Teaching and Learning blog

Other higher education instructors ask me what I use to keep my students engaged in courses that involve a lot of memorization and how do I build confidence and deepen their understanding in the material?

I teach online Medical Terminology as well as nursing courses for three different colleges. MyLab Medical Terminology by Pearson has been one of my go-to resources for 12 years because it helps me keep my online students invested in their learning.

Features that make learning dynamic and fun

Medical terminology, outside of being difficult, can be tedious at times. With all those root words, prefixes and suffixes to remember, students are essentially being asked to learn a new language in the span of a single course. A spelling or pronunciation error could be vital to a patient’s life.

To help my students overcome this challenge, the features of MyLab Medical Terminology are designed to promote active learning, which makes the process of mastery more enjoyable and effective.

Every college math instructor has been there. The students have been actively engaged in class. They’ve completed their homework (for the most part). The majority have even turned in the test review that you provided. Yay! Then you grade the tests. Questions were left blank, many scored shockingly low, and several students left sad notes in the margins. Some did well, but so many failed that the bell curve is upside-down! How is it they learned so little?!

Then, we dive into the ice cream to ease the pain (or maybe that’s just me).

Well, put the ice cream back in the freezer, my friends, because there is hope! A few tweaks to the way you design test exercises could potentially improve test scores and right that bell curve, not by lowering standards, but by more accurately assessing student knowledge by asking more focused test questions.

How many levels of cognition are you assessing?

One of the challenges that college math students face is that most math exercises require several levels of cognition and a variety of mastered objectives. Consider the exercise: “Solve 5𝑥(𝑥−2) = 3𝑥−2.”

More than 3.5 million nurses around the country are currently providing a variety of essential healthcare services. In doing so, they are spending more hours with patients than any other profession in the industry, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), which is why it’s essential for nurses to have a solid foundation of knowledge in the field and to develop a strong sense of confidence that can sustain them throughout their careers.

Nursing is the linchpin of the American healthcare system, but experts predict that the system could break. The Baby Boomer generation is aging and requiring more care; nursing programs are experiencing faculty shortages that restrict the number of students they can admit each year; and nurses are being pulled in so many different directions that they are burning out and leaving the profession at historic rates, according to a report from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN).

How can nurse educators provide a foundational learning experience that helps nurses thrive?

In addition to incorporating concept-based learning into the curriculum to prepare nursing students for challenging clinical environments, another important way to facilitate critical growth in the nursing profession is to support the role that student-teacher relationships play in promoting positive learning outcomes and strong retention rates.

Nurse educators play a vital role

Regardless of the level of difficulty or the subject matter being covered, the truly effective teachers are the ones who can connect with their students in meaningful ways. The student-teacher relationship is especially influential in nursing education programs, where the information is complex and mistakes can cost lives.

Nurse educator Tammy Vant Hul, Riverside City College, PhD, MSN, RN, ACNP, CNE, says that building a sense of trust between instructor and student is crucial. “I think helping students work through the idea that the only thing that they can\, put their money on is that their patients are going to change from the time they walk in there in the morning. The environment that they work in will change almost weekly.”

The student-teacher connection in nursing education is described as “a place of possibility” by Mary Gillespie, a professor of critical care nursing at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. “The qualities inherent in the essence of connection — knowing, trust, respect, and mutuality — create a transformative space in which students are affirmed, gain insight into their potential, and grow toward fulfilling personal and professional capacities,” she writes in the Journal of Advanced Nursing.

Other research has concluded that nurse educators who provide a supportive teaching context can dramatically alter a nursing student’s approach to learning, inspiring them to engage more deeply with the material and become active, enthusiastic learners. A positive learning environment has also been shown to bolster resilience in nursing students, a key factor in achieving academic success and professional longevity in the field.

Vant Hul and her colleagues, for example, don’t conduct “high stakes testing” because doing so can damage a student’s sense of psychological safety and interfere with the learning process. When one of Vant Hul’s students makes a mistake during a simulation exercise, she helps them learn from it by asking questions that encourage them to reflect on their performance, such as: What just happened? How could you have handled this situation better? and What will you do differently next time?

Cultivating a positive relationship while maintaining professional boundaries and holding students accountable for their learning is not a straightforward task. Gillespie emphasizes that nurse educators need to be trained in how to help students grow their own relational competencies, as well as how to keep the “educator-in-relationship” role in mind when assessing students.

The importance of promoting dignity

In healthcare, the concept of dignity — a human being’s intrinsic worth and fundamental right to be treated with respect — is often discussed in relation to the patient who is being cared for, not the nurse who is caring for that patient. However, when it comes to training and retaining nurses, it is the dignity of these essential healthcare providers that needs to be of paramount importance to educators.

