We’ve made it through another academic year. Whether you’re slowing down for a quiet summer or gearing up for summer courses, June is the perfect time to reflect on learnings from the year and imagine what the future holds for teaching and learning. We’ll be doing just that at Tech Ed 2023, an annual summit for college instructors hosted by Macmillan Learning in Austin, Texas. Each year, Tech Ed brings together educators from across the United States who teach at institutions large and small, urban and rural, and with diverse student populations. Instructors share their best practices for using technology to enhance teaching and learning. And, they engage in conversations with the Macmillan Learning team about the future of education.  Tech Ed 2023 is right around the corner and we can’t wait to meet you there. Here are our top five things that we’re looking forward to this year.  1. Hearing from Innovative Educators Educators and administrators using technology like Achieve and iClicker will share their stories and best practices. They’ll talk about engaging students in active learning, improving student outcomes, personalizing the learning experience and so much more. We’ll get to learn firsthand about the strategies and pedagogical approaches that are transforming classrooms across the country and how edtech makes it possible.  2. Joining the AI in Education Conversation Artificial intelligence is arguably revolutionizing the way we live, work, interact, and learn. Tech Ed 2023 will feature multiple sessions on AI in education. These sessions will allow instructors to explore AI’s potential to reshape how students learn, how they’re assessed, and how they collaborate.  3. Shaping the Future of Educational Technology One of the highlights of this year’s event is the unique opportunity to shape the future of educational technology during sessions with Macmillan Learning’s product, research, and marketing teams. Macmillan Learning has a rich history of co-creating technologies with instructors and students. At Tech Ed 2023 attending instructors can use their voices to inform the development of innovative teaching and learning platforms. 4. Eating Tacos  Okay, it’s not just about the tacos. Austin, Texas has phenomenal food that anyone can enjoy. We’re excited to sit down for a meal with educators for informal conversations about what they’ve been up to, the things on their minds, and how they plan to spend the summer.  5. Connecting with Educators Tech Ed 2023 isn’t just about the tech; it’s about the people we meet and the relationships we build. In the past few years, so much has been online. Connecting with others who are passionate about creating meaningful learning experiences for students is hands down our favorite part of the event. Tech Ed 2023 is an invite-only, two-day event held in the Macmillan Learning Austin, Texas office. A few spots are still available for the event on June 8th & 9th. If you are interested in attending but have not received an invitation, please contact Leslie Allen-Essex by sending an email to leslie.allen[at]macmillan[dot]com  Get a glimpse of the Tech Ed experience by watching the video below.  ... View more

College is an important time of transition for many students. They’re learning new things, meeting new people, and exploring new surroundings. But managing the many changes taking place isn’t always easy. That’s because with the many changes and opportunities also come challenges for students, and with that can come the feeling like they may not belong in their class, or even in college at all. There are a range of reasons why students may not feel like they belong, and it varies widely from student to student. Some may be the first in their families to attend college. Some students may struggle with mental health issues. Some may simply find it difficult to make friends. And yet others still may have challenges with their financial situations. For these students, feeling like they do not belong, or are an “imposter” can hinder their academic success as well as their mental health, and overall well-being. Some students from traditionally underrepresented minority groups may also feel a sense of marginalization or stigmatization on campus.  Research has demonstrated that students who feel like they belong are more likely to be engaged in their studies, perform better academically, and are more likely to stay in college and graduate. For example, a recent study found that students who report a higher sense of belonging at the end of the first year do better than their counterparts, persist more in their second and third years and have lower levels of mental health issues. “Regardless of the reason, when students feel like they don't belong, the consequences can be detrimental,” said Macmillan Learning Research Specialist Sarah Gray. “It can impact the students’ future career opportunities and earning potential alongside society as a whole by creating higher levels of social inequality and race-based disparities in academic achievement.” At Macmillan Learning our mission is to inspire what’s possible for every learner. That’s why we’ve been so interested in learning more about how having a sense of belonging impacts student performance, and whether courseware can have an impact. Most recently, we have been conducting research in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to learn more about digital tools that could foster a sense of belonging and the impact that may have on student success for underserved student populations. What is Having a Sense of Belonging Sense of belonging in the college settings refers to how students understand their role and their social fit in a college environment. It goes beyond just physical presence on campus. Rather, it's a feeling that students have that they are part of a larger community, where they are valued, understood, and supported. It’s also about having social and cultural capital–understanding the social norms, shared values, and expected behaviors of college. Their sense of belonging can be enhanced through both social and academic interactions in their classrooms and institutions.  According to Gray, an unfortunate reality is that underrepresented minority groups can report a weaker sense of belonging than their White peers on their campuses.  “Having a sense of belonging is not necessarily a binary issue, where students either feel like they belong or they don’t. Rather, it's a complex and dynamic feeling that can be influenced by a variety of factors, including social identity, campus climate, individual experiences and cultural norms,” said Gray. She added that having a sense of belonging can be further complicated for underrepresented minority students by assumptions that they are coming into college with a deficit of the knowledge and skill needed to succeed, as well as the pressure to fit into the campus environment at the expense of their home culture. There are three types of belonging that Macmillan Learning has been particularly interested in learning more about: students’ individual sense of belonging, their sense of belonging in a particular class, and their sense of belonging within college.  Individual belonging reflects a student's overall sense of belonging within the college environment. It encompasses their feelings of social and academic fit and can be influenced by factors such as campus culture, social identity, personal experiences, and individual personality traits. Students who feel individual belonging may feel like they are valued for their unique perspectives, and that they are free to express themselves and explore their interests without fear of judgment or discrimination. Belonging in class reflects a student's sense of connection and engagement within a specific course or academic program. It's having a sense of ownership over their learning and success in that course or program, and understanding how their classwork is helping them achieve their academic goals. A student who feels a strong sense of belonging in a particular class might feel comfortable speaking up in class discussions, collaborating with their peers on group projects or feel close with their instructor.  Students may or may not feel like they belong at college at all, and it has to do with their sense of connection and belonging that expands beyond just their individual academic programs or their courses.This belonging encompasses their feelings of social and academic fit, as well as their sense of connection to the broader campus community and institutional values. Whether or not they feel like a welcome part of a larger community that shares similar values and goals. Studying Sense of Belonging Macmillan Learning’s Sense of Belonging and Metacognition study seeks to understand the impact of using digital tools like out-of-class peer learning, low-stakes quizzing, and routine sentiment check-ins embedded within a digital courseware platform, like Achieve, to improve students’ sense of belonging and metacognition skills. The study will also examine whether improved sense of belonging and metacognition skills are related to other student outcomes such as course retention, content knowledge and exam scores.  The study is part of the company’s ongoing research about how digital learning platforms and courseware can help to close equity gaps in course completion for historically and presently underserved students, and students experiencing poverty. Initial research began in Spring 2023, and further research will take place in Fall 2023.  “We believe that having a sense of belonging can have an impact, and are testing related digital courseware solutions that administrators, instructors and students said would be helpful. This will help us to see what works best in practice, what students will actually use, and how they will use it,” said Guido Gatti, Sr. Quantitative Research Analyst. In the second part of this series, we’ll offer practical examples of tools and activities that instructors can use to help foster students’ sense of belonging both in and out of the classroom. ... View more

“When I was a student,” said Dr. Loretta Jones, “during all four years of my undergraduate studies, there was only one female professor–and she was an adjunct professor.” Much has changed since Dr. Jones was a student, and she has played a significant role in that. Dr. Jones was one of the first female authors of a chemistry textbook, and is co-author of the newest edition of Chemical Principles: The Quest for Insight.  Macmillan Learning recognizes that the success of our textbooks and courseware is in large part due to our outstanding authors, many of whom are pioneers and trailblazers in their fields. Our authors have remarkable careers that extend beyond higher education. They are excellent and innovative teachers, and they are impeccable writers and storytellers.  For this year’s Women’s History Month, Macmillan Learning is excited to feature Dr. Jones as part of its Author Spotlight series.    Dr. Loretta Jones, Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, University of Northern ColoradoDr. Jones was always interested in science. As a young girl, she was highly curious; she wanted to know how flowers grow and why birds could fly. In middle school, she read a book about atoms and was introduced to the periodic table. “I remember being completely stunned by the incredible harmony underlying everything,” she recalled.  Her early love for the natural sciences convinced Dr. Jones that she wanted to become a physicist. “At the time, when I thought of pursuing a career in chemistry,” she said, “I thought all I would be doing was washing test tubes.” Dr. Jones’’s high school chemistry teacher completely changed her perspective. “My teacher hadn’t taught in a while and tried some new things in the classroom, so we performed some crazy experiments,” she said. “I found it all really interesting–and entertaining!”  At the time, Dr. Jones considered majoring in biology to explore further the natural world. However, because she wanted to be able to support herself and because her love for chemistry had grown, she decided to major in it when she enrolled at Loyola University.  After graduating from Loyola University, Dr. Jones continued her studies at the University of Chicago. It hadn’t crossed her mind to consider teaching as a career until she read the original writings of Italian physician Maria Montessori. “They were so inspiring,” Dr. Jones said. “Montessori wrote about designing an environment in which a child learns best, and I thought to myself ‘We should be doing something similar when teaching chemistry!’” Dr. Jones was also motivated to teach because of conversations she had with many people in her life who said to her things like “Why would you want to study chemistry? I failed chemistry; it’s so hard!” Dr. Jones wanted to prove that learning chemistry–albeit challenging–could be fun and rewarding. Before completing her graduate studies, Dr. Jones gained work experience at Argonne National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy science and engineering research center. “It was an interesting place to work,” Dr. Jones recalled. “We were doing a lot of work with coolants in breeder reactors, a type of nuclear reactor that uses large amounts of neutron energy. Dr. Jones then transitioned to work for her husband’s company as secretary and treasurer before returning to school to finish her graduate degree and carve out her own career path.  “My advisor at the University of Chicago told me about a program called Doctorate of Arts in Chemistry at the University of Illinois, a new program designed for people with specific interest in teaching chemistry,” Dr. Jones said. It was the early days of computing when Dr. Jones completed her graduate studies at the University of Illinois and it was difficult to program animations. “The university had computers that performed vector graphics to make interesting animations, something not available even in Hollywood, so Hollywood had to come to the university,” she said. “I was in the room when they were working on animations for the original Star Wars movies–scenes for getting into the Death Star and animations for its flight path.”  Her exposure to early computing encouraged Dr. Jones to think further about how to improve the teaching of chemistry. “Lectures are boring,” she said. “I loved anything that brought pictures of atoms and molecules to the minds of students. They could solve all of the equations, but they didn’t really understand what that meant in terms of atoms and molecules, and that’s where all the excitement takes place.”  After completing her Ph.D. and D.A. at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Dr. Jones had a great opportunity to teach using multimedia at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. There she met Stan Smith, an organic chemist who was really pushing the envelope of what could be done with a computer in his classroom teaching. “I was amazed by his lessons and by his grasp of how his students thought,” Dr. Jones said. She and Dr. Smith started working together to incorporate interactive, multimedia video in their teaching. “This was the early days,” Dr. Jones said. “We needed to have a computer with the lesson on it and a TV set hooked to a videotape player. The computer would ask students a question–something along the lines of which two chemicals they wanted to mix together–and then they would see a video of that reaction occurring.”  With quickly advancing technology, Dr. Jones and her colleagues were then able to lessen the number of devices needed for their multimedia teaching. “IBM visited our campus with their newly developed InfoWindow, which could play the video on the same screen as the computer,” Dr. Jones said. “We received a few of their computers, which also had touchscreens, so students could more easily choose the chemicals they wanted to mix.” IBM also asked Dr. Jones to become a consulting scholar, full-time for one year and part-time for another five years. She was part of a class of twelve that eventually grew to 22, who visited campuses to talk to faculty members about using technology in their teaching.  While serving as a consulting scholar for IBM, Dr. Jones presented her multimedia lessons at conferences, including EduCom where she had a brief encounter with Steve Jobs. “Jobs had recently left Apple and started his company, NeXT Computer,” Dr. Jones said, “which was a classy looking product, but only displayed in black and white.” IBM asked Dr. Jones if they could invite Jobs over to see her presentation of using multimedia in her chemistry lessons. They brought him over, and Dr. Jones went through her lesson, demonstrating how students could use the computer interactively. At the end of her lesson demonstration, she expected Jobs to ask a question about the video or the lesson. “Instead,” she recalled, “he just stood there silently the whole time and at the very end said only: ‘Tell me about this touch screen.’”  The touchscreen computer may have been the biggest takeaway for Steve Jobs, but it’s Dr. Jones’s innovative lessons that had the greatest impact on her students. “Teaching was always such a priority for me,” she said. “So much so that my main research area was the teaching of chemistry.” When a position opened up at the University of Northern Colorado, Dr. Jones applied and moved to Colorado once she got the job. It was the perfect opportunity for someone with that area of interest.  Specializing in teaching and pedagogy also uniquely positioned Dr. Jones as an ideal candidate to author a chemistry textbook. She was first approached by an editor from W. H. Freeman in 1995 with the request to edit a few chapters from the second edition of Chemistry: Molecules, Matter, and Change. “It felt like they were holding auditions,” Dr. Jones joked. “I thought to myself: ‘There’s no way I could possibly have time in my life for a textbook project.’” Nevertheless, the editor was persistent in her requests. She invited Dr. Jones to dinner and left her with the three chapters, which Dr. Jones remembers leaving lying untouched on her dining room table for nearly one month.  “The editor gave me a call and told me that she needed something from me soon,” Dr. Jones said. “I realized that if I didn’t send her anything, I might never have the opportunity–and I could still say ‘no’.” Dr. Jones sent in edits for half of one chapter and will never forget her editor’s excitement. Dr. Jones was invited to New York, where she had her first working meeting with Peter Atkins, her future co-author and long-term colleague.  More than 25 years later, Peter and Dr. Jones are still working together on another title, the eighth edition of Chemical Principles: The Quest for Insight. Together with co-author Leroy Laverman, they’ve now grown their author team to five, bringing on both James Patterson and Kelley Young, who will be featured in a future Author Spotlight. “Kelley and James introduced some interesting new applications,” Dr. Jones said. “We’ve also completely revised how we deal with some of the bonding topics in this new edition.” Like the seventh edition, the eighth edition also has an improved structure, which features focuses and topics rather than chapters.  