What goes into a great first lecture? Ask any educator and they’ll highlight three resounding themes: prioritize community, foster connection and build excitement. The good news is that designing a high-impact first lecture doesn’t involve a complete rewrite of your existing lesson plan. Rather, it’s about making simple adjustments to help students form a great first impression. Dr. James Lang, acclaimed author of Small Teaching and featured speaker at Top Hat Summer Camp 2024, shares actionable strategies to deepen engagement during week one of your course. We’ve rounded up his ideas below ..read more

TORONTO – June 7, 2024 – Top Hat, the leader in student engagement solutions for higher education, is proud to announce that four exceptional First Nations students have been awarded this year’s Shannen’s Dream Scholarship. Launched in 2022 by the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society with the support of Top Hat and the Collure Family of Richmond Hill, ON, each recipient will receive $10,000 to support their pursuit of a post-secondary education.  “We are truly inspired by this year’s Shannen’s Dream Scholarship recipients, both in terms of their academic achievements and as vol ..read more

Bloom’s Taxonomy is probably the most widespread and enduringly popular model in education. It was created in 1956 by Dr. Benjamin Bloom and colleagues at the Board of Examinations, University of Chicago. In 2001, the pyramid was revised by Lorin Anderson, a student of Bloom’s, resulting in Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy. Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy focuses on learning outcomes. The framework demands that very first thing that instructors need to think about is what students have to know by the end of the course. Learning objectives need actions to get to them. And Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy is hierarch ..read more

Learning outcomes are descriptions of the abilities, skills and knowledge that are used for assessing student learning. Learning outcomes should outline what students possess and can demonstrate upon completion of a learning experience or set of experiences. When developing a list of student learning outcomes for educators to set as curriculum objectives to improve student learning, consider the following recommendations: How to Build Student Learning Outcomes Choose between 3-5 learning outcomes: You should choose a sufficient amount of learning outcomes to ensure student progress can be meas ..read more

What is Online Teaching? Online teaching typically refers to courses that are delivered completely online, meaning there are no physical or on-campus class sessions. Online courses can be designed for a handful of enrolled students or can be made open and accessible to a wide variety of participants. Instructors may choose to teach an online course because they want to take their teaching beyond the confines of the physical classroom. Other instructors may choose to do so because they want students to benefit from the online environment. Online teaching gives students unlimited access to resou ..read more

What is distance learning? Distance learning refers to the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school. Historically, this involved correspondence between an individual and an academic institution by mail. Today, it involves learning through online tools and platforms. A distance learning program can take place entirely in online learning environments, or a combination of distance learning and traditional classroom instruction (called blended or hybrid). Massive open online courses (MOOCs), offering large-scale interactive participation and learning resources, ar ..read more

This guide outlines the history of intrinsic motivation, related theories—including extrinsic motivation—and how professors can instill motivation in the next generation of learners. Currently, some students may feel as if their courses and assessments are irrelevant to their career goals. Thus, they may not see the value in learning about, for example, Freud, or deciphering the periodic table of elements, reading up on the nervous system, or anything else. Motivated students develop as a result of seeing the value in their work. When students are intrinsically motivated, they’re likely to bec ..read more

Prior to 2020, you may have dabbled in digital teaching, using tools like apps or textbooks. But thanks to COVID-19, you’ve likely had to adopt an entire virtual classroom strategy. In spring 2020, schools around the world shuttered their physical doors and opened virtual ones in an effort to help students finish their studies. Educators and students alike had to adapt—at breakneck speed. As many discovered in their rush to move online, adding ‘virtual’ in front of the word ‘classroom’ isn’t the only difference between a traditional classroom and a digital one. What works well in one environme ..read more

For generations, the gold standard of higher ed instruction was something we now pejoratively refer to as the ‘sage on stage.’ In this lecture-based model, a professor stood in front of a class and imparted knowledge upon their passive listeners. Interactive learning is an innovative, practical alternative to this traditional style—and one that’s only growing more popular. With interactive learning, educators use captivating lecture tactics to involve students. Successful interactive learning means that a professor engages students both inside and outside of class. When interactive teaching mo ..read more

When we think of assessments, we usually think of tests and exams. While these are an important part of an instructor’s toolkit, there are many other methods and use cases for assessing students. Creating feedback loops between students and the instructor, particularly in online and blended learning environments, is one of the most valuable outcomes of any assessment. Here we explore how high and low-stakes assessments positively impact student learning and provide more than 20 examples to try in your classroom. Assessments allow instructors to view their students more holistically by taking s ..read more