Professional insight from Tecnológico de Monterrey

Tecnológico de Monterrey is a private, non-profit Mexican university founded with the conviction that "education can do it all." It shapes graduates with academic excellence and social commitment. Its strong focus on health, sustainability and education research has granted it global recognition as a leading university.

Tecnologico de Monterrey

Design thinking at university

Recommendations for using design thinking in the classroom

How to prepare a design thinking workshop, from introducing the concept to students through to ideation and eventually pitching their idea

Karla Margarita Banda Martínez, Graciela González-Valdepeña

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Student feedback on course design

Four steps to design a course that motivates students and consolidates learning

Yolanda Domínguez Medina, Mayela Beatriz Rodríguez Romo and Martha Fabiola Espinosa Mata outline the key stages for designing engaging courses

Yolanda Domínguez Medina, Mayela Beatriz Rodríguez Romo , Martha Fabiola Espinosa Mata

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Incorporating new tech into your university class

A beginner’s guide to implementing new technologies in your classes

Adela Vega shares practical strategies for overcoming the stress associated with using new tech, so that teachers can instead embrace it as part of their practice

Adela Vega

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Student feedback

Effective feedback techniques for struggling students

Giving feedback on work that does not meet the required standard requires great tact and understanding of your students, says Ilse Mariana Leyva Barrera

Mariana Leyva

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Online class asynchronous or synchronous

Synchronous or asynchronous? When to use which when teaching online

Eunice Costilla Cruz and Elizabeth Marcial Morales examine the right time to make use of synchronous moments in virtual courses, and when asynchronous ones are more suitable

Eunice Costilla Cruz , Elizabeth Marcial Morales

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Bright idea

A methodology to trigger social entrepreneurship ideas in your class

José Carlos Vázquez Parra shares five steps for triggering social entrepreneurship and thus encouraging students to become agents of change, whatever their discipline

José Carlos Vázquez Parra

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Solving a challenge

Develop the skills of the future through challenge-based learning

Modern employers require a broad suite of skills from graduates; Jorge Membrillo-Hernández outlines how challenge-based learning can help, and how to get started

Jorge Membrillo-Hernández

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Create the ideal home office

Five steps for creating the ideal home office

With more and more academics and staff working from home, Pablo A. Torres outlines some of the areas to consider to make it a comfortable, productive experience

Pablo A. Torres

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Online teaching competencies to get started

Five key competencies for successful digital teaching

From energising your class to encouraging collaboration, these tips from Carolina Lara Robles and Cynthia Enciso Centeno will help make your online classes a success

Carolina Lara Robles , Cynthia Enciso Centeno

Tecnológico de Monterrey

How to set up immersive VR experiences on your university campus

How to set up immersive VR lessons on your campus

Using extended reality can enable students to have experiences that would otherwise be impossible to access. Here’s how to get started

Ana Gabriela Rodríguez-Mendoza , Adriana Plata-Marroquin , Brenda Aimé Luis-Chavira

Tecnológico de Monterrey

How to start adaptive learning for a large cohort

Seven steps for successfully introducing adaptive learning

A team from Tecnológico de Monterrey presents advice for the implementation of an adaptive learning strategy for large student cohorts

Multiple authors

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Encourage students to turn on their cameras

Cameras on: how to overcome a key challenge in digital courses

Promoting a good relationship between teachers and students is crucial in digital courses. Gabriela Espínola Carballo shares tips for encouraging virtual presence in your courses

Gabriela Espínola Carballo

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Using the metaverse to teach about the library

The library and the metaverse: a match made in heaven

A group of librarians and education specialists from Tecnológico de Monterrey share their tips after designing a virtual escape room that inculcates library skills

José Vladimir Burgos Aguilar , Lorena Guadalupe Rodríguez Leal , Lorena Quilantán García

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Neuroeducation can help students learn better at university

Five ways to use neuroeducation to improve student learning

Understanding what happens in the brain when it learns can help teachers plan their lessons, attitudes and words for maximum learning impact

José Alberto Herrera Bernal

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Tips on boosting academic integrity at university

Strengthening academic integrity requires action from students and teachers alike

Eunice Costilla Cruz offers recommendations for promoting academic integrity in your students and how to deal with an offence

Eunice Costilla Cruz

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Forms of assessment and how to use them in university classes

Formative, summative or diagnostic assessment? A guide

An introduction to three of the key forms of assessment along with how they can be applied in the classroom

Alejandra Govea Garza, Adriana González Nava , Paulo Mendoza Rivera

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Cheating at university and how to stop it

