Chronicle of Higher Education Advice Guides

Distracted Minds

This 2020-21 series of articles by James M. Lang, author of Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About It, from the Chronicle of Higher Education, applies communication concepts related to audience attention, presentation structure, and pace to the classroom. The suggestions for the classroom are also applicable to other types of public speaking.

Small Changes in Teaching

This series of articles by James M. Lang from the Chronicle of Higher Education, author of Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons From the Science of Learning, 2016, apply basic communication principles to the classroom, such as: establish relationship with audience members; “tell them what you’re going to tell them;” help the audience stay engaged through clear transitions, repetition,  connections to things they know, and active choice; “tell them what you told them;” remember that change is often incremental; and keep the end-goal in mind.

Teaching More Effectively On-Line

This series by Flower Darby, author (with James Lang) of Small Teaching On-Line: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes, from the Chronicle of Higher Education, applies communication and teaching concepts to various modes of hybrid, remote, and virtual teaching.