Make it Fantastic, Make it Feasible: Maintaining Quality in Online and Remote Teaching During Challenging Times

Michelle Miller, Ph.D., Professor of Psychological Sciences, Northern Arizona University

How can we help all students gain a solid foundation of knowledge, while also teaching them how to think? How do working memory and attention factor in to the learning process? And how do we keep students motivated to put in the effort that’s necessary to accomplish deep learning? These questions are some of the most challenging ones we face as we design and teach our courses, and now, they are front and center as we re-envision quality education in a time of upheaval and rapid change. We can address them by applying theoretical frameworks derived from learning sciences. We can also draw on the practical wisdom of experience developed by faculty members doing the hard work of keeping students moving forward towards their academic goals.