Five tips for creating cheat-proof classes

Claudia Danelia Chamorro Urroz has implemented five simple practices into her teaching that have all but eradicated cheating. Here, she shares the secrets of her success

Claudia Danelia Chamorro Urroz

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Online feedback for university students

Engage your students with these feedback strategies

Angeles Aguirre and Jorge Mosqueda provide simple introductions to four methods of feedback, from video summaries and social media posts to rubrics

Angeles Carolina Aguirre-Acosta , Jorge Mosqueda

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Helping students to reference external ideas

Tips for designing activities that tackle cheating in digital environments

Bárbara Regina Granados Guzmán provides suggestions on how to help students who struggle with recognising the use of external ideas

Bárbara Regina Granados Guzmán

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Student microlearning on a train

An introduction to microlearning

Dulce Julissa Salas Benavides and Jesús Alejandro Salas Benavides explain the basics of microlearning, from how it works to benefits and key features

Dulce Julissa Salas Benavides , Jesús Alejandro Salas Benavides

Tecnológico de Monterrey

How to design a rubric in five easy steps university

Build effective rubrics in just five steps

A quick guide to the process of designing successful rubrics and recommendations for successful implementation

Ileana Alejandra Ochoa Arias , José Wbaldo Rivera Nevarez

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Minecraft is just one creative assessment platform for university educators

Breaking with tradition: 10 creative assessment ideas

Monica Francesca Contrino and Rocío Elizabeth Cortez Márquez suggest 10 methods for adding an imaginative twist when evaluating your students’ learning

Monica Francesca Contrino , Rocío Elizabeth Cortez Márquez

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Moving online

Enrich your online evaluation practices with this quick guide

A group of academics from Tecnológico de Monterrey present a series of recommendations for designing and implementing online assessment

Graciela González-Valdepeña, Adriana Plata-Marroquin , Gabriela Sánchez Castillo

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Exams must be used correctly in modern university teaching

Traditional exams aren’t dead – they just need to be used correctly

Knowing when to utilise traditional v authentic assessment methods – and the modern tools to build them – is a crucial part of the teacher’s role in 2022 and beyond

Beatriz Murillo Pancardo , Pedro de Jesús García Reza , Mariano Garay Peña

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Email overload

Tips for organising and optimising your inbox and messaging apps

We all suffer from communication overload in both our work and personal lives. Ingrid Benavides and Anahí Molina provide simple tips to make messages less overwhelming

Ingrid Benavides , Gloria Anahí Molina Barrón

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Students clamouring for attention

The boundaries to set so your students don’t take over your life

As the role of university teacher evolves, a key workplace challenge is how to offer proximity without becoming a 24/7 bot service

Ingrid Benavides , Adela Vega

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Planning and delivering a lesson in university

From planning to delivering lessons: getting the basics right

Nelly Ramirez Vásquez discusses the nuts and bolts of creating, teaching and overseeing high-quality lessons and courses for delivery online and in person

Nelly Ramirez Vásquez

Tecnológico de Monterrey

How to balance a teaching and research workload

Three key tips to help balance research and teaching duties

With ever-greater demands being placed on university faculty, Megumi Terui offers advice on balancing two key parts of the job

Megumi Terui

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Videos and podcasts can be useful tools for assessment

21st-century assessment: improve and update the way you evaluate

Mariana del Sol González offers initial tips and guidance on how to update assessment methods in your classroom

Mariana del Sol González

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Happy online university student

Awaken your students’ interest in your online course

Are you struggling to motivate students in your online class? Angeles Carolina Aguirre-Acosta provides strategies to generate greater motivation and participation

Angeles Carolina Aguirre-Acosta

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Leverage students' eco-anxiety to drive change

Embrace students’ eco-anxiety to spur critical and systemic climate action

Luis Gerardo Rojas Solorio gives tips on how to leverage and assuage your students’ eco-anxiety, using fun games and discussions, in order to drive change

Luis Gerardo Rojas Solorio

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Designing activities for hybrid learning can be difficult without following the correct steps

The 7 steps for designing activities in hybrid courses

When planning a hybrid course, a main concern is how to design the activities in this still relatively unfamiliar format

Laura Patricia Zepeda Orantes

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Analytics and other similar tools are becoming crucial for teachers

Analytics is quickly becoming a crucial teaching tool

Easily accessible analytics tools can help teachers understand aspects of their classroom they might otherwise overlook

Julián Urrutia , Cynthia López

Tecnológico de Monterrey

There are core competencies that anyone can use to research a topic thoroughly

Discover the nine competencies required to become a researcher

What essential skills do researchers need? For those just starting on the road to research, breaking the process down into achievable and measurable milestones can help

