Are you struggling with remembering your student's names? In his 1993 book, What Matters in College, Alexander Austin reviewed the literature on college teaching, finding two things that made the biggest difference in getting students involved in the undergraduate experience: greater faculty-student interaction and greater student-student interaction. Though learning students names may seem a trivial matter in the entire university enterprise, it is a powerful means to foster both of these interactions. As teachers, some of us find it easy to learn names, while others have to work at it.Here are a few suggestions to help you. Liz Miller at Texas A&M suggests having the students prepare a “passport” for your class. This is an exercise in creativity and an opportunity for you to get to know about the student as well as their name. Using an old note card, have the student make a passport or document that describes them. The passport should include a personal picture (a snapshot is okay), some information about their likes and dislikes, and something about where they have been and where they are going. Linda Nilson, Clemson University, has her students wear name tags (first name only, printed very large) for the first two weeks. After class, she also reviews the index cards that she has students fill out with personal information on the first day of class. Unforgettable Neighbor is a technique suggested by Ed Nuhfer of the University of Colorado at Denver. He suggest that you have students turn to their neighbor and introduce themselves. The assignment is for the neighbor to introduce their companion “with a trait that no one can forget.” Obviously the partners have to be helpful with a trait or mnemonic aid. Pick randomly from around the room for introductions. After a third person is introduced, point at those introduced and the class has to name the individual. Continue with the introductions and cumulative reviews. he notes that the repetition in reviews really helps. You can register now for the upcoming free webinar Effective Teaching - How to Know it When You See it! Three Components of Effective Teaching. Join Nancy Fire, Ed.D. and Mike Simmons, Ph.D. from the University of North Texas and learn twelve proven items that mark an effective teacher. This webinar will be complete with strong take-aways and examples to begin implementing in your classroom right away. Wanted to remind you that our Quality Enhancement Plan was created to encourage the use of active learning methods to stimulate enhanced learning in our classrooms. Although the QEP focuses on core and developmental courses, all faculty at LU are invited to participate and the evidence indicates that the community of scholars is embracing that challenge. Active learning involves providing opportunities for students to meaningfully talk and listen, write, read, and reflect on the content, ideas, issues, and concerns of an academic subject. You should use active learning principles to develop activities for your students that best reflect both your own teaching style and the material, types of thinking, and approaches to the subject necessary to comprehend and apply the topic. Doing so will make you an active teacher, and you will cross beyond the essential, but incomplete, role of content expert. Content expertise and active teaching will provide students the opportunities to become engaged learners and dynamic thinkers.