Faculty Toolkits contain specific strategies and information that will help faculty teach and work with students. They are a way for faculty to share best practices and to share information and resources. We have toolkits on a variety of topics including classroom activities, classroom-based assessment, study groups, classroom management, student teamwork, and more! This repository is ever growing. Click on the toolkits below, or create a toolkit of your own.
| Name of Toolkit | Toolkit Overview | Keywords | View More |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resource Reflections: Using a Canvas assignment to encourage use of campus resources | This toolkit provides a Canvas discussion activity that can be used to encourage students to use college resources, especially during remote learning. Download the Resource Reflection document to see the prompt including hyperlinks to numerous online academic support resources.... | Equity, Resources, Engagement, Remote Learning | View Toolkit |
| Resource Discussion: Using a Canvas Discussion to Share Campus Resources | This toolkit provides a Canvas discussion activity that can be used to help students learn about campus resources in a low-stakes interactive way. During this activity students will build community while sharing each other what the resources are. After using this activity in several online classes, ... | Equity, Resources, Engagement, Academic Support, Tutoring, Remote Learning | View Toolkit |
| Supporting First Generation College Students | This toolkit is based on two workshops taught in Fall 2019. The POD workshop "How to Support First Generation College Students" by Emily Versace and the Fall FLEX day workshop "Change Your Student's life in the First Two Weeks of Class" by Emily Versace and Richard Myers. It covers activities to he... | First Generation Students, Validation Theory, Role Theory, Equity | View Toolkit |
| Jazz Up Your Lectures with Six Learning Principles Based on Brain Science | Discover how the brain works and what strategies really make a difference in helping students take-in, store, retrieve, and use information. Explore six brain-based learning principles that will help make your classroom a more engaging, interactive, and dynamic learning environment. Learn by doing i... | Training from the Back of the Room, Teaching Strategies, Classroom Activities, Student Success, Student Learning, FLEX day | View Toolkit |
| Creating a Syllabus based on the Principles of Universal Design for Learning and Equity | This toolkit shows you how to implement universal design elements into your syllabus, creating a learning tool that is more specific, accessible and useful for all students. By including additional details and steps, having a clear and welcoming additional needs statement that includes information a... | Universal Design, Syllabus, Access, Equity, ADA, Student-Centered, First Day of Class | View Toolkit |
| Convincing Students to Change Their Mindsets about Their Math Abilities | This toolkit contains video, internet assessments and pdf resources which can be used individually or collectively as a homework assignment, or as an in-class presentation to introduce students to the growth potential of their brains. An assessment is included to assist students in identifying thei... | Mindset, Brain Growth, Intelligence, Affective Domain, Overcoming Barriers to Learning, Locus of Control | View Toolkit |
| Students Teaching Students: Self Correcting Worksheet Activity | Do you want your students actively involved in learning and explaining content to each other? A self-correcting worksheet can help! With this tool used in small groups, students can help each other find the right answers though discussion. Because it is self-correcting, you won’t need to grade it... | Worksheets, Training from the Back or the Room, Activities, Collaborative Learning, Student Centered | View Toolkit |
| College Knowledge: What Your Students May Not Know | Attached is a list of academic terms that beginning (and long-time) students don’t know—often to their detriment. I know; I’ve tried this list with students in English classes, both at the 67 and 68 level, and the number of the terms that are unfamiliar might startle you. The unf... |
Student Success, Higher Education Lingo, Surviving College, Facilitating Student Voice, Overcoming Barriers to Learning, Affective Domain, Retention, Persistence | View Toolkit |
| How to Integrate Directed Learning Activities into Any Course Curriculum | Are you ever frustrated by your students' writing problems? The Writing Center is here to help. We can provide Directed Learning Activities (DLAs) to your students. Students first work independently and then meet with a tutor. DLAs address writing issues including poor paragraph writing, incomplete ... | Student Success, Classroom Strategies, Tutoring, Learning Modalities, Activities, Problem-Based Learning, Homework Ideas, Extra-Credit Ideas | View Toolkit |
| Students Teaching Students: Myth Fact Game | Actively engaging students in content is the best way for them to learn. Using a Myth Fact game is a great way to introduce concepts, teach content, or review for a test. It is a low-stakes way to see what they know and to give them practice in recalling important information in a collaborative way.... | Training from the Back of the Room, Collaborative Learning Exercise, Teaching Strategies, Connecting Activities, Student Success, Student Learning | View Toolkit |
| Preview Bingo Game | Getting students excited about the class content can sometimes be challenging. Black Out Bingo is a way to get them interested in what they are about to learn and to prime their brain to listen for key concepts. This is a simple activity that can be used in nearly any class. It is especially good fo... | Training from the Back of the Room, Teaching Strategies, Connecting Activities, Student Success, Student Learning, Ice Breakers | View Toolkit |
