Sam Chell:
I like to distinguish for students at this time between
"information" and "knowledge" (understanding). I concede
that they've received much information and witnessed many
practices (like close reading, and rigorous paper
correcting) that have no doubt seemed useless or so much
"busy work." The value of such activity necessarily takes
time to be realized--but it necessarily will, and when its
likely to count for more than a grade.
Tom Simpson:
Chronicle of Higher Education article, "Finishing Strong: Is there a way to close the semester with an inspiring class that doesn't require a ton of planning or energy?" James M. Lang
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i15/15c00201.htm
Section: Chronicle Careers
Volume 53, Issue 9, Page C2
Leslie Cameron:
I got an idea from a teaching journal that I have tried and find fun. I type up a bunch of unfinished statements about the course - things like "My favorite lab was...." "The most surprising thing I learned was in this class was..." "Psychology is..." "Something I would like to ask Professor Cameron is..." and so on. Then I tape those to a beach ball. We toss the ball around the room and the students are supposed to finish whatever sentence is facing them on the ball when they catch it. They seem to enjoy it and I think it is interesting to hear what they say.