Five Minute Ucite

Part of my continuing faculty development course I took last year involved watching Fr. Guido Sarducci’s Five Minute University. He distilled everything you learn and retain in college to five minutes. That’s uncomfortably close to the truth. But I did find the five-minute summary of my faculty development course, which is useful as I think about developing my new courses.  The Five-Minute UCITE

• Less is more; change what you’re doing every 8-10 minutes
• Have them talk to each other
• Fish is fish. Whatever you say, students will filter it through their prior experiences
• Whatever your learning style, it is different than ¾ of your students
• Prior experience is key—they learn by starting with what they already know
• Students have to be emotionally engaged to learn—it’s your job to make that happen
• Draw a concept map and use it for each of your courses (if you can’t figure out what the most important three things are and show they’re related, neither will your students)
• Align your goals, your teaching methods, and your assessments
• Use grading rubrics, especially for writing assignments
• Make your feedback clear, frequent, and helpful
• The first five minutes are critical. Lean forward and smile, be enthusiastic
• Get to know them—learn their names
• Groups are good—let them figure out the grading and discuss the ground rules
• Allow them choice if possible
• Start with them—it’s really about their learning, not your teaching