Tools for Faculty and Instructors

The books, journal articles, and internet resources collected for these pages present some of the best practices for enhancing learning and student engagement.  The resources cover a range of topics relevant to both in-person and online education including course design, assessment, inclusivity, and the use of active learning. The material is rich with concrete examples that, although often developed in the context of undergraduate education, are equally applicable to teaching graduate students in the classroom and the laboratory.

Select the headers below to access many curated resources that will help you improve your course design and implementation.

Scientific Teaching

Scientific Teaching integrates our understanding of learning and memory with “backward design”, wherein the goals or desired learning outcomes for the course or lesson drive the design of content and student-centered educational activities. 

Syllabus Design

In addition to establishing the contractual rules for the course, a syllabus is best used to define the course learning outcomes (CLOs) and outline the lessons and other aspects of the course to be used to achieve the CLOs.  These resources introduce effective syllabus design.

Assessment

The implementation of effective formative and summative assessments enables both instructors and students to evaluate the effectiveness of the educational experience as well as to monitor their own performance in the context of that experience.

Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity and Inclusion is much broader than gender, racial and ethnic diversity, it also includes inclusion of learning experiences, styles, and challenges. These resources address the aspects of diversity that must be considered when teaching courses.

Primary Literature

Introduction of students to critical reading of the primary literature and it importance for deep understanding of science is a crucial function of graduate coursework.  These resources introduce methods to enhance that process.

Active Learning

Educational activities that inspire student engagement with course content to promote more effective learning and retention.  Examples are provided to engage students in the active application of course content rather than simply receiving content in a lecture format.

Online Learning

Courses conducted online demand creative application of active learning methods to enhance student engagement and achieve learning goals.  These resources describe the tools available at Scripps Research and their use for the implementation of active learning.