| Beginning Class with a Quick Start | Want to engage students as soon as they walk into class? Quick Starts help students feel comfortable in class, and connects them to course content so they are ready to participate when class begins. Best part: it hardly takes any class time.... | Training from the Back of the Room, Teaching Strategies, Connecting Activities, Student Success, Student Learning, Affective Domain, Active Learning | View Toolkit |
| Empowering Students Through Growth Mindset Strategies | In recent years, interest in metacognitive approaches to enhance student performance and success has gained national attention. One of the best researched approaches has been Carol Dweck's growth mindset theory, first introduced in her bestseller—Mindset: The New Psychology of Success—and writt... | Student Success, Retention, Persistence, Locus of Control, Empowering Students, Student Learning, Teaching Strategies, Affective Domain | View Toolkit |
| PLAN - A Reading/Studying and Mapping Technique | This Toolkit provides the steps of PLAN, a reading/studying and mapping technique, that is used before, during, and after reading to ensure effective management, a high amount of reading interaction, and active reading of informational text.... | Student Success, Study Technique, Effective Reading and Studying, Active Reading, Active Learning, Active Reading, Reading Comprehension, Test Preparation, Informational Text Management, Effective Note Taking | View Toolkit |
| Inquiry Based Learning Project | This toolkit includes detailed student instructions on how to complete an Inquiry Based Learning Project, as well as a worksheet to draft an effective driving question.... | Student Teamwork, Student Success, Authentic Assessment, | View Toolkit |
| Jigsaw Work Groups | This toolkit provides a presentation on jigsaw work groups including information on: • What Jigsaw Works Groups Are • The Benefits of Jigsaw Work Groups • How To Design and Implement the Jigsaw Groups • Jigsaw activity examples... |
Equity, Student Teamwork, Student Success | View Toolkit |
| Class Progress Tracker | This is a handout that I give as part of my syllabus. It has an area for students to track every assignment completed in the class along with their points received for each assignment. It also includes a reminder about my guidelines regarding homework submission and late work.... | student progress tracker, student success, classroom management | View Toolkit |
| A Form Email to Send Students Regarding Effective Email Communication | In many of our classes, we are teaching not only content area knowledge but also the "soft" skills students need to know to negotiate the unfamiliar expectations of college. This toolkit guides them in the skills they need to communicate effectively with their professors. This is a form letter email... | student faculty communication, syllabus, email | View Toolkit |
| Using Locus of Control Principles in the Classroom to Promote Student Success | This toolkit explains: 1. The meaning of internal versus external Locus of Control (LOC). 2. The research findings that support the importance of an internal Locus of Control (LOC) as a predictor of college student success/graduation. 3. Assists faculty in identifying how their own... |
Locus of Control, Personal Responsibility, Student Success, Affective Domain, Facilitating Student Voice, Learning Modalities | View Toolkit |
| The First Day: A No-Droning Approach to Introducing the Syllabus | In this collaborative approach to introducing the syllabus on the first day, small groups of students come up with a list of questions they have about the course, then read the syllabus to find the answers to their questions, noting those questions that are unanswered or that need further clarificat... | Syllabus Introduction, Classroom Management, FIrst Day | View Toolkit |
| Setting Classroom Norms | Setting classroom norms is a short exercise, about 20 minutes of the first day of class, wherein the instructor solicits suggestions for creating a civil and democratic classroom environment. It is based on a collaborative new faculty mentor relationship wherein department wisdom was passed on to m... | Classroom Management, Personal Conduct, Classroom Relationships | View Toolkit |
| Study Groups | Tool Overview This toolkit provides two presentations: 1) Tips for Faculty on how to organize study groups and how to incorporate them into their classes so that every student participates. 2) Introduction to Study Groups for faculty to present to students (feel free to edit and a... |
Study Skills, Group Work, Test Preparation | View Toolkit |
| Double Duty Opening Activities and Icebreakers | Double Duty Opening Activities and Icebreakers do two things: 1) They connect students to each other and help them feel comfortable and welcome in the class. 2) They connect students to the material they will be learning that day. The effects of using this type of ... |
Icebreakers, Interactive Learning, Activities | View Toolkit |
| Classroom Assessment Techniques: Beyond (and Before) Quizzes, Exams, and Projects | These techniques, which were pioneered by K. Patricia Cross and Tom Angelo, come in a variety of forms. Asking students, for instance, to list the clearest and most confusing points from a class session allows several things to happen: 1) Instructors avoid the "Gang of Five" syndrome in which the ... | Student Engagement, Responsive Teaching, Assessment | View Toolkit |
| An Activity for Students to Improve Their Teamwork Skills | This fun, engaging activity helps students to be aware of their own and other’s personality styles and how these styles influence their work in teams.... | Teamwork, Personality Types, Self-Awareness | View Toolkit |
| 10 Tips for Creating Effective Teams | This toolkit offers 10 tips for improving student teamwork in your classrooms along with instructions and handouts for implementation.... | Student Teamwork, Classroom Management, Metacognition | View Toolkit |
