This article is a part of the Monthly Article Series. Each year, Beloit College assembles a list that will help us understand the mindset of incoming freshman. As their website states, "...these [are] observations that help to identify the experiences that have shaped the lives–and formed the mindset of students starting their post-secondary education this fall." (Beloit College, 2008, http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/index.php).

Enjoy the list, which can be accessed via the link below.

http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2012.php

This article is a part of the CTE’s Monthly Article series. In this article, Revere, Elden, & Bartsch examine ‘social loafing’ in a collaborative learning environment. Using a quasi-experimental design and survey research, the authors report that students who participated in collaborative learning followed by a group examination had higher perceived levels of learning and more positive attitudes toward the course than a control group who did not participate in a group examination. The students who participated in a group examination also reported less social loafing.

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In this month's CTE Monthly Article series, we feature the recently released 2008 Horizon Report from the New Media Consortium. This annual report, now in its fifth year, describes emerging technologies likely to impact teaching and learning over the next five, three and one year periods. Student and faculty generated video and collaborative webs were seen as emerging near-term, while mobile applications, data mashups, collective intelligence and social operating systems are further out on the horizon. Check out the report to see examples of instructional uses of the technologies featured.

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This article is part of the CTE's Monthly Article series. In this article,
Felder and Brent supply us with time-proven techniques and advice that
improve the success of students working in groups. Questions addressed
include 1). How can I best form groups; 2). How can I deal with
dysfunctional teams; 3). What about grading teams; and 4). What about
dealing with teams in an on-line course.

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This article is part of the CTE's Monthly Article series. In this article, Lee Shulman, current President of The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, offers a fresh perspective on learning taxonomies. Building on the work of one of his former teachers - Benjamin Bloom - Shulman provides a context for understanding the development of taxonomies in education and then offers his own "Table of Learning" for consideration. As always, Shulman's inquiring perspective and clear style shed new light on the value of using taxonomies to support teaching and learning. We hope you'll read the article and follow Shulman's advice to use it "as a stimulus for thinking about the design and evaluation of education, and as the basis for creative narratives about the learning process."

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This article is part of the CTE's Monthly Article series. In this article, Joe Novak discusses the theory behind concept mapping and gives practical advice for the construction and use of concept maps. Concept maps are graphical representations of knowledge and the concepts that link knowledge. Concept mapping is a tool that can be used to assess student knowledge, helping both you and your students realize what they do and do not understand. Instructors can even use concept mapping to design courses and curriculum. This article gives background for the use of this very rich teaching, planning, and assessment tool.

You can access a copy of the article by clicking on the "Download file" link below.

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This article is part of the CTE's Monthly Article series. In this piece, author Barbara Oakley, provides practical advice on how to coach well-meaning students to manage behavioral problems that can occur during teamwork. The article begins with a brief description of how the technique was used and gives some outcome measures as to its effectiveness. The techniques comprise the latter half of the article; the techniques give advice on how to manage the two most common behavioral problems – that of the ‘couch potato’ and the ‘hitch-hiker.”

You can access a copy of the article by clicking on the "Download file" link below.

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