Innovators Archive
February 22, 2017
Building lifelong learning, with the help of technology
How can technology in the classroom help students learn how to learn? For Erin Hill, STEM lecturer and director of the Quantitative Skills Center at UW Bothell, it is important that students get more out of her courses than just subject-specific skills. Hill also wants to develop students’ ability to learn better—in any field. And…
January 25, 2017
The power of personal narratives in the classroom
During a recent Sociology of Education class at UW Bothell, a reticent student pointedly told Jane Van Galen she never talked about her family or her childhood—and certainly didn’t want to share her story in a video. But Van Galen gently persuaded her and her fellow students that their personal experiences provided rich and relevant…
November 15, 2016
Can video games solve world problems?
It began, as so many things do, with the realization that a gap exists. Josh Lawler, professor in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, saw there were very few games about climate change that are scientifically accurate—and actually fun to play. Knowing that research shows that games are an effective tool for learning, in…
May 2, 2016
Finding meaning behind the music
Last fall, UW Tacoma Lecturer Kim Davenport turned to FOLD, a new web-based open publishing platform, to help her students construct multimedia presentations that allow them to discover their creative voice. FOLD, as Davenport quickly discovered, boosted the learning of the students in her humanities classes, encouraging them to express their ideas about music in…
March 29, 2016
Showing rather than telling at UW’s School of Dentistry
Four years ago, UW School of Dentistry associate professor Donald Chi traveled to a remote Alaska Native community in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region to find out what was rotting young keggutet, the Yup’ik word for teeth. What Chi learned in the field perfectly illustrates why he has replaced traditional paper case studies with videos in…
Student testimonial: How video helps put a face on critical dental health care issues
Before I started dental school, I knew that it would not be an easy task, yet I was still surprised and overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information that we needed to learn. In my effort to stay afloat, I resorted to memorizing hard facts and statistical numbers presented in PowerPoint slides, hoping that this…
March 8, 2016
What to Know When Using Random Calling
Ben Wiggins, faculty coordinator for instruction and lecturer in biology, shares his top tips on incorporating random calling for a more inclusive and equitable classroom experience. Prepare a randomized list of student names: Don’t rely on yourself to randomly choose a name; instead, develop a system. Wiggins says it can be as simple as using two…
What is your class telling you?
Ben Wiggins, a faculty coordinator for instruction and lecturer in biology, knew many students in his introductory biology classes faced challenges that reached beyond the material being taught. Something else, something quite powerful, was at play in the background, affecting the performance of female students. Work by Sarah Eddy, Sara Brownell and Mary Pat Wenderoth (Eddy…
February 23, 2016
Engaging online students with their communities
UW Bothell associate professor Jody Early faced a difficult task—Challenging her busy nursing and health studies students with a more meaningful learning experience by combining an online global women’s health class with community-based service learning. Early was determined to find a way for her ‘place-bound’ and non-traditional students—often juggling demanding work schedules and family commitments—to reap…
November 12, 2015
Five tips: Getting the most out of Active Learning Classrooms
The Active Learning Classrooms (ALCs) at Odegaard Undergraduate Library make for a great teaching and learning environment—but may be a little intimidating for some lecturers and students who have never used them before. ALCs are designed to foster cooperative and problem-based learning experiences. While ALCs are relatively new, more than two years of research and…
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