“It is a goal in nursing education to promote students' dignity and facilitate this core value,” write Tone Stikholmen, Dagfinn Nåden, and Herdis Alvsvåg in a study published in Nursing Ethics. The study found a meaningful link between the student-teacher relationship and a nursing students’ experience with dignity. When an educator was affirming, empathetic, and accepting, students were more likely to have confidence in their abilities and to be more present in patient situations.

In the student interviews conducted by Stikholmen and his colleagues, the following recommendations for nurse educators emerged:

Do you know what your go-to learning styles are? Understanding and applying different learning styles to your studying can transform the way your brain processes information. In turn, this can help you perform better on exams. Training your brain to take advantage of different styles of learning can help you retain information in new, creative ways.

When it comes to learning styles, just remember VARK

Acronyms always help me remember things, so here is an acronym to help you remember the different learning styles: VARK. It stands for visual, auditory, read/write, and kinesthetic/tactile. Let’s look at what each style has to offer with regard to study strategies.

Visual input engages sight and brings attention to the eyes. This is when you’re more encouraged through visual imagery rather than word-based information.

1. Drawing pictures, diagrams, or graphs in notes
2. Color code notes with bright colors
3. Come up with funny mnemonics or acronyms
4. Visualize notes during test-taking

Auditory input engages hearing and brings attention to the ears. This includes the use of sounds.

1. Read notes aloud
2. Teach and explain steps to a friend
3. Join a study group
4. Listen to your favorite music

Read/write input is word or text-based learning. This is for students who prefer to pair reading and writing together.

1. Prepare by reading the textbook before class
2. Write organized notes
3. Make flashcards
4. Annotate and go over notes

Kinesthetic/tactile input engages touch and movement. This learning style is for those who enjoy activity and are connected with the sense of touch.

1. Incorporating models or figures
2. Having a stress ball or sensory toy on hand
3. Move around during your time studying
4. Stand and write on a board

Here’s what happened when I explored other learning styles

The learning style that comes most naturally to me is reading and writing. I like to take notes and read information multiple times. This helps my brain process the information in a way that will be easy for me to remember.

While I am comfortable with that learning style, I also wanted to seek out different methods to engage other parts of my brain. I found that kinesthetic/tactile learning paired well with my previous style because it allowed me to move around and use my sense of touch. Simply walking around and writing on a whiteboard helped me visualize the information on a grander scale.

In addition to those two learning styles, I also used visual inputs. Drawing diagrams on the whiteboard and using mnemonics or acronyms was very effective when it came to recalling information for my exams. Being able to clearly picture the visuals I wrote on the whiteboard engaged another part of my brain that I wouldn’t have accessed if I had only stuck with my go-to learning style. Overall, I discovered that involving different senses can make studying easier.

Try out these different learning styles and see how your studying habits transform! By changing how the brain processes information, you might find that you have an easier time studying, earn better grades, and retain knowledge more effectively.

As college students and their instructors return to school, it’s important to remember that fostering a growth mindset in students can significantly impact their learning experience and academic success. A growth mindset emphasizes the belief that intelligence and abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. By cultivating this mindset from the beginning of the semester, instructors can empower students to embrace challenges, persevere through obstacles, and maximize their potential. Here are some valuable strategies college instructors can use to start the semester off right by nurturing a growth mindset in their students.

1: Encourage a Positive Classroom Culture

Create an environment that celebrates effort, resilience, and the value of mistakes. Encourage students to view challenges as opportunities for growth rather than setbacks. Emphasize that mistakes are an essential part of the learning process and provide specific feedback that focuses on improvement rather than solely on grades. Establish a safe and supportive atmosphere where students feel comfortable taking risks and seeking help when needed.

2: Set Growth-Focused Goals

Show students how to set meaningful goals that go beyond performance-based achievements. Guide students through regular self-reflections on progress and explain how they can adjust their goals based on their evolving needs and aspirations. This process cultivates a student’s sense of ownership and inspires them to have a proactive attitude towards their own learning journey.

3: Emphasize the Power of "Yet"

Encourage students to adopt the phrase "I haven't mastered it yet" instead of "I can't do it." Teach them to see setbacks as temporary and not indicative of their overall abilities. Foster resilience by providing examples of famous figures who faced failure before achieving success. Highlight stories of individuals who overcame obstacles through hard work, perseverance, and a growth mindset. These narratives can motivate students and reinforce the idea that effort leads to improvement.

4: Promote Effort and Process

Shift the focus from grades and outcomes to the learning process itself. Delay giving them a numerical grade on an assignment until they have reviewed your feedback, identified specific areas for improvement, and set goals that challenge them to develop new skills. Encourage students to value effort, persistence, and dedication. Praise their hard work, strategies, and the steps they take to solve problems. Highlight the significance of seeking challenges, utilizing effective study techniques, and actively engaging in class discussions. By recognizing and valuing effort, you foster intrinsic motivation and a love for learning.

