Publish or perish in the ivory tower of learning outcomes.
Accumulated particles of dirt, minerals, and organic matter that settle to the bottom of water bodies over time—the archaeological and geological equivalent of the dust bunnies under your bed.
Thinking about thinking, or as teenagers would call it, 'overthinking everything'—actually useful in learning.
Testing students on real-world tasks instead of multiple-choice questions, because apparently knowing facts isn't the same as applying knowledge.
Rewording someone else's ideas in your own words while citing the source—like plagiarism's legal cousin.
A sentence claiming what your entire essay will argue, making it both the most important and most-written sentence in academic writing.
Live instruction where everyone shows up at the same time, which brings back the convenience of forcing yourself awake for 8 AM lectures.
The principle that brains have limited working memory, so dumping 50 slides of information per lecture is pedagogically criminal.
The sweet spot between what you can do alone and what you can't do even with help—Vygotsky's fancy way of saying 'the learning zone.'
The branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge itself—basically 'how do we know what we know?' asked obsessively.
Software like Canvas or Blackboard where you upload assignments and check your grade obsessively, because email is apparently too simple.
Allowing students to start a program at an advanced point rather than the beginning, because apparently prerequisites can be bypassed for select individuals.
The theory and practice of teaching, or as some might say, the art of explaining things you understand to people who don't.
A measurable statement of what students should be able to do after completing a course, as opposed to what they'll actually remember.
The practice of tailoring instruction to different learners' needs, because apparently one-size-fits-all is not actually one-size-fits-all.
Evaluating student work as a complete picture rather than itemizing every mistake, which is supposedly more humane and accurate.
Permission to skip a required course because you supposedly already know the material, or because you're special (usually neither).
An acronym meaning 'Fucking Scientist Mode'—a hyper-focused state of academic/scientific productivity usually triggered by alcohol, existential dread, or a brutal critique from your advisor. It's when a grad student becomes an unstoppable research machine out of pure panic.
Attempting to memorize an entire semester of material the night before an exam, a strategy with approximately 0% success rate but 100% prevalence.
Reviewing material at increasing intervals to move it to long-term memory—the opposite of cramming and actually backed by neuroscience.
How long it takes instructors to grade and return assignments—often measured in optimistic timescales that never manifest.
The systematic process of measuring whether students actually learned what you said they would learn—spoiler alert: it's complicated.
One of the five Ks in Sikhism—the sacred practice of maintaining uncut hair as a spiritual commitment. It's basically the original 'let it grow' movement, but with profound religious significance rather than pandemic laziness.
The science of who eats whom, who poops where, and why Mother Nature throws a tantrum when you disrupt her carefully balanced drama. It's the study of relationships between organisms and their environment—basically real estate with more biological consequences.
Related to existence or being—academic terminology for 'what is real?' that makes philosophy papers 150% more confusing.