Last week, the Free Will & Science course finished up their poster sessions. It was one of the most enriching classroom experiences I’ve ever witnessed.† In case you’re interested, here’s a post about the why and how of classroom poster sessions — including templates for your own classroom. Continue reading Classroom Poster Sessions: A win for you and your students
Category: Teaching
4 Student Feedback Policies
If you have a lot of students, then you can spend nearly all of your time on student feedback. Here are a four policies designed to make my feedback workflow more sustainable. Continue reading 4 Student Feedback Policies
5 Email Workflow Policies
Like most technology, I love and hate email. In this post, I’ll list some policies designed to make my relationship with email more about love and less about hate. Continue reading 5 Email Workflow Policies
Grading Shorthand: Quick, Consistent, and Constructive Feedback
Grading with shorthand allows me to grade papers quickly. This is great for me, of course, but —more importantly — it’s great for students. Using grading shorthand means that students get prompt, consistent, and constructive feedback.
I’ve included the key to my grading shorthand below. I’ve also included the printer-friendly, PDF version of the key that I give to students. You are welcome to use and adapt the shorthand, including the PDF, however you see fit — it’s in the public domain. And you are more than welcome to share your own shorthand with me in the comments, on social media, or by contacting me directly. Happy grading! Continue reading Grading Shorthand: Quick, Consistent, and Constructive Feedback
30+ Online Resources For Studying & Teaching Philosophy
Below is a list of online resources for studying and teaching philosophy. Feel free to share it and/or add your own suggestions. Continue reading 30+ Online Resources For Studying & Teaching Philosophy
What do philosophers do, anyway?
Lots of people ask me this question. Students. Friends. My mom!
I spend a lot of time with philosophers, so you might think that I have a good answer to this question. Alas, my answer usually sucks. You can find some of my worst answers to this question over at The American Philosophical Association (APA) Blog: “You’re a philosopher, eh? What do philosophers do?”
I’ve also shared my general thoughts on how to answer this question in that post. But if you want really good advice on how to answer this question, check out what philosophers are saying in the comments.
Excerpt
Let me be the first to admit that I’m doing it wrong. My philosophy pitch is…well, boring. And my delivery is awful. When someone asks me about what I do, my first (and now-automatic) response is a sigh.
What can I say? When people so reliably respond to philosophy with confusion or condescension, I become a little insecure. Unfortunately, insecurity doesn’t help. It just makes my next philosophy pitch even worse. I need to break the negative cycle.
Special thanks to philosopher Skye Cleary for connecting me to the APA blog.
Featured image: “Philosophy” from dakine kane, CC BY 2.0, cropped, adjusted color