Seeking clarification/help as someone who wants to learn to use modern techniques to teach modern students

Hello, everyone. One of my current jobs is as an adjunct professor at a community college. (I have a full-time job to support my family, because being an adjunct alone was too inconsistent.) When I started teaching at this level, my methodology was based on instinct and building upon my own educational experiences. Basically, I was examining what had felt useful for me in the past and building from there. Fast forward nearly 15 years and I find that I am not as effective as I used to be. Students see my passion for the subject, which keeps them engaged, but their attention, critical thinking, and retention have declined. I do recognize that the way students are being taught and are learning in K-12 has seismically shifted since my own K-12 experience. I have tried to adapt me teaching approaches, assessment methodology, etc. and I still feel I am not reaching them. I am also struggling because I have an additional goal to write OER teaching materials for laboratory courses. I know what I want students to gain from the laboratory experience, and I am now finding it difficult to find the balance between giving them all of the information and allowing them to think critically to reach the learning objectives. A direct quote from a student last term was, "You are expecting us to think too much. I know my brain doesn't work like that."

I decided it was time to pursue a higher degree so that I might learn more about the science behind teaching and build an evidence based approach to how I teach. As I have begun researching graduate programs, I am finding a lot of them focus on preparing their students for "educational leadership" roles rather than curriculum design or assessment. I have also noticed that many programs will use similar terms (ex: Learning Technology or Instructional Design) and have programs that are focused on very different aspects of the educational and instructional experience.

Is there another approach I could take to searching for graduate program options? I had been focusing my searches using terms like educational technology, instructional design, and learning technology. Has the language around these studies changed? Thank you all for your assistance as I work toward improving.

Submitted October 16, 2025 at 10:48AM by Kimoppi https://ift.tt/HGo5K0S