Dr. Jones is now retired from teaching, but the textbook project continues to keep her busy. When she’s not writing, she loves to read and to hike. She moved to Michigan after she retired to be closer to her daughter. “There are so many great places to hike in Michigan,” Dr. Jones said, “and there are lakes everywhere.”  Loretta L. Jones is Emeritus Professor of Chemistry at the University of Northern Colorado. She taught general chemistry there for 16 years and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for 13 years. She earned a BS in honors chemistry from Loyola University, an MS in organic chemistry from the University of Chicago, and a Ph.D. in physical chemistry as well as a D.A. in chemical education from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her physical chemistry research used electron paramagnetic resonance to investigate motion in liquids. Her chemical education research focuses on helping students to understand the molecular basis of chemistry through visualization. In 2001, she chaired the Gordon Research Conference on Visualization in Science and Education. In 2006 she chaired the Chemical Education Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS). She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the coauthor of award-winning multimedia courseware. In 2012 she received the ACS Award for Achievement in Research in the Teaching and Learning of Chemistry. ... View more

Picture a university college campus. Are you imagining majestic buildings standing tall, perhaps of Gothic architecture? How about the intricate stone carvings and pointed arches exuding academic excellence and tradition? What about the steep steps that take you inside that building? Those stairs are a key architectural feature and they are everywhere on college campuses. They’re also, both literally and symbolically, a barrier for many college students. We spoke with Macmillan Learning Author Dr. Jay Dolmage to discuss this and more as part of our ongoing Author Spotlight series. We recognize that the success of our content and courseware is in large part due to our outstanding authors, many of whom have years of experience in research and higher education. The series explores each author’s educational background, teaching interests, and the life experiences that impact their writing and teaching. A co-author of How to Write Anything 5e with John Ruszkiewicz, Dr. Dolmage is Professor of English at University of Waterloo.  He has a passion for both writing and teaching (and in particular, teaching writing to first-year students.) And there’s a special reason he’s so passionate -- he wants to change the way we think about education. Dr. Dolmage argues that education is not always inclusive, and therefore for far too many people, not receiving the best education is an unfortunate reality.   Early Influences “Can I teach more?…” “Can I teach writing more?…” Those were the questions Dr. Dolmage asked himself as he made decisions about his career path. And the answer each time was “Yes.” He taught his first writing course about 20 years ago to incoming freshmen -- something that quickly became his favorite thing to do. He’s passionate about continuing to teach writing to new students year after year because of the oversized impact he believes it has.  It made an impact on him. Dr. Dolmage went from a small town to a large university -- an experience that he said helps him relate to his students. “I like that I can connect with students in their first year, and that I'm a professor who knows their names, and can help them learn one another's names.” He believes that the skills he teaches his students in first-year writing will not only provide them with the confidence to succeed, but will act as the critical building blocks that they’ll use for the remainder of their college experience.  His small town upbringing isn’t the only aspect of his youth to have had an impact on him. When Dr. Dolmage thinks of the things that prepared him for becoming a top teacher and prolific author, being a camp counselor is one of the surprising things that comes to mind. He also credits his parents, who were both “teachers.” While his dad was a high school physical education teacher, his mom was a social worker by trade. “You might not think of a social worker as being a teacher, but in fact, I really think she is, and continues to be, a powerful teacher.” Teaching wasn’t his first dream. Writing was. “I really wanted to be a writer, and I loved writing. I loved the challenge of it; the feeling of creativity..” It was that very experience and struggle that made him want to pursue writing, a desire that followed him throughout his undergraduate degree into his master's degree where he was thrown into teaching writing. “I was excited about it, but I didn't know what it was going to look like.” He ultimately discovered that teaching was a fantastic way to support his goal of being a writer.  Education is Worth Fighting For “You don't realize the cost of exclusion in education unless you've lived through it.” Dr. Dolmage knows all about that cost, because he’s seen the impact firsthand as the sibling of a brother with disabilities. It’s just one of the many reasons why he’s so passionate about supporting inclusivity in education. As an individual with disabilities, Dr. Dolmage’s older brother, Matthew, was not allowed to go to the same school as him and his sister. In a practice known as "segregation," children with disabilities were sent to schools with “specialized education.”  He and his family fought to have his brother attend the same school all the way up to the Supreme Court of Appeal in Ontario, in Canada. When that didn’t go as they hoped, they switched neighborhoods and schools. After that move, Dr. Dolmage and his brother started going to school together and everything changed. The world opened up to his brother, who was finally included in the same activities and classes as him, and was welcomed into the neighborhood. It was then that Dr. Dolmage realized the power of inclusion and the impact it could have on someone's life. It emphasized for him that education is not something he would ever take for granted and it inspired him to help others in the same way. “There always was an understanding that education was something worth fighting for. And that has been the thing that motivates my research and scholarship, and also my teaching. It's one of those things where you don't realize the cost unless you've lived through that kind of exclusion.” He added that it’s an unfortunate reality for lots of people, which is why he continues