The purpose of this article is to present the author's anecdotal findings from using a grade defense assignment as a supplemental aspect of an ePortfolio assignment. This is not a full research study, but the author did a few semesters of testing with the assignment before implementing the grade defense in all sections of the University Seminar…

It can be difficult to find ways to motivate students while teaching a physics course for non-physics students. Students come to class with many different attitudes and preconceptions, some of which are detrimental to their learning. As physics educators, we strive for student engagement and motivation in course material no matter what type of…

This teaching note presents an assignment in which students write an op-ed on a course-related issue and submit it to a newspaper. I argue that an op-ed assignment dovetails with pedagogical goals around democratic citizenship and public sociology. I explain the project's objectives, instructions, and timeline. I present evidence from three…

The rise of AI generated texts offers promise but creates new challenges for social work teaching. A recent survey found that 89% of higher education students used AI on their homework. AI generated text may be difficult to distinguish from a student's own work, yet are being submitted as the student's own work. This poses new challenges to…

Leadership in Leisure Services (AHSC 361) is the most experiential class offered to students majoring in Recreation and Leisure Studies at Concordia University in Montreal. One interactive feature of this required course is a multi-part assignment that deals with group facilitation, personal introspection, and evaluation. This "Assignment…

Throughout the 2020-2021 academic year, college instructors struggled with how to accommodate the extenuating circumstances confronting students during the pandemic while, at the same time, maintaining course integrity. Instructors made decisions about accepting late assignments, extending deadlines, and relaxing attendance guidelines for students…

Metacognition is a key to effective learning, foundational to critical thinking and fostering scholarly and professional identity. Yet many faculty are uncertain how to integrate metacognitive skill development into classes. This article describes two metacognitive instruments, the TTM-LS and the LSSA, that are short, simple to use, and discipline…

Helping students recognize the value of humanistic inquiry can be challenging, especially in required courses. This essay presents a solution: an assignment in which students were asked to pitch one of the required readings to Netflix for adaptation. Through close readings of student responses and an analysis of the "so what" component…

This paper explores a suite of close writing practices and exercises that ask students to attend closely to language at the level of morpheme, word, line, sentence, or stanza. Close writing aims to move students beyond a conception of reading as mere transaction and technology, while pushing writing pedagogy beyond the development of expository…

Watson earned his B.A. in religious studies from the College of William and Mary in 1995, his M.A. in international peace studies and conflict resolution from the University of Notre Dame in 2001, and his M.A. and doctorate in political science from the University of New Mexico in 2010 and 2013, respectively. Research interests include the…

In this conceptual paper, borne from the experiences of two academic literacy lecturers at the NWU, we ask, regarding elements of assessment, how we can sensibly adapt an intervention-style writing course in a post-COVID higher education context. We propose a course correction model, applicable to academic literacy writing courses, to address the…

Peer learning has become a central feature in many postsecondary classrooms. Many peer learning activities feature near-peer instructors who had previously completed the course and who later serve as peer leaders. There are relatively few examples of activities in which students in a course act as true peer instructors for their classmates. One…

Abstract Educators are encouraged to engage military veterans enrolling in college in the use of "expressive writing" and related assignments as curriculum interventions to assist these student veterans in their transition from military to civilian life. This article describes semester-long studies conducted in 2015, 2016, and 2017 in…

To be academically successful, students need to delay gratification, sustain motivation, keep a high level of self-efficacy, and maintain an appropriate balance within their hot/cool cognitive-affective system. The cognitive-affective personality system includes 5 cognitive-affective mediating components (i.e., individuals' way of…

Newspaper op-eds, dedicated to commentary essays from outside of a newspaper, function as a platform for the public to exchange opinions. We designed an op-ed writing assignment as part of a semester-long course project in global supply chain management (SCM). Student teams conducted research on a SCM topic, presented their findings in the…