Cynthia López

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Critical thinking is a crucial skill for students to be taught at university

Starting from scratch to promote critical thinking in your classes

Critical thinking is a crucial skill for all areas of life. Adriana González Nava and Paulo Mendoza Rivera explain how to promote it in course design

Adriana González Nava , Paulo Mendoza Rivera

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Teamwork skills are crucial for students to learn as they head into the workplace

Six tips on helping your students improve their teamwork skills

We know that teamwork is more important than ever before – here’s how to help students identify their ideal role in a team, agree on responsibilities and more

Ingrid Benavides

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Communication is a vital skill for all students to master

Promoting communication skills is just as vital as course content

From the classroom to the workplace, students need to communicate effectively – and you can show them how

Jessica Guadalupe Toro Palacios , Eunice Costilla Cruz

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Empathy is an important quality for tutors to practice in the classroom

Using empathy in the classroom can have a great impact on learning

Instructors can take many small steps to make their classrooms a more enjoyable and positive space for students

Mariano Garay Peña , Beatriz Murillo Pancardo

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Social media chat bubbles

Tips and apps to encourage better interaction with students

Classting and Remind are two lesser-known apps that can aid communication with your class when used effectively

Gloria Anahí Molina Barrón , Dania Arriola Arteaga

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Think differently. University students bring different things to the table so academics should use differentiated instruction to reach them all

Students are different, so why are you still teaching them all the same way?

We know that a one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t really work. Adriana Plata-Marroquin and Leticia Castaño offer tips on implementing differentiated instruction

Adriana Plata-Marroquin , Leticia Castaño Sánchez

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Papparazzi. Bringing in an expert guest to your university classes can help with student attention

Tips on bringing expert professionals to class to support learning

Capturing students’ attention can be a challenge for teachers. We propose bringing the real world to the classroom through expert guests, say Gabriela Espínola Carballo and Mariana Elizondo

Gabriela Espínola Carballo, Mariana Elizondo

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Learning at work

Challenge-based learning: design and delivery in undergraduate courses

Courses that incorporate real problems from real companies offer students a rare chance to acquire knowledge while also developing useful professional skills

Nelly Ramirez Vásquez , Maria del Rosario Rosas Escalona

Tecnológico de Monterrey

More university students require or prefer self-directed learning, and academics must be ready to provide it

Things to consider when designing a self-directed course model

With increasing numbers of students learning remotely and showing high levels of independence, the ability to offer self-directed courses is more important than ever

Blanca Benavente , Estela Murrieta

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Cycling, running and other forms of exercise can be encouraged among university students by tutors who offer academic credits for exercise

Want students to exercise more? Make it part of their course

The body hears everything the mind says, so it is said. That is certainly true when teachers offer extra academic credits in return for physical activity, says Roberto Villaseñor-Roldán

Roberto Villaseñor-Roldán

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Tips for creating digital university modules

How to design and incorporate a digital module

Digital modules lend themselves well to competency-based training. Adela Vega and Laura Castillo offer a guide to designing and incorporating them into a digital learning experience

Adela Vega, Laura Castillo

Tecnológico de Monterrey

The university library needs a dramatic pivot to online to help academics and students alike in the new normal

The academic library requires digital evolution

As we face our post-Covid reality, library services need a new vision, becoming ubiquitous and available no matter the challenges of time and space

José Vladimir Burgos Aguilar

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Making connections online is incredibly important for student motivation in universities

Top tips for establishing close relationships with students online

The quality of the connection between teachers and their charges is a true learning booster for students and can become a source of well-being for teachers, too

Rebeca Elizabeth Alvarado Ramírez

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Teachers and instructional designers can learn to work together in universities

Instructional designers: how to work well with teachers

Time, trust and agreeing goals are common difficulties when academic and non-academic staff design an online course together. Here, Viviana Cáceres outlines how to overcome them

Viviana Cáceres

Tecnológico de Monterrey

An online meeting. University professors and lecturers need to learn to work together online in the new normal

Eight essential tips for remote interdisciplinary teamwork

Rocío Elizabeth Cortez Márquez and Elia Esther Mendoza Carabeo give advice on making interdisciplinary teams work online

Rocío Elizabeth Cortez Márquez , Elia Esther Mendoza Carabeo

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Creating an interdisciplinary team at research universities is just like playing a fantasy role-playing game

Why interdisciplinarity is just like a fantasy role-playing game

Who’s the barbarian? Which one’s the wizard? Lorena Quilantán García offers practical advice on embarking upon your very own interdisciplinary hero quest

Lorena Quilantán García

Tecnológico de Monterrey