fighting for more inclusive education. In his career, he has worked to buck the ableist attitudes, policies, and practices that he feels are currently built into higher education. Or as he refers to them -- the “steep steps.” The Steep Steps Remember those steep steps? Now imagine, if just for a day, you decided you weren't going to go up any stairs, but you'd only use elevators. You'd only use doors that had push-button entrances, or other accessible features on your campus. The steep steps make it nearly impossible for some students to access various areas of the buildings. Even when there is an accessible entrance, it may be located in a less convenient or less prominent location. That doesn’t even include considerations of the uneven terrain, bumpy sidewalks, narrow doors and steep ramps, which also make the campus difficult to navigate. More than just an inconvenience, having to locate accessible features of a campus could add about an hour each day -- time that could be used in class, or to study, work, or spend time with family and friends. The steep steps are a powerful metaphor for the barriers that some students face. “They are physical features on campus that we keep reproducing. We associate them with upward mobility and say things like ‘pull yourself up by the bootstraps’ and ‘step up.’” The steep steps determine who has access to privilege and knowledge, he added. “If we see it physically, then we can understand that it happens in other ways. It happens across the curriculum. It happens in the ways that we teach. There are so many barriers just built in because it's the way that we've always done things.” He added, “The messages that are conveyed to disabled students that their access is at the back door and at the end of the syllabus are also forms of ableism.” Dr. Dolmage believes those steep steps represent a key reason why colleges lose so many disabled students. “The graduation rates are much, much lower. The amount of time it takes students to get a degree is much, much higher. The retention rates are really poor.” The cost of the steep steps is that colleges are losing a lot of students.  Dr. Dolmage believes that the writing classroom can be a powerful place to change that dynamic. There, he said, we get to see a diverse group of students early in their college experience; bringing us full circle to explain why teaching first-year students in the fall semester is his favorite thing to do. “Since writing is a required class, there’s a good cross-section of the students who are coming into the university. We get to deliver our courses differently. That’s the reason why I like teaching in the first term.”  It’s a dynamic that wasn’t present during Dr. Dolmage’s schooling.  The Version of History We Choose When Dr. Dolmage was in grad school, he noticed the absence of disability and persons with disabilities in the courses he took. That didn’t track with his own experiences. “I was learning all of these things as part of my grad program, these kinds of histories and theories of rhetoric, and disability was nowhere to be seen.” This was a version of history that he didn’t believe or trust. He likens it to professors he had who had seen a version of the history of rhetoric that only included white men and knew there was more to the story. Just like those who saw the injustice set out to tell the fuller story, so did he -- but with a disability angle. “We've chosen a version of history here where we've cut out all of the rich evidence of the power of disabled people and rhetoricians, and we could have told it differently. And so we did.” This experience has ultimately helped Dr. Dolmage’s role as a teacher and as a writer. He wanted to ensure that all students, regardless of ability, have the chance to learn, develop, and thrive in an inclusive environment. He wanted to challenge the version of history that excluded people with disabilities and to show the power of disabled people and rhetoricians.  His first book, Disability Rhetoric, was the first of many titles about academic ableism that Dr. Dolmage would write. In the following years, he continued writing with titles that included: Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education (Michigan University Press), Disabled Upon Arrival: Eugenics, Immigration, and the Construction of Race and Disability (Ohio State University Press), How to Write Anything (Bedford/St. Martin’s) and Disability and the Teaching of Writing (Bedford/St. Martin’s). Even with the focus on inclusivity, Dr. Dolmage recognizes that not all students want to be in class. To counter that, he seeks out creative and inventive ways to support students who have different levels of preparedness with the goal of using the 16 weeks an instructor has with them to change their mind, and help them feel connected to each other and their instructor. He focuses on classroom collaboration, helping students build confidence, and safely try new things and get out of their comfort zone. He noted that writing books is a test of flexibility and inclusion. How to Write Anything, he said, can sound disingenuous, “as if we could teach people how to write anything.” But it’s not about teaching every single form of writing that a student will ever need. Rather, it’s teaching a student that no matter what gets thrown at them, they can figure it out because they have learned the basics and built in flexibility and confidence. Building those skills are what he thinks about every time he sets down to write. He knows that students from all walks of life, taking a variety of different programs, will be using his text. “How can I support those students .... whoever walks in the room? Any kind of student, no matter where they're from, what they want to do, what zip code they live in, what background they're from, whether or not they're working a full time job in addition to being a student. Because those are the realities, aren't they?” ... View more