5: Cultivate Collaboration and Peer Support

Create opportunities for collaborative learning and peer support. Encourage students to work together, share knowledge, and provide constructive feedback to one another. Collaborative activities allow students to gain different perspectives, learn from their peers, and develop essential teamwork and communication skills. When instructors foster a supportive learning community, students feel more comfortable taking risks and seeking help when faced with difficulties.

6: Model a Growth Mindset

Lead by example and demonstrate a growth mindset in your own teaching practices. Share personal stories of challenges you have faced and the strategies you employed to overcome them. Embrace feedback and continually seek opportunities for professional growth. By modeling a growth mindset, you inspire students to adopt the same attitude towards their own learning journies.

Conclusion

Nurturing a growth mindset among students is a powerful tool that college instructors can use to help students unlock their full potential. By creating a positive classroom culture, setting growth-focused goals, and emphasizing effort and the learning process, instructors can lay the foundation for a successful and transformative semester. Remember, by fostering a growth mindset, you empower students to embrace challenges, develop resilience, and ultimately achieve greater academic and personal growth.

Our mission is simple: to help people make progress in their lives through learning. Because wherever learning flourishes, so do people. We'll only be successful when our educational materials are accessible to all users, and we’ve long been committed to providing access to learners with disabilities. That commitment is woven into the fabric of our learning materials, development processes, innovation efforts, employee culture, and partnerships.

We’re proud to have been recognized as a Benetech Global Certified Accessible™ (GCA) publisher. The first third-party EPUB certification program to verify eBook accessibility. (Learn more about this achievement, and our new partnership with Benetech.)

Accessibility in MyLab and Mastering  

Pearson’s Faculty Advisors recently led best practice webinars for our two leading learning platforms, exploring accessibility features designed to help more learners succeed. (We invite you to watch the recorded webinars: MyLab or Mastering.)  

As educators, one of the biggest issues we have recently had to tackle in our classrooms is the increase in academic misconduct. At our college, there was a 703% increase in academic misconduct reports from Winter 2020 to Winter 2021. Additionally, there has been a tremendous rise in ed tech companies that flourished during the pandemic. We feel like every time we look in the app store, a new “math solver” app appears. As educators, we can’t even keep up!

In a presentation with Pearson Senior Learning Designer Dr. Elaine W. Tan we discussed specific strategies to be proactive with students about academic integrity. One of those strategies was to introduce academic integrity at the beginning of the term. This proactive approach from day 1 has really made a difference in our classes. In this post, we will go into more specifics.

Define academic misconduct in your syllabus

It’s important to define different forms of cheating and why they’re problematic. It’s equally important to state the value of academic integrity for learning. Many students might not see a given behavior as cheating until you tell them. In fact, in a College Pulse study¹, students were asked how acceptable or unacceptable it is to Google homework questions to find the answers and use study websites to find answers to test or homework questions. Over 50% of the respondents said it was acceptable to Google homework questions and 44% said it was acceptable to use study websites to find answers to test or homework questions.

A syllabus statement about academic integrity, including a link to your institution’s student code of conduct, is an important first step to making sure your students are all on the same page. See the wording that we include in our syllabus.

Discuss academic integrity early

Dr. Tan’s research² found that most students don’t find cheating a problem, with only 15% saying they are very or extremely concerned about contract cheating. This may be because instructor’s aren’t talking about it. Only 1 in 5 students had instructors that discussed that cheating was problematic. Those are alarming statistics, and a good reason why it’s so important to begin the conversation early.

One way to begin that conversation is by setting aside time in the first two weeks of class to show them a video covering academic integrity. Presented in an engaging way, a video like this gets the students’ attention and is more effective than lecturing them. You can also find a math-specific academic integrity video in the MyLab^® Math shell for our textbooks Precalculus: A Right Triangle Approach, 5th Edition & Precalculus: A Unit Circle Approach, 4th Edition.

Build connections with students

More findings from Dr. Tan’s research show that one of the reasons students turn to academic dishonesty is because they feel a lack of personal connection, or a sense that instructors don’t know or care about them. This can be especially true with online learning and the isolation brought on by disruptions to learning over the last few years. We can address this proactively by creating a connection within the first days of class.

Something we started doing this past year is having a required 10-minute one-on-one meeting with each student within the first two weeks of the term. Within that meeting, we communicate to them that we are invested in their success and how the course material can help them achieve their real-life goals. We also talk about academic integrity with them. Get the template email we send out to our classes.

Set clear, specific instructions

Have clear and specific rules and instructions for assignments and exams so students know what is ok to use and what is not. This even comes down to stating “you cannot use the solve feature on the calculator to get the answer.”

