Practical Strategies for Student Success in Higher Education

Reading Time: 7 minutesSupplemental Instruction (SI) can strengthen learning outcomes, improve persistence, and support students in challenging “gateway” courses—without requiring a full course redesign. The key is integration: aligning SI with your syllabus, coordinating with instructors, and building a consistent student experience that feels like a natural extension of the course rather than an optional add-on. This guide […]

Reading Time: 4 minutesWhy 1-Minute Exit Tickets Matter Modern classrooms are fast-paced and cognitively demanding. Teachers need quick feedback loops, and students need low-pressure ways to reflect on learning. Short exit tickets strike this balance perfectly: they gather meaningful data without overwhelming students or teachers. Research on formative assessment shows that frequent, lightweight check-ins improve learning more than […]

Reading Time: 9 minutesThe Real Problem Isn’t Speed — It’s Workflow Working faster does not mean typing frantically or skipping steps. In fact, rushing usually leads to more time lost: you miss instructions, make avoidable mistakes, and end up rewriting entire sections at the last minute. What actually saves time is having a clear, repeatable workflow that turns […]

Reading Time: 7 minutesWhy Routines Matter More Than Ever Students today are juggling academic demands, social pressures, and often significant stress outside school. In this context, unpredictable classrooms can feel overwhelming. Every transition, instruction, or assignment becomes a new puzzle to decode, adding to cognitive load and anxiety. Thoughtful classroom routines function like a roadmap. When students know […]

Reading Time: 6 minutesWhy Bridge Programs Matter for Incoming Students First-year students arrive with widely different levels of preparation. Some have taken advanced courses, attended  college-prep schools, or had extensive access to tutoring. Others may be first-generation college students, recent immigrants, returning adults, or learners from under-resourced schools. If institutions treat all of them as equally ready, the […]

Reading Time: 5 minutesIn busy classrooms — whether in-person, hybrid, or fully online — students can fall behind long before major assignments or exams reveal trouble. Educators often want to intervene earlier but lack fast, practical ways to identify who is quietly struggling. The good news: you don’t need complicated diagnostics or hours of grading. With a few […]

Reading Time: 7 minutesThere are days when your homework is sitting right in front of you, the deadline is getting closer, and you still can’t make yourself start. You know you “should” do it. You might even feel guilty for not starting. But knowing and doing are two very different things. The good news is that you don’t […]

Reading Time: 6 minutesFear of failure is one of the most powerful forces shaping student behavior. It can fuel procrastination, perfectionism, avoidance of challenging tasks, and even decisions to drop out. Often the problem is not a lack of ability, but a deep belief that mistakes are unacceptable and that failing at something academic means failing as a […]

Reading Time: 7 minutesColleges and universities have been investing in early-alert systems for more than a decade, hoping to identify at-risk students before they fail or drop out. Yet many of these systems generate more noise than impact: too many alerts, too little context, and no clear path to effective support. The result is frustration for faculty, “alert […]

Reading Time: 14 minutesReprinted from the Journal of Developmental Education, Volume 21, Issue 3, Spring, 1998. Abstract: The results of a national study suggest how technology can improve education for developmental students. Currently, much of college teaching is dominated by an ancient paradigm typified by the lecture method. Similarly, much of today’s technology presents information to students and reinforces […]