experiencing mental health challenges. This teaching tip will describe how the UAF Student Health and Counseling Center (SHCC) can be utilized as a resource for helping students in need of mental health support.