Welcome to the weekly UTLC Newsletter |
Week of September 9, 2025
|
|
|
Teaching Tips: Preparing Students for Midterms |
|
|
Midterms are just around the corner! Many students (especially first-years) just cram or reread notes to prepare for tests and other high-stakes assessments. Research by Stephen Chew shows that explicitly teaching effective study strategies can significantly boost student learning and confidence. Demonstrating how to effectively study in your discipline is part of our teaching.
Chew also created an overview video explaining the “choke points” (limits of the cognitive system, such as selective attention) and “pitfalls” (common traps, such as believing multitasking is effective) that undermine studying. Helping students recognize these challenges can shift them toward more effective approaches.
Here are five practical tips for working with your students:
|
-
Teach study strategies directly. Don’t assume students know how to study: model approaches like self-testing, spaced practice, and elaboration. Consider inviting students to discuss their own study methods with classmates.
- Timing is critical. Consider introducing study strategies just before or after the first major assessment, when students are most receptive.
- Share modular resources. Provide short videos, guides, or handouts students can revisit.
- Use decision-making activities. For example, have students compare different study schedules and weigh the pros and cons.
-
Scaffold and reinforce. Demonstrate study strategies in class and give students opportunities to practice them.
|
By intentionally carving out time to talk about how to study, not just what to study, you can help students approach midterms (or other assessments) with more confidence and with tools to carry into the future.
These tips relied on information from The Teacher Professor. If you like these tips and would like to receive additional teaching tips each week, sign up for their newsletter below. UNCG faculty also have free access to The Teaching Professor (see instructions below). The UTLC is also always here to be a thought partner. You can reach out to us here to request a consultation or workshop.
Chew, S. L. (2024, January 16). Teaching Students How to Study. The Teaching Professor. Retrieved from https://www.teachingprofessor.com/topics/student-learning/study-strategies/teaching-students-how-to-study/
|
Information Technology Services is happy to share its September Tech news article which includes an updated September training schedule.
Some sessions of particular interest are:
|
-
Instructional Video Production in Microsoft Clipchamp: 9/9 and 9/23 (with Sara Nevedal)
- Creating Accessible Canvas Content: 9/16 (with Shannon Barr and Melanie Eley)
- Canvas Studio: But First, The Basics: 9/24 and 9/30 (with Shannon Barr)
|
|
|
UNCG faculty have free access to Magna Publications’ The Teaching Professor newsletter and a library of quick teaching workshops. Stay current with fresh strategies on course design, student engagement, academic integrity, and more.
Did you know that Magna Publications offers on-demand online courses (linked to below) for faculty that provide practical, research-based strategies for teaching and learning. You can explore topics like hybrid teaching, active learning, and AI integration to strengthen instruction and support professional growth.
|
|
|
|
Free Subscription to The Teaching Professor from Magna Publications |
The Teaching Professor offers approaches on a wide range of teaching topics, like:
|
- Planning and designing courses
-
Promoting academic integrity
- Increasing student engagement
- Responding to course evaluations and feedback
- Developing effective activities and assignments
|
|
|
| Access to Quick Teaching Workshops with Magna Publications |
Magna Publications offers a series of 20-minute and 40-minute workshops on teaching and learning topics from national experts in teaching and learning.
The UTLC has secured campus access to over 20 trainings on topics such as teaching effectiveness, generative AI, student engagement, course design, and much more.
|
|
|
Teaching Evaluation Pilot |
|
|
UNCG is pleased to be administering a pilot of a new teaching evaluation system, Anthology Evaluate. The pilot and the current system (Class Climate) are running in parallel; when the Class Climate contract expires, administration will make a decision about which (or neither) system to retain. Much of our feedback during the 2024/25 academic year was favorable, with users finding the system easy to use and the reporting to be accessible.
Anthology uses research validated common questions, along with offering units the chance to add custom questions. It’s mobile friendly and can be deployed in the classrooms, which raised response rates for instructors who opted to do so this past year. Instructors and their heads have access to reporting one to two days after the close of the administration and can access their reports anytime they like online.
We are recruiting more pilot participants for this academic year! If you are interested in participating in the Fall 2025 or Spring 2026 Cohorts, please click the button below to fill out the interest form. If you have already indicated interest, we will be in touch with details soon.
If you have questions, please email the UTLC at utlc@uncg.edu.
|
|
|
Faculty Engagement & Development Opportunities |
Check out these upcoming opportunities from the UTLC and other partners on campus. Additional training opportunities are available at workshops.uncg.edu.
|
| |
|
- Self-Paced Training Options| Online, research-based workshops cover a range of essential topics.
-
UNCG Libraries Webinars | Research and Application Webinar Series (Spring 2024 recordings) | Zotero Webinar Series (recordings)
-
New to Teaching | Access this Canvas site to learn about how students learn, preparing for class, grading, office hours, engagement, active learning, and more.
-
Safe and Trans Zone Training on Canvas | Enroll in this self-paced online course to complete Safe Zone 1.0, 2.0, and Trans Zone if you cannot attend an in-person workshop.
-
Web Accessibility 101 | This asynchronous, self-paced course focuses on the fundamentals of making online content accessible.
| |
|
Manage your preferences | Opt Out using TrueRemove™
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.
View this email online.
|
1100 West Market St., Suite 100F None | Greensboro, NC 27412 US
|
|
|
This email was sent to .
To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.
| |
|
|
|
