Dear Faculty Commons,

We’re at the mid-semester hump and my students’ attitudes have become lackluster. How can I reinvigorate their learning experience?

–Stuck in the Doldrums


Dear Stuck,

There are several ways you can reinvigorate your course.

For example you can use the Flippity.net flashcard creator to spark interest and reinforce key facts students need to retain for success in your class. You can challenge student teams to collaboratively build a study deck. Here’s how:

Budget at least 25 minutes of class time to introduce and generate interest in this project.

  • Get the flashcard template from Flippity.net.
  • Share the spreadsheet template with your entire class.
  • Divide your students into teams of three.
  • Assign a specific chapter/topic to each team.
  • Challenge them to write 3-5 difficult exam Q&As.
  • Publish the spreadsheet and generate the flashcard link on the “Get the Link Here” worksheet.

Encourage students to to continue improving the deck; updates automatically appear in the published deck. Encourage students to review the deck at least once every day during Thanksgiving break. Want more Flippity? From any Google Sheet, go to the Add-ons menu, choose Get add-ons and search for “Flippity.”

You can also contact CTAL-info@udel.edu and request an observation of your course. We’ll help give you some constructive feedback and get a sense of what might be going on with your students.

For more ideas stop by Faculty Commons (116 Pearson) for a consultation and we will find the right solution for you!

-Faculty Commons Partners

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