Teaching Tips for Critical Thinking

In light of current events, I’d like to share a selection of my blogs on critical thinking with K-12 educators some of which could also be used with college freshmen. Ideas for Teaching Problem-solving, Critical Thinking, and Reasoning: If I were to teach problem solving, critical thinking, and reasoning, I’d embed it into the content already being taught (e.g., math or

Guidance for Teaching Remotely

The following blog posts provide research-based guidance and vetted resources to enhance your understanding of how to teach remotely.

Online Course Design for Active Learning within the UDL Framework

This is a WordCloud based on my blog post on active learning. Active Learning Defined Active learning engages students directly in the learning process through instructional activities with differing degrees of interaction that’s student-centered, whereas passive learning occurs indirectly and without interaction. The latter is often, but not always, teacher-centered. Student-centered learning emphasizes learner control and manipulation of information, so

Gagne’s Instructional Sequence for Podcast Learning Module

The following instructional design strategy is based on Gagné’s (1985) nine events of instruction in which he provided a format for designing effective training by correlating internal cognitive processes with that of external instructional activities. Many K-12 school systems utilize his sequence of instructional events as a framework for lesson planning. I have previously blogged about Gagné’s work. These are

Applying Elements of Cooperative Learning to Distance EdUCATION

According to Wikipedia, the cooperative learning theory has been around since the 1930s and discussed by researchers from diverse fields such as philosophy and psychology. Cooperative learning involves strategic group practices and elements to aid critical thinking. As an educator, I’m most familiar with Kagan’s (1985) approach to cooperative learning. Additionally, I learned about Palinscar and Brown’s reciprocal teaching method;

Gagné’s 9 Events of Instruction for English Language Lessons

Note: Gagné’s instructional events have been widely adopted for instructional design purposes in multiple disciplines.  For example, K-12 school systems utilize his instructional events as a framework for lesson planning and evaluation. Teacher Preparation: Review the lesson and consider content that requires scaffolding (support) to English speakers of other languages (ESOL) such as bringing in realia or images of uncommon

e-Learning Instructional Strategies to Teach to the Whole Person

Teaching to the whole person is more important than ever.  But how can we do this in an online learning environment?  I work at a Jesuit and Catholic college where I’ve been learning about Jesuit education and Ignatian pedagogy. The principles of Ignatian pedagogy include context, experience, reflection, action, and evaluation (Korth, 1993).  To address these in distance education, I’m

5 Important Instructional Strategies

An instructional strategy is something that an instructional designer (or educator) uses as a vehicle to deliver information.  Some instructional strategies require the Internet like WebQuests, HyperInquiry, and well-designed educational videogames, while others are used within the mind metacognitively like mnemonics for memory.  However, the vast majority are used to present instruction in multimodal formats. Other strategies include academic controversy,

Ideas for Teaching Problem-Solving, Critical Thinking and Reasoning

#486971333 / gettyimages.com Note: Last semester, I took a graduate school course on advanced theories of learning.  One of our tasks was to apply the information we learned to describe how we might develop a curriculum for teaching problem-solving, critical thinking, and reasoning.  What follows are my musings on the topic. If I were to teach problem solving, critical thinking, and