One of the things we do is use an exam policy checklist that students have to complete before they’re able to take their test. This checklist states which resources are allowed and which are not, links to the student code of conduct, and clearly lays out the consequences for an academic misconduct violation. View our exam policy checklist.

By bringing in these strategies at the beginning of the term, we have found that the number of academic misconduct issues in our courses has decreased dramatically. Although academic dishonesty may never fully go away, it is important to talk about and provide students with the education to improve their actions.

Dive deeper

Watch the full presentation, Proactive and Positive Ways to Engage Students about Academic Integrity.

Get sample documents for communicating with your students about academic dishonesty

Sources

1. Academic Integrity. (2021). College Pulse.

2. Bakken, S., Tan, E. W. & Wood, A. (2021). A Research Review on Student Cheating. Pearson Learning & Research Design.

As a learning scientist and former instructor, I’ve been watching the topic of digital content develop for a while now. In the past, it’s been regarded as a poor substitute for the printed text when it comes to student comprehension. However, new research shows we’ve reached a turning point in digital reading. My colleagues Dr. Clint Johns, Julia Ridley, and I reviewed 40 peer-reviewed research studies from the last five years, focused mostly in higher education learners in the US¹. Based on our review, most research shows that well-designed digital content can be understood as effectively as print and includes added benefits for readers.

Understanding that your students are more than just a grade is one thing; going the extra step to show them you care about them as people is another entirely.

Dr. Terry Austin has been an instructor at Temple College in Temple, Texas for more than 15 years, during which time he’s championed the use of digital learning platforms in his biology and A&P classes.

Terry found out just how important these resources can be for him and students — and for a reason you might not expect.

Warning signs

During his Anatomy & Physiology class, Terry noticed something odd about one of his student’s Early Alerts reports within the Mastering^® A&P platform.

Crista had been doing well. Really well. Her first exam score was in the mid-90s and all her work in the course was great. His dashboard showed her solidly in the green or “low-risk” category. But that unexpectedly changed.

“All of a sudden, kind of out of nowhere, she seemed to fall off a cliff,” said Terry. “She fell pretty quickly into the yellow (medium-risk) and even red (high-risk) category, and it felt like there must be something else going on.”

Normally, you’d expect a noticeable drop in grade to trigger an alert, but this was something different.

“Her Mastering grade didn’t really drop at all, but Early Alerts noticed something going on. That’s what really triggered me to want to reach out. It felt like talking to her was probably the best idea.”

The human connection

Crista was a little shocked to receive Terry’s call.

“Her reaction when I first reached out was a little bit of a startle. I don’t think she was expecting to get a phone call from her professor,” said Terry. “She was almost in tears when I answered — she was really concerned.”

After reassuring her that her grade was just fine, he explained that there was an alert in Mastering telling him that something might be amiss.

He soon found out what that was.

Crista and her husband had been in the hospital the previous weekend with their son, who had broken his arm. A surgery and complications had kept her there for several days. Her husband had brought her laptop to the hospital, and she tried to keep up with her coursework while sitting anxiously beside her son’s bed.

It also became clear why the system had created an alert for Crista.

"She was distracted,” said Terry. "Her correct on first try score dropped, the attempts it took her to get the correct answers rose, but her grade stayed solid.”

That’s what triggered an “aha” moment for Terry.

“If I was looking at nothing but her grade, I never would’ve known anything was going on. The ability to see the need to make an outreach really was empowering.”

Crista’s reaction to his reaching out to make a connection with her as a person — not just a student — drove that feeling home, and also made her see Terry as something more than just a teacher. It went beyond just gratitude.

"It really did seem like a gushing appreciation that somebody seemed to care enough to make sure she was OK.”

With great power...

Terry now likens his experience to a popular comic book trope.

“For me, it did feel like that super power moment. I got that ability to see into a troubled moment in her life, I got the chance to reach out, and I guess — maybe more importantly — I took that chance.”

Not only was he able to reassure Crista that her grade was all right, but he was able to reassure himself that she was all right.

“Her grades were fine — I knew she was OK as a student — but I also knew looking at that shift from green to yellow — something had caused that to happen. It felt really nice being able to reach out and know that she was OK.”

Terry says that this experience did truly change the way he looks at his students.

“It’s a reminder for me that my students are far more than just their grades. It was an insight and really an awakening that there’s more going on with my students than just that grade in the moment. It’s a reminder that there’s a person behind that grade, it’s not just a number.”

He finds that this technology is like having a window to peek through; to have an idea whether everything is all right, or whether he might need to reach out again.

As for that feeling of having a super power?

“It's one of those moments that kind of comes with great responsibility. And it would be nice to think instructors don’t ignore the opportunity being handed to them.”

Learn more about the Early Alerts technology in this story.