War & Homecoming released on July 26 and we held our first signing and discussion event on July 27, 2022 at Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington, KY. The audio above is from the reading and talk I gave. Check it out! Continue reading
Kicking off summer 2022 with a week full of learning about learning! Join me and my colleagues at the 2022 Perusall Exchange and this year’s Pedagogicon. Continue reading
As a Faculty Innovator and Engage Mentor, I lead professional learning communities and workshops on topics such as transparent design, ungrading, intrinsic motivation, online education, and support for student veterans (to name a few). I am certainly not alone in this work… Continue reading
Recently, I was honored to be a guest on Veterans Radio, a broadcast media platform that has been educating the public on veterans issues for nearly two decades. Dr. Eric Fretz, a Faculty Lecturer at the University of Michigan, discusses the Journal … Continue reading
In August, Dr. Matt Winslow and I co-directed an event for the EKU College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences. It was titled, “Why Are We Here?” and students who participated got a chance to think early in the semester about their intrinsic motivations for attending college. Continue reading
If my students do not know about the National Roll Call, veteran suicides, or how Vietnam Veterans were treated it is because the generation tasked with teaching them these things failed. Many young people are looking for ways to listen to veterans and help them in meaningful ways. They aren’t looking to distribute platitudes. They are looking to build authentic relationships, and it is our job to provide them with the knowledge and opportunity they need to succeed. Continue reading
Don’t fall prey to a victim mindset. That can be especially easy to do when you are cooped up alone due to social distancing. Remember, now is the time to keep fighting for your future. Find your conviction. Continue reading
I’ve said before that seeing our students recognized and meeting their families at the “Outstanding First-Year Student Awards” is probably my favorite part of the job. Well, a pandemic happened and we didn’t get to host our yearly event. But we wanted to do something to recognize their hard work, so we put this virtual awards ceremony together so that they could share their achievements with their families, friends, and loved ones. Continue reading
In Fall 2020, we will pilot a scaffolded arc assignment taught in English and First-Year Seminar learning communities. It will focus on the campus newspaper, the Eastern Progress, teaching students critical reading skills in a way that encourages campus engagement. Students will learn about media and information literacy, identify campus issues of personal or public importance, and explore the EKU resources and policies designed help students succeed. At the end of the semester, our goal is for students to engage with an issue they care about by producing media suitable for the campus newspaper. Continue reading
Given current events, I don’t think I could have picked a better semester to take our 8-week class in “Online Course Development and Teaching.” Thank you to the instructional design staff and media team at Eastern Kentucky University Online. And thanks … Continue reading
These four students represent the best of what EKU has to offer. They’re First-Year Leaders—embedded in our first-year seminars to mentor freshmen, organize campus events, and help new students feel like welcome members of the campus community. Aric, Curtis, Jade, and Meredith … Continue reading
The students, mostly freshmen or peer-mentors in our First-Year Leader program, will complete a mural over four sessions that we hope to display in a public space on campus. Our theme this semester is “resilience” and our mission is to “teach first-year students the art of self-care.” Colonels Create is a collaboration between First-Year Courses, the Department of Psychology, the EKU Counseling Center, and the Noel Studio. Continue reading
A conversation with Travis Martin, co-founder of EKU’s Veterans Studies Program. The first of its kind in the nation, the program aims to foster understanding among veterans and civilians. Continue reading
TILT was developed to help instructors make small changes in their course designs to improve students’ rates of success. Continue reading
We discussed student learning “bottlenecks,” or “threshold concepts” students have to grasp in order to move into higher levels of understanding. From an educator’s perspective, it’s all about helping students make “mental moves” that allow them to think like an expert in the field. It’s about remembering that you acquired your expertise in stages and being mindful of that fact as you teach students. Continue reading
Travis L. Martin 