Late Nights in the Library: Meeting Students on Their Terms Posted on December 29, 2014 by Josh KingcadeNow, we should never encourage procrastination. Nor should we commend the practice of cramming in library late nights right before a paper deadline. But often, faculty expect students to make time only during the day (AKA: during our office hours). Normally, this is reasonable. But when do you think students are doing most of their work on their papers? (When did you do most of your work on your papers?) It’s at night, when they can focus more, and yet faculty are nowhere to be seen. I’ll bet if you surveyed your students, over eighty percent of work on term papers is done during the evenings on the week the paper is due. If your students are doing their work in the evenings leading up to the due date, why not be available to help them then?
Tech for Adjuncts: Four Commandments for Getting By Posted on August 18, 2014 by Josh KingcadeWhile full time faculty have access to equipment and training, many adjuncts must just wing it with what they already have…. I’m fully committed to a responsible and robust use of technology for my teaching. So what am I to do? Well, I’ve found ways to manage, and I’d like to share a few with you.
Are Research Papers the Best Way Forward? Posted on March 21, 2014 by Josh KingcadeWant to irritate the entire world of academia? Try suggesting that professors should stop assigning papers. In an essay on Slate.com, Rebecca Shuman suggests that college professors should stop assigning papers in required courses and instead should give “old-school, hardcore exams, written and oral.” Her reasons will sound familiar: teachers hate grading papers, the emerging…