Higher education blog

Explore insights, trends, and research that impact teaching, learning, and leading.

  • Mastering: A Transformative Teaching Journey

    Estimated time to read: 3 minutes.

    By Noel George (Toronto Metropolitan University).

    Noel George, a Chemistry professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, how adopting Mastering transformed a large first-year course, turning grading and tutorial challenges into an adaptive, interactive learning experience that evolves with student needs.

    "Adaptive feedback exercises and dynamic study modules [in Mastering] help students provide additional practice with the material while improving their confidence and understanding."

  • College-age students sitting in a classroom, raising their hands and smiling
    Balancing AI in the Classroom: Teaching in Action Educator Study

    How a Florida Southern College professor turned AI shortcuts into a tool for critical thinking, reducing student anxiety and improving exam results.

    The challenge

    Like his peers at Florida Southern College (FSC) and broadly across higher education, Professor Larry Young is navigating the choppy waters of generative AI in the classroom. Students increasingly turn to tools such as ChatGPT and Gemini to retrieve ready-made answers to difficult questions and concepts in their coursework. But quick wins can shortchange the deeper understanding and critical thinking they need to succeed — now and in the future.

  • Voice of the Educator: How an Instructor Supports Student Success with MyLab Economics During Exam Time

    Estimated time to read: 3 to 4 minutes

    By Angela Trimarchi (Wilfrid Laurier University)

    For high-stakes exams like midterms and finals, Angela Trimarchi, an economics professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, turns to tools that help students not just study—but actively engage with the material.

    MyLab is a great tool for helping students prepare for midterms and finals and The Dynamic Study Modules give them a chance to actively test their knowledge and build confidence.”

  • Instructor standing in front of a class of diverse adult students
    Empowering math educators: How AI can be your classroom sidekick Part II – Grading, feedback and communications

    This is Part II of a two-part blog series. Be sure to check out Part I, first.

    As mathematics educators, we're always seeking innovative ways to streamline our workload while maintaining the highest quality of instruction. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a powerful tool that can support math teachers in multiple aspects of their professional responsibilities.

    In Part II, we’ll take a look at how AI can help you simplify grading, feedback, and communication, enabling you to focus on what matters most: inspiring your students to love math!

  • Instructor standing in front of a class of diverse adult students
    Empowering math educators: How AI can be your classroom sidekick - Part I – Lesson planning and best practices for AI integration

    This is Part I of a two-part blog series.

    As mathematics educators, we're always seeking innovative ways to streamline our workload while maintaining the highest quality of instruction. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a powerful tool that can support math teachers in multiple aspects of their professional responsibilities.

    In Part I, we’ll look at how AI can become your ally in lesson planning support, allowing you to focus on what matters most: inspiring your students to love math!

  • Young woman with glasses, sitting outside with a laptop, smiling at her phone
    The top 5 Revel features you should be using

    Looking for an easier, more dynamic way to inspire your students’ learning? Revel® teaching and learning platform from Pearson will feel like a joy compared to textbooks as it integrates videos and dynamic interactives into compelling digital narratives.

    The platform keeps your students on pace, provides a clear view of their engagement and performance, and is easily accessed from the first day of classes. It puts them in the digital driver’s seat and on a smoother road to success.

    Revel improves students' course grades and exam scores. In our numerous research studies, the data show that students who engage with Revel are more prepared for class and get better grades. In addition, instructors benefit when they use Revel performance data to identify struggling students.

    Taking a moment now to learn about Revel’s top features can help improve the learning experience for your learners of today and tomorrow.

    Revel’s top 5 features —

    1. Educator Dashboard: offers an at-a-glance look at overall class performance. It helps instructors more easily identify and contact struggling and low-activity students, ensuring that the class stays on pace. By identifying at-risk students you can implement early intervention strategies to help them succeed in the course.

    2. Embedded Assessments allow for practice and review, improving comprehension, filling learning gaps, and providing feedback. Students can practice and quiz themselves to review concepts while easily assessing their understanding to better prepare.

    3. Shared Writing Assignments foster critical thinking through writing without significantly impacting your grading burden. Throughout each narrative, self-paced journaling prompts encourage students to express their thoughts without breaking stride in their reading.

    Assignable shared writing activities direct students to share written responses with classmates, promoting peer discussion. Essays integrated directly within Revel allow you to assign the precise writing tasks they need.

    4. Shared Media Assignments enable instructors and students to post and respond to videos and other media. Students can also record and upload their own presentations for grading, comments, or peer review.

    Video quizzes engage students while checking their understanding of concepts. Instructors can share videos accompanied by time-stamped multiple-choice questions.

    5. Instructor App enables instructors to easily view performance insights and contact struggling and low-activity students to help them get back on track – anytime, anywhere.

    Teaching tools to love —

    Inspiring active learning enables students to explore, contextualize information, and apply concepts as they read. It unlocks students’ curiosity and immerses them in subjects, reading and practicing in one continuous experience. Research shows this approach leads to higher recall of key concepts versus passive engagement alone.

    Notetaking, highlighting and more make learning fully digital and highly engaging, providing students everything needed for a course — through one continuous, integrated learning experience. Highlighting, note taking, and a glossary let them read and study however they prefer. Instructors can add notes, too, including reminders or study tips.

    Monitoring student progress allows educators to monitor student progress on assigned reading, which is a good indicator of how the class is doing. By tracking reading and having the option to make it a percentage of the final grade, they can hold students accountable and keep them on track.

     

    It's a smooth ride to the future with Revel. Read how from other instructors and the impact Revel has had in their classroom and the lives of their students: