UF Instructor Guide

University of Florida Center for Teaching Excellence

University of Florida

Gainesville

UF Instructor Guide by University of Florida is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

This book was produced with Pressbooks.

Contents

- Introduction

- Part I. For New Instructors

- 1. Nuts and Bolts

- 2. Teaching Technology

- Canvas

- Video and Multimedia Tools

- Google

- Other Useful Tools

- Academic Integrity Online

- 3. Campus Resources for Students

- 4. Campus Resources for Teachers

- Center for Teaching Excellence

- Academic Affairs

- Academic Technology

- Career Connections Center

- Center for Online Innovation and Production (COIP)

- International Center

- Libraries

- Teaching Center

- 5. Professional Development Resources and Activities

- Part II. Preparing to Teach

- 6. Administrative Logistics CC BY (Attribution)

- 7. Accessibility

- 8. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

- 9. Canvas Setup

- 10. Course Planning

- 11. Syllabus

- Part III. Teaching

- 12. First Week

- 13. Lectures

- 14. Communicate with Your Students

- 15. Small Group Discussions

- 16. Engage Your Students

- 17. End of Term Tips

- Part IV. Assessment

- 18. Assessment Basics

- 19. Useful Assessment

- 20. Designing Rubrics

- 21. Honorlock

- Part V. Learning Activities

- 22. Active Learning Online

- 23. Collaborative Learning

- 24. Group Problem-Solving CC BY (Attribution)

- 25. "Escape Box" Puzzles

- 26. Digital "Escape Box" Puzzles

- Part VI. Online Teaching and Learning

- 27. New to Online Teaching?

- 28. CTE Remote Teaching Toolkit - Planning

- 29. Humanize Your Online Course

- 30. Online Teaching Tips

- My Students Need to Collaborate to Create a Presentation for Their Final Project and Present. How Can We do That?

- Delivering Quizzes and Other Assessments

- Video Lectures

- Zoom

- 31. Video Lecture Recording

- 32. Creating Community with Zoom Settings

- 33. Convert Face-to-Face Activities to Remote

- 34. Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Class Sessions

- 35. Synchronous Discussions

- 36. Asynchronous Discussions

- 37. Digital Laboratory Activities

- 38. Experiential Learning Activities

- Part VII. Technology for Teaching & Learning

- 39. Canvas - Getting Started

- How Can I Learn to Use Canvas?

- Communicate with Your Students

- Course Content

- Canvas Time-Savers

- 40. Canvas - Design Tools (Advanced)

- 41. Video Tips

- Is Video Right for You?

- 42. Zoom

- Generate an Attendance Report in Zoom

- How to Pre-Load Students into Breakouts

- Can Students Use Zoom?

- Recurring Zoom meetings

- Does Zoom Have Polling Options?

- How can I enable raise hand and other non-verbal features?

- How do I play a video in Zoom?

- What do I do if students are muted in the Breakout Rooms?

- How do I see my students?

- Improving Audio and Video Quality

- 43. Perusall - Annotated Reading

- 44. Pressbooks

- The Short Guide to Pressbooks

- How to Use Pressbooks

- 45. PowerPoint Tips

- 46. VoiceThread

- 47. Blogger

- 48. Inkscape

- What is Inkscape Used for and Who Should Use It?

- What are SVG Files?

- Does Inkscape Take a Long Time to Learn?

- How Do I Export an EPS File From Inkscape?

- Should I Use Raster or Vector Images for Course Materials?

1

Introduction

Escape Box Participants! Your code is: 111

Welcome to the UF Instructor Guide!

This collection of information and resources will give you details about teaching at UF in one location.  If you have suggestions for other things that you would like to see included, please contact Jennifer Smith, Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence.

The Center for Teaching Excellence team is here to help!

I

For New Instructors

Welcome to UF!  We are glad that you are here.  This section will help you find the information and resources to help make your first semester a great one!  If you can’t find something or have a question, please don’t hesitate to contact the Center for Teaching Excellence.

As you settle in at UF, the teach.ufl.edu website is your guide to helpful teaching tips and strategies.

1

Nuts and Bolts

Jennifer Smith

Administrative Tasks

The hiring manager for your position will work with you to complete the required paperwork. As soon as you are in the system, you’ll receive your UFID number. You’ll need this number to set up email and retirement accounts.

Your department’s office manager will help you to sign up for the required training.  Things can get pretty hectic, so use the list below to make certain that you don’t forget something. Your department (particularly in the health sciences) may require additional training.

Review the information located on UF’s Human Resources Welcome website. The sooner you can do this, the better. These details will help you to get acclimated.

Internet Setup

As soon as you have received your UFID number, visit the Identity Services website to create your GatorLink account. You will need the GatorLink username and password to access most online resources.

1. Set up email

2. Connect your wireless devices to UF’s Eduroam service

- If you run into trouble with this, you can take your device to the UF Computing HelpDesk located on the first floor of the Hub

- You can also call 352.392.HELP (4357)

Select a secure GatorLink password and never share it with anyone!

Office Setup

1. Obtain Gator1 ID Card

2. Identify your parking location with Campus Parking map

3. Obtain Parking Pass from UF Transportation and Parking Services

4. Find your classrooms with the UF Campus map

- Obtain keys (if needed) from department administrative staff

5. Set up your VOIP phone voicemail

Training

Human Resources (HR)

“New Faculty Orientation” is held in August the week prior to the start of classes.

Online Training

Access HR training through my.ufl.edu

Visit my.ufl.edu

- Main Menu > My Self Service > Training and Development > myTraining

- Register and complete “FERPA Basics and FERPA for Faculty”

- Register and complete “Harassment Prevention”

- Register and complete “Compliance Training”

- Complete within the first 30 days of employment

- Provide certificate of completion to appropriate department personnel

Create Your Syllabus

To facilitate clear communication about courses between students and faculty, the University of Florida requires departments and course instructors to make available for free for each course, a syllabus containing specific information about the structure of the course. Instructors also must submit copies of course syllabi to the departmental office to document compliance with this syllabus policy. Syllabi must be posted at least three days prior to the first day of classes.

Syllabus Resources

- UF Syllabus policy check with your department for specific requirements

- Syllabus Template

- Sample Syllabi

- Term start and end dates, holidays and the final exam schedule.

- Examination Policies and Reading Days

- Grades and Grading Policies

- Attendance Policies

- Intercollegiate Athletics Committee:  3 things for faculty to know about student athletes in their class.

- Resources for students in distress:

- UF Counseling Center (include in your syllabus)

- Services and resources for teachers (guidance for supporting your students)

Office Hours

Providing students with an opportunity to meet with you one-on-one isn’t just a good idea, it is required by Florida Statute 1012.945, the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and University policy.

Your office hour schedule should be included in your syllabus as well as be posted in Canvas and outside of your physical office. Keep the needs of your students in mind when you set up your schedule. Faculty who teach online courses whose students are primarily working professionals will have a better response to time made available in the evenings or weekends.

Faculty are generally expected to make two hours available weekly for each course they teach. It is a good idea to make a by-appointment option available to students with difficult schedules, but this should not be the only option.

Guidance on UF’s Office Hours Policies

Teaching Technologies

Learning Management System (LMS): UF Uses Canvas

- e-Learning.ufl.edu

- Training (UF Information Technology):  Canvas and other technology training from the UFIT Center for Instructional Technology and Training staff

- How to request an E-Learning Course

- You can request your official “Registrar” course site OR

- A non-registrar course sandbox or training site

- The site also contains instructions for adding a section to an existing e-Learning course site

- Course Request Page or call 352-392-4357 (Option 3)

- UF Computing Help Desk: call 352-392-4357 or email helpdesk@ufl.edu

UF Apps are Available to Your Students

- info.apps.ufl.edu

- Microsoft Office Suite, SPSS, Nvivo, R, StataSE, Tableau Desktop, among many others

Technology Selection Assistance is Available!

- Center for Teaching Excellence has experts and workshops

- UFIT Center for Instructional Technology and Training has instructional designers and educational technologists on staff

Important Information

1. Library Resources

- Course Reserves information

- Find your Library Subject Specialist

2. IMPORTANT: Textbook Adoption Management

- Textbooks must to be selected 45 days ahead of course start date

- State statute requires timely posting of textbook information.

- Courses with materials (textbook + supplies) that cost $20.00 or less per credit hour are eligible for an Affordable UF Badge

3. Academic Integrity

- UF Center for Teaching Excellence: Academic Integrity Guide

- UF Dean Of Students Office: Responding to Academic Misconduct

- This guide offers information and guidelines on the correct process for responding to student academic misconduct

- Video created for students by students explains academic integrity at UF (use this video in your class)

4. Registrar

- Schedule of Courses (check your class time, day, and location)

- Undergraduate Catalog

- FERPA and Confidentiality of Student Records (IMPORTANT!)

- Graduate Catalog

5. Division of Student Affairs: UF Policies

First Day of Class Preparation (On-Campus)

1. Visit your classroom(s):

- Test the computer:  log in, open all files, access all software

- If you will be using your own laptop or mobile device, test out the connections and cables

- If you need help, contact Classroom Support  (352) 392-6683

- Request a training session with Classroom Support prior to the first day

- Test the microphone (if using)

2. Print out a roster of each class

- For smaller courses, print a Photo Roster from your Canvas Course site (located in the left menu)

Good to Know

- IRB Training: questions related to the UF Institutional Review Board.

- Skype for Business

- Outlook Calendar

- University Police Department

- UF Alerts

2

Teaching Technology

Jennifer Smith

These are some of the most commonly used technologies for teaching. If you’re not sure which tools best fit your needs, contact the Center for Instructional Technology and Training. An Instructional Designer will meet with you to discuss your course and recommend the appropriate technology. See the “New to Online Teaching?” chapter of this guide.

Canvas

Canvas is UF’s Learning Management System (LMS).  It can be an efficient way to make course material and grades available to your students. It has features that can help you, whether you just want to house a few files or to teach a fully online course.

- Canvas Guides provide step-by-step instructions for all things Canvas.

- Visit the “New to Online Teaching?” chapter in this guide for details on how to get started.

- Calendar tool will automatically display any assignment deadlines that you create in Canvas and it will update the dates automatically when you copy the course to a new term.

- See the “Canvas – Advanced” chapter of this guide for details on using the “Multi-tool” and the “Due Date Modifier” to save yourself some time in setting up your course site.

- Chat can be a good way to hold virtual office hours.

- Conversations is the Canvas email tool.

- PerusallNew! is a 3rd party tool available within Canvas that allows you to assign and grade student interaction with readings.

- View CITT’s Perusall QuickStart Guide.

- Set it up to grade comments automatically or review and manually adjust the grades before they are pushed to the Canvas gradebook.

Video and Multimedia Tools

Whether you are teaching online, hybrid or face-to-face courses, video can enhance your course and help improve student access and retention.

Zoom

Zoom is a video conference service available to all students, faculty, and staff.

- View the Zoom e-Learning Quick Start Guide

- View the Zoom chapter in this guide for tips and teaching strategies.

- Use Zoom to help you foster community in your course.

Flipgrid

Flipgrid is a free video discussion platform from Microsoft.

- It can be integrated with your Canvas course site

- Visit the CITT Flipgrid Guide

VoiceThread

VoiceThread is a multimedia collaboration tool that can be used in a variety of ways.

- Upload videos or images and add comments and notations.

- Students can add comments through text, audio, or video.

- There is a bit of a learning curve for both instructors and students, so be sure that you can’t do what you would like using another tool such as Canvas Discussions.

- View the CITT Guide.

- View Dr. Crystal Marull’s presentation in this guide: Asynchronous Active Learning with VoiceThread.

Mediasite

Mediasite is UF’s video hosting service.

1. Request a Mediasite account from Video & Collaboration Services.

2. Put in a request to your IT department to install the MyMediasite recorder on your computer (unless you have admin access and can do it yourself.)

- This will allow you to record PowerPoint presentations along with audio or video of you speaking.

- Create video on your phone or other device and upload it.

- Link to Mediasite videos from your Canvas course site.

3. View the MyMediasite tutorials on the Video & Collaboration Services website.

4. How to Edit Your Mediasite Videos Like a Pro

5. For video tips and suggestions, visit the CTE Creative Video Workshop

Adobe Spark

Adobe Spark  is a free online and mobile graphic design app for your phone, tablet or computer.

- Quickly create beautiful images, videos, and web pages.

- NOTE:  Adobe Spark does not currently meet accessibility requirements. Provide the content in an alternate format such as a text document.

Google

The Google Suite is now available to UF faculty and students. Details about each of the tools included in UF’s G Suite can be found on the UF GatorCloud website. The “G Suite” includes:

- Drive

- Docs

- Sheets

- Slides

- Sites

- Forms

- Calendar

- Jamboard

- Hangouts Meet

- Hangouts Chat

Directions for transferring your Google Account can be found on the UF GatorCloud website.

Other Useful Tools

1. Academic Technology Computer Labs

2. Outlook Calendar is a handy way to keep track of your schedule and let others know your availability.

- Put in a ticket with your IT support staff to configure Outlook on your computer.

- While you are at it, request help with setting up your mobile device.

- Use the Outlook webapp: mail.ufl.edu to access your calendar and email when you are away from your computer.

3. Qualtrics supports surveys for research, teaching and learning.

- You MUST access Qualtrics through the link on the e-Learning homepage.

- Qualtrics accounts are available to your students.

4. UF Apps provides students with access to a variety software applications from any computing device.

- Visit UF Apps Information Technology for a complete list of Apps.

- Many of the apps are available at no direct cost to the student.

- Adobe@UFApps is an enhanced offering of the Adobe CC Discounted for Students licensing program.

5. LinkedInLearning.com tutorials are available to all UF students, faculty and staff at no cost.

- Step-by-step video tutorials recorded in bite-sized chunks for software, creative, and business skills.

- In order to get free access, users MUST access through the e-Learning homepage.

Academic Integrity Online

Sometimes faculty are uncomfortable with moving assessments to an online environment due to the perceived ease of cheating.  Unfortunately, some students will cheat regardless of the course delivery method. There is no magic technology that will completely eradicate the problem.

Strategies to Reduce Cheating

1. Inspire student interest in the topic so they want to learn the material.

2. Discuss what constitutes dishonesty in your specific course as well as your general field of study.

- This is particularly important if you have students with different cultural backgrounds.

3. Help students to develop self-evaluation skills so that they don’t underestimate the time it takes them to learn and complete assignments.

4. Scaffold assignments with interim steps to support steady progress.

5. Give students low-stakes opportunities to prepare for high-stakes exams.

If a single assessment will comprise 15% or more of the course grade, it is good practice to implement academic integrity tools.

Online Proctoring Tools

The use of online proctoring (ProctorU or Honorlock) in your online course requires a bit of preparation prior to the beginning of each semester:

1. Ensure that the use of proctoring is funded.

- If you teach a UF Online course, proctoring costs are covered by the program.

- If you teach a Self-Supporting/Self-Funded online class that needs to utilize online proctoring, the cost is covered by the program.

- All other online classes that you wish to have proctored must have a Distance Learning (DL) Fee approved. This process is completed the semester prior to the term in which you wish to use proctoring.

2. Ensure that your Canvas course shell has your proctoring app activated (This must happen by the Friday of the first week of classes 1/10/20)

- This is a new requirement and will allow us to have better access to data.

Activate Either the ProctorU or Honorlock Apps Within a Canvas Shell

1. Click on “Settings” and then the Navigation tab. You should see a list of your enabled tools and tabs.

2. If you scroll down the page you should see a long list of tools that you can choose to enable. ProctorU and Honorlock are on that list.

3. Be sure to activate the one proctoring tool that you will be using for your course shell.

4. Ensure that within your Canvas shell you have proctoring information provided to your students

If you are using ProctorU place the following link within your Canvas shell for students to use to access their ProctorU login, test their computer to ensure a successful online proctoring experience.  https://www.proctoru.com/portal/ufl

If you are using Honorlock please post the Honorlock Guidelines in your Canvas Course shell for your students.

- Online proctoring updates and information

- Contact Chris Newsom if you have questions

Turnitin Antiplagiarism Checker

Turnitin is available within the Canvas assignment tool. To use, create an assignment and select the online submission type.  Then check the box to enable Turnitin Submissions.  Click on the Advanced Turnitin Settings to set:

- When students can see the originality report.

- Which databases to compare with your students’ papers.

- Items to be excluded from consideration.

- Whether to add your students’ papers to the Turnitin Repository.

- NOTE: If you require students to submit drafts for review (which is a great way to scaffold a writing assignment!) you’ll want to opt not to add  your students’ papers to the repository. If you do, their subsequent submissions will be flagged for content that matches their draft(s).

Choose the Advanced Settings to access Turnitin options.

Online Proctoring

When a single assessment comprises 15% or more of the course grade, it is good practice to proctor the exam. If the assessment will be delivered online, proctoring services will authenticate the student and view the testing. Faculty may use the proctoring service of their choice, however, UF has two preferred providers:

1. ProctorU – Trained proctors watch the student take the test via webcam.

- The student is also video recorded for later review by the course instructor, if needed.

- Setup is done through a Canvas plugin.

- Requires students to register for a time slot in advance.

- ProctorU – How It Works

- ProctorU – Exam Creation

- ProctorU – Direct Exam Link

- ProctorU Help

- ProctorU Video Demonstration

2. Honorlock – Video records the student taking the exam

- Searches the Internet for your exam content and files takedown notices to remove the leaked questions.

- Keeps students from searching for test answers on a second device during the exam.

- Honorlock – Instructor Guide

- Honorlock – Instructor Video

- Honorlock – Standard Testing Guidelines

- Honorlock Student Guide

- Honorlock Student Video

- Honorlock Support and System Test

- Honorlock Syllabus Verbiage

Proctoring for UF Online courses is covered centrally. All other courses need to request a Distance Learning or Material Supply fee to cover the cost of the service. Check with your department administrator to request a fee to be added to your course. NOTE: Fee requests are due nearly a full semester prior to the term being taught.

For more details visit the Distance & Continuing Education website. Contact Chris Newsom for assistance or questions.

3

Campus Resources for Students

Jennifer Smith

If you follow the sample syllabus provided by Academic Affairs, then you already have some of this information included in your syllabus. Consider adding links to specific resources such as the UF Teaching Center  or University Writing Program within your assignment instructions. Check with your department and/or college to see if there are specific resources available to your unit.

- UF Counseling & Wellness Center

- UF Teaching Center

- Undergraduate tutoring, testing support and video resources (Free!)

- Workshops for Teaching Assistants

- UF Teaching Assistant Handbook

- University Writing Program

- Undergraduate tutoring and video resources (Free!)

- Request a workshop for your students or TAs (Contact Dr. Mickey Schafer)

- Disability Resource Center (DRC)

- Contact for help or questions on how to create an inclusive learning environment for all of your students

- Support for testing accommodations

- Refer a student

- Career Connections Center

- Request a class visit

- Meet your embedded Liaison who can help you to connect classroom learning to career opportunities

- UF Libraries

- Course Reserves

- Information for distance students

- 3D printing for students

- One button recording studio for students

- Contact your Subject Specialist for help with course content and workshops

- Office of Student Veteran Services

- Academic Technology Computer Labs

- Computing Help Desk

4

Campus Resources for Teachers

Jennifer Smith

Center for Teaching Excellence

The teach.ufl.edu website is the central location for information and resources for teaching at the University of Florida. The site is maintained by the Center for Teaching Excellence and provides links to workshops, articles and podcast recordings.

- Earn a badge or certificate through the Passport to Great Teaching program.

- Earn an Affordable UF Badge.

- Request an affordability consultation.

- Request a quality assurance online course review.

- Request a teaching strategy consultation.

- Request help in interpreting your GatorEvals report.

- Request a specific workshop for your department or a course visit.

- See how learning analytics can help improve student learning in your course.

- Identify resources to support Graduate Teaching Assistants.

Not sure what you need or who can help you? Zaina Sheets is CTE’s coordinator and can suggest people and resources to fit your needs.

Academic Affairs

The Office of the Provost is home to a variety of helpful people and information.

- UF Faculty Handbook  is the best resource for teaching policies.

- UF’s Graduate School supports professional development and graduate international outreach and diversity initiatives.

- See the Guide for Preparing Theses and Dissertations to clarify faculty supervisory responsibilities.

- Institutional Assessment provides guidance and resources to support accreditation and program evaluation.

- Division of Student Affairs is your partner in creating a great experience for UF Students.

- Undergraduate Affairs supports students through a variety of programs.

- The Center for Undergraduate Research (CUR) can help you to integrate student research activities into your course.

- UF’s Honors Program encourages meaningful relationships between students and faculty.

Academic Technology

The Office of Academic Technology is part of the UF Information Technology division.  They implement and support technology for both classroom and online teaching.

- Classroom Support installs and maintains classroom technologies.

- Contact them to request help with using classroom equipment.

- e-Learning Support Services supports the Canvas (UF’s LMS).

- Get help with Canvas.

- Other e-Learning services can be accessed through their website.

- LinkedInLearning.com videos and tutorials are available at no cost to UF students, faculty and staff.

- VoiceThread collaborative multimedia tool.

- Qualtrics survey tool.

- UFIT Training provides classroom, webinar and video tutorials to support UF technologies.

- One-on-one, by appointment and custom training is available.

- Center for Instructional Technology and Training provides instructional design services, recommendations for educational technology selection and use, and workshops.

- Video & Collaboration Services operate and maintain Mediasite, UF’s video platform.

- Request installation of the Mediasite Desktop Recorder to record presentations.

- Techsmith Relay is installed on many classroom computers for live lecture capture.

- Some classrooms are set up with automated classroom recording.

- UFApps can be accessed from any computing device.

- Fill out the Course Usage form to get your course set up.

- See the full list of available apps.

- Software Licensing has negotiated the lowest available price on many products.

- Check the listing of available products before your purchase elsewhere!

- Microsoft Office software is available for use on up to 5 computers or tablets and unlimited mobile phones for current UF employees.

- Active faculty and staff are eligible to purchase one upgrade license of the latest Windows Operating System.

Career Connections Center

One of the best ways to get students excited about your course topic is to help them see the relationship between coursework and career. The specialists at UF’s Career Connections Center can help you do that!

- Many colleges have an embedded Career Liaison who can provide suggestions for activities, workshops and resources for your course.

- In partnership with CTE and the Teaching Center, the Career Connections Center hosts the Teaching Portfolio workshop and review series for graduate assistants.

- It’s never too early to help your students think about the skills they will need to succeed in their chosen profession.

Center for Online Innovation and Production (COIP)

Instructional design and course production services are provided by the Center for Online Innovation and Production. This team supports courses for UF Online, Flexible Learning, Continuing Education and Self-Supporting Programs.

Their innovative approach to instructional design includes assistance with:

- Course Design and Build

- Ongoing Course Support

- Course Review and Refresh

- Online Labs

- Adaptive Learning

- Augmented Reality

- Virtual Reality

- Gamification

COIP also provides video production services including:

- Green Screen Recording

- Lightboard

- Live PowerPoint Annotation via iPad

- On-Location Video Recording

- Audio Over Content Recording

- Captioning Services

Please contact COIP@mail.ufl.edu to request services.

International Center

UF’s International Center supports international students, exchange students and faculty international research and travel.  International students, and exchange students and visitors play an important role in the advancement of UF’s research and teaching missions. Contact Paloma Rodriguez for help with:

- Incorporating ePortfolio elements into your course.

- Promoting global learning through course activities and research.

- Supporting international students in your classes.

- Inviting international students and scholars.

- Creating experiential learning activities for your students.

Libraries

The UF Libraries have a wealth of material, both physical and virtual to support your teaching and research.

- Your library Subject Specialist can save you time by locating resources for your course.

- Request a workshop for your class.

- Ask for help locating Open Educational Resources (OER).

- Save your students money with course reserves,

- Access UF’s Institutional Repository.

- Get help with copyright.

- Request funding for Open Access Publishing.

Teaching Center

UF’s Teaching Center is housed in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. They offer tutoring in math, science, engineering and business at no cost to students.

- They can create video resources to help your students study for exams.

- The Teaching Center supports graduate teaching assistants through:

- Orientation

- Teaching More Effectively Workshop Series

- UF Teaching Assistant Handbook

- UF Handbook for Testing and Grading

- Even though this guide was published in 1991, the information on writing good test questions is excellent

5

Professional Development Resources and Activities

Jennifer Smith

The University of Florida provides a variety of workshops and activities to support quality teaching. The Center for Teaching Excellence works with units across campus to share development information. Visit the teach.ufl.edu website for upcoming events. The units listed below offer workshops and training.

Center for Teaching Excellence

Passport to Great Teaching Program

The Passport to Great Teaching is a create-your-own badge or certificate program. Choose one of the seven passport series:

1. Great Teaching

2. Great Teaching for New Faculty

3. Great Teaching: TA Edition

4. Great Online Teaching

5. Great Teaching Using Universal Design

6. Global Teaching & Learning

7. Faculty Learning Communities

All of the Center for Teaching Excellence activities described below will earn passport “miles” towards a badge or certificate. All CTE workshops and activities are open to graduate assistants. Most workshops are available in face-to-face and online modalities.

1. First Year Faculty Teaching Academy

- This workshop series supports new-to-UF instructors as well as instructors in their first three years of teaching.

- The series requires attendance to face-to-face and online active learning workshops.

- Additionally, faculty choose from a variety of activities and workshops to complete their certificate requirements.

2. Great Online Teaching Series (online workshops)

- Design a Great Online Course

- Build a Great Online Course

- Teach a Great Online Course

- Each workshop takes 5 – 7 hours and earns credit towards the Great Online Teaching Badge.

3. Interface

- This yearly teaching conference provides new ideas and networking opportunities.

- View handouts from past Interface conferences.

4. Teaching Beyond the Podium Podcast Series

- Hear teaching tips from UF faculty.

- Subscribe through iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher.

For more campus-wide events and workshops visit teach.ufl.edu

UF Training & Organizational Development (HR)

- Business Communications

- Compliance Training

- Advanced Leadership for Academics and Professionals

- UF Academy

- Strategic Communications Academy for UF Leaders & Scholars

UFIT Training

UFIT offers a variety of face-to-face and online training and tutorials.

1. Visit the UFIT Training website to search for your specific needs.

2. Access to LinkedInLearning is available for all UF faculty, staff and students.

- You MUST access LinkedInLearning through the e-Learning or UFIT Training portals.

II

Preparing to Teach

This section covers the planning and preparation work that will lay the groundwork for a great course. It’s a good idea to do some of this work far enough in advance of the term so you can:

- Consider a new approach.

- Bounce ideas off of colleagues.

- Identify guests who can visit your course in person or through video.

- Streamline assignments to support efficient learning.

- Ask for library help in locating resources.

- Test out new technology or software.

- Consider Open Educational Resources (OERs).

- Prepare materials for teaching assistants.

- Be less stressed during the semester!

6

Administrative Logistics

Jennifer Smith

Check to make sure that your course is properly listed in the registration system. Textbooks and other materials need to be selected as well. Save yourself time and frustration by setting up reminders for yourself to check the registrar listing and the textbook adoption information.

3-5 Months Before Term:  Schedule the Course with the Registrar

Each department schedules courses within UF’s Schedule of Courses.

1. Check with your department scheduler to be sure they know how to enter it into the system.

- If you are teaching a hybrid or a course that meets in Big Blue Button, Zoom or any other tool, identify the days/times will meet synchronously.

- The meeting place should be listed as WEB if the class does not physically meet.

2. Once the schedule has been published, check the Registrar’s Schedule of Courses to make sure that all sections of the course are correctly listed (UF Online, resident online, dual enrollment, etc.)

- Be sure that the meeting place is listed as WEB in the Schedule of Courses if the class does not physically meet.

UF Online courses are located on a separate page in the student registration system (so as not to confuse students!)

Check to make sure that both resident and UF Online sections of the course are listed with the Registrar. They are listed separately!

3-5 Months Before Term:  List the Course Textbook

Enter your textbook adoptions on the UF Text Adoption site. Information must be entered early enough so that the selections are available to students during advance registration.  Summer and fall adoptions are generally due towards the end of March. Spring adoptions are generally due at the end of October. State statute requires timely posting of textbook information (no later than 45 days prior to the first day of class).

If course materials are $20 or less per credit hour, your course is eligible for the Affordable UF Badge.

Not using a textbook? Or perhaps you are using Open Educational Resources or Library course reserves?  Then your course can qualify for the Affordable UF Badge.

- Visit the textbook adoption site and fill out the form indicating that your course materials cost less than $20/credit hour.

- You will receive the Affordable UF badge that can be put on your syllabus and Canvas course site.

- The badge will also appear in the textbook listing that students see.

1 Month Before Term or Earlier: Request the Canvas Course Shell

You might think, “I’m not teaching online, so why do I need a Canvas Course Shell?” Canvas can help you to organize your course, communicate with your students and facilitate your grading.  In short, it can save you time. Just uploading your syllabus, assignment instructions and readings to Canvas before the start of the semester can save you time when things get busy.

Canvas Course Shell Request

Request your course shell as early as possible. To do this, go to eLearning.ufl.edu > Instructor Help> Instructor e-Learning Course Request from the left menu.  You will need your course section number.  Fill out the form.

- Request to have anyone who will assist you with course set up or teaching added

- IMPORTANT: Be sure to list ALL of the sections that you want in the shell (including UF Online)

- Separate the different sections with a comma

1 Month Before Term: Tutorials and Training

Face-to-face classes on how to Canvas are available through e-Learning Support Services. Class registration is available on the UFIT Training website. You will find that it is VERY helpful for TAs to attend this training prior to the semester they will be assisting with a Canvas course.

Instructure provides detailed guides and videos on how to use Canvas. Use the search box to find specific directions quickly.

LinkedInLearning.com has a Learn Canvas 2019 class available online. UF holds a site license for LinkedInLearning.com. To access at no cost to faculty/staff/student, the user MUST use the login link at elearning.ufl.edu (the link is right under the “Log in to e-Learning button).

e-Learning Support is available to answer questions and provide assistance through e-Learning.ufl.edu, (352) 392-HELP (4357) (instructors select Option 3), or helpdesk@ufl.edu.

For Teaching Assistants

The How to be a Great Online or Hybrid TA is required for TAs who will be assisting with UF Online courses. The workshop will bring your teaching assistants up to speed on the tasks TAs are most commonly asked to do. Most TAs complete this workshop in under two hours. TAs can self-register through the teach.ufl.edu website. To gain the maximum benefit from this workshop, TAs should do this before classes begin for the term.

If your students have not already done the TA Orientation (plus the TA Principles & Strategies

Get Help!

Save yourself time and ask for help sooner rather than later! Help services are busy the week before and the week of the start of classes.

1. Learning Support Services is available to answer questions and provide assistance through e-Learning.ufl.edu.

- 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Monday – Friday

- 352-392-4357, option 3

- Message elearning.ufl.edu

- Submit a ticket at my.it.ufl.edu

- Visit the e-Learning Instructor FAQs

2. Center for Instructional Technology and Training (CITT)

- Can help you create a pedagogically sound, well-organized course.

- Request assistance from CITT well in advance of the start of classes (a full semester if possible.)

- citt.ufl.edu

3. Center for Online Innovation and Course Production (COIP)

- This team supports course production for UF Online and Distance and Continuing Education

FERPA

Faculty, staff, and graduate assistants who will have access to student information (such as in the e-Learning system) are required to complete FERPA (Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) training.

- FERPA Basics(PRV802) and FERPA for Faculty (PRV803) are available through myTraining.

- You may access myTraining system at mytraining.hr.ufl.edu.

- If you have questions or need assistance with the myTraining system, please contact:

UF Training & Organizational Development
Phone: (352) 392-4626
Email: training@ufl.edu

General FERPA information can be found on the Registrar website.

7

Accessibility

Jennifer Smith

Why is Accessibility Important?

The University of Florida is committed to providing all students with accessible websites and course content. Recent court cases and U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights investigations of higher education institutions indicate that electronic content must meet accessibility requirements. UF’s Electronic Information Accessibility Policy can be found on the Accessibility.ufl.edu website.

Accommodation

Students may request an accommodation through UF’s Disability Resource Center. However, this should be the exception rather than the rule.  Students requesting accommodation are interviewed by the DRC staff.  The instructor is provided with information regarding the required accommodation. Contact the DRC immediately if you have any questions.

Course Site Design

The recommendations described below make it possible for screen reader users to access material efficiently.  These same practices support other assistive devices and general usability.  Before we get started, it would be helpful for you to see how a screen reader works:  Screen Reader Demo

Headings and Subheadings

Screen reader users have the ability to navigate through pages by skipping from heading to subheadings.  This means that they don’t have to listen to the all of the page content to find what they need.  But to do this, headings and subheadings need to be “tagged.”  Page titles are generally <h1> and the major section headings are <h2> and then they can go down to <h4> or <h5>.

Don’t use font size or bold to create your headings.  Instead, highlight the heading text and choose the heading level from the menu at the top of your Canvas content editor.

Create a subheading in Canvas.

Poor Link Example:

“Donald Tapscott, in his paper ”Growing Up Digital,” http://www.ncsu.edu/meridian/jan98/feat_6/digital.html says these students…”

Listen to bad example audio from screen reader

Good Link Example:

“Donald Tapscott, in his paper ”Growing Up Digital ,” says these students…”

Listen to good example audio from screen reader

Avoid “Click Here”

Screen reader users can use the Tab key to skip from link to link. That means that the user won’t hear what the link is if the text describing the link is not used as the link text. What does this mean to you?  Avoid using “click here,” “link” or http://www.thisisthelink123445.com  as the link.

Alternative Text

Every image in your course needs to have “Alt text.”  This allows the screen reader to identify or describe the image.  Avoid repeating text that may be next to the image.  Avoid using phrases such as “click this image to. . .”  To add Alt Text to your Canvas images, simply click on the “Embed image” icon in the content editing window (it’s a picture of a tree) and it will open a dialog box where you can type the description.

When possible, avoid using text as part of the image itself as it may become pixelated and difficult to read when it is enlarged using a screen magnifier.

Write a text description in the Alt text box.

Color

Avoid using color along to communicate meaning.  There are different types of color-blindness, some people have difficulty seeing reds, others do not see green and still others cannot see blue.  Provide notations in addition to using color.  Instead of using color for meaning within text, consider using italics or bold.  Avoid using underlining for meaning as web convention indicates that underlined text is a link.  Underlined text that is not a link may cause people to e-mail you about the broken link in your class!

Contrast

People with low vision may have a difficult time viewing websites with low contrast.  You can test your page by reducing the contrast on your monitor or looking at your monitor through a piece of tracing paper.  The example below could be problematic for both someone with low vision as well as someone who is color-blind.

In this image, the orange text is very difficult to see against the gray background.

Ally Canvas Accessibility Checker

The University of Florida has implemented an accessibility checker within Canvas.  This tool allows instructors and instructional designers to quickly identify materials that need revision and explains how to correct accessibility issues.

A green meter icon indicates the general accessibility level of the resource.

Ally checks the accessibility of Canvas course pages as well as uploaded files including PDF, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, OpenOffice/LibreOffice, and uploaded HTML files.  The Ally meter icon changes color to indicate general accessibility level.  Click on the meter icon for improvement suggestions.

- Red = Low (0-33%) – Needs help!

- Orange = Medium (34 – 66%) – Better, but still needs improvement.

- Light Green = High (67 – 99%) – The resource is in good shape but could be improved.

- Dark Green = Perfect (100%) – Well done! Ally did not identify any issues, although there may still be areas for improvement.

View the accessibility column in Canvas files to quickly determine resource accessibility.

Ally makes it easy to enter the alt text for an image.

Visit Ally for LMS Help for Instructors for a Quick Start guide as well as details about accessibility scores and instructor FAQs.

PowerPoint

Don’t forget to check your PowerPoints! Poor PowerPoint contrast is a big contributor to accessibility issues in courses! You can check your PowerPoint contrast by choosing View > Grayscale. Note that this does not allow you to see the slide master background. Watch out for gradient backgrounds. Text that looks good at one end of the gradient may not be readable at the other end.

Black text is difficult to see against the darker end of a blue gradient background.

Accessible PDF Files

All course material must to be accessible to a screen reader.  This includes any PDF documents that you provide to the student.  If you cannot select the text in the document, it is an “image” and a screen reader will not be able to read it.  Document scans created by the ARES course reserves team are accessible.

If you do not have access to the “source file” for the document, such as the original Word or other authored document, you can upload the PDF file to SensusAccess located on the accessibility.ufl.edu website.  SensusAccess will create a “more” accessible document.  You will still need to add alternate text to your images (that is not something that a machine can do).

To add “alt text” to your Word images:

1. Right click on the image.

2. Select Format Picture from the bottom of the menu.

3. Choose Layout & Properties from the text menu that appears to the right.

4. Select Alt Text.

5. Type your text in the Title box, add a longer description if needed.

Add alt text in the Format Picture menu.

Alt Text for PDF Images

Alt. text can be added to PDF images using Adobe Acrobat CC.  To do this:

1. Select View > Tools > Accessibility.

2. Select the image you wish to tag and choose “Set Alternate Text.”

Add alternate text to your PDF images using the Acrobat CC Accessibility tool.

SensusAccess

Have you got a scan of a photo copy of an old journal article?  It is likely that document isn’t accessible because it is actually an image, and the screen reader can’t read text within an image.  SensusAccess, a webtool that converts documents into more accessible formats is available to all UF faculty, staff and students.

Just upload your file and identify the type of output you would like (it will even convert text into audio).

SensusAccess allows you to select a file type for the final output.

SensusAccess will convert your file into a MORE accessible format, however, you may still have some accessibility issues.  Also, the tool cannot add alt text to images.

Get Help!

For more details about creating accessible PowerPoint, PDFs and Word documents visit Creating Accessible Documents on UF’s Accessibility website.

- The E-Learning support team can help with accessibility questions.

- Anne Allen, UF’s EIT Accessibility Officer can direct you to appropriate accessibility support services (alallen@ufl.edu)

- Not sure where to turn? Contact Zaina Sheets from the Center for Teaching Excellence.

Closed Captions

UF is steadily working towards the goal of Closed Captioning all video content.  This is required by federal law and UF policy.  Please fill out the captioning request form located on the Accessibility.ufl.edu website.

If you record new videos each term, work with your technical support team to determine a closed captioning plan.  You will need to know your video format, storage location and required turnaround time.  If you host your videos in Mediasite, the process is quick and requires very little effort from you or your support team.  If you have videos housed elsewhere, upload and download of videos may be required.

IMPORTANT! Inform your TAs that any requests for Closed Captions for accommodation MUST be addressed as quickly as possible so that there is no delay in a student’s ability to access course material.

Publisher Material/Tools

When you adopt a textbook or publisher tool, ask the rep for a copy of their Voluntary Product Accessibility Template or other accessibility documentation.  If you are using free or open source material, use this short checklist to ensure that the content is accessible to all users.

- Video content is closed captioned.

- Transcripts are provided for audio recordings.

- Alt tags are used for images.

- Interactive content can be accessed without using a mouse through keyboard shortcuts.

- Beware of Flash tools! They may contain text as images that cannot be read by a screen reader.

If you are unsure of the accessibility of a tool or e-text, contact Anne Allen, UF’s EIT Accessibility Officer at alallen@ufl.edu.

Specific Needs

Hearing

- Provide text alternatives for non-text material.

- Closed Captions (CC) or transcripts are required for audio and video material.

- o Any student needing CC accommodation must make an appointment with the DRC immediately to make arrangements.

- Include this information in your syllabus as per the UF Syllabus Policy.

- o It is critical for students to be able to access course material as soon as possible.

- Real-time captioning for web conference or chat sessions can be arranged through the DRC.

- Request Closed Captions through the Captioning Request Form on the Accessibility website.

- For more information visit Teaching Strategies for Hearing Impaired Students.

Vision

- All websites and course content should be accessible to screen reader and screen magnification software (i.e. JAWS and MAGic.)

- o Support for screen readers is consistent with best practices for website usability.

- Review conferencing and chat tools to ensure that students can read and respond.

- For more information visit Suggested Teaching Strategies: blind and visually impaired students.

Mobility

- All content on web and course sites can be accessed using keyboard, speech input, and assistive devices (head pointer and sip and puff switch.)

- Conferencing and chat tools make it possible for students to interact and respond.

Cognition

- Websites and course sites have consistent and easy to navigation.

- Websites and course sites are compatible with screen reader and screen magnification software.

- Conferencing and chat tools make it possible for students to interact and respond.

- State your conventions:

- o Present information consistently such as links are usually blue and underlined. If yours are different name this convention so students know what to look for.

- o Provide students with a clear place to focus and a distinct path to navigate

- o Some students will need extra time on quizzes and exams. To give students extra time on a canvas quiz visit the Canvas accessibility page.

- For more information visit the Communication and Teaching Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder Fact Sheet.

Resources

- “AccessDL.” Project DO-IT: Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology. University of Washington, n.d. Web. 16 Jan. 2014.

- University of Washington provides resources and publications on making distance learning courses accessible.

- Betts, Kristen. “Legal Perspective: Q&A with Daniel F. Goldstein.” The Sloan Consortium, Oct. 2013. Web. 01 Feb. 2014.

- A Q and A session with Daniel F. Goldstein provides a legal perspective on issues relating to accessibility and online learning.

- Betts, Kristen. “National Perspective: Q&A with National Federation of The Blind & Association of Higher Education and Disability.”National Perspective: Q&A with National Federation of The Blind & Association of Higher Education and Disability. The Sloan Consortium, Oct. 2013. Web. 01 Feb. 2014.

- The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and the Association of Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) provide a national perspective regarding online learning and accessibility.

- Betts, Kristen, et al. “Strategies to Increase Online Student Success for Students with Disabilities.” Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks 17.3 (2013).

- Center for Persons with Disabilities. “Resources.” WebAIM: Web Accessibility in Mind. Utah State University, n.d. Web. 16 Jan. 2014.

- “From Where I Sit Video Series.” Professional Development for Accessible Technology: Promotional Materials: FWIS. University of California, 2009. Web. 16 Jan. 2014.

8

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Jeremy Waisome, Ph.D. and Alexandra Bitton-Bailey

What is an Inclusive Environment?

A space where all students can:

- Freely express who they are, their opinions, and their point of view

- Fully participate in learning, teamwork, and all classroom activities

- Feel safe from abuse, harassment, or unfair criticism

- Feel valued and supported by their instructor and classmates

How can you create a friendly and welcoming learning environment that challenges and motivates students to learn and grow? Inclusive language paired with in-class actions that demonstrate your support and acceptance of diverse backgrounds and skills.

Examine Your Assumptions

- We all have biases!

- Become aware of your assumptions and work towards replacing them

- Not everyone attending your course has similar backgrounds

- Avoid assuming student performance is evidence of “natural” ability

Avoid Stereotypes

- Stereotypes are: an often unfair and untrue belief that many people have about all people or things with a particular characteristic

- You must learn to separate individuals from stereotypes

Model Inclusivity

- Use inclusive language

- Consider using preferred names/pronouns

- Try not to use terms like “guys”

- Model inclusive behavior

- Ask for multiple responses to a question posed in class

- Show that mistakes and missteps are valued as opportunities for learning

Diversify Course Content/Activities

- Use diverse examples

- Change the names, identities, or ability of the persons used in your examples/case studies

- Highlight contributions of scientists/engineers from underrepresented groups in your field

- Be mindful when selecting groups

Writing a Syllabus Diversity Statement

A diversity statement should express your core values of inclusion.

A good place to begin is by examining your assumptions. It is common for people to make assumptions, often subconsciously, that may lead to the marginalization of students in our classrooms. This is called implicit bias. Expectations that students share similar cultural backgrounds, economic privilege, come from traditional families, have parents who attended college, or are heterosexual or cisgender, can make students feel marginalized. It is important to develop an awareness of these biases and to replace them with inclusive language and behavior.

Example Diversity Syllabus Statements were borrowed from the American Society for Engineering Educations Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

Example 1:

I consider this classroom to be a place where you will be treated with respect, and I welcome individuals of all ages, backgrounds, beliefs, ethnicities, genders, gender identities, gender expressions, national origins, religious affiliations, sexual orientations, ability – and other visible and nonvisible differences. All members of this class are expected to contribute to a respectful, welcoming and inclusive environment for every other member of the class.

Example 2:

I am committed to creating an inclusive environment in which all students are respected and valued. I will not tolerate disrespectful language or behavior on the basis of age, ability, color/ethnicity/race, gender identity/expression, marital/parental status, military/veteran’s status, national origin, political affiliation, religious/spiritual beliefs, sex, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status or other visible or non-visible differences.

Other Statements to Foster Inclusivity:

- Safe Zone Statement for LGBTQ+ Advocacy in STEM

- Preferred Name/Pronoun Statement

Additional Resources:

- Inside Higher Ed Article-Breaking Down Diversity Statements

- Inside Higher Ed Article-The Effective Diversity Statement

- Yale Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning-Diversity Statements

- Brown Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning-Diversity & Inclusion Syllabus Statements

- Cecilia Suarez, Ph.D.: Anti-Racist Theory & Teaching Practice (1:59:52)

Humanizing Your Course

What Does Humanizing Your Course Mean?

Humanizing is a student-centered mindset that involves recognizing and supporting the non-cognitive components of learning. Humanizing integrates elements of Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning and Universal Design for Learning. In a humanized course, faculty intentionally cultivate an inclusive learning environment that fosters psychological safety and trust and forms connections that grow into relationships and a community. With an emphasis on presence, empathy, and awareness, faculty become warm demanders and students apply themselves at a higher level to not let down their learning partner.

Why Do It?

Online courses increase access to higher education for students who have been traditionally left out. However, this increased access does not translate into success. Minority and first generation students are less likely to succeed in online courses, particularly courses that lack humanized elements. Adding the humanized touches to your course can increase both retention and success of all students.

Students and Faculty Benefit

Students benefit as it promotes trust in their instructor. In fact, studies show the most valued characteristics in instructors is not their expertise in their field but rather it is the ability to demonstrate caring for their students. Students also gain greater positive regard for faculty who practice Humanized courses. Instructors with humanized courses also see a marked increase in students’ perceptions of their ability to successfully complete courses. Humanized courses provide students with the ability to develop and practice soft skills and increase opportunities for professional and peer to per exchanges.

Most importantly, it just makes class more fun and engaging! Faculty share in the benefit a humanized course offers, a more fun and engaging class is better for all and it offers faculty a more rewarding teaching experience. It can be challenging to relate to students who seem to get younger every year. Taking the time to humanize a course can help faculty better relate to students as well as promote positive regard for students.

Community of Inquiry

Community of Inquiry Model

The Community of Inquiry (COI) model is an educational framework that was first developed by a team of Canadian Social Scientists in the late 90’s. According to this model, a “community” is formed by the students plus the instructor–and both roles are important for success of the learner. The authors of this theoretical framework identify three overlapping, essential aspects of an educational environment that, collectively, optimize learning. These are the cognitive presence, the teaching presence, and the social presence. When these aspects of a learning environment are attended to and balanced, the result can be a meaningful educational experience for everyone in the learning community.

Overlapping Elements of the COI Model

The cognitive presence in an educational setting reflects the degree to which community members can learn through constructive, productive discourse about the course content. In other words, the role of communication and engagement in developing deep understanding and applicable ideas. Certainly, this cannot be done well in isolation from other students or without guidance from an involved instructor. The social presence can be described as the ability of learners to bring their “true” selves to the learning environment.

When students are given the opportunity to express themselves within various aspects of a learning environment, they become more personally invested in the relationships they build with classmates and the instructor–and this facilitates a trusting community where students want to engage and learn. For this to work at its best, students must feel comfortable/safe to share their stories and instructors play a critical role in providing guidelines, structure, and feedback for this to occur. The teaching presence, then, is the role of the instructor in selecting excellent content and designing a course/learning environment (assignments, discussion boards, syllabus, assessments, etc.) that marries the cognitive and social presences so that learning outcomes are met.

While the cognitive and social elements play out during the course, the teaching presence is important before, during, and after the course. Designing a Community of Inquiry in Online Courses, December 2019, International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning 21(1):134-152. DOI: 10.19173/irrodl.v20i5.3985

Elements

Categories

Indicators

Cognitive Presence

Triggering Event

Sense of Puzzlement

Exploration

Information Exchange

Integration

Connecting Ideas

Resolution

Apply New Ideas

Social Presence

Emotional Expression

Emotions

Open Communication

Risk-Free Expression

Group Cohesion

Encouraging Collaboration

Teaching Presence

Instructional Management

Defining and Initiating Discussion Topics

Building Understanding

Sharing Personal Meeting

Direct Instruction

Focusing Discussion

Humanized Teaching

Humanized online courses work to support the non-cognitive components of learning. They support the student as a whole and take into consideration the value and significance of emotion to deep learning. Humanized courses also create a culture of possibility for students. where many courses, whether they are weed-out courses or not, feel as though they are to students.

The general feel for students is that they do not think they can be successful. The paradigm shifts in humanized courses to “I think or I know I can do it” for students. Humanized courses also value the diverse talents and perspectives students bring to the class. Instructors in humanized courses find ways to help students share their story and knowledge and use them to create a richer community of learning. Humanized courses are characterized by a sense of community that frames the whole course. This community provides students with a sense of belonging that supports

Principles of Humanized Courses

Social Presence

“Social presence is the extent to which persons are perceived to be real and are able to be authentically known and connected to others in mediated communications” (Bentley, Secret, & Cummings, 2015). At the core of social presence are interpersonal interactions between the instructor and students. The interpersonal interactions have a critical role to play in student learning. Quality interactions help to reduce transactional distance and strengthen students’ connection to the course. These interactions are what allow us as instructors to create social presence in our courses and to show our students that we care. Studies have shown that from the students perspective, the single most important factor determining the quality of an online course or instructor is the instructor’s presence and caring.

Relationship

Interpersonal interactions among students also contribute to student success and learning. In fact, relationships are key to supporting the success of more students. Relationships start with psychological safety and creating psychological safety requires us to take off our armor and be vulnerable. For students to feel comfortable building relations in the course, we as instructors have to create a learning community for students. Carefully crafted collaborative work “encourages critical thinking, problem solving, analysis, integration, and synthesis; provides cognitive supports to learners; and ultimately promotes a deeper understanding of the material” (Jaggars & Xu, 2016)

Empathy and Awareness

Integrate culturally responsive teaching and learning. The first step in culturally responsive teaching is looking within ourselves as instructors. Taking an inventory of the unintentional and unconscious attitudes and beliefs that impact how we relate and interact with others, specifically with our students. Harvard University’s Project Implicit has an online test that can help us take a reflective look at our own implicit biases.

Culturally responsive teaching also requires that we be aware of the sociopolitical context our students and schools are operating under. Helping students to understand the systems working around them is key. Giving context to the situation and being willing to tackle difficult conversations is invaluable. A few great resources for this are the University of Alaska’s Start Talking Manual, UF’s Crucial Conversations workshops and Affirming Diversity by Sonia Nieto.

Exploring our teaching practice and setting goals for practicing inclusive culturally responsive teaching requires that we marry empathy, compassion to our high expectations for our students. Helping students become co-creators of their learning experience and learning environment gives students ownership and agency in their own learning. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles also contribute to creating a class that is inclusive and humanized. UDL principles help us to take into consideration and diminish any barriers to learning that exist in our classes. To learn more about implementing UDL into your class, visit Magna Campus (Canvas login required) and the CTE resource library.

Strategies

Be Approachable

Humanizing your course does not have to be overwhelming. Start small and make yourself approachable. Many students are intimidated by instructors and do not feel like they can come to office hours or send questions. This is particularly true for some international students. One easy way to make yourself approachable is to have students sign up for a 5-10 time slot during your office hours at the beginning of the semester. Use that time to get to know your students. Once your students have met with you at least once they will be more likely to come to office hours and ask their questions. Synchronous online office hours can help foster interpersonal relationships with and among students.

Tone and Personality

To start the semester on a positive note be sure to use a tone that reflects you and your personality. Set the tone by making friendly (and appropriate) jokes, using comedic salutations, including emoticons that can translate feelings and emotions to your short messages and soften the tone. Read over your syllabus, announcements, and assignments to check not only for accuracy but for tone and personality. Do your communications sound friendly and inviting? Keep it genuine and “authentically you” without trying to sound cool. Digital Postcards can help you establish a friendly and open tone to the class. Create a video postcard in place of a written weekly announcement. Use your phone to make an on-the-go video that shows students a little bit of your life. Check out a few great examples of video postcards.

Get to Know Your Students

Getting to know your students will allow you to also get a sense of when students need extra help. When individual students face challenging times you can reach out to them and connect them with university resources that might help them. There are times that are universally challenging such as national disasters, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the current social justice movement. In times such as these sending encouraging video messages to all students can make your presence a comfort to your students.

Communicate Their Way

It can be a little challenging and daunting to open up your email first thing in the morning and see a long list of student emails that need immediate answers. Many questions students ask might only require a very quick response of a few words. The accumulation of several dozen of these can cause mild panic. Students also prefer other means of communicating with each other and their instructors, methods that better reflect how they communicate with others in “real life.” Using a Google Voice number gives students the ability to text you without having your personal contact information. You can answer quick questions on the fly. You can also use other apps that help encourage a learning community to develop such as Group Me, Twitter, and Teams.

Start Talking: A Handbook for Engaging Difficult Dialogues in Higher Education

Build in Ground Rules and Flexibility

Use the “Start Talking Handbook” to develop a ground rules activity to give students a sense of ownership of the course, help students remain accountable, and provide a sense of safety and inclusion. Place students in small groups and have them develop a set of course ground rules. You can suggest topics they should think about such as good discussions and feedback, late assignments, difficult or controversial topics. Collect and synthesize as a whole class the rules into a small set that the entire class agrees on. Students will have greater buy in and help keep each other accountable throughout the course.

Build Community

1. Icebreakers

To get started on the right foot, plan an icebreaker activity that will give your students a chance to get to know each and begin building a sense of community and connection. This is especially important in online courses and courses that include collaborative or group work. Icebreakers can also help orient students to the class and syllabus. We have included a full list of icebreakers you can implement easily with directions for you to explore and choose from.

2. Isn’t that Cool

To encourage ongoing quality and scholarly interaction you can add an “Isn’t That Cool Discussion Board.” It can be a place where you allow students to post things they discover relating to the course in their everyday lives. Videos they watched, articles they read, pictures of things they saw that are cool and that they want to share with others. This helps to continue the conversational tone of the class throughout the semester.

3. Sharing is Caring

Finally, for the benefit of all students you can add a “Sharing is Caring Discussion Board.” A discussion board where students are able to share notes they have taken during lectures and labs. This encourages great note taking and develops a rich resource for the whole class to share. An additional benefit is that it may help students who would normally need a note taking accommodation by meeting that need before students even have to make the request. Best of all it helps all students because we all miss something once in a while.

4. Celebrate

In the business of the semester it is easy to forget to celebrate milestones and victories big and small. Celebrate regularly, make a big deal of exam successes, great papers, groups that went above and beyond. If you’re up for it add in some personal victories like birthdays, new jobs, awards and other life accomplishments. Celebrating accomplishments and sharing in these personal victories, especially in online courses helps to combat feelings of isolation and builds great connections and relationships.

Workshop Recordings

Humanized learning increases the relevance of content and improves students’ motivation. Students can see themselves as part of a larger community with instructors who foster connections. This workshop explores strategies to improve awareness, empathy, and presence while sharing specific techniques, activities, and course designs ideas that can help to humanize any course.

Alexandra Bitton-Bailey: Humanizing Your Course (1:47:51)

Sources:

- Stephens, G. J., Silbert, L. J., Hasson, U. (2010). Speaker-listener neural coupling underlies successful communication. PNAS Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107(32), 14425-14430.

- Hammond, Z. L. (2014). Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Corwin Publishers.

- Estrada, M., Burnett, M., Campbell, A. G., Campbell, P. B., Denetclaw, W. F., Gutiérrez, C. G., … Zavala, M. (2016). Improving underrepresented minority student persistence in STEM. CBE Life Sciences Education, 15(3). doi:10.1187/cbe.16-01-0038

- James, S., Swan, K., Daston, C. (2015). Retention, progression and the taking of online courses. Online Learning, 20(2). Retrieved from https://olj.onlinelearningconsortium.org/index.php/olj/article/view/780.

- Jaggars, S. S. & Xu, D. (2016) How do Online Course Design Features Influence Student Performance? Computers & Education, 95.

- Rucker, N. (2019, December 10). Getting Started With Culturally Responsive Teaching. Retrieved July 31, 2020, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/getting-started-culturally-responsive-teaching

9

Canvas Setup

Jennifer Smith

The more material that you have ready to go before the start of the semester, the more fun you can have actually interacting with your students.  Preparation before the semester starts can also help your TAs be as effective as possible.  A clear semester plan with details about upcoming assignments will help students plan their own work loads (not every student will do this, but the ones who do will appreciate the assignment information).

See more details about using Canvas in the Teaching and Learning with Technology part of this book.

1 Month Before Term (Or Earlier): Canvas Copy and Set Up

Refer to the Canvas Guide on how to copy a Canvas course.  You’ll need instructor or facilitator access to both the course you wish to copy from and the course you are copying to.  You can choose to copy all content or select specific elements (such as quizzes.)

Change the due dates by clicking the “Adjust events and due dates” checkbox. You’ll be prompted to identify the days of the week you would like for the new course deadlines. You will need to manually adjust dates to accommodate holidays.  Be sure to double check all deadlines. This can save many headaches for you and your students!

If your course has a lot of large files, it may take some time to copy.

NOTE:  This process will copy and update due dates, but calendar events will need to manually adjust holidays.

1 Month Prior to Term or Earlier:  Update Canvas Content

Screen shots and steps for editing content can be found in the Canvas Guides:  How do I edit a page in a course? Be sure to keep Accessibility requirements in mind. What are accessibility requirements?

- Use headings and subheadings to divide your Canvas or other document content.

- Be sure that there is sufficient contrast between your text and background (watch out for gradients!)

- Use “alternative text” to describe any images.

How do you do ensure Accessibility? Visit:

- UF Accessibility: Course Accessibility

- Center for Teaching Excellence: Quick Guide to Online Course Accessibility

2 Weeks Before Term: Check All Settings and Deadlines IMPORTANT!

Perhaps the most important thing you can do to save yourself time and reduce student frustration is to double and triple check ALL quiz, discussion and assignment deadlines and settings. If you have TA assistance, ask your TA to check these as well. Things to watch for:

- Canvas Guides: How do I add or edit details in an assignment?

- Make certain that the AM and PM deadline time is correct.

- Discussions: Canvas only allows one deadline for the assignment, so in order to have a deadline for the initial post as well as the reply(s) you’ll need to add the second deadline as a calendar event.

- Calendar events do not copy over automatically, so those need to be set up manually each term (you’ll have to delete the old calendar items.)

- Remember to click the Publish button!

- Make sure that all of your modules are published as well (otherwise your students won’t see anything!

- Note: Assignments are set to No Submission by default. You must change that setting, or students won’t have a place to submit their assignment. (see below)

Be sure to select the type of submission for each assignment.

2 Weeks Before Term or Earlier: Canvas Profile

Help your students to connect with you by uploading a profile picture and adding a short bio. Encourage your TAs to do this as well.  Share the things about your field that you find exciting and interesting.  Chances are, your students will find them exciting too!

Canvas guides:  How do I edit my profile in my user account?

Giving Collaborators Access from Canvas

You can add TAs to your Canvas course through the Manage Users link in the left navigation.

- Click the Add Users tab.

- Type or copy/paste gatorlink usernames or UFIDs separated by commas.

- Be sure to select the appropriate role from the drop down menu.

- Click the Next button at the bottom.

- On the next screen be sure to click the Add Users button at the bottom!

Giving Collaborators Access from my.ufl.edu

The “My Canvas Course Management” tool in my.ufl.edu can be used to:

- Add TAs or observers

- Remove any user for any reason

- Create sub-sections to organize students into workgroup or other logical groupings

Access to this feature in my.ufl.edu is granted by two methods:

- Being associated in the UF Directory as Faculty, Courtesy Faculty, Emeritus, UF Executive, or Clinical Faculty (as defined by role UF_HR_Faculty)

- Requesting the role UF_SA_CANVAS_TEACHER_CRSE_MGMT via your Department Security Administrator in ARS

Confirm that you have the appropriate permission to add users to the Canvas course in my.ufl.edu:

- Log in to my.ufl.edu

- From the Main Menu drop down window > My Account > My Roles

Add/Remove Canvas Users

Confirm that you have the appropriate permission to add users to the Canvas course in my.ufl.edu:

- Log in to my.ufl.edu.

- From the Main Menu drop down window > UF Campus Solutions > Online Learning > My Canvas Course Management.

- You’ll see a list of courses for which you have been designated Teacher or Facilitator in Canvas.

- Select the desired course from the list

- To add users:

- Click the plus sign to the right of the list of people who are currently enrolled in your course.

- Enter the UF ID of the person you wish to add OR

- Click the magnifying glass and do a search using name or gatorlink username.

- Choose the desired Role from the drop down menu.

- Choose the desired section.

- You can add Teachers, TAs, Observers, Guest Lecturers, Auditors, Facilitator, and Designers to the INIT (Registrar) section.

- Add students who are making up an incomplete to the MISC section.

- Choose whether you wish to limit the new enrollment to that specific section.

- Choose Add from the “Action” drop-down menu.

- A confirmation box will appear.

- Click the OK button.

Add people to your Canvas course site through my.ufl.edu.

Create a Sub-Section

Create a section lets you create logical groups to organize your course for group work or TA assignments.

- Enter a name for your section and press the “Create Section” button.

- Your section will appear in Canvas immediately.

- Only students who are enrolled in the course can be assigned in your new section.

Exclude from Canvas within the myUFL interface

If you select the Exclude from Canvas option in the Canvas Course Request module in myUFL for a course that has already been requested for Canvas, it will remove any students who were enrolled in the section and prevent any future enrollments of students.

If you have a section that should have students, but currently doesn’t have anyone enrolled, please check in the request system to see if that options was selected. Once you un-select that option, students should be enrolled within 24 hours.

If you have any questions, please contact e-Learning Support at 352-392-4357 option 3.

1 – 2 Weeks Before Term:  Create Groups

You can set up your groups at the start of class, but be sure to “add unassigned students to groups” throughout drop/add (see below.)

To Create Groups:

- People > + Group Set > Group Title > Create enough groups to equal the desired number of students per group.

- IMPORTANT! Check the groups during the first week of classes to click the “add unassigned students” to groups daily.

- If you don’t do this, students will post their comments on the root of the discussion and no one will be able to respond nor will you be able to grade them in SpeedGrader.

- Canvas Guides: What are Groups?

- Canvas Guides: How do I automatically assign students to groups?

- Canvas Guides: How do I manually assign students to groups?

1 Week Before Term: Message Students

It is a good idea to send enrolled students an email before class begins and throughout drop/add to give them basic information. Sometimes, students are unaware that there are online materials available for their course and/or don’t know how to access them. This is also a good time to give them information about required textbooks so that they will be ready to begin working as soon as class begins.

Example of Welcome Email Message:

Hello Everyone!

I will be your instructor for [Course name]. The class will begin at 8:00 a.m. on [date and time], but I’d like to give you some information that will allow you to get a head start.  Please view my welcome message (use your gatorlink username/password to sign in.)  The syllabus and bibliography are attached.  Please go ahead and purchase the required texts as you will need them right away.

- [textbook or other resource information here]

Follow the directions below to log into the course.

1. Go to the e-Learning website

2. Choose “Log in to e-Learning”

3. Use your gatorlink username and password to log in.

4. Click on “Courses” at the top of the page

5. Choose this course: [course name and number] from the list

6. View the materials and complete the syllabus quiz in the “Start Here” section of the Course Materials page.

7. Don’t delay logging into the course as you have assignments due soon!

If you have trouble logging into the E-learning system, contact: helpdesk@ufl.edu or call (352) 392-4357.

I look forward to an interesting and engaging semester with you!

Sincerely, [Instructor Name]

This email should go out the two days before class begins and every day until the Drop/Add period ends.

See instructions for sending the email within Canvas below.  You can also request a listserv for your course (see below.)

Sending an Email to the Class Within Canvas

You can use the Canvas mail tool to send a message to your class.  The course does not need to be published to do this.

- Click on the Inbox in the left navigation.

- Select the Compose a new message icon from the top menu (it’s a feather).

- Select the course you wish to message.

- Click on the directory icon to the right of the To field to select message recipients.

- Write your message.

- Record audio/video and add attachments using the icons in the lower left corner.

- Click Send in the lower right hand corner.

Message one or all of the members of your class from Canvas.

Using the UF ListServ to Send Welcome Message

Another option is to send the email through a course listserv.

- To do this log onto my.ufl.edu.

- Click on the Main Menu.

- Choose My Self Service.

- Choose Manage Class Rolls.

- Click on the appropriate class.

- Click on the envelope in the listserv column.

2-3 Days Before TERM:  Set your Canvas Notifications

Make certain that you receive any messages that your students send you.  Your teaching assistants should use the same settings.  The settings below are suggested:

- Click on Account (in the menu to the left) > Notifications

- Announcement = ASAP

- Why? So that you’ll receive any replies to the announcement quickly.

- Announcement Created by You = ASAP

- Why? So that you’ll receive any replies to the announcement quickly.

- Late Grading = ASAP

- Submission Comment = ASAP (Important!)

- If you don’t set this, then you won’t know that students have left you a comment in response to an assignment submission.

- Discussion Post = ASAP

- You can just subscribe to the Course Questions or FAQ discussion forum if you prefer.

2 – 3 Days Before Term: Publish the Course IMPORTANT!

The homepage of your course will show whether your course is unpublished or published. To publish the course, click the publish button in the top right corner of your window. You must publish the course so that students can log in to start class!

Note:  It can help to get your course off on the right foot if you can publish your course a bit early.  This will give students an opportunity to poke around before the start of classes.

Publish your Canvas course site from the home page.

10

Course Planning

Rhiannon Pollard

University of Florida School of Forest Resources & Conservation

Course Design Basics

Instructional design theories abound! Here are a few tried-and-true standards that will help you orient yourself to the process of creating a course.

Backwards Design

The backwards design process (Wiggins and McTighe) starts with the desired results and then create the instruction and learning experience to support the goals.

Backwards design refers to the process of determining what you want your students to be able to do at the end of the course before you design your content and plan your delivery.

In other words:

- What are they supposed to learn?

- How will you know they learned it?

- How will you help them learn it?

The question of “what will you teach?” is not the point of the process, because the focus of the course is on what and how the students are learning to do – not what you are teaching.  Backwards design makes designing your courses easier, in fact, because the outcomes will already be there to inform your decisions on both content and delivery methods.

ADDIE (Analyze, Design Develop, Implement, Evaluate)

“ADDIE” is one of the most commonly used instructional design theories which is in-depth and in which each step provides an outcome that informs the next step. ADDIE provides an ongoing opportunity to assess and revise your teaching across course offerings.

Always start with your course’s student learning objectives. Then, drill down and develop objectives for each module or topic.  When it’s time to decide how you will you help your students learn the material, you can refer to the Learning Activities or Resources sections.

The ADDIE circle describes the ongoing process of analysis, design, development and implementation all continuously informed by evaluation.

Writing Good Objectives

A learning objective is much more specific than a goal. According to Mager (1962), the ideal learning objective has 3 parts:

1. A measurable verb (behavior)

2. The important condition (if any) under which the performance is to occur and

3. The criterion of acceptable performance.

If the conditions are obvious, they may or may not be stated. However, sometimes the adding the condition(s) and/or the criterion add much clarity to a learning objective.

Objectives should be in the form of describing, from the student’s perspective, what they will be able to DO after exposure to the material.

What Not to Do…

“Students will understand the hydrologic cycle.”

⇒ This fails to address how students will demonstrate learning. It is neither specific nor measurable in terms of the outcome.

Better…

“After completing this lesson, the student will be able to evaluate a natural resource policyin terms of its impact on water quality.”

“Given a set of statistical data, the student will be able to predict the effects of variables x, y, z relative to fish populations in the Gulf of Mexico.”

⇒ Students know what they will be able to do, and you have a clear next step for creating your assessment of this objective.

Measurable Learning Objective

Always keep in mind that the objectives, and what the students are able to do, will need to be directly assessed – so if you say a student “learned” something, how are you going to assess that?

If the objective is, for example, that the student can analyze a water quality sample, you can assess that by having them describe the steps required to do so.

Using Bloom’s Taxonomy to Write Better Objectives

Benjamin Bloom (1956) described a way to classify instructional activities as they progress in difficulty.

The Bloom’s Taxonomy pyramid describes how knowledge and skills build upon each other.

At the undergraduate 4000-level, we want to be at least “applying” and “analyzing” some of the time; if all objectives are simply “explain” or “describe” verbs, we should be questioning the rigor of the instruction.

Graduate courses should focus on analysis, synthesis, and evaluation as much as possible.

Helpful Verbs for Objectives and Where They Fit into Bloom’s Taxonomy

Bloom's Taxonomy Verbs

Creation

Design

Evaluation

Plan

Judge

Compose

Analysis

Appraise

Propose

Compare

Estimate

Formulate

Application

Distinguish

Evaluate

Arrange

Use

Differentiate

Revise

Assemble

Comprehension

Employ

Diagram

Score

Collect

Express

Interpret

Analyze

Select

Construct

Knowledge

Restate

Dramatize

Categorize

Rate

Create

Define

Identify

Sketch

Appraise

Choose

Setup

Repeat

Explain

Practice

Experiment

Measure

Organize

Name

Recognize

Illustrate

Test

Compare

Prepare

Recall

Discuss

Operate

Contrast

Value

Manage

List

Describe

Demonstrate

Inspect

Assess

Predict

Relate

Tell

Apply

Debate

Record

Locate

Schedule

Inventory

Underline

Report

Show

Question

Outline

Review

Translate

Examine

Delineate

Summarize

Solve

Criticize

Specify

Sketch

Relate

State

Solve

Label

Calculate

Match

Critique

Avoid the word "understand!"

Classify

Active Learning

What and Why?

Though lecture is important for dissemination of information, research shows that students need to be involved in order to remember information, concepts and skills—the most sophisticated level of really knowing being the ability to teach someone else that same skill. Above all, they need to learn that they can and should take ownership of their learning.

Adapted from National Training Laboratories. Bethel, Maine.

As you enter your classroom, ask yourself this question: “If there were no students in the room, could I do what I am planning to do?” If your answer is yes, don’t do it. – Gen Ruben Cubero, Dean of the Faculty, United States Air Force Academy

Longitudinal studies show that cohorts of students instructed using active learning techniques outperformed a comparison group on multiple measures: retention, graduation and pursuit of graduate study. (Felder, Felder, & Dietz, 1998)

Active Learning Allows Students to:

- observe and “discover” something,

- construct concepts from their own observations,

- analyze data as though their interpretations and conclusions lead to real world consequences.

How can you get students to take ownership of their learning? Give them a variety of activities, encourage self-assessment and reflective study, include group work, discussion, student presentations, and case studies. Anytime you ask the student to apply what they know, they are learning actively. Engagement (through two-way communication) is key to active learning.

Guidelines for Good Lectures

A good lecturer presents the audience with opportunities for meaningful engagement with the subject material and with the lecturer. Frame your lecture plans using these questions:

1. What do you want the audience to learn?

2. What are the key concepts that need to be addressed?

3. What essential skills and competencies should participants have on leaving the lecture?

4. How will all this be clearly communicated to the audience?

Be Clear

- State your objectives and why the students need to know the information you are about to present.

- Keep the flow of the material logical.

- Pace the delivery so that students have a chance to take notes.

- Speak clearly and use a high-quality microphone (headset).

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

It’s not how much is delivered but how much is understood and retained that is most important.A 1984 study by Russell et al. found that students learned and retained the lecture information better the lower the level of new content.

After briefly presenting new ideas, the remaining time was filled by restating, reinforcing and relating the material to the students’ prior learning.

Be Interesting

- NEVER READ YOUR TEXT FROM THE SCREEN. Visuals should illustrate and expand on your narration, not provide you with karaoke prompts!

- There are documented negative effects to reading and hearing the same information simultaneously, aka cognitive load theory.

- Provide real-world examples of the points you are making.

- Use analogies to explain new concepts in terms of familiar ones.

- Present the information stated in your objectives.

- Recap your main points and provide questions for further thinking.

- Incorporate video, audio, and images when appropriate and relevant. Save extraneous resources for post-lecture activities.

- Believe it or not, students prefer to SEE you (not just hear you)! Record yourself whenever possible, even if you have to use your phone to do it.

Remember the Context

- While some lectures can be used as standalone modules, for the most part your lectures will be framed within a course which has learning objectives and activities. Be sure every lecture has a clear relationship to the larger course objectives– if it doesn’t, why are you presenting it?  Follow up with your objectives by providing an activity that displays their understanding of the content

Designing PowerPoint Presentations

The look and feel of your presentation speaks volumes, and an unpolished or boring PowerPoint can damage students’ perceptions of even the best and most well-articulated content. Use these tips to improve your presentations.

#1 Design Your Own Template–or Ask For Help!

Built-in design layouts in PowerPoint are a dime-a-dozen and your students (and colleagues) have seen them all before. Even if your design is simply solid colors with no frills, that’s OK! In fact, solid colors can impart a very professional, modern impression. Try to use the same layout for all presentations in a single course.

#2 Readability Matters

Be sure that your images and text do not blend together and that text colors and backgrounds contrast sufficiently. This is not just good design but part of ADA standards compliance as well.  Dark backgrounds are best for visibility and focusing attention.

#3 Use Quality Images

A bad picture is worse than no picture at all when it comes to presentations. Go for high-impact, high-quality images which you can find for free through Flickr, Google Images, and Creative Commons searches. Remember to attribute your images when necessary.

#4 Simpler is Better

One to three ideas per slide is ideal. Visuals do have much greater impact than text, so use them, but avoid unnecessary animations. Go for bold or italics when needed but skip drop-shadows, underlines, and other text decorations. Use contrast to your advantage and emphasize and stylize sparsely for greater impact.

#5 Don’t Overuse Text (or Bullets)

Always remember that the slide should not be the ultimate source of content and information. Your speech should be! If you are saying everything you need to say through text on the slides, what’s the point of presenting it?

For more help with PowerPoint, check out the LinkedIn Learning trainings.

Course Frameworks

The following pages are examples of archetypes of courses you might use as a framework on which to build your actual course. Depending on the specific subject you are teaching, one or more frameworks might be more applicable to your content.

These frameworks are guidelines based on current learning theory, educational research, and teaching best practices – feel free to customize for your purposes and don’t be afraid to mix and match pieces to form your perfect course.

Remember you will still want to start with Backwards Design, ADDIE, or another baseline methodology to establish your objectives before you jump right in.

For help with the process of designing your course, you can contact the SFRC online programs office. Remember: when possible, it’s best to give yourself no less than 6 months to design and prepare a new course.

Lecture-Based

What Does a Lecture-Based Course Look Like?

Even in a “lecture-based” course, students should be responsible for taking an active role in their learning through inquiry and discovery. This can be achieved by including a variety of different lecture styles and activities.

The students should ideally engage equally with you, with each other, and with the content.

Suggested tools for teaching with lecture… Textbook or journal articles; Objectives and/or guiding questions per module; Short (5 min) video overviews; 15-min PowerPoint or video “lectures”; Module follow-up activities centered on guiding questions.

Example Weekly Content and Tasks:

- Introductory video (5-10 minutes max).

- Objectives/guiding questions – give them a framework for critical thinking on the topic for the week to help orient their learning.

- Textbook readings, journal articles, and/or additional web/video resources as desired.

- Lectures presented by PowerPoint or video (10-20 minutes each), 2 or 3 per week, see also: Guidelines for Good Lectures.

- Assignment, self-assessment quiz, discussion posts, live chat, or other deliverable. Low-stakes or ungraded assessments are encouraged.

Always have a discussion board available to students for their own collaboration and as a means of connecting with you!

Scaffolded Projects

What Does a Scaffolded Project Course Look Like?

Suggested tools for teaching with scaffolded projects… Textbook or journal articles; Objectives and short overviews per module; With or without “Lectures;” 2 to 3 week intervals between submissions; Small group peer feedback per submission.

Many types of courses utilize term papers or projects which are split into multiple submissions. This framework further elaborates on that model and incorporates both peer- and self-assessment into the process.

The course can be run as usual with or without lectures (either self-or instructor-directed), and incorporate discussions, journaling, chats, or other assessments – preferably reflective or collaborative in nature.

Option 1:

- Students propose a topic and receive peer commentary from the class.

- Students are assigned to small groups (3-4 per) for peer feedback.

- Paper/project is submitted in steps, with each step undergoing peer review from the assigned group members as well as instructor review and commentary.

- Students incorporate feedback into subsequent submissions and the process repeats until the final submission.

- Final submission is accompanied by a self-assessment using a rubric as well as a self-reflective narrative on the research, writing, and peer review processes.

Typically the scaffolded submissions are not scored, only graded for completion along with participation in the peer review process. The final submission is scored using the same rubric as the self-assessment.  See also: Rubrics

Using Self-Assessment: Motivate students by framing the assignment as an opportunity to reflect objectively on their work, determine how this work aligns with the assignment criteria, and determine ways for improvement.

Option 2:

- Students are broken into groups and the class is assigned a project (e.g., design an experiment to test X, write a proposal, etc).

- Groups submit collaborative work throughout the semester, building on the topics learned and applying them towards a final, complete project. Rubrics for each submission are recommended.

- Each submission can be scored along with the final.

Case Study

Use example cases–real-world scenarios—to illustrate and deepen the concepts you are teaching. You can base an entire course around case studies (AKA “problem-based learning”)! What does a Case Study course look like?

Try using groups for discussion & analysis; Assign conceptual readings before cases; Provide prompts for analysis and critical thinking; Discuss! Synchronous or asynchronously; Ask them to make a decision or recommendation based on the case, and justify it using concepts from readings or lectures

In the most straightforward application, the presentation of case studies establishes a framework for analysis. It is helpful if the statement of the case provides enough information for the students to figure out solutions and then to identify how to apply those solutions in other similar situations.

- Case studies can be especially effective if they are paired with a reading assignment that introduces or explains a concept or analytical method that applies to the case.

- You may want to use multiple cases per topic so that students can distinguish the similarities and differences among the cases.

- You could have students role-play the part of the stakeholders involved in the case.

- Outputs can range from a short answers to fully developed group action plans, proposals, or recommendations.

Advantages of Case Studies
Student must actively develop skills in:  Problem solving; analytical tools; quantitative and/or qualitative, depending on the case; decision-making in complex situations; coping with ambiguities

Assess and engage students by posing questions to a discussion board, having teams present their case to the class, use outlines/questionnaires, or even writing position papers based on case study analysis.

Discussion Course

What Does a Discussion-Based Course Look Like?

Discussions facilitate student interactions around course readings and assignments, allowing different types of student learners to contribute and increasing individual student learning and collaboration skills. Students can build a learning community around discussion topics and participate at their own pace.Discussion forums can be used effectively in teaching by allowing students to engage with each other and the material simultaneously.

Textbook or journal articles; Objectives and/or guiding questions per module; Short video (5 min) or written overviews; Clear expectations of participation and netiquette; Discussion prompts can be student – or instructor – led!; Additional assignments can be included to further assess learning

An Example Discussion Course Might Consist of:

- Introductory video (5-10 minutes max).

- Objectives/guiding questions – provide a framework for critical thinking on the topic for the week to help orient their learning.

- Textbook readings, journal articles, and/or additional web/video resources as desired.

- Discussion prompts (or use guiding questions). Have them post reactions to readings or materials, propose solutions to problems, discuss methodologies, defend a position, etc.

TIPS!

1. You may want to have students pose the prompts on a rotating basis.

2. Encourage peer commentary by requiring 3-4 responses, plus an original post.

3. Be visible, but avoid controlling the direction — only intervene in discussions when necessary or requested.Grade student contributions using a participation rubric.

4. Consider posting wrap-up summaries after each week’s discussions are closed.

Good Discussions: Not only do students have time to research and reflect before responding to prompts in the online setting, but they are necessarily practicing public writing skills.

Flipped Course

Be sure to read How to Flip Your Coursealso! The basic premise of a “flipped” course is one in which the focus during class time is on active, often group, discussion and performance of tasks. It is critical that students prepare for the activities before class.

Objectives and short overviews per module; Textbook or journal articles; Pre-recorded lectures for at-home viewing; Relevant activities such as discussions or group work conducted in class; Opportunities to really facilitate learning instead of transmitting knowledge

In short:

- Establish clear objectives for the topic at hand

- Pre-record lecture(s) and provide background on the topic

- Plan for in-class activities with deliverables. These often include Readiness Assessment Tests and/or remediation prior to group work or activities.

You may find the one-pager on Team-based Learning helpful.

Best Flips: Courses with a large amount of content, and even high enrollment, are ideal candidates for flipping with team-based learning. Groups of students work together to learn from peers and engage with each other, so that even difficult concepts can be mastered collaboratively through practice, rather than in isolation.

Learning Activities & Assessment Strategies

A not-at-all comprehensive or complete list of options for learning activities and assessments. Read through them and make notes about which you might be able to apply to your courses. For more information, follow provided links and/or contact the SFRC online programs office to help brainstorm.

Concept Sketches

Concept sketches (different from concept maps) are sketches or diagrams that are concisely annotated with short statements that describe the processes, concepts, and interrelationships shown in the sketch. Having students generate their own concept sketches is a powerful way for students to process concepts and convey them to others. Concept sketches can be used as preparation for class, as an in-class activity, in the field or lab, or as an assessment tool. Download more information on concept sketches, with examples

Case Studies/Problem-Based Learning

The primary hallmark of a case study is the presentation of a problem to solve that revolves around a story (the “case”). Good case studies give the students considerable latitude in deciding how to solve the problem and provide excellent opportunities to engage students in the classroom, especially in groups or teams. The National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science has a collection of case studies in a number of different science disciplines. More information and examples at the Starting Point site

Debates

Debates can be a very useful strategy for engaging students in their own learning. Debates force students to deal with complexity and “gray areas,” and they are rich in embedded content. Debates can also help illustrate the relevance of course material to everyday issues, which can improve student learning. Debates also improve student’s oral communication skills. Download more information on debates, including a rubric for grading debates

Just-in-Time Teaching

Just-in-Time Teaching (JiTT) was developed as a way of engaging students in course material before class and preparing them to come to class and participate actively during class. JiTT is extensively used in flipped classrooms. More information and examples

Background Knowledge Probe

Short, simple questionnaires prepared by instructors for use at the beginning of a course, at the start of a new unit or lesson, or prior to introducing an important new topic. This may require students to write short answers, to choose the correct responses to multiple-choice questions, or both. Can be graded or ungraded.

Minute Paper

The instructor asks students to submit comments related to the following two questions: “What was the most important thing you learned from this lesson?” and “What important question remains unanswered?” Students can submit responses via discussion boards, polls, surveys, or other methods.

Jigsaw Technique

Have you struggled with group work in class? The jigsaw technique can be a useful, well-structured template for carrying out effective in-class group work. The class is divided into several teams, with each team preparing separate but related assignments. When all team members are prepared, the class is re-divided into mixed groups, with one member from each team in each group. Each person in the group teaches the rest of the group what he/she knows, and the group then tackles an assignment together that pulls all of the pieces together to form the full picture (hence the name “jigsaw”). Jigsaw module from Pedagogy in Action

Muddiest Point

The instructor asks students to submit responses to the question: “What was the muddiest point in ______?” The focus of the Muddiest Point assessment might be a lecture, tutorial, discussion, homework assignment, etc.

Analytic Memos

By inventing dialogues, students synthesize their knowledge of issues, personalities, and historical periods into the form of a carefully structured, illustrative conversation. There are two levels of “invention” possible with this technique. On the first level, students can create Invented Dialogues by carefully selecting and weaving together actual quotes form primary sources. On a second, more challenging level, they may invent reasonable quotes that fit the character of the speakers and the content.

“For as long as assessment is viewed as something we do ‘after’ teaching and learning are over, we will fail to greatly improve student performance, regardless of how well or how poorly students are currently taught or motivated.”

– Grant Wiggins, Ed.D., President and Director of Programs, Relearning By Design

Documented Problem Solutions

This technique prompts students to keep track of the steps they take in solving a problem–to “show and tell” how they worked it out. By analyzing these detailed protocols–in which each solution step is briefly explained in writing–instructors can gain valuable information on their students’ problem-solving skills. These can also be used as self-assessments for the students and graded simply on completion.

Student-Generated Test Questions

Students are asked to submit test questions and model answers. This technique helps students to find out how well they understand the course material for which they are writing the test questions.

Journaling

Reflective writing can serve as an invitation for students to participate in the process of learning, as it helps them to reflect critically on the content and can aid in the synthesis of new information. Learners become actively engaged in the learning process when required to write journal entries on a regular basis. Journals allow instructors to provide prompt feedback by replying to postings.

Effective Discussion

Discussion is an excellent way to engage students in thinking and analyzing or in defending one side of an issue, rather than listening to lecture. Students must also respond to one another, rather than interacting intellectually only with the instructor. Review some tips for having a good discussion in class and a sample template for class discussion: Download more information on effective discussions, with a template example

Course-Related Self-Confidence Survey

A Course-Related Self-Confidence Survey consists of a few simple questions aimed at getting a rough measure of the students’ self-confidence in relation to a specific skill or ability. Fostering self-reflection is helpful to student learning. These can be done after every unit or once or twice per course.

Punctuated Lectures

This technique requires students to go through five steps: listen, stop, reflect, write, and give feedback. Students begin by listening/viewing a lecture or demonstration. Then, after a portion of the presentation has been completed (stopped), the students are asked to reflect on the presentation. They then write down any insights they have gained. Finally, they submit feedback to the instructor in the form of short notes.

Scavenger Hunts/Field Journals

You can send your students out into the field to collect samples, document their findings, and reflect in the context of your course content. This is especially useful for life sciences. The final product of the course can be the submission of the digital field journal or collection (photos, text, etc) or even a presentation of the findings.

Semester Papers

Traditional “final papers” can be used online just as in face-to-face courses. Experiment with scaffolded writing where the process begins on day one and continues throughout the course. Try peer review/feedback as part of the process, assigning students to groups to provide each other with ongoing feedback. This fosters teamwork as well as allowing students to learn by teaching and collaborating with their peers.

Cooperative Exams

Also called “two-stage” or “pyramid exams”, are exams that are taken by groups of students working together after they have completed the original exam individually. When done in one class period, students take the exam individually for the first part of the class. Then, when all students have turned in the exam, they retake the exam working in groups and, in some cases, in an open-book, open-notes format. Commonly these exams are multiple-choice exams with or without some short answer questions; the cooperative part may also have one or two longer questions. Suggestion: calculate the total exam score for each student on 70-75% of the individual exam and 25-30% of the group exam.

Weekly Assignments

Students prepare one or two short written assignments each week in which they summarize the critical aspects of a reading assignment, relate data to readings, make comparisons with what they have learned previously, take positions on issues, and analyze or synthesize information and ideas. These assignments can serve as the basis for group or class discussion and oral presentations or require students to pull together information from a series of classes either to solve a problem or to present a summary analysis of a particular topic. Thus, activities that students are engaged in to learn the material are also used to evaluate their accomplishments.

Discussion Strategies

Student participation in an online course doesn’t happen on its own. Done well, active participation can create a sense of community and enrich the classroom experience by offering diverse perspectives.

Assign Graded, Asynchronous Discussions with a Due Date

Make it count. Set the tone that online discussions are important by making them graded and ensure prompt participation with a due date.

Conserve Instructor Effort by Providing a Synthesis After the Due Date

Instructor voice within a course is very important, but can be time consuming.  If discussions are given a due date, you can hold your input until after the due date has passed.  Read all responses at once, noticing any trends, strengths, weaknesses, etc.  Respond to the class as a whole, clarifying anything or giving encouragement and praise as necessary. You can easily make this a video or audio post within Canvas to save typing time. This adds time-sensitive instructor input in courses where the lectures may be prerecorded.

Rethink Your Discussion Prompts

Are the discussion prompts actually promoting discussion– or are they essay questions masquerading as discussion prompts? Are students regurgitating your lectures or readings without much original thought? Are students ignoring the lectures and readings and holding forth with extraneous anecdotes that seem out of place? Try asking students to react to a very short case study. Post a controversial statement and ask them to back up their opinions. Ask students to transfer a concept they learned in the lecture to an entirely different situation. You can check the box “Users must post before seeing replies” to promote original responses.

Assign Graduate Students as Moderators/Leaders

One of the best ways to promote learning is by having students teach others. Try assigning one or two per week to be discussion leaders who can either develop the discussion question on their own, or moderate one that is already existing. Giving a little direction up front can help these discussions get off on the right track.  Ask discussion leaders to focus on unifying threads, opposing views, or just keep the dialog going with questions and encouragement.

Use Discussions as a Forum for Peer Review

Have the students propose a project, or share a draft of an assignment, and require their peers to review and offer commentary for participation credit. Then have them to incorporate their peer’s suggestions before final submission of the assignment or project.

Consider Alternating Between Asynchronous Discussion Board Posts and Live Online Chats

Do what works for you and your students, and don’t be afraid to be flexible – online chats can be recorded.  Even having just two of these per semester in place of asynchronous discussion posts can improve student perceptions of your course and gives them the opportunity to interact with you and their classmates.

Use Discussions as a Q&A Collection for the Course

Discussions can provide a resource for future offerings of your course if you collect the questions that students are asking (and their answers). Share past questions to help deepen and clarify for current students.

Check out this in-depth PDF from Edutopia on Mastering Online Discussion Board Facilitation

Team-Based Learning

Team-based learning (TBL) is a structured form of small-group learning that emphasizes student preparation out of class and application of knowledge in class.

Group work used in TBL encourages deep engagement with content through active and social learning, and fosters personal accountability and student ownership of their learning.  Group assignments and activities allow students to develop and refine their collaboration skills while applying acquired knowledge to a given problem or situation.

1. Students are strategically assigned to teams of 5-7 individuals.

2. Preparation for the in-class activity is done outside of class (readings, videos, etc).

3. In class, a “Readiness Assurance Process” is completed in which students individually perform a task such as a quiz or a short assignment. The same task is then given to the teams so that students have to collaborate and negotiate to formulate group answers. Both individual and group scores contribute to the students’ grades.

4. After the students complete the group test, the instructor allows teams to appeal questions that they got incorrect. The appeals process encourages students to review the material, evaluate their understanding, and defend the choice they made.

5. To conclude the Readiness Assurance Process, the instructor gives a mini-lecture that focuses on concepts with which students struggled the most.

6. Team project/activity begins. This should require the teams to make a specific choice about a significant problem. Address an issue, determine the best possible outcome, propose a solution, formulate a plan, etc – with a focus on applying the knowledge that was gained in the preparatory activities.

7. Importantly, all teams work on the same problem and report their decisions simultaneously. This structure requires teams to articulate their thinking, and gives teams an opportunity to evaluate their own reasoning when confronted with different decisions that other teams may make.

Students exhibited higher mean scores on questions that assessed knowledge of content learned via TBL than on questions assessing content learned using other methods.

Importantly, students within the lowest quartile showed the greatest gains: average improvement of 7.9% for students in the lowest quartile as compared to average improvement of 5.5% for all students.

Koles et al, 2010

Resource: Detailed TBL handout from the University of British Columbia

Peer evaluation is an important part of team-based learning; it is essential for keeping students accountable to their teammates. Incorporate peer evaluation by having students distribute a set number of points among their teammates, by using an evaluation rubric, or some combination. You may wish to grade students on how substantive their peer feedback comments are, rather than allowing them to assign each other points.

Team-based learning is alternately known as “Peer Instruction” and is related to “Collaborative Learning” as well. There are many resources on this topic .

How to Flip a Course

You’ve probably heard the terms “flipped course” by now – but what does it mean?

A Flipped Course Reverses the Lecture/Homework Paradigm

Traditional course: students attend lecture as a group and then work out problems or complete assignments individually outside of class.

Flipped course: students get the bulk of the course content outside of class such as through readings and/or recorded lectures. Then, in-class time is devoted to working through that content: discussing, problem-solving, processing, problematizing issues, working in groups, case studies, debating – generally going deeper into the content and developing higher order thinking skills, including analysis, evaluation, and creation.

Years’ Worth of Evidence Shows Students in Flipped Courses Score Better on Both Learning Outcomes and Satisfaction

A quick Google Scholar search will provide you with as much literature as you like on this! There’s more than can be summed up here, and the data doesn’t lie.

Dr. Eric Mazur is a good place to start; he flipped Physics for non-majors in the early 1990s and has been influential in the field of educational research ever since. See also:

Courses with Large Amounts of Content to Cover are Ideal for Flipping

In these classes, instructors often end up lecturing for the majority of the class in order to make sure they cover all the information. This means students must go home to work in isolation as they make an attempt to synthesize the new concepts and apply them in some meaningful way. The irony here is that it’s virtually impossible to apply theory in a meaningful way when working alone. Instead, use time together in class to negotiate meaning and apply new knowledge through peer and student-teacher interactions and activities.

The Flipped Classroom is:

- A means to increase interaction and personalized contact time between students and teachers.

- An environment where students take responsibility for their own learning.

- A classroom where the teacher is not the “sage on the stage”, but the “guide on the side.”

- A blending of direct instruction with constructivist learning.

- A classroom where students who are absent don’t get left behind.

- A class where content is permanently archived for review or remediation.

- A class where all students are engaged in their learning.

- A place where all students can get a personalized education.

What about “blended learning?”

This muddy term indicates a course that is typically 30-80% delivered online. So flipped courses are often, but not always, blended – but blended courses need not be flipped.

Make sense?

“Owning” Your Courses

Teaching online is vastly different than lecturing in front of a classroom. The students don’t know you are there just because you are – you have to have an active, tangible presence in the shared online space of your course if you want them to feel engaged with you.

How to Assert Yourself as the Guiding Presence in an Online Course:

Rule #1: Don’t be shy.

You are the instructor and students want to see your face. They want to chat with you. They want to receive emails, announcements, and most of all feedback from you (especially at the graduate level). Use a photo avatar! Record 30-60 second “check in” videos ad hoc, to clarify a point or suggest a project option or even just to praise their efforts. Establish yourself as the cornerstone of the course, even if the content and activities are largely learner self-directed.

Rule #2: Don’t be afraid to break the course.

Canvas has a lot of neat options, tools, and tricks that you should experiment with, learn, and use! Want to edit the text on Week 3’s page? Need to update an assignment due date? Go ahead! There’s an especially great thing called “undelete” just in case you mistakenly dispose of your 100-question final exam on a Saturday night… but if you are just too timid to try using the system on your own in an active course, request a sandbox as a place to try new things and experiment with abandon.

Rule #3: Alter the plan if you need to.

Your syllabus is a “contract” but it’s a tentative one that can change as circumstances arise (feel free to include a disclaimer if you like). If you make it halfway through your course and realize that more or less time should be spent on upcoming topics or activities, make the call! Better yet, poll your students for their buy-in and make a democratic choice about potential alterations to the schedule.

Rule #4: Be the expert you are.

Again, students want to hear from you. Post corrections, clarifications, questions, and encourage them to think deeply about the concepts in your course. Challenge them. Talk about your research, go off on a tangent, or provide them with threads to follow-up with on related topics that aren’t necessarily part of the course. Tie in current events with your materials on-the-fly. Allow them to ask you questions and answer them publicly in the course discussions.

Rule #5: Don’t fear the feedback.

Student feedback is one of the most important measures of whether or not we are effective as instructors, administrators, and facilitators. The process of asking for feedback itself breeds trust between you and your students, because they recognize that you care what they think. You will receive feedback, and you should strive to appreciate it for what it is: opportunity to improve (or, perhaps, to brag). Reinvest in your course and revise the content and/or strategies based on your students’ feedback… and watch for the payoffs next time.

Iterative Design, AKA Using Student Feedback

Iterative design is an approach of incrementally developing and refining a design based on feedback and evaluation. Iterative design can apply to a learning experience, the creation of media, or the development of learning systems. (instructionaldesign.org)

Your students are your evaluators and can provide valuable feedback on how well your course worked or what might be problematic.

Evolution as Iterative Design

There is a parallel between iterative and the theory of Natural Selection. Both involve a trial and error process in which the most suitable design advances to the next generation, while less suitable designs perish by the wayside. Subsequent versions of a product should also get progressively better as its producers learn what works and what doesn’t in a process of refinement and continuous improvement.

This feedback can—and perhaps should—be collected separately from your Faculty Evaluation. The kinds of questions which provide insight into your course delivery are often not asked by the University for tenure and promotion purposes.

How to Get Good Feedback

In a nutshell: ask the right questions! And be prepared to listen and act. Consider the suggestions on the next page as a starting point; mix and match as you see fit.

Let the students know you will use their feedback and that it means something. You might solicit feedback partially through the semester as an opportunity to revise the course as it is happening, to correct problems or enhance student learning. This fosters trust, as the students will be able to see their feedback in action and benefit from it directly.

End-of-term surveys are also common and can help you improve for future offerings, just be careful not to overlap with Faculty Evaluation periods or risk suffering a lowered response rate.

Respond to your students and let them know how you plan to use their feedback. Clarify aspects of the course that they expressed confusion or misunderstandings about. Let them know what they can do to improve their own experiences based on how they responded.

Applying student suggestions (and dealing with complaints)

First, look over the positive things your students have said about the course.

Then read their suggestions for improvement and group them into three categories:

- Things you can change this semester (for example, the turnaround time on homework assignments)

- Things that must wait until the next time the course is offered (for example, the textbook)

- Things that you either cannot or, for pedagogical reasons, will not change (for example, the number of quizzes or tests)

- You may also want a category of things you are unsure about or do not know how to change, i.e., “Things to research”

Discuss the feedback you receive with a consultant (such as your teaching support staff, a senior faculty member, or someone similar) who can help you process it and pull out actionable items. They may have ideas for the items you are unsure about how to change.

Most of all, try to move away from emotional reaction to a reflective, intellectual frame of mind when considering student feedback.

11

Syllabus

Jennifer Smith and Alexandra Bitton-Bailey

A good syllabus that is thorough, yet concise can help reduce the amount of email that you and your TAs receive. A quality syllabus helps your students find the information they need quickly.

Syllabus Tips

1. Use headings and subheadings to lead students to each topic.

- This makes it easy for students to refer to the syllabus throughout the semester.

- This also supports accessibility requirements.

2. Convert large chunks of text to bullet points.

3. Bold and italicize words for emphasis so that the convention of underlines can be reserved for links.

4. Keep the syllabus as short as you can.

- Yes, it needs to be thorough, but is there some information that could be provided as a link?

- If your assignments will be submitted through Canvas, you can manage deadlines through the Canvas Syllabus tool

- The Multi-Tool Due Date Modifier makes short work of managing your assignment deadlines (See Canvas Time-Savers in this guide)

5. Be sure to check with your department/college for specific syllabus requirements.

6. UF Syllabus Policy

How Do You Get Students to Read the Syllabus?

1. Use a free, web-based or desktop app such as Adobe Spark or Google Sites (UF Google Account required) to create a mobile-friendly “liquid syllabus.”

- Make sure to include a link to an accessible PDF or Word version of your syllabus

- Watch Creating a Liquid Syllabus (1:11:19) to learn how to create your own engaging syllabus

2. Create a short extra credit quiz on the syllabus.

3. Use the syllabus as part of a scavenger hunt game.

4. When students have questions that you have already answered in the syllabus, be sure to ask them what was unclear so that you can correct the document.

Student Support

Be sure to include information about tutoring support that is available to them.

The Teaching Center provides support in Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Writing and other topics.

The University of Florida Writing Program (UWP) offers face-to-face and online tutoring as well as video resources. The Writing Studio (through the UWP) offers feedback sessions on essays; students can schedule two 30 min appointments weekly, with face-to-face time including business and evening hours, and an online option as well. Students are highly encouraged to make appointments since our times fill up quickly. The tutors here are mostly graduate teaching assistants trained in both humanities and science prose.

Include links to these services in your syllabus:

- Disability Resource Center

- Counseling and Wellness Center

- Dean of Students Office

- Student Complaints (required for online courses)

UF Religious Observances Policy

UF Administrative Memo from Joseph Glover, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

January 7, 2020

Students and faculty must work together to allow students the opportunity to observe the holy days of his or her faith. A student needs to inform the faculty member of the religious observances of his or her faith that will conflict with class attendance, with tests or examinations, or with other class activities prior to the class or occurrence of that test or activity. The faculty member is then obligated to accommodate that particular student’s religious observances. Because our students represent a myriad of cultures and many faiths, the University of Florida is not able to assure that scheduled academic activities do not conflict with the holy days of all religious groups. We, therefore, rely on individual students to make their need for an excused absence known in advance of the scheduled activities.

View the UF Religious Holidays Policy

For University of Florida Students, the following guidelines apply: Students, upon prior notification of their instructors, shall be excused from class or other scheduled academic activity to observe a religious holy day of their faith. Students shall be permitted a reasonable amount of time to make up the material or activities covered in their absence. Students shall not be penalized due to absence from class or other scheduled academic activity because of religious observances.

If a faculty member is informed or is aware that a significant number of students are likely to be absent from class because of a religious observance, the faculty member should not schedule a major exam or other academic event at that time.

A student who is to be excused from class for a religious observance is not required to provide a second party certification of the reason for the absence. Furthermore, a student who believes that he or she has been unreasonably denied an education benefit due to religious beliefs or practices may seek redress through the student grievance procedure.

Thank you for your cooperation with this policy.

Mobile Devices

If you plan to ban the use of smartphones or other devices in your class, be sure to include that information in your syllabus. But before you do that, consider whether devices can be used to enhance student participation. Classroom response systems or “clicker” apps ($), Kahoot!, Canvas quizzes (Free!), or Qualtrics surveys (Free!) can be used to gauge student understanding of lecture concepts.

Keep in mind that Two-Factor authentication is being mandated for access to university systems such as e-Learning (Canvas). If you will be using e-Learning, remember to allow smartphone use for authentication. Visit the UFIT Two-Factor information page.

NOTE: Make sure you are using Kahoot! in compliance with FERPA.

Online Teaching

When teaching online, it is important to communicate how students will engage with you and the course material. This information doesn’t necessarily need to be in the syllabus, but it does need to be somewhere students can find it easily. Don’t assume that students know how an online course works!

Items to Communicate:

- How you will deliver lectures (asynchronous, synchronous via Zoom, both, etc.)

- How your students will engage with the course content (assignments, discussion, etc.)

- How you will assess whether students have achieved course learning goals and objectives (quizzes, exams, assignments, etc.)

- How students will communicate with you (virtual office hours, open Canvas discussion, Canvas Inbox, etc.)

- Provide details about technologies you will be using, including VPN and proctoring

- Spell out your expectations for interaction or netiquette (edit these guidelines to meet your needs)

IMPORTANT! Publish Your Canvas Course

It starts the semester off poorly if students are unable to access their course materials on the first day of classes. Students may feel anxious about participating in an online course to begin with, those feelings can be magnified by delays and lack of communication.

To do so, complete the following steps:

1. In your Canvas shell, select “Settings”

2. Under the “Course Details” tab, set the Start date and time (e.g., May 11, 2020, 8:00 am)

3. Select the box next to “Restrict students from viewing this course before start date”

4. Select “Update Course Details” at the bottom of the page when done

5. Go back to the home page, and select “Publish” under Course Status at the upper right

Set your desired start date and time. Double check the am/pm setting.

This allows students to view your course on the Start date and time you set. This also allows you to provide early access to the course. Some students greatly appreciate the opportunity to review course materials before the start of classes. However, they may send you questions right away, so don’t publish the course before the start of classes if you aren’t available to answer questions.

Welcome Message

The sooner you start communicating with the students in your class, the better! Set up a Canvas Announcement that will be sent out as soon as your course is published. If you do this in advance, there will be one less thing to worry about during the hectic first week!

1. Select “Announcements” from the left navigation

2. Click the “+ Announcement” button in the upper right

3. Enter your “Topic Title” at the top of the screen

4. Enter your welcome message in the text box

- Link directly to course elements, such as the syllabus

- Adapt the sample message (below) to meet your needs.

5. Post to “All Sections”

6. You can schedule the announcement to be delivered automatically on the first day of class

- Select “Delay posting” and schedule the announcement to post as soon after your course is set to publish as possible. (Be sure to select “a.m.”)

- Set the remaining options

7. Important: Save your Announcement

Enter the date and time you would like the announcement to be sent.

Hello Everyone!

I will be your instructor for [Course name]. The class will begin at 8:00 a.m. on May 11, but I’d like to give you some information to help you get a head start.  Please view my syllabus <link to syllabus>.  Please go ahead and purchase the required texts as you will need them right away.

[textbook and other resource information here, including required technologies]

Follow these directions to log into the course.

- Go to <link to your Canvas course>

- Use your gatorlink username and password to log in.

- View the materials and complete the [first activity] located [page, assignment, discussion]

- Don’t delay logging into the course as you have assignments that will be due soon!

If you have trouble logging into the e-Learning system, contact the HelpDesk: helpdesk@ufl.edu or call (352) 392-4357. (352-392-HELP)

I look forward to an interesting semester with you!

Sincerely,

[Instructor Name]

III

Teaching

12

First Week

Jennifer Smith

Before Classes Begin

Hit the ground running by sending a welcome message through Canvas BEFORE classes begin. Why is this a good idea?

1. Sharing the syllabus and other important getting started information (such as the textbook purchase) as early as possible helps students who have a busy semester ahead get a jump on things.

2. It helps students to mentally prepare themselves for the tasks your course will require.

3. A kind welcome message and student-friendly syllabus can help to reduce anxiety and let students know that you have created an interesting and clear learning path for them.

First Day

The first day of class is your opportunity to set the tone for the semester. Take this opportunity to:

1. Incite curiosity about the course topics:

1. What excites YOU about the course?

2. What are the interesting assignments and activities that will help students gain knowledge and expertise?

3. Provide a thought-provoking question, quote, or statistic about the course topic.

2. Create a learning community:

1. Give students an opportunity to chat with peers through a syllabus analysis activity.

2. Discuss elements of the course topics and what students don’t know or would like to know about them.

3. Frame your expectations:

1. What level of commitment do you expect?

2. What learning practices have worked well for previous students who have taken the course (interestingly, students tend to be more interested in tips from each other than the instructor’s recommendation to do the homework!)

3. Invite your students to travel on a wonderful journey with you!

James Lang provides suggestions in his advice guide: “How to Teach a Good First Day of Class.”

Disability Accommodations

Students with disabilities register with the Disability Resource Center. Many students do quite well with fairly minimal accommodations such as extra time on quizzes. When you received a DRC letter from a student requesting additional quiz time, it’s pretty easy to set this up within Canvas:

- Canvas Guides: Extra quiz time

- Canvas Guides: Extra quiz attempt

- Use the Quiz Extensions (located in the Instructor Tools in the left navigation) to give a student extra time for all existing quizzes

- Select the students from the list of enrolled students

- Choose the appropriate amount of extra time (1.5x, 2x, etc.)

If you receive an accommodation request for Closed Captioning in videos, fill out a request form. Do this as quickly as possible, as it can take some time to set up.  Delays may put your student at risk of falling behind in coursework.

Check Course Questions or FAQ Discussion Board Frequently

Consider using some type of Course Questions or FAQ forum for students to use when they have a question that could benefit the entire class. This discussion board is comparable to raising one’s hand in a face-to-face class.

If students email the instructor to ask a question about course content or material, the instructor should respond the email with something similar to, “That’s a really great question. Please post it on the Course Questions Discussion Board.” This response will remind students and train them to use the board rather than email for general questions. In end, the instructor will have less work because all students can see the answer. It is very important to use this tough love method to set precedent for what is acceptable.

It is very important for instructors or TAs to check the Course Questions Discussion or FAQ Board at least once a day. During the first week of class and during the summer semesters, it is best to check it twice a day. Students get very anxious when they don’t understand something and frustrated easily when they don’t get a response quickly. Keeping up with questions on the discussion board will reduce the number of email questions students send.

Email communication

Be sure to include information in the syllabus as to how to communicate with you regarding personal or grade-related matters. You should make it clear whether they should email you within Canvas using the Inbox tool or if they should email your UFL address using their UFL email.

13

Lectures

Rhiannon Pollard

Guidelines for Good Lectures

A good lecturer presents the audience with opportunities for meaningful engagement with the subject material and with the lecturer.  Frame your lecture plans using these questions:

1. What do you want the audience to learn?

2. What are the key concepts that need to be addressed?

3. What essential skills and competencies should participants have on leaving the lecture?

4. How will all this be clearly communicated to the audience?

Be Clear

- State your objectives and why the students need to know the information you are about to present.

- Keep the flow of the material logical.

- Pace the delivery so that students have a chance to take notes.

- Speak clearly and use a high-quality microphone (headset).

Quality Over Quantity

It’s not how much is delivered but how much is understood and retained that is most important.A 1984 study by Russell et al. found that students learned and retained the lecture information better the lower the level of new content.

After briefly presenting new ideas, the remaining time was filled by restating, reinforcing and relating the material to the students’ prior learning.

Be Interesting

- NEVER READ YOUR TEXT FROM THE SCREEN. Visuals should illustrate and expand on your narration, not provide you with karaoke prompts!

- There are documented negative effects to reading and hearing the same information simultaneously, aka cognitive load theory.

- Provide real-world examples of the points you are making.

- Use analogies to explain new concepts in terms of familiar ones.

- Present the information stated in your objectives.

- Recap your main points and provide questions for further thinking.

- Incorporate video, audio, and images when appropriate and relevant. Save extraneous resources for post-lecture activities.

- Believe it or not, students prefer to SEE you (not just hear you)! Record yourself whenever possible, even if you have to use your phone to do it.

Remember the Context

While some lectures can be used as standalone modules, for the most part your lectures will be framed within a course which has learning objectives and activities. Be sure every lecture has a clear relationship to the larger course objectives– if it doesn’t, why are you presenting it?  Follow up with your objectives by providing an activity that displays their understanding of the content

PowerPoint Presentations

The look and feel of your presentation speaks volumes, and an unpolished or boring PowerPoint can damage students’ perceptions of even the best and most well-articulated content. Use these tips to improve your presentations.

#1 Design Your Own Template or Ask for Help!

Built-in design layouts in PowerPoint are a dime-a-dozen and your students (and colleagues) have seen them all before. Even if your design is simply solid colors with no frills, that’s OK! In fact, solid colors can impart a very professional, modern impression. Try to use the same layout for all presentations in a single course.

#2 Readability Matters

Be sure that your images and text do not blend together and that text colors and backgrounds contrast sufficiently. This is not just good design but part of ADA standards compliance as well. Dark backgrounds are best for visibility and focusing attention.

#3 Use Quality Images

A bad picture is worse than no picture at all when it comes to presentations. Go for high-impact, high-quality images which you can find for free through:

- CreativeCommons.org

- Unsplash

- Thenounproject.com

- UF Libraries provides a site license for Artstor.org (this requires access through UF IP address or VPN)

- Remember to attribute your images

#4 Simpler is Better

One to three ideas per slide is ideal. Visuals do have much greater impact than text, so use them, but avoid unnecessary animations. Go for bold or italics when needed but skip drop-shadows, underlines, and other text decorations. Use contrast to your advantage and emphasize and stylize sparsely for greater impact.

#5 Don’t Overuse Text (or Bullets)

Always remember that the slide should not be the ultimate source of content and information. Your speech should be! If you are saying everything you need to say through text on the slides, what’s the point of presenting it?

For more help with PowerPoint,view the LinkedIn Learning videos. Access them through the e-Learning @ UF website.

14

Communicate with Your Students

Jennifer Smith

Whether you are teaching online or face-to-face, communication is one area that can cause frustration for both students and teachers. Students want concise information about what is expected of them at the specific time they need it. Faculty need a time-efficient way to get this information to students in a way that students will understand. In today’s digital world, we have multiple channels for communication. But the truth is, with so many options, it is difficult to be sure we are choosing the best way to send our messages.

Assignment Expectations

It can be a mistake to think that because you covered the assignment instructions in class, students clearly understand:

- The purpose of the activity

- Precisely what they are to do AND

- How to earn a good grade

Tips for Assignment Instructions

- Provide written instructions in addition to talking through them in class or on video

- Include a checklist of the submission requirements

- Make instructions easy to find by making them available in Canvas on the assignment submission page (if using)

- If the instructions are too long, put them on a separate document and link to it

- This makes it easy to update

- You can also link to it from multiple places

- Provide a grading rubric or guidelines

- Keep text short and language simple

Communication Plan

It’s a good idea to create a general communication plan before the semester begins. Identify the weekly course activities and assignments and then determine what messages are needed to support them. You can draft messages and choose the appropriate communication method. By planning out your messaging in advance, you can set Canvas Announcements to deliver some of your communication automatically (This means one less thing for you to worry about during the term!)

UF’s Center for Teaching Excellence has created a “Sample Teaching & Communication Checklist” that University of Florida faculty can import into a Canvas course and adapt to meet teaching and needs. Here’s how to import it into your Canvas course (you must have the teacher or facilitator role to do this):

1. Open your Canvas course site and go to the “Home” page

2. Click on the “Import from Commons” button in the upper right corner

3. Enter “CTE Sample Teaching Checklist” into the search window

4. Click on the module name to preview the content

5. Click on the “Import/Download”

6. Select the course into which you wish to import the module

7. Choose “Import into Course” from the bottom of the list

The module will appear in your Canvas course site. Edit the information as you desire. These pages can be useful information for your TAs. Keep these pages unpublished so that students will not see them and drag them to your own modules so that you will have them for reference each week.

Communication Tools

ONE.UF Listserv

You may find that it is not practical to reach your students through Canvas announcements or email. ONE.UF includes a teaching schedule with class date, time and location; ability to view and download class rolls; and access to the grades system in Student Admin.

- PDF instruction guide

- Step-by-step system simulation

References

- Betts, Kristen. “Lost in translation: Importance of effective communication in online Education.” Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration XII.II (2009). Web.

- Dixson, Marcia D. “Creating effective student engagement in online courses: What do students find engaging?” Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Vol. 10.No. 2 (2010): 1 – 13. Web.

15

Small Group Discussions

Jennifer Smith

Small group discussions can be a good way for students to grapple with challenging concepts in a meaningful way. This teaching strategy can be adapted to fit a variety of topics, class sizes, and levels. In addition, small group discussions provide:

- A compliment to lecture

- Peer to peer connection

- Oral communication practice

- Preparation for collaborative activities

Small group discussion can be effective in synchronous online sessions by using the breakout room feature of Zoom. You can pre-assign students to breakout rooms using a CSV file. Details on how to do this can be found in the Zoom chapter of this guide.

Discussion Compliments Lecture

It can be helpful to break up a lecture (whether synchronous online or face-to-face) with small group discussions to help reinforce a concept or identify areas of confusion. You can model a thought process or methodology in your presentation and then pair students up to work through the steps. Use discussion – lecture combinations to:

- Guide students to question their assumptions

- Identify themes or similarities with previous material

- Zero in on points of disagreement

16

Engage Your Students

Rhiannon Pollard

Quality learning occurs when students grapple with concepts in a meaningful way. There is no single “correct” way to do this, but good strategies help students connect with each other and the discipline.

Make your expectations of student performance clear and consistent. Be organized.

- Students stay on task and engage more effectively when they know what you expect of them.

- Provide consistent deadlines and delivery of content.

- Use weekly or modular objectives to define learning expectations.

Provide them with methods and means to engage – and support their learning of them.

- Use Discussion forums, chats, Q&A threads, VoiceThreads, comments, polls, etc.

- Include “how to” information for any new technologies.

- Be a good example—demonstrate how they can join in.

Assess them frequently to keep their attention.

- Incentivize participation through low-stakes (or extra credit) tasks on a consistent basis.

- Include participation—with explicit expectations—as part of the course grade.

Give them real problems to solve.

- Case studies are fantastic teaching tools and allow students to apply critical thinking, new knowledge, and make real-world connections to concepts.

- Include inquiry-based discovery (e.g., research projects or field data collection).

Provide opportunity for them to engage with each other.

- Study groups, team projects, or simply require them to respond to other students’ discussion comments.

Ask them to teach their peers.

- Group or individual projects designed to have them learn and lead discussions or give presentations to the class.

- Use their input to design further assessments (student-led questions on exams, etc).

Most Importantly: Demonstrate your own engagement.

- Communicate on the forums (respond to your students in a public setting). Share relevant outside materials.

- Let them know why you are interested in the topics you teach. Get personal.

- Provide them with feedback on their progress.

- Be an active participant in your course!

17

End of Term Tips

Jennifer Smith

Assigning Incomplete Grades

Effective fall of 2018,  I/N grades that are not changed within 150 days will be counted as failing.  See the Undergraduate CatalogGrades and Grades and Grading Policies. Good practice for assigning “I” grades include:

- An “I” grade should be arranged before the final exam to allow a student to complete work after the end of the term.

- The student must have a passing grade in the course (D- or better) at the time the arrangement is made.

- A written agreement should list all of the requirements along with the deadline for completion.

- CLAS Incomplete Grade Contract

- HHP Incomplete Grades

- Check with your college or department for the form required by your unit.

- The agreement should also state the grade that will be assigned if the deadline is not met.

- Add a note to your calendar to make certain that you change the “I” grade when the work is completed or the deadline passes.

A letter grade should not be changed to an “I” unless the you have made an error. This might happen if the 150 days passes and the grade becomes an “E.”

Submitting Grades

There is a new tool in Canvas called “Send Grades to ONE.UF”. This tool will allow you to send your Canvas gradebook directly to ONE.UF for finalization.

- Visit the e-Learning guide: Finalizing Gradebook

- The HR Grades Toolkit contains resources for faculty and staff who enter grades into ONE.UF and myUFL

You can still download your Canvas gradebook to use with the converter tool, or you can download a pre-converted CSV file that you can upload directly into ONE.UF.  The Export Canvas Gradebook guide can show you how.

There is a Grade Override feature in the Canvas gradebook. This feature allows you to enter a letter grade that will override the display grade in Canvas.  You can learn more about this feature and other steps to ensure your gradebook is ready to export on the e-Learning Finaliz ing Gradebook web page.

Canvas Gradebook Download/Converter Tool (old process)

In Fall 2018, the grading submission process was changed. The e-Learning Support team has created tutorials to walk faculty through the process.

- Preparing Grades from Canvas (.pdf)

- Entering Grades When Canvas is Not Used (.pdf)

- ONE.UF Grades Upload Tutorial (video – 3:53)

- Grading Courses With Canvas (video – 3:26)

Your unit’s Grade Coordinator is available to help you with questions you have about the new grade submission process. The UF Computing Help Desk staff is available to help you with any questions you have about the e-Learning environment, including exporting grades from e-Learning.  Please call (352-392-HELP/4357, Option 3), email (learning-support@ufl.edu), or visit the e-Learning support team in room 132 Hub for assistance.

IV

Assessment

Why is Assessment Important?

We tend to think of assessment as a mechanism for determining student grades. Since grades should be a measure of learning, this makes sense. However, assessment can also:

- Track student progress towards a learning goal (formative assessment)

- Help shape teaching strategies and course design

- Determine whether instruction is effective

A Practical Guide to Assessment

University of Florida Director of Institutional Assessment, Dr. Timothy S. Brophy.

Dr. Tim Brophy, Director of Institutional Assessment at the University of Florida, has developed a guide to help faculty get the most out of their assessments. Topics covered in this comprehensive resource include:

- Module 1: Introduction to Assessment

- Module 2: Assessment and Rubric Design

- Module 3: Writing Items for Quizzes and Tests

- Module 4: Test Statistics and Analysis

- Module 5: Longitudinal Assessment of Student Learning

- Module 6: Consensus-Based Approaches

- Module 7: Navigating the UF Assessment System

Visit A Practical Guide to Assessment

Dr. Brophy leads the Passport to Great Teaching-Creative Assessment Faculty Development Learning Community. The Creative Assessment Learning Community is an ongoing project of the University of Florida Center for Teaching Excellence.

18

Assessment Basics

How do you know that your students have learned what you intend? Assessment techniques that mirror the work done in the profession are frequently referred to as “authentic assessment.” Assessments that also serve as learning activities help to maximize the benefit for the time spent. But these can be challenging to implement in large enrollment classes.

UF’s Director of Institutional Assessment, Dr. Timothy S. Brophy has created a series of videos to assist faculty in developing the best assessments for their students.  Topics covered include:

- Assessment basics

- Rubric design

- Writing quiz and test items

- Test statistics and analysis

- Longitudinal assessment of student learning

- Concensus-based approaches

- Navigating the UF assessment system

- Visit A Practical Guide to Assessment

19

Useful Assessment

Alexandra Bitton-Bailey

How Can Assessment Benefit Students?

The useful assessment provides “value for time spent” for students and instructors when it is used as a learning activity and evaluation. Using a blend of both formative and summative assessments throughout a course shapes meaningful learning experiences for students.

- Formative assessments:

- Pinpoint areas for improvement

- Identify course content that may need to be reviewed

- Guide ongoing learning activities

- Provide data on the progress students are making towards a larger course goal

- Summative assessments:

- Examine the acquisition of knowledge, skill achievement, and content mastery at a specific point of the course

- These are typically done as a midterm, final, or submission of a final project

- They can also be in the form of a programmatic assessment such as a licensing exam

Both types of assessments can be used for calculating grades and providing feedback and can be combined.

What is Useful Assessment?

Get the best value for the time spent by combining assessment with learning. These are opportunities to identify misconceptions, correct thinking, and reasoning, and think deeply about the course content. Useful assessment is time-efficient for students, not just busywork. Consider how assessment activities can be time-efficient for you as an instructor because it serves as a feedback opportunity. It is ideal to parallel the work practices in the discipline

- Mary Bart (Faculty Focus): Creating a Campus Culture that Values Assessment

- Maryellen Weimer (Faculty Focus): Is it Time to Rethink our Exams

- Susan Spangler (Faculty Focus): Flipping Assessment: Making Assessment a Learning Experience

- Center for Teaching (Vanderbilt University): Classroom Assessment Technique

Online Assessment

View the Online Assessment workshop (1:07) recording to identify potential online formats as well as ideas for “authentic” assessment. Suggestions and tools to support academic integrity are discussed as well. The resources mentioned in this workshop are listed below.

- Group Grid Activity

- Dr. Tim Brophy – A Practical Guide to Assessment

- ePortfolios

- AAC&U – E-Portfolios: For Reflection, Learning, and Assessment

- Paloma Rodriguez – ePortfolio Workshop (visit the CTE Events and Workshops page for the next offering)

- UF Center for Teaching Excellence Resource Library – Student ePortfolios

- University of Waterloo – ePortfolios Explained: Theory and Practice

- Dr. Peter Doolittle – Active Learning, Proactive Teaching, Deep and Flexible Knowing (PPT Presentation)

- Dr. Maryellen Weimer (Faculty Focus) – Making Exams More about Learning

- Phil Nast (National Education Association): Authentic Assessment Toolbox

- Queen’s University – Examples of Innovative Assessments

- Dr. Rick Kates (UF) and colleagues (eLearn Magazine) – Enhancing and Impacting the Online Classroom Environment with Infographics

- Brittany Starkman (eCampus Ontario) – Producing Podcasts as an Alternative Method of Student Assessment

Assessment as a Learning Tool

2-Stage Collaborative Testing:

“In a two-stage exam, students complete and submit the exam individually in the first stage. Then in the second stage, they answer the exam questions again by working together in small groups. During the “group” stage, students receive immediate, targeted feedback on their solutions from their fellow students and see alternative approaches to the problems. This makes the exam itself a valuable learning experience while also sending a consistent message to the students as to the value of collaborative learning.” (Carl Wieman)

- Teaching Beyond the Podium Podcast (University of Florida): Two-Stage Collaborative Assessment (with pdf transcript)

- Carl Wieman: Two-Stage Exams (pdf)

- Carl Wieman: Turn an Exam into a Learning Experience with Two-Stage Exams

- Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning Through Research (Northeastern University): Two-Stage Exams

Papers

Paper and essay writing contribute to student learning in two primary ways: developing skills and cultivating learning styles. The Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) considers writing papers a high-impact practice that helps keep students engaged and learning deeply while they achieve learning goals and meet learning challenges (Kuh, 2008).

Paper Writing Features:

- Flexible formats for writing

- Variety in length and purpose

- Formative or summative assessment

Paper Writing Challenges:

- Students often regurgitate information rather than analyze and respond

- Students often need significant guidance on writing expectations

Projects

Project-Based Learning is a teaching method in which students gain knowledge and skills by working for an extended length of time to investigate and respond to an authentic, engaging, and complex question, problem, or challenge (Buck Institute for Education).

Students work on a project for a week up to a semester – that engages them in solving a real-world problem or answering a complex question. They have to demonstrate their knowledge and skill development by creating a product or presentation for a real audience. As a result, students develop deeper content understanding as well as critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication skills.

Project Challenges and Solutions

Challenge: Some students may dominate their group

Solution: Suggest students assume project roles that resemble a real-world team

Challenge: Some students prefer not to participate

Solution 1: Projects require preparation

Solution 2: Enlist students in identifying scenarios

Challenge: Students want a rubric

Solutions: Have students assist in determining the criteria for success

Challenge: Takes significant class time

Solution 1: Use problems that provide the best “bang for the buck”

Solution 2: Scaffold with outside-of-class learning

Challenge: Requires patience

Solution 1: Refer to the big picture

Solution 2: Reflection to show how far students have come

Solution 3: Establish an environment of trust: “This goes both ways”

Recall Practice

If there is specific information that students must be able to remember, such as medical students knowing the bones and muscles, then it will be important to provide practice recalling these facts throughout the semester. (Brown, Roediger, & McDaniel, 2014)

- “Spaced Recall” activities involving the same information should be repeated throughout the semester

- Switching between concepts or “interleaving” requires students to work harder to access items stored in memory

- Both practices are needed for students to commit new learning to long-term memory

Interleaving generally causes students to make more mistakes initially leading to a sense of frustration and a feeling that they are not “learning.” It will be important to remind students that these learning practices support recall beyond the confines of the current semester. Students might also have to refer to earlier chapters of their textbook for support. I found that providing students with page numbers for the relevant information and warning them of the increased difficulty helped their progress.

Easy to use methods:

- First 5 minutes quizzes

- Flashcards

- Comparing and learning models

- Revision lessons

Mastery Quizzes

Mastery quizzes encourage information retention and transfer. Student learning is further enhanced when learners are given multiple opportunities to recall new material. Create low-stakes online quizzes with multiple attempts (3 attempts will encourage learning rather than guessing) and answer-level feedback. These provide low-pressure recall practice without using up valuable class time. Meaningful feedback helps them focus on areas of improvement and provides specifics for correction (Gillard-Cook & West, 2006).

Mastery Quiz Benefits:

- Encourages mastery rather than grades

- Helps learners identify gaps and areas of improvement

- Are time-efficient for students and instructors

- Allows instructors to provide supporting resources

- Encourages learners to take charge of their learning

- Reduces test anxiety

- Provides low stakes opportunities to demonstrate learning

Collaborative Note Taking

Collaborative note-taking allows students to work together to create more thorough and accurate notes from lectures and readings. Students learn from each other, contribute from various perspectives, and correct each other’s misconceptions. Instructors can use the notes to check for understanding.

Tools: Google Suite, OneDrive, Perusall

For more information see the Cued and Collaborative Note Taking section of the instructor guide.

Assessment as Evaluation

Assessment is more successful when there is a clear and intentional plan in place. Without a specific strategy and intentional goal setting, assessments can suffer from unclear goals, vague expectations, minimal communications of criteria, and limited feedback. This can lead to invalid and potentially unreliable evaluations of student learning outcomes (Walvoord, 2010). Dr. Tim Brophy has developed the Practical Guide to Assessment a rich resource that guides all assessment-related topics.

Here is a quick summary of the steps in developing useful assessments.

Before the assessment:

1. Define your student learning goals

2. Select and define the assessment method

3. Develop the assessment

4. Check for alignment to other course elements

5. Communicate with the students about the assessment

Once the assessment is complete:

1. Analyze the results

2. Provide feedback

3. Reflect and make revisions to the assessment

References

Brown, Peter C., Roediger, H. L., & McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Make It Stick: the science of successful learning. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap, Harvard.

Kemp, J., Mellor, A., Kotter, R., & Oosthoek, J. (2012). Student-Produced Podcasts as an Assessment Tool: An Example from Geomorphology. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 36, 117 – 130.

Kuh, G. (2008). High-Impact educational practices. Peer Review, 4, 30.

Gillard-Cook, T., West, B. (2006). Authentic learning: Rethinking quizzes and exams for greater impact. Retrieved from https://evolllution.com/opinions/authentic-learning-rethinking-quizzes-exams-greater-impact/

Walvoord, B. E. 2010. Assessment Clear and Simple: A Practical Guide for Institutions, Departments and General Education. 2nd ed. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

20

Designing Rubrics

Jennifer Smith

A rubric is a grading and feedback tool that breaks an assignment down into component parts and describes specific levels of achievement for each element. They can be used for many types of assignments from oral presentations and performances to papers and group projects.

What can rubrics do for you?

- Clarify assignment expectations for your students

- Save you and your Teaching Assistants grading time

- Help you be consistent in your grading and feedback

- Provide a framework to keep grading consistent between Teaching Assistants

Rubrics in Canvas

Using a rubric coupled with SpeedGrader within Canvas can help you to grade and provide feedback to your students in a time-efficient manner. There are some ins and outs to doing this:

- You can re-use a rubric you have created on one course for any other Canvas course

- Once you have used a rubric to grade an assignment, you cannot change it

- You have to create a new rubric with a different name

- Add an identifier (Year/Semester) to the rubric name so that you know which one it is when it comes up in your search list

- Save time for yourself and keep things consistent for your students by using the same rubric for the same type of assignment, such as all of your discussions

- This may mean that you need to be a bit more general with your criteria and achievement levels

- Remember that you can always adjust the points manually

- You can write individual comments to customize feedback for the individual student

Sample Rubrics

It takes a bit of time to think through criteria and levels of achievement for your assignments. It can be helpful to start with a rubric that has been created by someone else and adapt it to your needs. This approach helps you to think about elements that you may not have previously considered. These are sources for some starter rubrics:

- Rubistar is an online rubric generator

- Search for existing rubrics in a variety of disciplines

- Customize the rubric to meet your needs and download it

- If you are using Canvas, you’ll need to copy/paste the individual items into your assignment rubric

- The AAC&U VALUE Rubrics cover 16 learning outcomes including:

- Critical thinking

- Creative thinking

- Written communication

- Oral communication

- Quantitative literacy

- Intercultural knowledge and competence

- Global learning

- Carnegie Mellon’s Eberly Center provides rubric examples for a variety of assignments

- Paper assignments

- Projects

- Oral Presentations

- Class Participation/Contributions

Rubric Template

Beginning
1

Developing
2

Accomplished
3

Exemplary
4

Score

Stated Objective or Performance

Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting a beginning level of performance.

Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting development and movement towards mastery of performance.

Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting of mastery of performance.

Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting of the highest levels of performance.

Stated Objective or Performance

Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting a beginning level of performance.

Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting development and movement towards mastery of performance.

Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting of mastery of performance.

Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting of the highest levels of performance.

Stated Objective or Performance

Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting a beginning level of performance.

Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting development and movement towards mastery of performance.

Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting of mastery of performance.

Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting of the highest levels of performance.

Stated Objective or Performance

Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting a beginning level of performance.

Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting development and movement towards mastery of performance.

Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting of mastery of performance.

Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting of the highest levels of performance.

This is a general rubric format.

Sample Rubric: Visual Storytelling Project

Criteria

Excellent

Good

Needs Work

Absent

Project demonstrates good use (or intentional breaking of) design principles.

Contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity are fully present throughout the work.

Contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity are mostly present although one or two principles may be absent on 1 - 3 pages.

Contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity are missing on 4 - 6 pages.

Contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity are largely missing throughout the work.

The project demonstrates a cohesive design across multiple pages as appropriate.

All pages have a consistent look and feel. Design elements are repeated throughout.

Design elements are mostly repeated throughout, however 1 -2 pages may not fit with the design scheme.

Design elements are seldom repeated throughout, and the work is not coherent.

Design elements are not repeated throughout, and the work is chaotic and unorganized.

The viewer can easily discern the story.

The events of the story are clear to the viewer.

The events of the story are mostly clear to the viewer.

The events of the story are difficult for the viewer to follow.

It is not possible for the viewer to determine the events of the story.

The story effectively uses the likely experience of the target audience.

The story effectively references experience that the target audience is likely to have.

The story references the target audience but includes 1 - 2 elements likely to be outside of the target audience's experience.

The story includes 3 - 6 elements likely to be outside of the target audience's experience.

The story elements are generally outside of the target audience's experience. Elements are not used effectively.

This sample rubric is for a visual storytelling project in a visual communication course.

21

Honorlock

Honorlock is an online proctoring service that video-records test-takers to stop them from searching for test answers through means such as using a second device, opening a new browser, or asking a friend. This service will also search online for your exams and file takedown notices to remove the leaked questions. It is recommended that you use put academic integrity measures in place when an assessment comprises 15% or more of your students’ final grade.

How do I Use Honorlock?

Secure Funding

A distance learning fee has been added to summer 2020 courses in order to support online course delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic, but under typical circumstances, you will need to ensure that a fee to cover proctoring costs is added to your course. This fee must be requested and approved a semester in advance.

- If you teach a UF Online course, proctoring costs are covered by the program.

- If you teach a Self-Supporting/Self-Funded online class that needs to utilize online proctoring, the cost is covered by the program.

- All other online classes that you wish to have proctored must have a Distance Learning (DL) Fee approved. This process should be completed the semester prior to the term in which you wish to use proctoring.

Honorlock Setup

In order to use Honorlock, you must activate it in your Canvas course shell by the Friday of the first week of classes. To activate Honorlock:

1. Click on “Settings” in the left-hand menu and then the “Navigation” tab. You should see a list of your enabled tools and tabs.

2. Scroll down. You should see a list of tools that can be enabled. Find Honorlock on the list.

3. Click the hamburger menu to the left, click “enable” and then click “save.” Honorlock should now appear in the left-hand menu.

Enabling Honorlock for Exams

To enable Honorlock for an exam:

1. Click “Honorlock” in the left-hand menu.

2. When the Honorlock window opens, click the blue “enable” button next to your chosen exam.

3. Adjust your proctoring options as needed and click, add any additional instructions for students or proctor guides lines and click “enable.”

4. Honorlock should now be enabled for your exam.

Include Instructions for DRC-Registered Students

You can easily facilitate DRC student’s testing accommodations such as additional time within your Canvas exam settings.  Set your quizzes to show one question at a time instead of multiple questions on a page to scroll through. Specific instructions should be included in the directions you provide to the proctor:

- The use of scratch paper

- Breaks, particularly bathroom (10 minutes is usually sufficient)

- Use of a calculator (the calculator button is not available to students if the question is long)

- Give all students an additional 15 minutes to accommodate set up and connection time.

If you do not enter these accommodations in the proctor guidelines box, a proctor may interrupt the student if they are engaging in any of these activities, which may disrupt the testing process.

How Do My Students Use Honorlock?

Downloading Honorlock

Before your students can use Honorlock, they must first download the Honorlock Google Chrome extension. To do this students will need to:

1. Open the Chrome browser and navigate to a Canvas course site that is using Honorlock.

2. On the left-hand menu, click “Honorlock.”

3. An “Honorlock Chrome Extension” window will pop up. Check the “I agree…” box and click the blue “get started” button.

4. A tab with the Chrome Web Store will open. Click the blue “add to Chrome” button.

5. Click the “add extension” button. The student will receive a confirmation message that the extension has been added.

Preparing for an Exam

Prior to starting an exam, Honorlock requires that your students have the following resources:

- Government issued photo ID or student photo ID

- Working web camera and microphone

- A stable internet connection

- Google Chrome browser (with all pop-up blockers disabled)

- Any additional resources that you allow, such as a scratch paper or a calculator.

Honorlock also has guidelines that govern your students’ workspace. This is to ensure that their online testing environment is as close to an in-class testing environment as possible. Prior to taking their exam, your students will need to conduct a full 360-degree scan of their room. There are a number of other testing requirements include:

- No leaving the room

- No music of television playing in the background

- No moving off-camera

- No use of headphones or smart watches

For a complete list of exam area requirements, visit the Honorlock Student Guide. Be sure to post these guidelines in your Canvas course shell for your students. You can also insert Honorlock’s recommended verbiageinto your course syllabus.

Taking an Exam

To take an exam using Honorlock, students will need to:

1. Open the exam in Canvas

2. Click the blue “Take the quiz” button

3. Click the green “Launch proctoring” button

4. Complete the Honorlock authentication process by providing a photo ID and 360-degree room scan

5. Click the blue “Launch screen recording” button

6. Click the image of their monitor and then click “Share”

7. Click the blue “Click to begin” button

Honorlock Considerations

- The “Access code field” will be automatically populated

Honorlock access code.

- Do not edit, delete or distribute this code to your students or your exam will not be proctored

- Documents/images/diagrams/formula sheets in a quiz must be located within the Canvas shell of the quiz you are offering or students will not be able to access them

- You can force Canvas to display a file in your exam instead of having students download it and open it with another application

- You must list any DRC accommodations in the proctor guidelines box (see above)

Accommodations

For students who require accommodations, these must be listed in the proctor guidelines box so the proctor will know what is permitted (e.g., allowing notes, a second monitor). Without this information, a proctor may interrupt the student during the testing process.

Instructions for the Honorlock proctor.

Please refer to Distance and Continue Education’s page on Online Proctoring for more information.

Where Can I Get Help With Honorlock?

Please refer to the Office of Distance Learning for more information on using Honorlock or contact Chris Newsom for assistance or questions.

You can also refer to the Honorlock tutorials and Guides:

- Honorlock – Instructor Guide

- Honorlock – Instructor Video

- Honorlock – Standard Testing Guidelines

- Honorlock Student Guide

- Honorlock Student Video

- Honorlock Support and System Test

- Honorlock Syllabus Verbiage

V

Learning Activities

22

Active Learning Online

Alexandra Bitton-Bailey

What is Active Learning?

Active learning is “anything that involves students in doing things and thinking about the things they are doing” (Bonwell & Eison, 1991, p. 2). Active and problem-based learning involves and engages students with the resources and activities by requiring them to participate in learning actively, instead of passively sitting and listening or watching.

Does it Work?

Overwhelming evidence confirms that students learn more effectively through active learning than in a traditional lecture, or “teacher telling” format. Freeman and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of more than 225 studies on the impact and efficacy of active learning comparing “constructivist versus exposition-centered designs in STEM courses (Freeman et al., 2014; Prince, 2013) and the results showed that students in traditional lecture courses were 1.5 times more likely to fail than students in active learning courses.

How Does it Work in an Online Course?

In many cases, we can think of quick easy ways to implement short active learning components in a face to face course. But when thinking about an online course, especially a course that quickly transitioned to online, things can seem a little more challenging, daunting even. But it does not have to be. Take watching a video, for example. Pairing a video with guided notes is a simple way to incorporate an active learning strategy that can help students with the lower levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy such as “remember” and “understand.”

Active learning can run the gamut from passive to full participation.

Active Learning Continuum

Let’s consider the active learning continuum. The complexity of active learning techniques fall along a continuum, so there are active learning strategies that can be used at every level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Learning techniques can generally be made more active depending upon how they are used in the class.

Reinforce Learning: Remember and Understand

Before students can apply, analyze, evaluate, and create artifacts to reflect their mastery of concepts, they must have a solid grasp of foundational knowledge. They must remember and understand the important vocabulary, problems, functions, or formulas important to the course content.

Simple active learning strategies can help reinforce their grasp of this information. Here are some ideas for reinforcing learning:

Key Points Worksheets

Key points worksheets work well as a preparation activity. Assignment format = Reading + Worksheet + Quiz. Students prepare for class by watching a video, reading assigned texts, or listening to a podcast. Next, they answer key questions on the worksheet about the course content. The students can then use the key points worksheet as a reference during class activities or a short quiz.

Guided or Collaborative Notes

There are several ways to help students actively take notes and share important information they glean from the lectures and videos.

An advanced organizer is a tool that can be created in Google or Canvas prior to a lecture to help students structure and organize the information they are about to learn.

3-2-1 technique can be created in a shared document or discussion board. Students can share 3 things they learned, 2 things they found interesting, and 1 thing they still have questions about. Leave an extra column for students to respond to each other’s remaining questions or if done in a discussion board have students try to answer the questions posed by their fellow students.

Cued Notes provide students with a structure to take better notes during a lecture through a template that cues students to take notes on important aspects of the lecture. Then have students summarize the whole lecture or video. You can also have students create the cues themselves, this is the Cornell note-taking method.

Collaborative notes allow students to take and share notes on lectures and videos. In a large class, divide students into smaller groups, create a note-taking template or table, and have all members of the groups share their notes, takeaways, and perspectives in the table. This method helps students gain a more complete understanding, correct misconceptions, and gain different perspectives.

Card Sort or Mind Maps

Assignment formats = Recall + Presentation + Discussion or Recall + Reinforce.

Students come prepared to class. Student groups then work together to use visual diagrams to show the connection of ideas or sort concepts from the readings into categories. Whether done synchronously or asynchronously online, these feel a little bit like a game to the students and encourage socializing, teamwork, and discussion. They can easily be done in breakout rooms and there is a multitude of free tools available to build easy mind/concept maps.

Free and easy to use tools for creating concept maps:

- Google Drawing

- Coggle

- MindMapMaker

- FreeMind

- More information on concept maps

Learning Reflections

Assignment format = Recall + Reflection

Active Reading Documents (ARD) give students the necessary incentive to engage with the text/readings. ARDs work specifically on four levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy: retrieval, comprehension, analysis, and knowledge utilization.

First, students create a visual representation of the organizational structure of the key information. Next, they describe their understanding of the key information in their own words.

Then, students explain 3 original logical connections of information among or across categories within the course materials and 2 original connections across or among categories in other units of the course. Lastly, students uncover connections to other classes, subjects, or their personal lives.

Additional details on ARDs

Apply and Analyze Learning

Apply activities get students up and moving so they use their existing skills to develop new knowledge and demonstrate an ability to use the new skills and information. Possible activities include:

- Peer discussion

- Solve a problem

- Predict the outcome if. . .

- What can go wrong?

- Role-play

- Elicit curiosity with a question

Example: In Canvas, divide students into groups and provide each group with a discussion prompt such as, “predict how members of other cultures make decisions for the care of elderly relatives.” Assign each group a specific culture or better yet give them options and allow them to choose which cultural perspective they want to take.

Analyze activities get students immersed in real-world data and problems that reflect work they might do in their respective fields. These activities can include:

- Using real-world data whenever possible

- Have students participate in data collection

- use current and relevant data

- show the connection and value of the data

- Giving students their choice of problem when possible

- students appreciate being given some choice

- create groups with shared interests

- give limited options or ask students to explain their choice in an initial assignment (scaffold)

- Dividing a large problem into smaller pieces

- Choose a problem

- submit resources and research

- provide a proposal or prospectus

- include peer review

- Using mobile devices for in-class research

Example: In Canvas, divide students into groups and provide each group with an analysis prompt such as “critique a subway poster from various cultural perspectives.” Assign each group a specific demographic and have groups analyze the possible interpretations.

Collaborative Learning

For the upper learning levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, you might opt for collaborative learning techniques. Collaborative learning techniques (CoLTs) require students to work together to explore significant questions or meaningful work that results in completing a project. In contrast to active learning techniques where an individual student can complete an entire exercise alone, CoLTs require at least some peer-to-peer interaction. These techniques have many benefits especially in courses that need to quickly transition to online.

- Encourage interaction

- Foster teamwork and interdependence

- Require students to work collaboratively on a product

- Develop group processing skills

- Offer opportunities for peer review and feedback

You can find details on how to implement some of our favorite (and easiest) collaborative learning techniques in Collaborative Learning Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty (Barkley et al).

- Jigsaw

- Fishbowl

- Three-step interviews

- Think-pair-share

- Team anthologies

Best of all, each of these techniques can be done online!

11 Quick Tips for Collaborative Learning

For more details visit the collaborative learning chapter of this guide.

1. Collaboration should be based on a stated learning outcome

2. Reflect the work students will do as professionals

3. Require an orientation

4. Adapt and adopt existing activities

5. Minimize synchronous activities

6. Know your students

7. Be flexible

8. Start small

9. Give groups choices on how they collaborate

10. Chunk the activity into bite-size pieces

11. Provide clear directions or a script

Peer Review and Collaborative Learning

Peer review is a key part of collaborative learning. Peer review gives students the opportunity to learn an important skill: giving helpful feedback. It also allows students to receive more helpful feedback than from the instructor team alone. Keep these tips in mind when you introduce peer review to your students:

- Frame peer review as “helping to make work better”

- Allow time for peer review

- Provide a rubric and examples

- Give students a chance to practice

- Require a response to the peer feedback

- Get instructional design help

Helpful Resources

Check out the Collaborative Learning Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty book, which is available in full PDF in the Smathers Library. If you are off-campus, you must sign in using your Gatorlink account to access it.

- K. Patricia Cross Academy offers some great easy to adopt active learning techniques.

- Adapt this facilitator guidefor use in your breakout room activities.

- Small Changes in Teaching: The First 5 Minutes of Class . (Chronicle of Higher Education, 2016)

- Card Sort activities you copy, adapt, and use:

- Group work card sort

- Mind Map

Resources

Chickering, A.W., and Gamson, Z.F. (1987). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. AAHE Bulletin March 1987, 3-7

Freeman, S., Eddy, S.L., McDonough, M., Smith, M.K., Okoroafor, N., Jordt, H., and Wenderoth, M.P. (2014). Active learning increases student performance in science, engineering, and mathematics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 111, 8410-8415.

Haak, D.C., HilleRisLambers, J., Pitre, E., and Freeman, S. (2011). Increased structure and active learning reduce the achievement gap in introductory biology. Science 332, 1213–1216.

Hake, R. (1998). Interactive-engagement versus traditional methods: A six-thousand-student survey of mechanics test data for introductory physics courses. American Journal of Physics 66, 64-74

Lang, J. M. (2016). Small teaching: Everyday lessons from the science of learning.

Prince, M. (2004). Does active learning work? A review of the research. Journal of Engineering Education 93, 223-231.

23

Collaborative Learning

Alexandra Bitton-Bailey

Collaborative learning is two or more students laboring together and sharing the workload equitably as they progress towards intended learning outcomes. In addition, collaborative learning has three key design elements: intentional design, collaborating, and meaningful learning (Elizabeth Barkley).

Collaborative learning can occur in peer to peer settings or in larger groups. It helps students correct misunderstandings and clarifies misunderstanding through their joint efforts. Collaborative learning has many benefits which include:

- Developing higher-level thinking, communication skills, and leadership skills

- Promoting interaction

- Actively engaging students in the learning process

- Promoting participation and learning

- Increasing exposure to diverse perspectives

- Providing group members with a shared undertaking

- Increasing student retention, self-esteem, accountability, and success

However, collaborative learning presents some challenges. The greatest of which is that students often do not like group or collaborative work based on their previous experiences. If collaborative learning experiences are not planned and designed carefully, then students feel like the bulk of the work is done by a few (including themselves). Students don’t always see the value in the group work and consider it busy work with vague and confusing expectations. A few considerations to keep in mind to create valuable collaborative learning experiences that students enjoy and benefit from:

Intentional empowerment

Careful planning should be part of developing a collaborative learning environment. In doing so there should be an intentional effort in making sure that all students and perspectives are respected. Students should be comfortable sharing, knowing that there is “a no-tolerance policy for bullying, establishing clear classroom expectations, and celebrating introverts’ strengths through verbal encouragement and consistent feedback will encourage even the most soft-spoken students to collaborate (Burns, 2016).”

Complex learning activities

The real reason to collaborate is that the task is complex—it is too difficult and has too many pieces to complete alone. Complex activities are challenging, engaging, stimulating, and multilayered. Complex activities require “positive interdependence” (Johnson, Johnson & Holubec, 2008).

Teamwork

Make working in teams or groups a course learning objective showing the students the value of learning this skill. Sometimes students are unsure how collaboration contributes to learning. Explain to students the benefits of collaboration and what successful collaboration looks like. Plan to orient your students to their teammates, the assignment, and dedicate time to practice working in teams. It begins with identifying the learning tasks and prompts and then selecting and structuring a collaborative learning technique that fits the needs of the students.

Introduce and orient students to the activity early in the semester and provide clear directions and expectations. Give groups a chance to orient to each other as well. One recommended approach is to have groups develop a set of ground rules for participation, contributions, and decision making.

Scaffold the activity and include incremental deadlines, planning carefully for each stage of the group work. Explain to students how group work will operate and how they will be evaluated. Provide students with directions and expectations on self- and peer-assessment. Include rubrics and opportunities for students to practice giving feedback.

Three steps for short in-class collaborative activities:

- Introduce the task

- Provide ample time to engage in the task

- Report back

Five steps for larger group projects to ensure productive collaborative learning:

- Give students a chance to connect with peers in their group. Team quizzes, group resumes and icebreakers are all good orienting group activities

- Encourage students to develop a plan for how they will work together and communicate with each other

- Have students create a set of ground rules that outlines how they will work together and what actions they should take if groups members do not meet expectations

- Assign roles to group members that reflect the roles students would have in their respective fields

- Evaluate not only the product students develop but also the process of collaborative work, and allow students to give regular feedback on the quantity and quality of each other’s work

- Provide opportunities for regular check-ins and feedback

To help students orient to each other and to collaborative learning consider using ice breakers that are social in nature. For a group to work well together they should have a sense of trust which comes for knowing your teammates.

Social Icebreakers

Just as instructors who learn their students’ names show their students that they value them as individuals, instructors who help students get to know each other and form a community in which they identify shared interests and experiences, as well as intriguing differences, help students see the importance of knowing each other (from Collaborative Learning Techniques a Handbook for Faculty, 2016).

Interviews

Create a handout, Canvas quiz, or discussion with a few questions:

- What is your name?

- What is your academic major?

- How long have you been a student here?

- Why are you taking this class?

- Do you know what you plan to do when you finish school?

Form pairs or small groups and ask students to alternate interviewing each other (from Collaborative Learning Techniques a Handbook for Faculty, 2016).

Activities that focus on students as learners

Not many students have dedicated time and energy to figuring out how they learn best. Helping students become more self-aware of their own learning can help them better understand what makes them more effective learners, how they prefer to learn, and how they learn in relation to others.

Focused Autobiographical Sketches

Ask students to each write a one- or two-page autobiographical sketch focused on a successful (or unsuccessful) past learning experience that is relevant to learning in the current course. This provides information about the students’ self-concepts and self-awareness as learners within a specific field (Angelo & Cross, 1993, pp. 281–284). Pair students to share and discuss their responses before submitting the sketches.

Goal Ranking and Matching

In small groups have students identify the goals they have for the course ad their studies. Instruct them to rank the goals individually and then discuss their individual rankings within the groups and what might help them best achieve their goals.

Activities That Introduce Course Content

Collaborative activities can be used to introduce students to the course content, thus helping them get to know each other as they also learn the subject matter. These activities can help students identify useful prior knowledge and clarify learning gaps (from Collaborative Learning Techniques a Handbook for Faculty, 2016).

Problem Posting

Using a Think-Pair-Share model or a Round Robin Activity has learners identify problems and questions they think the course should address and answer (or, e.g., topics, questions, issues, information). This can be done in online group discussions or in a face-to-face setting. After groups complete the discussions together, have them report out in a follow-up whole-class discussion. Alternatively, the group recorder could share a summary of the discussion in Canvas. Use their responses to reinforce or clarify course goals and content. Consider augmenting planned course content to include modules or activities on student-generated ideas if their suggestions seem appropriate (McKeachie, 1994).

Course Concept Mapping

Give student groups a list of terms and concepts related to the course (or not) and have the groups work together to create a concept map sorting and connecting the course content. This can also be done online asynchronously or synchronously using a Google drawing or mind map maker.

For information on:

- Establishing ground rules: Teaching Center at Cornell and Washington University Center for Teaching and Learning and Start Talking a handbook for engaging Difficult Dialogues

- Ice Breakers: Teaching Center at Cornell and the Center for Teaching Excellence at UF

Orient Students to Collaborative Learning

In collaborative learning, students, like teachers, have new and different responsibilities from what they may be accustomed to in traditional education. To help ensure a quality experience that promotes learning, learners should be oriented to what collaborative learning really is, how it works, and how it can benefit them. The activities listed below can help students become better acquainted with collaborative work.

Ground Rules

Establish ground rules for discussions and group work with your students using a Libby Roderick “Start Talking” strategy. This involves students in the development and implementation of group rules and expectations. When they help create rules, they are more likely to follow them and hold others accountable for breaking the established guidelines.

Group Resume

Have learner groups create a collective resume of the diverse talents, skills, and previous knowledge of the members of their group. This helps to highlight the rich diversity of skills that the whole group brings to the table and identify ways in which each member can contribute.

Individual versus Group Quiz

Have students take an individual quiz that is particularly challenging due to its diversity and depth of content. Then have students take the same quiz with their team. Allow them to compare scores and answers they found individually and with their group.

Forming Groups

In collaborative learning or group work, there are three types of groups: formal, informal, and base. Informal groups are quickly formed most often for short term in-class activities. Formal groups are developed to achieve more complex learning goals. The goal of a formal group is generally to achieve a specific task such as a group project or paper. Finally, base groups are long term working groups that attend to a variety of tasks. These groups stay together for a semester or academic year and function much like a learning community that offers both support and encouragement as they work towards shared goals (Gabelnick, MacGregor, Matthews, & Smith, 1990; Johnson et al., 1991; Matthews, Smith, MacGregor, & Gabelnick, 1997; Tinto, Love, & Russo, 1994).

Group size depends on several factors—including goals and collaborative learning techniques. However, Michelle Farland recommends groups of 5-7 individuals. Groups this size tend to work best as groups of 4 splinter into pairs, and groups of three divide into a pair and an outsider. Smaller groups are limited in the work and perspectives available if all group members do not show up.

Selecting Group Members

Groups can be formed using any of the following methods:

Random Grouping

This method is most useful with informal groups.

- Using Canvas: to randomly assign students to groups

- Freeform: in a face-to-face setting, divide groups based on students’ physical proximity in the class

- Odd-even or count off: numerically devising group formation

- Jigsaw matchups: give students images and have them identify those who received the image’s identical match(es) to form a group. You can do the same using a piece of a well-known text

- Student Selection: allow students to form their own groups

Instructor Determined

This method is best used for formal or base groups.

- Show of hands: have students raise their hands to respond to a series of questions and assign groups based on their responses. This can also be done in Zoom as well!

- Student Sign-up: give students some agency by allowing them to select from areas of interest. Form groups based on expressed preferences

- Single-Statement Likert Scale Rating: Prepare a statement that encapsulates an important or controversial issue in the field on which attitudes and opinions will vary. Ask students to select from a five-point Likert scale the number that best describes their positions (1 = strongly agree to 5 = strongly disagree). Form groups based on the numbers they chose (from Collaborative Learning Techniques a Handbook for Faculty, 2016)

- Data Sheet: develop a data sheet that can be passed out with the syllabus or incorporated in to Canvas to gather information about the students (demographics, interests, strengths, majors, etc.…) use the data collected to form groups

Group Roles

In smaller groups (e.g. 4-5), students have less opportunity to not participate, and in essence, hide while still benefiting from enough divergent points of view. Assign roles or specific tasks that help ensure a high degree of individual accountability (Johnson, Johnson & Holubec, 2008). Try to design activities that will allow you to create roles that resemble the roles in the professional environment. In addition, plan to evaluate both the product teams develop and the process of working in teams.

Common roles include:

- Facilitator

- Recorder

- Reporter

- Timekeeper

- Materials Manager

- Wildcard

Decision-Making Techniques

An important aspect of group work is decision making. Groups must agree or decide how to come to an agreement on the direction their collective work will take.

It is a good idea to have groups think about decision making while they are establishing their ground rules. Some common decision-making methods include:

- Authority- an identified leader has the final say

- Majority- a pre-selected majority come to the decision

- Negative minority- group votes to eliminate the most unpopular idea and repeats the process until only one idea remains

- Consensus- negotiations take place until all come to an agreement

- Criteria- group identifies criteria prior to making any decisions

- Compromise- combine solutions and perspective to arrive at an agreeable end

Reporting Back and Frequent Discussions

Rich discussions that connect students with the experiences of others, that engage them deeply in a shared intellectual experience, and that promote coming to consensus are essential to collaboration (Burns, 2016). Reporting the results of their collaborative work gives students an opportunity for closure. This can be done through gallery walks, presentations, poster sessions, or symposiums. Try to identify and use a means of reporting out that most resemble how this happens in your field. For more ideas for reporting back, activities see the Collaborative Learning Techniques Handbook for Faculty.

Grading and Evaluating Group Work

When evaluating group work it is important to evaluate both the product (knowledge and skills acquired in a course) and the process (team communication, management, and citizenship).

In addition, group work can be evaluated individually or as a whole or blended. A blended evaluation will look at the individual students’ contributions to the work as well as the sum of the collective group effort. Including multiple opportunities for peer and instructor feedback is essential when evaluating group work. Give students a rubric by which to evaluate the contributions and participation of their teammates. This gives everyone an opportunity to make changes and improve during the semester.

Peer Evaluation Sample Form :

Collaborative Techniques Examples

Do not reinvent the wheel! Loads of great collaborative learning techniques are available for you to get inspired by and use in your classes. You can check out some of our favorites which include:

Jigsaw: In Jigsaws, students work in small groups to develop knowledge about a given topic before teaching what they have learned to another group.

Fishbowl: In Fishbowls, students form concentric circles with a small group inside and a larger group outside. Students in the inner circle engage in an in-depth discussion, while students in the outer circle listen and critique content, logic, and group interaction.

Class Book: For a Class Book, individual students work together to plan and ultimately submit a scholarly essay or research paper. Then all students’ papers are published together.

Three-Step Interview:

1. Place students into groups of three.

2. Assign each student a role: Interviewer, Interviewee, Note-taker.

3. Rotate roles after each interview.

4. Have students take turns sharing the information that they recorded when they were the note-taker.

Group Grid: In a Group Grid, group members are given pieces of information and asked to place them in the blank cells of a grid according to category rubrics, which helps them clarify conceptual categories and develop sorting skills.

Team Anthology: Have students work together to create an anthology based on a given topic within the content of the course

Case Studies: With Case Studies, student teams review a real-life problem scenario in depth. Team members apply course concepts to identify and evaluate alternative approaches to solving the problem.

Resources

1. Barkley, E. F., Cross, K. P., & Major, C. H. (2014). Collaborative Learning Techniques : A Handbook for College Faculty (Vol. Second edition). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

2. Mary Burns, 5 Strategies to Deepen Student Collaboration

3. Teaching Beyond the Podium Podcast:

- Leveling up project-based learning

- Active game learning

4. Center for Teaching Innovation (Cornell University): Collaborative Learning

5. Health Science Center Faculty Development (University of Florida): TBL at UF

6. Team-Based Learning: TBL Collaborative

7. Health Science Center Faculty Development (University of Florida): TBL Resources

Research

1. C.J. Brame & R. Biel (2015): Setting up and facilitating group work Using cooperative learning groups effectively

2. Barbara L. Smith & Jean T. MacGregor (1992): What is Collaborative Learning? (pdf)

3. L.K. Michaelsen & M. Sweet (2008): TBL Backward Design (pdf)

24

Group Problem-Solving

Jennifer Smith

Students collaborate asynchronously online to solve challenging problems.

Delphi Method of Problem Solving

Dr. Shawn Weatherford discusses course logistics with colleagues.

Practice solving genetics problems is the heart of PCB3063 Genetics. Dr. Thomas Niehaus and Jennifer Smith designed a series of asynchronous discussion board posts to allow online students to solve problems that would be too difficult for a student to solve alone.

The Rand Corporation originally created the “Delphi Method” for defense research.  It was a time-efficient method to gain consensus from a group of experts. (Linstone & Turoff, 2002)  Features of this technique include:

- The opportunity for all group members to make a meaningful contribution.

- It uses asynchronous communication (very helpful for busy online students!)

- In business applications, Delphi activities can extend to three or more rounds of discussion.

- In order to keep the Genetics students moving through the course material, the Delphi rounds were limited to two in this course.

How to use this activity

1. Explain how the Delphi Method works (adapt the student instructions below)

2. Create a problem that is too difficult for a student to solve alone

3. Create groups of 5 – 7 students

4. Create a separate Canvas discussion forum for each Delphi Round

- Allow threaded replies

- Users must post before seeing replies (important!)

- Graded (if desired)

- Allow liking

- Tip: use a short name such as Wk# DD1 to avoid expanding the gradebook too much

5. Assign the discussion to your student groups.

6. Create a Canvas Assignment for the final solution submission.

- Assign to everyone

7. Allow time sufficient time between each of the Delphi discussion rounds and the assignment submissions for students to view the solutions proposed by their peers and re-think their own solution.

8. Be sure to provide an opportunity for students to ask questions about the problem.

Student Instructions

Preparation

1. Watch the chapter overview video.

2. View the notes and do the reading in the eText.

3. Take the chapter quiz (6 points).

Delphi Discussion Round 1

1. Take your best stab at working the problems in the problem set.

2. Post your first attempt in the Delphi Discussion – 1 forum (2 points)

3. Read the posts from the other members of your group.

4. Ask questions about what others have done.

5. Respond to questions with your thoughts.

6. Use the “like” to tag solutions you think are correct.

Delphi Discussion Round 2

1. Armed with the thoughts from your group, take another stab at solving the problem.

2. Post your second attempt in the Delphi Discussion – 2 forum (2 points)

3. Read the posts from the other members of your group.

4. Ask any questions.

5. Respond to questions with your thoughts.

6. Use the “like” to tag solutions you think are correct.

Final Solution

1. Submit your final solution to the Canvas Assignment tool. (4 points)

2. You can enter text and use the formula tool within the submission box OR

3. You can photograph your solution and upload the image file OR

4. You can attach a Word document to your submission.

If you find you are having trouble with the problem sets

- Post your question on the FAQ Discussion Forum.

- These questions will be answered during office hour web conference.

- Attend one of the office hour sessions via Zoom.

- View the recording of the office hour.

Meet with members of your group (you can use Zoom for this) to work on the problem sets. NOTE:  If members of your group can’t meet when you can, post on the FAQ Discussion to find study partners.  (Niehaus & Smith, 2017)

References

Linstone, H. A., & Turoff, M. (2002, August 14). The Delphi method: Techniques and Applications. Retrieved from Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/document/264836379/Linstone-and-Turoff-The-Delphi-Method-Techniques-and-Applications

Niehaus, T., & Smith, J. (2017, August). PCB3063 Genetics. Retrieved from University of Florida Canvas course site.

25

"Escape Box" Puzzles

Jennifer Smith and Micah Jenkins

Modeled on the popular escape room puzzles, boxes containing puzzles and locked secrets can be an engaging way to combine teamwork and scavenger hunt activities. Stacey Curtis, Pharm.D. and Angelina Vascimini, a 4th-year student at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy presented this idea at the 2019 Interface Conference. This article describes the design, logistics, and tips for setting up your own escape box activity.

Escape puzzles can be used to:

- Hold students accountable for doing the reading.

- Practice analysis and problem-solving skills.

- Foster teamwork.

- Provide a fun break!

View Rachel Slivon’s presentation: Create an Escape Room with Your Syllabus Content (35:00) starting at 35 minutes into the video (chapter 2).

Considerations

Items to consider when planning your escape box:

- Time. It took about 80 hours of work to research ideas for ciphers, plan and create 6 clues for 5 boxes. (Use the ciphers described here to save some time!)

- Thought. Give yourself at least a week to think about clues that will support your learning goals (This isn’t as easy as you might think!)

- Boxes. Consider box size and storage availability as you will most likely want to re-use your boxes.

- Boxes/Pouches for Locked Secrets. With some crafty creativity, you can use inexpensive pencil pouches and boxes to contain your clues. These have the advantage of being space-efficient, and some have clear plastic windows for hints. (See the end of this chapter for details.)

- Locks. You’ll need small programmable locks. Inexpensive 3-digit locks can be found on Amazon.com. (NOTE: Unfortunately, these cannot be purchased through Amazon.com with a University of Florida purchasing card.)

- Quantity. Teams of 5 – 6 with 5 – 6 locked secrets work well. This makes it possible for each participant to work on a clue. Savvy teams will divide and conquer. You’ll need a box with your chosen number of secrets for each team.

- Iterate. We strongly recommend trying your puzzles out with a test group.  Be prepared to make revisions. See the prototype tips at the end of this chapter.

- Digital. We used a mix of digital and physical clues. It is possible to create a fully online escape activity. View suggestions on how to do this on the Engaging and Effective Teaching Blog.

Planning

Determine the amount of time you would like participants to spend on the activity as this will dictate the difficulty level of the clues. Six Lower-level knowledge or scavenger hunt clues can be solved in approximately 20 minutes by a team of 5. Higher-level application or problem-solving clues will take more time. Keep in mind that the puzzles should be challenging, but not to the point of frustration.

Use post-it notes, a large piece of paper, or a digital diagramming tool to plan out how the players will get to the numerical code that will unlock the secret. You can provide more than one path, and you can include a clue to a different puzzle along with the secret.

It can be helpful to diagram how players will work their way through each clue to unlock the secret.

Distractors

After you have planned out your puzzles, add a few items that will be distractors. These can be just about any object, booklet, or set of cards that looks like it might be something, but in reality, is not. Conference swag is ideal for this purpose. We found that we needed very few of these.

Puzzles

Use a variety of ciphers to encrypt clues or lock codes. It is a good idea to use icons or stickers to designate the clues, ciphers, and locked secrets that go together. Clearly mark the clues that will be found on the Internet. TheNounProject is a great place to get free icons that represent just about everything. (A low educational subscription price will save you time in citing the icon source.) Avoid relying on color alone to tie clues together as this could disadvantage colorblind players.

Booklet with Cutouts

A booklet or pamphlet can be combined with a piece of paper with holes cut in it to reveal a lock combination. You’ll need enough copies of the booklet so that you can include one in each box. Find a page that has enough numbers on it to provide a code. Pages with numbered lists work well.

Scan the identified page and print it out. Stack the printed page on a blank piece of paper and use a paper punch (if the holes are close enough to the edge) to make holes on the correct numbers. If the numbers are in the middle of the page, use an X-acto knife to cut the holes.

Crossword Puzzle

A short crossword puzzle can be created quickly using an online generator.

A crossword puzzle can be created pretty quickly using an online puzzle generator such as this Online Instant Puzzle Maker. These tools allow you to enter your own clues and answers.

In order to re-use the crosswords, we printed them on card stock, laminated them and provided fine point dry erase markers. Our players found the clues to be much more difficult than we had expected, so we had to revise them for a couple of iterations.

Disk Cipher

Spin the outer wheel to line up with letters on the inner wheel which reveal the number code.

A disk or wheel decoder with letters and numbers can be used to provide a lock code. A Google search will provide many printable versions that you can choose from, such as this Secret Decoder Wheel from DabblesandBabbles.com.

Print the wheels out on card stock paper, cut them out, and fasten together in the center. It is a good idea to include an icon and color code to help the players match the wheel decoder to the correct puzzle.

Fill in the Blank

Fill in the blank questions are easy to use in escape boxes. You can re-purpose questions from old assignments by rewriting them as fill in the blank questions with very specific answers. Limit the possible responses by providing squares, one for each letter of the answer. Highlight certain squares to indicate that the content inside of it is a part of the unlock code.

Google Form

Use Google Forms to create a short answer or multiple choice question. Create a quiz using Google Forms. Provide the unlock code as the feedback players receive when they have answered the question correctly. For another twist, use a QR code to lead players to the Google Form.

Use the settings menu to create a quiz that returns immediate feedback.

To set up your form, go to your Google Drive account and select “Create new” from the left menu. If you do not commonly use Google Forms, you’ll need to select “More” from the bottom of the menu.

- Choose “Settings” from the upper right menu

- Select “Quizzes”

- Move the slider that says “Make this a quiz”

- Choose “Release grade immediately after submission”

- Below “Respondents can see” check the boxes allowing them to see:

- Missed questions (let players know they got the question wrong)

- Correct answers (enter the unlock code here)

Invisible Ink

Purchase invisible ink pens and blacklight flashlights (available through Amazon.com). Write your message using the pen and include the flashlight in the escape box. If you want to make it more challenging, add words or images in regular ink to disguise the invisible message.

Pictographs or Rebus

In this pictograph, hand plus book equals “handbook.”

Create a puzzle using pictures or icons (TheNounProject is a good source). Images from course content can help to reinforce concepts.

Process Cards

Write each of the steps that comprise a process on a card. Add the combination lock numbers to the bottoms of three of the cards so that they will reveal the code when placed in the correct order (example: nitrogen cycle).

Red Reveal

Before you place the clear red plastic on top, the red reveal message just looks like a jumble of different colored text.

After the red plastic is placed on top of the multi-colored text, you can read the message.

When you layer yellow, magenta, and red text on top of each other, you can hide a message written with cyan ink. When you place a piece of clear red plastic on top, it filters out the red and yellow so that you only see the cyan message. I adjusted the transparency of the layers of type in order to hide the message effectively. This took a bit of trial and error as I had to test print each version. A Photoshop file you can use to create your own message is available from Clean Energy Wiki.

Web Scavenger Hunt

Identify a web resource that contains numbers. Chapter or module numbers work well. Provide clues that guide players to the resource and then help them determine the correct code.

Scytale Cipher

When the coded strip of paper is wrapped around the cylinder, a secret message is revealed.

Buy a cylindrical mailing tube and cut it into smaller cylinders. We found that the cardboard tubes from toilet paper and paper towel rolls also worked well, but were not as sturdy. Wrap a long strip of paper around the tube and write the secret message horizontally across the strip along with other random symbols and letters. When the strip of paper is unwrapped, the symbols and letters on it should be nonsensical. When the strip is wrapped around the cylinder, the coded secret message will be revealed.

I found that participants had a difficult time wrapping the paper around the cylinder, and some participants wrapped the paper in the wrong direction. We remedied this by adding velcro tabs to the strip and the cylinder, along with an arrow to indicate the direction in which the strip should be wrapped.

Equipment

Pencil Pouches

In order to reduce cost and storage space, we used inexpensive pencil pouches ($1.35) and boxes ($.99) purchased from OfficeDepot.

Note the small, white nylon loop sewn into the blue pencil case.

The pencil pouch zippers have a hole that allows a small luggage lock to go through it. A loop of nylon cord was pulled through the pouch seam with a crochet hook and hand-sewn into place (a stapler would also work). Each end of the cord was knotted, and the ends melted with a match or candle.

These inexpensive plastic pencil boxes have overlapping tabs. We drilled holes that lined up to allow a lock to be threaded through.

Big Box Lock

Duct tape strips,hole-punched plastic, and a combination lock kept the box secure.

You’ll need to devise a way to lock the large box containing the smaller pouches, boxes, and clues. We laid pieces of duct tape on top of each other (sticky sides together) and then wrapped those around the box like a present. A piece of plastic (cut from a plastic folder) with a hole punched in it was layered between the duct tape on the lower strip. The plastic passed through the upper duct tape and then the lock went through the hole in the plastic. There’s probably a better way to do this. Please share if you figure something out!

Prototype

Once you have planned out your clues and ciphers, create a rough prototype. Don’t spend a lot of time making it “pretty.” As you put the clues together, keep in mind that players may not necessarily solve the clue in the most obvious way. For example, if you are using the tube wrap, they might wrap the paper strip in the wrong direction. You may need to provide a hint, such as an arrow to indicate the correct direction.

Ask colleagues, students, family members, or graduate assistants to be your testers for a test run. Time them and take notes as they go through the puzzles. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! We guarantee that you will find at least one thing that completely frustrates your testers. We conducted two rounds of testing before we used the boxes in a workshop.

Use the feedback from the prototype to revise your puzzles. Depending upon how much revision was necessary, you may want to do another test. If only minor revisions were necessary, you can go ahead and create the boxes. Even with the testing, our players found the clues to be much more difficult than we had expected.

Production

If you will be setting up more than 2 or 3 boxes, it is likely to be worthwhile to use digital tools to create clues that can be printed out. If your boxes will be used multiple times with the same clues, consider printing on card stock. If you have clues that participants will write on, such as fill in the blank or crossword puzzles, they can be laminated to support reuse. You’ll need to provide fine point dry erase markers to use with those clues.

Escape Box Activity

When it is time for the escape box activity, set a box on each table. Provide any rules orally, in a handout, or on a PowerPoint (or all three). Spice up the activity by providing prizes to the group that finishes first (determine how you will handle a tie). Once each group has a box and you have answered any questions, you can signal the start.

Keep track of the time so that you can make adjustments if the players take more or less time than you had planned. Float around the room and offer hints to groups if they get stuck on a clue. Make note of these sticking points so that you can either revise the box or the preparation assignments.

There you have it! An engaging and fun team activity that can support learning goals. Please share any new puzzle types that you create.

26

Digital "Escape Box" Puzzles

Micah Jenkins

In both digital and traditional escape boxes, the goal for participants is the same: Use a series of clues to solve puzzles for codes that unlock “secrets,” the information that is hidden behind locks. Digital and traditional escape boxes both offer the same benefits to students: In both cases, the activity offers a fun way to foster teamwork, and encourages critical thinking and problem solving skills all while supporting your learning goals. Digital escape boxes, however, have some additional benefits:

- work well for limited or $0 budgets

- don’t need to be reassembled before they can be used again

- don’t have to be transported from place to place

- can be used in large enrollment courses

Considerations

Digital and physical escape boxes have some things in common that you should consider when planning:

- Thought. Take time to consider how the clues and puzzles you create support your learning goals.

- Quantity. Groups of 5-6 with 5-6 puzzles to unlock work well.

There are additional items to consider when planning your digital escape box:

- Time. It took about 80 hours to research and create 6 clues, puzzles, and locks for 5 physical escape boxes. It took an additional 50 hours of work to retool them for the digital format. Plan accordingly.

- Technology. Make sure none of the sites and tools you use require a subscription that students may not have. Be sure to check that you aren’t using sites or tools that are blocked by your institution’s internet filters. Lastly, make sure you have a stable internet connection.

- Distribution. Think about how students will access your escape box. You should also make sure than any links to documents your provide lead participants to a “view only” version.

Planning

This is one of the more time-consuming parts of creating an escape box. You’ll need to comb through your resources to find content that can serve as clues to help solve puzzles, but your online escape box doesn’t have to complicated and drawn out to be an effective teaching tool. It just needs to take your course goals into consideration. Ideally, your digital escape box will take about 20-30 minutes to solve.

You should diagram your escape box by mapping how and in what order each puzzle should be solved. Your diagram will likely depend on which site you use to host your digital escape box. Google Sites, or a WordPress site are both great places to house your escape box, but we used Google Drawings. We also used Google Drawings to create a visual representation of our escape box. Google Drawings allowed us to easily combine various elements, such as text, shapes, links, and images in one place and it allowed for participants in different locations to access the same document at the same time. Just be sure to share your escape box with a “view only” link to make sure that participants can’t edit content as they try to solve each puzzle.

Puzzles

In order to challenge participants and make the escape box more enjoyable, include different types of puzzles.  Breakout Edu is a great source of ideas for a variety of different puzzle types. Their list of puzzle resources and their community-sourced document both offer helpful advice and links to different online tools for creating various styles of puzzles and clues.

You’ll also need to find a way for participants to determine which puzzles are related and how to solve them. For our digital escape room, we used colors and arrows to indicate which clues were related. We also used icons to indicate when the participants should take additional actions to solve the puzzle, such as navigating to a specific website.

We wanted our puzzles to include clickable elements. Unfortunately, Google Drawings doesn’t allow for this capability so we found a workaround that let us embed clickable links by overlaying transparent layers over images:

A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://ufl.pb.unizin.org/instructorguide/?p=617

Crossword Puzzles

We created our own crossword puzzle using the online generator Crossword Labs. Just about any online crossword puzzle generator will work, but we chose this one because it allowed us to create a passcode that could be entered to make edits to the puzzle at a later time. If you use this site, make sure you remember your passcode because once it is forgotten it cannot be recovered. Crossword Labs also has a number of options for sharing your crossword puzzle once it is completed – you can embed it into whichever platform hosts your escape box or give participants Microsoft Word or pdf versions. You can also share your puzzle across popular online services like Facebook, Reddit, LinkedIn, and Twitter as well as lesser known services like Diaspora and Papaly.

Rebus Puzzles

This rebus puzzle depicts the word “classroom.”

Rebus puzzles combine images, icons and words to create secret messages. The Noun Project is a good source for images, and online tools like the Rebus Generator immediately encode the text you type in.

Fill in the Blank

Puzzles of this type make excellent clues because they allow you to re-purpose questions from homework, tests and other course material by rewriting them as fill in the blank questions. To limit student responses use boxes or lines to indicate the number of letters in the answer. Highlight lines or boxes to indicate that the letters or numbers in those spaces are a lock combination or an additional hint.

Jigsaw Puzzles

Jigsaw puzzles make a great digital alternative to physical process cards. Rather than printing out cards that must be sorted into the correct order, take an image of the cards in the correct order and convert it into a jigsaw puzzle.

When the puzzle is assembled a secret code is revealed.

Add a series of letters, words, or numbers to the cards in the image so that they reveal a combination or clue when participants successfully complete the puzzle. We used Jigsaw Planet to create our puzzles which allowed us to set the level of difficulty for the puzzle and choose the shape of its pieces.

Translation/Substitution Cipher

Translation ciphers work by substituting letters with another set of seemingly randomized letters. To create a translation cipher, first write out the message that you want to encode. Next, swap every letter or letter cluster in your message with a different letter or letter cluster. Create a key to help participants decode your message. Cryptii.com makes it easy to create substitution ciphers as well as a number of other types of encoded messages.

Locks

In a physical escape box, locks are straightforward – you simply need a combination or keyed lock along with clues that guide participants to the combination or key.  However, your digital escape room may require you to get more creative. We chose to use Google Forms to lock away our secrets. With Google forms, you can make the combinations for your locks any words, numbers or letters of your choosing. You can also add in hints when participants enter an incorrect combination. Google Forms gives you the ability to view and timestamp participant responses which is particularly useful because it allows you to keep track of which group finishes first and it helps you to choose winners in the event of a close tie.

A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://ufl.pb.unizin.org/instructorguide/?p=617

Production

Before you use your digital escape box in the classroom, provide a link to a group of users who will evaluate its design. Before we officially launched our escape box, we provided a test link to 12 of our colleagues and had to make quite a few revisions after they tested it. Ask test users to make notes on which puzzles seem too hard or too easy and use their feedback to adjust them accordingly. This testing phase is also a good opportunity to make sure that the escape box is as accessible as possible. Makes sure that your site is easy to navigate. Take the time to add captions to videos and adjust the text contrast to ensure readability for all users.

Activity Launch

When it is time for the activity, divide the participants into groups, and give them a link to the escape box. If you are conducting a synchronous online session, separate each participant group into their own online “rooms.” Take the time to explain the rules, and go over any keys or legends that will be used. Find a few volunteers who can float around the online rooms and offer hints or explain any rules that are unclear.  Finally, offer a prize to the first group to successfully complete all of the puzzles.

Please share any resources you find with the Center for Teaching Excellence.

Resources

Ch00k. (2020, August 18). Digital Escape Rooms with ThingLink & Google Forms. Retrieved August 27, 2020.

VI

Online Teaching and Learning

27

New to Online Teaching?

Jennifer Smith

Dr. Shawn Weatherford reviews his lightboard video recording for a physics course.

At its core, online teaching has the same goals as face-to-face teaching: helping students learn.  Some students may prefer online courses for their flexibility, while others prefer the relative anonymity of the online space. It is important to remember that successful teaching online requires different strategies than face-to-face. Just as a painting is different than a photograph, online teaching requires some thought and planning to make the best use of different mediums.

There are four main areas that need special attention:

1. Build community among students

2. Effective communication between instructor and students

- This includes quality feedback

- Messages, office hours and lectures (whether recorded or delivered synchronously)

3. Clear expectations and accountability

4. Provide opportunities for meaningful engagement with the course material

A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://ufl.pb.unizin.org/instructorguide/?p=1028

Emergency Online Teaching

Request your fall Canvas course site through my.ufl.edu. (as soon as possible). Once you have logged in:

- Main Menu > Student Information System > Online Learning > Canvas Course Request

- Enter the code for Fall of 2020 into the “term” textbox: 2208

- The courses that have been assigned to you will display

IMPORTANT:  If you plan to cross-list/combine multiple sections into one shell this must be done before course shells are automatically created (usually the week prior to the start of classes)

Communication

When teaching online, it is important to communicate how students will engage with you and the course material. This information doesn’t necessarily need to be in the syllabus, but it does need to be somewhere students can find it easily. Don’t assume that students know how an online course works!

Items to communicate:

- How you will deliver lectures (asynchronous, synchronous via Zoom, both, etc.)

- How your students will engage with the course content (assignments, discussion, etc.)

- How you will assess whether students have achieved course learning goals and objectives (quizzes, exams, assignments, etc.)

- How students will communicate with you (virtual office hours, open Canvas discussion, Canvas Inbox, etc.)

- Provide details about technologies you will be using, including VPN and proctoring

- Spell out your expectations for interaction or netiquette (edit these guidelines to meet your needs)

IMPORTANT! Publish Your Canvas Course

It starts the semester off poorly if students are unable to access their course materials on the first day of classes. Students may feel anxious about participating in an online course to begin with, those feelings can be magnified by delays and lack of communication.

To do so, complete the following steps:

1. In your Canvas shell, select “Settings”

2. Under the “Course Details” tab, set the Start date and time (e.g., May 11, 2020, 8:00 am)

3. Select the box next to “Restrict students from viewing this course before start date”

4. Select “Update Course Details” at the bottom of the page when done

5. Go back to the home page, and select “Publish” under Course Status at the upper right

Set your desired start date and time. Double-check the am/pm setting.

This allows students to view your course on the Start date and time you set. This also allows you to provide early access to the course. Some students greatly appreciate the opportunity to review course materials before the start of classes. However, they may send you questions right away, so don’t publish the course before the start of classes if you aren’t available to answer questions.

Welcome Message

The sooner you start communicating with the students in your class, the better! Set up a Canvas Announcement that will be sent out as soon as your course is published. If you do this in advance, there will be one less thing to worry about during the hectic first week!

1. Select “Announcements” from the left navigation

2. Click the “+ Announcement” button in the upper right

3. Enter your “Topic Title” at the top of the screen

4. Enter your welcome message in the text box

- Link directly to course elements, such as the syllabus

- Adapt the sample message (below) to meet your needs.

5. Post to “All Sections”

6. You can schedule the announcement to be delivered automatically on the first day of class

- Select “Delay posting” and schedule the announcement to post as soon after your course is set to publish as possible. (Be sure to select “a.m.”)

- Set the remaining options

7. Important: Save your Announcement

Enter the date and time you would like the announcement to be sent.

Hello Everyone!

I will be your instructor for [Course name]. The class will begin at 8:00 a.m. on May 11, but I’d like to give you some information to help you get a head start.  Please view my syllabus <link to syllabus>.  Please go ahead and purchase the required texts as you will need them right away.

[textbook and other resource information here, including required technologies]

Follow these directions to log into the course.

1. Go to <link to your Canvas course>

2. Use your gatorlink username and password to log in.

3. View the materials and complete the [first activity] located [page, assignment, discussion]

4. Don’t delay logging into the course as you have assignments that will be due soon!

If you have trouble logging into the e-Learning system, contact the HelpDesk: helpdesk@ufl.edu or call (352) 392-4357. (352-392-HELP)

I look forward to an interesting semester with you!

Sincerely,

[Instructor Name]

Adapt Course Materials for Online

- Organized materials and assignments help students get started quickly and reduce emails.

- Modules provide an easy way to organize content.

- Course templates provide pre-populated content that you can modify.

- Consider adopting asynchronous best practices and modifying assessments to rely on more authentic assessment.