As a child, we learn our ABCs before we learn how to write. In high school, Algebra I precedes Algebra II. But the connections students need to make in college, or as they transition to work, aren't always as obvious. For example, it’s not as clear that the techniques and rules for writing that a student learns in their composition class will help them with writing assignments in their upper-level courses (or even to get their first post-college job). Knowledge transfer, or the ability to apply knowledge and skills to new situations, is not always automatic or easy. It requires students to learn how to learn—how to both acquire new information and skills effectively and how to apply them in different contexts. While college education is a journey that builds upon what students have learned throughout their lives, research consistently finds that students have difficulty applying acquired knowledge and skills to new or different situations.  Several learning strategies can equip students to transfer their knowledge to new situations, understand complex ideas, and continue learning throughout their lives. There are things that can be done to help nurture that transition and build a bridge between educational experiences. But to do that, there needs to be a greater understanding of why that critical knowledge transfer is not happening. The Transfer of Learning Theory, proposed by Robert Gagne, suggests that transfer of learning is most likely to occur when the new task is similar to the task on which the student was originally trained, and when the student has been explicitly taught how to transfer their knowledge and skills to new situations. Drawing inspiration from and building upon Gange’s research, here are 13 practical suggestions to help instructors support the transfer of knowledge: Have a sense of what students already know: Whether it is from their high school or college experience, or through their own personal exploration, students often come to college with a wealth of knowledge and skills that can be built upon. Low-stakes assessments can help offer both students and instructors a sense of what they already know, as well as what should be an area of focus. Also, validating knowledge can help ease the transition between academic environments and make the student feel more confident in their knowledge. Gain students’ attention: To capture attention, share a surprising fact, use humor, reveal a relevant personal anecdote, or ask a thought-provoking question using iClicker. When students are focused and engaged, they are more likely to understand, retain, and apply what is being taught. Additionally, a positive and engaging classroom environment can foster motivation and enthusiasm for learning, leading to better academic performance. Inform students of the learning objective: Clearly state the goals of the lesson, what learners will be able to do after the session, and why that lesson is important to not only the class, but to their overall learning path. Instructors can also ask students to set their own goals. One way to do this is by reflecting on class objectives with Goal-setting and Reflection Surveys found within Achieve. By setting goals, students can identify what they want to accomplish and prioritize their study plans, monitor their progress and improve their metacognition. Stimulate recall of prior learning: Recall exercises such as asking learners to share what they already know about the topic, or conducting a pre-assessment can help activate prior knowledge. Spellman College Senior Instructor Kiandra Johnson recommends starting a new topic by asking students if they are familiar with a concept, what they know about it, and what they think it might mean. This can help instructors gauge student understanding and build upon it, rather than start from scratch. Fill in learning gaps: Not all students come to class with the same level of understanding. This is increasingly common with learning loss incurred during the pandemic. Macmillan Learning's Achieve platform offers diagnostic tools like General Chemistry Readiness which covers basic math, algebra and chemical concepts to assess students' understanding; based on the assessment results, it also offers recommendations on how to improve readiness for the course. Promote equity and inclusivity in the classroom: Instructors can use methods like culturally responsive instruction to help make all students feel valued and respected, regardless of their background, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or any other personal characteristic. This can help lead to better academic outcomes and personal growth, as well as foster a sense of community and empathy among students, and prepare students for success in a diverse and interconnected world. Present the information effectively: Information should be presented in an engaging, organized and clear manner. This works best when there are examples, images, and visual aids. By engaging multiple senses, tools like animations, videos, or our interactive graphs in Principles of Economics, and other multimedia can help increase student attention, facilitate the understanding of abstract concepts, and provide opportunities for practicing skills and knowledge. Provide learning guidance: Techniques such as summarizing key points, using analogies or comparisons, and asking learners to restate information in their own words can help provide guidance for learning. Tools such as iClicker’s confidence rating can be helpful in this, as they allow students to indicate their confidence level in the answer they have given by selecting a rating, such as "very confident," "somewhat confident," or "not confident." This can help instructors gauge students' understanding of the material, and give instructors information that empowers them to adjust their teaching accordingly. Encourage active learning: Ask questions, conduct group discussions, or have learners perform a task or complete a small project. Incorporating peer learning and other soft skills development opportunities can not only help students engage with the material, but can also help students develop communication and teamwork skills that will serve them well in the future. Student response systems like iClicker encourage participation and interaction with the material. Just as important, they allow instructors to ask questions during lectures and gauge student understanding in real time. Nurture critical thinking and self-directed learning: Encourage students to use the resources available to them, such as research and library databases, to explore and develop their own interests. This will help them to develop a greater understanding of the subject matter and build on the knowledge they have already acquired. This is also where goal setting and reflection shine, as it encourages students to take ownership of their learning by setting their own goals, seeking out resources, and reflecting on their progress. Provide feedback: Feedback goes two ways. To reinforce learning, instructors can provide immediate feedback on a task or quiz, and also offer constructive criticism to help learners improve.  