oh god i want to do this too like for haut taeks https://twitter.com/ProfChrisMJones/status/1327276279385759746

The only reason you ever need a closed-note quiz is to help people practice terms and concepts they need to be able to distinguish, but even then it should be incredibly low-stakes and not impact someone's grade negatively

Educators use lectures as a crutch because they're easy to throw together quickly, and we're all too busy to plan out more interactive, engaging lessons plans that actually are pedagogically sound, and it's a huge problem and source of wasted time

Textbooks are never necessary. There are plenty of open educational resources that are more up to date and free, and unhitching yourself from a textbook makes it so much easier to get creative with your course content and structure.

If my students post my course content/quizzes/assignments online somewhere else, I 100% do not care or mind. I think it's cool actually

The students who pursue extra credit the most doggedly are often the ones for whom it will make no GPA difference, ie students with a 94% A in a class where there is no A-plus grade

And that's bc academia trains ppl to be perfectionists rather than to be strategic ab their time

If you have synchronous sessions in an online class, they better be worth it, and be used for something that can't be done easily asynchronously. Ie, student presentations, group work, things like that. If you're mostly just reading slides or smth please don't require ppl attend

If participation points require students to speak often in real-time, you're hurt neurodiverse students, students with auditory processing issues, shy students, students with social anxiety, and anyone frequently silenced in our Society (women, people of color etc)

It's heinous that pursuing graduate school in many fields requires lots of extra volunteering or "service" to build up your CV. Students with kids, jobs, etc don't have time for those things. Should be built directly into their undergrad program.

Furthermore, most grad programs are not feasible for students with children, elder care responsibilities, disabilities, full time jobs, etc! It's discriminatory and unjust and it hurts enrollment numbers to boot. The idea that higher ed is a monastic experience hurts us all

Don't be outraged that your students approach class with a consumer mentality, and feel 'entitled' to certain things; it's a super expensive commodity they have been trained to view in that way, and forced to invest in, and they are not wrong to have expectations

I've never encountered the mythic "easily offended snowflake" student in 11 years of teaching at five different institutions. There's plenty to critique about social justice culture, but I've never seen this dynamic so many op-ed writers who aren't educators whinge about

I'm certain i've had students who have "faked" emergencies to get an extension and I do not care! Investigating your students' social media to catch them in a lie, or requiring proof of a family death is creepy and unnecessary. If they needed extra time it was for a reason!

When a student cheats in a class, they usually aren't harming anyone other than themselves. It's not a huge worry of mine

My classes aren't less "rigorous" bc I am flexible about rules. When I hear students saying thoughtless, unsubstantiated stuff, I lean on them hard to figure out why they believe it. The active presence of disabled & marginalized students also makes class more intellectually deep

Research shows time and time again that diverse groups experience more conflict, and are also more creative and dynamic. Classes with a variety of ability levels and where marginalized students & their perspectives are accommodated are better classrooms, everyone learns more

Being good at a subject makes you uniquely crappy at teaching that subject. We need fewer straight-A students in academia. We need more teachers who know what it's like to find school hard

Most University level instructors have never been given any formal training in education or pedagogy and have no idea what they're doing. Not their fault, and plenty figure it out on the fly but it's a travesty we charge students five figures every semester for that

When ranking a university, outlets like US News & World Report ought to take into account (and broadcast) what % of classes are taught by adjuncts

Last time a colleague of mine checked, my school's classes were 75% adjunct taught