Spellman College Senior Instructor Kiandra Johnson noted that tools like LearningCurve Adaptive quizzing are helpful because they provide immediate feedback to students; this helps them understand why they got the wrong answer rather than creating frustration over missing a question and not understanding why they got it wrong. Instructors may also want to use exit polling to quickly gather feedback from students at the end of a class or lecture. Using iClicker, students can anonymously respond to questions about the session, providing insights into what was learned and areas for improvement. Assess performance: Exams, quizzes, or other forms of assessments can help evaluate how well the learners have retained the information and apply it to new situations. Tools like LearningCurve Adaptive Quizzing use machine learning algorithms to analyze students' performance on quizzes and adapt to their individual learning needs. The system provides immediate feedback, target areas for improvement, and adjusts the difficulty of future quizzes based on students' performance. Also, having learners complete a final project or presentation that requires them to apply the information in a new context can also help assess retrieval. Make information relatable: To enhance retention and transfer of learning, instructors can encourage learners to relate new information to their prior knowledge, and also provide opportunities for learners to apply the information in new and different situations. By drawing on what students have learned and experienced in their lives, instructors can help students see the relevance of the course content to their interests and perspectives. One way to do this is by incorporating real-world examples or case studies to help learners see the relevance and applications of the information. The New York Times offers a lesson plan with four different ways to help students connect with their studies. Learning is a journey that takes place not only in the classroom, but also in the wider world. Building a bridge between students’ different educational experiences is critical because it allows them to connect their previous knowledge and experiences to new material and to better understand and retain knowledge. This helps lay the foundation for students' future success both in and out of the classroom. ... View more

Having recently submitted applications, or with deadlines looming, college is top-of-mind for many potential students. And the decision is a big one. Heading to college -- whether it be to earn a two- or four-year degree -- is a major investment, one that nearly 16 million students decide to make each year. For them, a college degree is not just a path to a better career; it's a path to a better life. That’s because for many students, college is more than just a place where learning is confined to a classroom. For today’s students, learning is everywhere. The college experience can be an important transition to adulthood; one where students will learn and grow. That's because the campus itself is a classroom where students get to know themselves and see the world from a new perspective. College is a shared space for knowledge and growth-seekers. And, importantly, college is a place where students often learn from each other just as much as they do from their courses.  Given the many surprising benefits to college, we have assembled 11 ways college can benefit students beyond the classroom. Exploring new interests: From rowing to reading, colleges have countless numbers of activities, groups, organizations, athletics and clubs. Students are encouraged to explore their interests, discover new passions, and gain a sense of self-awareness. Many colleges also have a student union where students can gather, socialize and get involved. More critical thinking skills: Through problem-based learning, collaborative projects, and writing and research assignments, college courses help students develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Their ability to successfully analyze, synthesize and evaluate information will benefit their personal lives while also teaching them a valuable skill for just about any career. Exposure to different cultures and ideas: College campuses are diverse communities that expose students to diverse perspectives and cultures. From courses and guest lectures that invite students to explore new ideas and ways of thinking, to a wide range of backgrounds, ethnicities and life experiences in the student and academic population, to opportunities to study abroad -- colleges can open a doorway in each student's mind to a world they hadn’t before imagined. More job opportunities: College graduates have a much wider range of job options available to them, including many jobs that are not open to those without a degree. In addition, those opportunities are easier to find. College graduates will see nearly 60% more job opportunities than non-graduates; one reason for this is job openings for workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher are advertised online more frequently than those requiring a high school diploma, making it harder for workers without a higher degree to connect with prospective employers. Students can also learn about many of these job opportunities at their college career service or resource centers, which host career fairs and provide students with valuable tips on interviewing and resume writing. Greater employability. According to the Education Pays report, the unemployment rate for those over 25 with at least a bachelor’s degree has consistently been about half of the unemployment rate for high school graduates; the most recently available data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2020 cites a 2.2% unemployment rate for college graduates and a 5.4% rate for high school graduates. Additionally, according to a 2019 report by Georgetown University, college graduates are more likely to have jobs that are insulated from automation, which helps to increase students’ long-term employability. Increased earning potential: According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, college graduates earn on average $1 million more over their lifetime than those without a college degree. Someone with a high school diploma can expect to earn $1.3 million in their lifetime, whereas a worker with a bachelor’s degree can expect to earn $2.3 million. This number goes up even more with an advanced degree. Higher job satisfaction: A study by the Pew Research Center found that college graduates are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs and report higher levels of happiness. Forty-two percent of high school graduates say their job is “just to get them by,” compared to 14% of bachelor’s degree holders.  Better benefits: In addition to the $1 million to their total lifetime earnings, college graduates are more likely to have access to benefits such as healthcare, retirement plans, and paid time off. Further, employers will often cover a greater amount of healthcare costs or offer more vacation time as well as retirement investment options. A sense of accomplishment: Earning a college degree is a significant accomplishment that can boost self-confidence and self-esteem. In fact, bachelor’s degree holders report higher levels of self-esteem than high school graduates. Networking opportunities: College is a great place to meet new people and make connections that can be valuable later in life. The connections that students create in college with faculty, classmates and members of clubs or student organizations will not only help them to start building a professional network, but can also lead to new interests, friends and other possibilities. Importantly, they will become part of an institutional support network that students can later call upon for work advancements, mentoring programs, and additional skill-building. Personal growth and development: College can be a time of great personal growth, as students learn to live independently, manage their time, take responsibility for their own education, and improve decision-making skills. College is an investment in students’ future that can pay off in many ways. It can open doors to better job opportunities, increase earning potential, and provide personal growth and development, and more. Not only that, within families, it has shown to help in ensuring the next generation will also attend college. Pursuing higher education can be a big decision in terms of resources, time and energy, but there are many reasons why that investment is worth it for many students.  ... View more

Macmillan really walks the walk. There are few truly mission-driven companies out there, and Macmillan Learning is one of those companies: Chris Paddock, Senior Director of User Experience This month, Macmillan Learning launched a new company mission and vision, supported by our core values. The words are new; the actions they embody are not. They codify a mission that we already live, a vision that we believe is within reach, and a set of values that inspire how and why we work the way we do each day.  Our mission and vision provide us with a critical focus. Each of us has made choices that led us to work at Macmillan Learning and these statements help us recommit to the work we do. It's the choices we make that lead us to embrace a vision for the future that is both astonishing to contemplate and yet within our collective grasp: We envision a world in which every student succeeds.  Success is often defined first by what’s possible; however, what is possible is no simple measurement, and not conferred by others upon us; rather, it rests with each individual, as part of a family or group, as part of what citizenship means in a world that is so reliant on educational opportunity to shape it. It is why living our mission meaningfully affects our individual and collective futures, and we live our mission by inspiring what’s possible for every learner.  It’s learning that makes things possible; I’d argue, it has the potential to make all things possible. At work, in the classroom, remotely or via online engagement, learning is a tool with  endless applications; a catalyst for a new, more meaningful set of possibilities for each learner. It is as true for a student at the beginning of their educational journey as it is for the Macmillan Learning team member invested in a career dedicated to helping others. And for each of us, it is through the values that we live that we join every learner on their journey.  True to ourselves. True to our customers. To be true requires integrity, empathy, and dedication. It requires that we be mindful of each decision we make and understand its effect on learners around the globe and on each other as colleagues. When we do this right, we positively and sustainably impact the educational lives of people everywhere.  Inclusion is a choice we make every day. Diversity is a fact; Inclusion is a choice. It is a choice we consciously choose to make every day; one that enables us to work together honestly and authentically. It is a choice that allows us to broaden our educational reach to increasingly wider and diverse audiences, and it is evidenced through our ability to support the learning of every individual along the way. Learning is a journey we are on together. As individuals. As teams. As a company. In concert with authors, content collaborators, outside partners, administrators, educators and, most importantly, students. Now more than ever we have the ability to help any student learn what is important to their success, when and where they are best suited to learn it, and inspire in them the why that will carry them forward on their educational journey. The paths we walk together not only make knowledge more accessible, they enable the development of practical skills and support each student’s well-being, sense of belonging, and intrinsic motivation to succeed.  Shaping tomorrow with today’s ideas.  It is a great reward to know our content, courseware, and learning platforms can positively impact educational outcomes as well as the very opportunities students encounter throughout their education. Our partnership with authors brings new perspectives and points-of-view to new and established fields of inquiry. Our collaboration with digital innovators within and outside Macmillan Learning fosters work that reaches students the world over in ways that help to democratize education and change the trajectory of individual lives.  We are in the business of doing good, and I’m proud of the direction that we’re headed. I hope you join me and your colleagues as we continue to explore how a collective mission set upon a vision of a better world for every student can continue to motivate our work at Macmillan Learning.    ... View more