Emergency Online Teaching Resources

No Walls Teaching

This guided workshop is designed to help you shift a face-to-face course to remote teaching. It is divided into four main sections:  Organize, Engage, Create, and Connect. The workshop provides a “toolkit” of resources including:

- Assignment planning worksheet

- Course planning template

- Course page template

- Sample teaching and communication checklist

Self-register for this workshop NOTE: This workshop includes opportunities to submit materials for feedback. These “assignments” are only required if you would like to receive Passport to Great Teaching “miles.” Completion of the workshop activities will earn 300 miles.

CITT Faculty Self-Service Resources

This resource covers best practices in online teaching and walks you through the steps of creating a module for an online course. It includes details for using course templates that can be downloaded from Canvas Commons. View Faculty Self-Service Resources.

Quality Course Design

The resources listed above will help you to put together a reasonable online course in a time-efficient manner. However, creating the best online learning experience for your students requires thought and planning. Use the resources listed below to build upon the work you have already done.

“Great” Online Course Series

This at-your-own-pace workshop series is designed to save you time with practical suggestions and planning resources for your online course development. You’ll start your course creation as you go through these workshops. If you’re teaching an online course that has already been created you may move directly to the Teach a Great Online Course workshop. Register for one or more of these workshops.

Design a Great Online Course

- Create a preliminary plan for online course development.

- Use the UF + Quality Matters standards as a guide for creating a great online course. (Canvas login required)

- Create a course map to plan your course objectives, assessments, and learning activities.

Build a Great Online Course

- Use the UF + Quality Matters standards to identify the features of a quality online course. (Canvas login required)

- Align your course objectives, assessments, content, and learning activities to create a course map.

- Identify technology needs to support your course objectives and activities.

- Describe good practice for technology use.

Teach a Great Online Course

As you move through the workshop, you will create the following resources for your course:

- Notes on how the UF + Quality Matters standards apply to your course

- Personal introduction message

- Communication plan

- Weekly task checklist

28

CTE Remote Teaching Toolkit - Planning

Jennifer Smith

If you are new to using technology for teaching, the wide array of tools and techniques can be daunting. Where do you start? This chapter describes how to adapt your face-to-face syllabus and assignments to the online environment. If you would like help with this process, please join the No Walls Teaching Summer 2020 Workshop. This is an at-your-own-pace guided online workshop that includes opportunities for consultations and feedback.

It is useful to go through an online learning experience yourself so that you can see how things work. Here are some things to keep in mind:

1. Online, as in the classroom, the human-to-human connection between instructor and student is the most important element

2. Keep things simple

3. Communicate with your students frequently (see point #1)

4. The recommendations in this Toolkit are suggestions only, ignore whatever doesn’t work for you, your course, or your students

You can also watch the CTE Online Teaching Toolkit workshop recording (1:43:33). Skip the sections that do not support your teaching needs.

Step-by-Step

Think about the shift to remote teaching in three main stages. They build upon each other, so we suggest that you go through them in order.

Plan

1. Use your existing syllabus to develop a weekly class structure

2. Identify interesting assignments and assessments that help students connect with the course topics in a meaningful way

3. Plan interim deadlines for larger assignments to keep students on track

Create

1. Import a template from CanvasCommons to create a Canvas “Page”

2. Use the plan/syllabus you have developed to set up a prototype module

3. Duplicate your prototype to create the rest of your modules

4. Identify existing resources and plug them into your course pages

Connect

1. Incorporate social interaction and activities into your course

2. Import a sample communication/teaching plan from CanvasCommons

3. Customize the communication plan to meet the needs of your course

4. Set up automated announcements

Preparation Goal

A quality online course has a lot of moving parts. This toolkit is designed to help you focus on the pieces that are most important for a good student experience. These are the minimum elements that should be ready to go the week before the start of classes:

- Canvas course shell is published – Publish the shell as soon as you get it (students won’t see it until the class start date)

- View more details about the Canvas course request process

- The final syllabus is available in Canvas (note the recent COVID-19 additions to the UF Syllabus Policy)

- Placeholders for all assignments,  discussions, quizzes and exams are set up in Canvas

- All deadlines and points are set in Canvas

- Why? Students want to see how much work they will be expected to do

- By setting the deadlines only in the assignments, you will avoid putting an incorrect deadline somewhere

- Deadlines should be double- and triple-checked (it is MUCH easier to correct errors before students find them)

- You have created a friendly welcome message using your preferred medium

- The first two weeks of content are set up in Canvas

- All links have been double- and triple-checked

- Why the first two weeks? This allows you to stay just ahead of the students

- The more content that is ready to go in Canvas, the better

Organize & Simplify

Assignments & Activities

Use the Assignments Worksheet to list the activities you currently use in your course. (Don’t like this worksheet? Use whatever format you prefer.)

- Describe what you expect students to learn from the activity

- Focus on what the assignment needs to DO

- The following types of activities are commonly used online:

- Asynchronous discussions

- Making Good Use of Online Discussion Boards (K. Patricia Cross Academy)

- Synchronous discussions in small groups

- Facilitating Discussions During a Videoconference (K. Patricia Cross Academy)

- Collaborative Learning

- Annotated reading in Perusall

- Student presentations

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://ufl.pb.unizin.org/instructorguide/?p=1105

Assignments Worksheet

Look at your Assignments Worksheet with a critical eye. Here are the things you should have:

- Current Assignments

- What are students expected to learn from this?

- What steps do students follow?

- Online Assignments

- Possible tool(s)

- Online steps

- Listing everything that students will need and do helps to ensure that you have everything ready for them (this can significantly reduce student questions and frustration as well as make your life easier!)

Assessments

How do you know whether students have learned what you intend? That is where assessment comes in. Assessments that double as learning activities provide a big bang for the time spent by both student and instructor. The ideal assessment parallels the work done in the discipline and is frequently referred to as “authentic” assessment.

- Identify assessment instruments

- Determine academic integrity needs

- List any scaffolding or preparation needs

Review your face-to-face assessments:

- Determine what adjustments (if any) might be necessary to use them online

- Review good practice for your preferred type of assessment in A Practical Guide to Assessment by Dr. Tim Brophy

- Provide your students with more than one way to demonstrate their learning

- Identify academic integrity challenges

- It is recommended that online assessments that comprise 15% or more of the course grade use academic integrity measures such as an anti-plagiarism checker (Turnitin) or proctoring (Honorlock)

- See CITT’s UF Instructional Tools for details about the available technologies

- “Authentic” assessments such as projects tend to be less prone to cheating

- Interim deadlines can also help to reduce cheating

- The more “real world” you can make your assessment, the better!

- View the Special Report: Promoting Academic Integrity in Online Education

- Interested in trying something completely different?

- Request a consultation with an Instructional Designer or the Center for Teaching Excellence

Good Practice for Exams

Depending upon the course content and the size of the class, multiple-choice exams may be the only feasible assessment for your course. If this is the case, these suggestions can help reduce student frustration.

- Provide a “review” opportunity such as a practice exam to help students prepare

- Create a bank of questions that will randomly draw a certain number of questions for each student

- Randomize the questions and answers

- Provide the UF Honor Pledge as the first question requiring students to select yes/no they understand the academic integrity requirements and they have not given nor received assistance

- Consider using “higher-order” multiple-choice questions that refer to a case or other analysis activity as Dr. Tim Brophy describes in his video, “Difficulty and Cognitive Complexity” Module 3e from A Practical Guide To Assessment

Two-Stage Collaborative Assessment

Dr. David Julian

Turn your exam into a learning activity with Two-Stage Collaborative Assessment as described by Dr. David Julian in this Teaching Beyond the Podium podcast from season two.

“Two-Stage Collaborative Assessment” (15:43)

Online Proctoring

At present, there is no magical technology that keeps students from cheating on exams. Online proctoring services use either live recordings (ProctorU) or recorded video and algorithms (Honorlock) to identify cheating behaviors. Technology issues can cause student anxiety that can keep a student from doing well on an exam.

- Give students a low- or no-points assignment to allow them to test out the proctoring service

- Provide details about the proctoring service at the beginning of the semester

- A webcam and headset/microphone is required for online proctoring and must be included as “required” in the syllabus

- Honorlock is the preferred provider for courses moving to online due to COVID-19

- View faculty and student preparation information

- Provide a minimum 4-hour window of time: the larger the enrollment, the wider the window needs to be (24 hours is recommended for 100+ students)

- Add at least 15 minutes of additional test time to accommodate student set up with a proctor

- Pay particular attention to students who may need accommodation

- You can provide extra time for a specific student in all quizzes using Quiz Extension found within Instructor Tools in the menu to the left

- NOTE: extra time will need to be provided again for any quizzes added AFTER a particular student has been given extra time

Course Plan

Help students understand your plan for helping them to learn the course material. You have already developed a plan for the course outlined in your syllabus. Use the syllabus topics and your assignments worksheet to create a framework for your online materials.

As much as is feasible, keep the course activities consistent from week to week. Your weekly outline should include:

- Preparation activities

- Introduction  of new material

- Engagement or “learning” new material

- Follow up homework to reinforce new learning

Use one of these templates to create a list of the activities and assignments for each week (click the “Make a copy” button).

- Use this MWF Template as a starting point

- Use this TTH Template as a starting point

- View this sample course plan

- Don’t like the list format? Use this google sheet version  to create your plan

- Enter the topic(s) you plan to cover each week

- Edit the Week 1 activities to meet your course needs (adapt or delete the sample items)

- Do I have to use this template? No! Use whatever format you prefer

- If your syllabus lists everything a student needs to do each week, that may be sufficient

- Use the Rice University Workload Estimatorto determine the appropriate amount of work for your course

- Generally, you are aiming for 3 hours each week/credit hour (video + reading + assignments and synchronous sessions or other activities)

- Instructors frequently underestimate how long things take (students often complain that online courses are more work than face-to-face)

- Do I have to pre-record my video lectures?

- No! Students have expressed a strong preference for synchronous class sessions

- You may wish to pre-record some lecture content so that you can use class time for cooperative learning activities such as small group discussion

- Do I have to keep my pre-recorded videos under 20 minutes in length?

- Not necessarily, but it can be a challenge to hold people’s attention for more than ten minutes

- It’s a good idea to break your presentation up with some type of activity between

- What if I don’t want to do the same thing every week?

- You can certainly have some variation (variety is the spice of life, after all) but try to keep some elements consistent

“Contact Hours”

The “Carnegie Rule” for face-to-face classes requires one hour of “seat time” plus 2 hours of homework per week over 15 weeks for each credit hour. So a 3 credit course would have three 50 minute (so not a full hour) class meetings plus 6 hours of homework for a total of approximately 9 hours each week. It is recognized that some weeks the workload might be lighter or heavier. You should aim for one hour of weekly two-way communication per credit hour for your students. Some weeks you may have more and some less, but they should be “regularly scheduled.”

- Synchronous class meetings via Zoom that encourage students to ask questions or engage in discussions are preferred

- TA-led Zoom discussions are fine

- Instructor/TA moderated asynchronous discussions may be used in conjunction with other methods

- Assignments that provide opportunities for personal feedback and questions via SpeedGrader or other tools

- Instructor/TA engagement with students via Perusall or other platforms

Not recommended as contact hours:

- Pre-recorded lecture video–unless followed with a scheduled opportunity for two-way communication such as a discussion

- Office hours–as these are at the student’s discretion, they do not count as “regularly scheduled”

(Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, 2018), (Downs, 2020)

Create Your Canvas Site

Once you have planned out your weekly activities for the semester, it is time to set up your course site. Visit the No Walls Teaching Summer 2020 Workshop for:

- Examples of ways to organize your course material

- Templates you can import into your Canvas site

- Details for using time-savers such as the Multi-Tool and Design Tools

- Weekly communication and teaching checklist you can import into your Canvas course and customize

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://ufl.pb.unizin.org/instructorguide/?p=1105

Resources

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. (2018). Distance and Correspondence Education Policy Statement (Issue brief). Retrieved August 6, 2020, from Https://sacscoc.org/ website.

Downs, L. R. (2020). New Regulations Review #1: Regular & Substantive Interaction. WCET Frontiers. Retrieved August 6, 2020, from https://wcetfrontiers.org/2020/04/03/new-regs-review-1-regular-substantive-interaction/

29

Humanize Your Online Course

Jennifer Smith

One of the things that instructors tend to dislike most about online teaching is the perceived lack of connection between teachers and their students. While it is true that connecting with your students online requires more effort and may be different than what you find in a face-to-face classroom, you can still foster meaningful, high-quality relationships. Students who feel connected to their instructors are more likely to log into the course and do the hard work of learning. Regardless of modality, students who feel that their instructor genuinely cares about them are likely to be more forgiving when issues arise. For more information on humanizing your course, visit the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion chapter.

Don’t be a Robot

Without the personal touch of the course instructor, a Canvas course site feels like a cold and unwelcoming place. Images and videos can help you to give the online environment “personality.”

Canvas Profile

Adding your profile photo to Canvas is an easy way to connect with your students.

- Upload a photo to your Canvas profile

- Click the “Account” button at the top left

- Choose “Profile” from the list

- Click on the circle with the generic icon at the upper left next to your name

- A pencil should appear and you can upload a picture or take a photo there

- Your photo should communicate to students, “I care about you and I’m here to help!” so smile!

- Add a bio to your Canvas profile

- Tell students what you love about the course and about teaching

- Share a personal interest or hobby

Other Images

Images can bring a touch of humor to your Canvas course site.

Add appropriate and meaningful images to your Canvas course site to make your course visually appealing and friendly. Photos of you working in the field are terrific! But if you don’t have those, images that relate to the topic being discussed will work fine. Of course, it is important to properly credit images that are not your own.

Video Recordings

Most of us dislike audio and video recordings of ourselves. But video can be a great way to connect with your students. The trick is to keep it simple and picture the students with whom you are talking. Your pre-recorded videos don’t need to be long, but they can save you time during your synchronous class meetings as well as to help your students feel that you care and are there to support them.

A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://ufl.pb.unizin.org/instructorguide/?p=1185

Creating Connections with Students Online

This workshop discusses proven ways of creating meaningful interaction with the remote instructor. A few examples: include clever introductions of yourself, humanize your course, provide weekly overviews, personalize content, utilize cooperative learning, enable real-time communication, incentivize learning with rewards, and emphasize a bottom line.

Tiff Jenson: Creating Connections with Students Online (1:20:45)

References

Dickinson, A. (2017). Communicating with the Online Student: The Impact of E-Mail Tone on Student Performance and Teacher Evaluations. Journal Of Educators Online, 14.

Ley, K., & Gannon-Cook, R. (2014). Learner-valued interactions: research into practice. Quarterly Review Of Distance Education, (1), 23.

Luo, N., Zhang, M., & Qi, D. (2017). Effects of different interactions on students’ sense of community in e-learning environment. Computers & Education, 115153-160. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2017.08.006

Orcutt, J. M., & Dringus, L. P. (2017). Beyond Being There: Practices that Establish Presence, Engage Students and Influence Intellectual Curiosity in a Structured Online Learning Environment. Online Learning, 15 – 35.

Richardson, J. C., Koehler, A. A., Besser, E. D., Caskurlu, S., JiEun, L., & Mueller, C. M. (2015). Conceptualizing and Investigating Instructor Presence in Online Learning Environments. International Review Of Research In Open & Distance Learning, 16(3), 256-297.

30

Online Teaching Tips

Alexandra Bitton-Bailey and Micah Jenkins

My Students Need to Collaborate to Create a Presentation for Their Final Project and Present. How Can We do That?

Your students can use the Google Suite:

- Google Slides

- Google Docs

- Hangouts

You can also host your class at the same time that you normally would, but virtually in a Zoom meeting instead of face-to-face. Once in Zoom, put your students into breakout rooms so they can collaborate on their project.

Delivering Quizzes and Other Assessments

Honorlock

Honorlock is UF’s designated online proctoring service for moving classroom exams and quizzes online. The Office of Distance Learning has Honorlock tutorials, and so does UF e-Learning. If you have additional Honorlock questions, contact Chris Newsome or the Office of Distance Learning.

*Respondus LockDown Browser*

Respondus LockDown Browser provides another level of security for online testing. The LockDown Browser disables all functions of the student’s computer other than the test being taken so students cannot copy/paste, search the internet, or access any documents on their computer.

Video Lectures

Recording and Uploading Video Lectures

If you are new to video lecture recording, Zoom is likely to be the easiest tool for you to use. Then, you can set up your recordings in Canvas. If you need additional assistance, you can request instructional design support from the following resources:

- The Center for Instructional Technology & Training

- The Zoom Guide

- Zoom FAQs in the UF Instructor Guide

NOTE: instructors must sign-in once through the UF Zoom website in order to create their account before using Zoom through Canvas

Performing Your Video Lectures

Micah Jenkins (CTE): Smile for the Camera – Performing Your Video Lectures | Transcript (pdf)

A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://ufl.pb.unizin.org/instructorguide/?p=880

Even if you are a practiced classroom instructor, it can take some time to get comfortable with lecturing on camera. Most of us tend to feel uncomfortable when we see ourselves on camera. Although it can feel like videos highlight the least flattering aspects of how we look and sound, that doesn’t have to be the case. The following tips can help you feel more confident with being captured on film.

Before you make videos available to students, rehearse your lectures. You can do this by making a recording of yourself reading your script. Then watch your video to critique your performance. As you watch your practice video, pay attention to the following:

- Diction – Are you speaking clearly and are the beginnings and endings of your words crisp and distinct? If your speech isn’t quite clear, you can try exercises like this tongue twister to improve your pronunciation: “Can I cook a proper cup of coffee in a copper coffee pot.”

- Pitch – This is how high and low your voice goes. Find the range that is the most natural for you and move your voice up and down that range to make your speech more expressive.

- Volume – You want your voice loud enough to be heard, but not too loud. Consider how near or far you are to your camera and adjust your volume accordingly. If your voice is naturally quiet, consider using a microphone.

- Pacing – This is the speed at which you speak. If you speak too slowly, your viewers might find your videos boring. If you speak too fast, your viewers won’t be able to understand you. Make sure you breathe as you speak, and try not to rush.

- Tone – Your tone reveals your attitudes about the words you say. If you sound bored about your topic, it will be difficult for your students to stay engaged. However, if your tone says “engaged and interested” your viewers will be too!

- Smile! – This is critical! Not only will your smile help you to come across as warm and approachable on video, it will also put both you and your viewers at ease.

Lighting and Camera Placement

Your video lectures don’t need to be Oscar worthy motion pictures to be effective teaching tools; You just need to make sure that your students can see and hear you clearly. If you have a cell phone, laptop or tablet, then you already have the tool required to shoot quality video. Keep the following camera placement tips in mind to make your recorded lectures look their best:

- Be mindful of your background – as an instructor, you’ll most likely be filming in your home or office so pay attention to your background. Try to avoid filming in front of a cluttered desktop or in a messy room.

- Always shoot in landscape mode – this will help you to avoid black bars on either side of your video.

- Hold the camera steady – a small tripod can really help you to avoid shaky footage. You can also use your body as a tripod by holding your camera with two hands and tucking your elbows into your sides.

- Raise the camera to eye level – this will help you look your best and you’ll spare your viewers the sight of your nose hairs.

Now you know where to place your camera, you’ll need to make sure that you’re properly lit. To get great lighting, use the following tips:

- Don’t shoot directly beneath overhead lighting – this can cast unflattering shadows on your face. If overhead lights are all you have, stand beneath the light and move over about a foot or so to soften the shadows.

- Avoid using fluorescent lights – These can make you look greenish. Instead, use a desk lamp lit with an incandescent or soft white bulb.

- Take advantage of sunlight – the sun is great source choice for natural lighting. Unless you’re going for a shadowy effect, you’ll probably look best with the sunlight positioned behind the camera, shining directly onto you.

PowerPoints and Video Lectures

If you decide to use PowerPoint in your video lectures, stick to a high contrast color scheme. Your slides should include high quality, interesting graphics and photos with little text. Try to avoid clip art and use sites like pixabay.com and Unsplash.com to find high quality stock images that are free to use. If you include charts in your PowerPoint, the same rules apply: your chart should be a high quality image and include little text. Try to make it easy to glance at the chart or graphic to glean the relevant information. If you do use text, the font you choose should be clean and easy to read. Sans-serif fonts are suitable for use in PowerPoint slides.

Film your PowerPoint slides in widescreen format and try to limit the amount of transitions and animations you include on each slide. A good rule of thumb is to use only two or three different transition effects in your slide deck. Additionally, only use transition effects between some – not all – of your slides.

Campus Video Production Resources

If you aren’t comfortable filming your own videos, or don’t have the time, consider using one of UF’s recording studios:

- Center for Instructional Technology and Training (CITT) Video Services and samples

- Located at 2215 Turlington Hall

- DCE Video Production Studio

- Located at East Campus 2046 NE Waldo Rd., Suites 1100-1250

- email DCE Production Studio

- Unit production services

- Your college or department may have video production support designed to meet the needs of your discipline

- Check with your department chair regarding the availability of unit services

How Good Does the Video Quality Need to Be?

Your videos don’t need to be perfect. They just need to deliver the information your students need to successfully complete the course assignments, activities, and assessments. Good audio is the most important element.

Zoom

Getting Started in Zoom

Step by Step Faculty Guides for Using Zoom

NOTE: instructors must sign-in once through the UF Zoom website in order to create their account before using Zoom through Canvas.

Breakout Rooms in Zoom

If you want your students to work in groups and you already know how you want to split them up, you can pre-assign your students to breakout rooms using a CSV file. If you aren’t quite sure how to plan a group activity in Zoom, use this Zoom Breakout Room Group Activity Facilitator Guide to get started.

NOTE: Be sure to inform your students that it’s a UF Student Honor Code violation to share Zoom links to people outside of your course. If other students appear in the video, sharing Zoom links can also result in a FERPA violation.

Recurring Zoom Meetings

Depending upon how often your course meets, follow these steps:

1. Select the checkbox next to recurring meeting

2. Select the appropriate recurrence in the dropdown (weekly will most likely be the best option).

3. Select from the dropdown repeat every 1 week (unless your course doesn’t meet weekly)

4. Select the days in which your course meets by clicking the checkbox next to the day

5. Set an end date

Polling in Zoom

You will need to load your questions in advance using a .csv template. (Scroll to the bottom of the meeting creation screen in your Canvas Zoom tool.)

Enabling the “Raise Hand” and Other Non-Verbal Features in Zoom

1. Access your account via the UF Zoom website

2. Click on “settings” in the left menu

3. Scroll down and turn on “nonverbal feedback”

Zoom Security

When setting up a Zoom session, set up access to your session to allow only individuals with UF credentials access.

1. Under your meeting options, select “Only authenticated users can join”

2. Choose “UFL participants” from the list

3. Provide instructions to students:

- Click on the meeting link

- Select the “SSO” sign in option

- When asked to enter your company domain, type in “ufl”

- This will take you to UF’s Gatorlink authentication page

- Sign in with your Gatorlink credentials

To learn more about privacy in Zoom and best practices, visit the e-learning website.

Virtual Office Hours in Zoom

You can use the “Waiting Room” feature in Zoom to allow you to use the same meeting link for your office hours for the term. By enabling the “Waiting Room” feature in Zoom, you can choose to admit only one student at a time into a meeting to ensure privacy. We recommend asking students to sign up for specific time slots on a calendar or spreadsheet to avoid long wait times.

When setting up a Zoom session:

1. Under your meeting options, select “Enable Waiting Room”

2. When you join your meeting:

- Click on the “Manage Participants”

- Select the student you want to join in the meeting, and select “Admit”

31

Video Lecture Recording

Jennifer Smith

You probably already show some professional video to help students better envision certain aspects of your discipline. Is it worth the time and effort that it will take to create your own videos? Generally, the answer to that question will depend upon the needs of your students and the course objectives.

Dr. Victoria Pagan describes elements of the poem, “The Onion.”

First of all, video can help students to remember key concepts. Just as with a face-to-face lecture, telling a story or relating to your personal experience can help to make information memorable.

Second, video can help humanize your course. They record your body language and make it possible for you to share your passion for the subject matter. This is important. Because if you’re not excited about the course, you can’t expect your students to be. This is particularly useful in online courses where students can feel isolated. And finally, video can give your course “personality.”

Often, videos are used in online courses to communicate information as you would through a live lecture in class. In fact, because you can bring in graphics and diagrams, it may be easier to explain a difficult concept. Video can be an engaging way to pose a problem to your students. Through the magic of video, you can bring the expertise of an expert in the field to your class more easily than to the physical classroom.

Students like videos because they are convenient. They can watch them on their smartphone while they wait for the bus or stand in line. They are also an efficient use of time because the students can speed up the video or skip through the parts they already understand. Students can also go back and review concepts over and over. Finally, you can link to the videos right in assignment instructions for easy access when the students need it.

Maximize Your Student Connection

To get the biggest bang for your efforts, your video should help you “connect” with your students. This is easier in some disciplines than others. Typically, sharing a personal story is a good way to do this. Humor is another good way to pull students into your topic. Regardless of what you do, be enthusiastic. It is your energy and passion that will keep students watching.

Michael Wesch points out the difference between “connection” and “performance” in his video, “Super Simple Videos: 5 Tips & 5 Reasons to Get On Camera.”

A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://ufl.pb.unizin.org/instructorguide/?p=1076

Occasionally an instructors will ask if it is really important for them to actually appear in the video. The answer to that is generally yes. Video can be a good way to humanize your course and give it “personality.” If there’s no “person” in your presentation it’s more difficult to communicate the excitement and enthusiasm that you have for the topic. Remember that your facial expressions and gestures are part of your communication.

Many students simply prefer to see the presenter. In fact, Professor Dan McFarland at Stanford did A/B testing with Coursera to determine whether seeing the instructor’s face was conducive or non-conducive to student learning. The students who did not have the instructor’s face complained so bitterly that they had to stop the test and allow all the students to see the instructor.

Virtual Field Trips

Dr. Wendell Porter describes energy use in a grocery store produce display.

You can take a cellphone anywhere, so teaching no longer needs to be confined to a classroom location. In this example, Dr. Wendell Porter was able to walk his class through the energy usage in a grocery store. This would have been tough to set up as a field trip, but very effective as a video.

The Center for Instructional Technology and Training provides location video services for UF Registrar courses.

References

Hibbert, M. (2014). What makes an online instructional video compelling? Educause Review.

Kizilcec, R. F., Bailenson, J. N., & Gomez, C. J. (2015). The instructor’s face in video instruction: Evidence from two large-scale field studies. Journal of Educational Psychology, 107(3), 724-739. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/edu0000013

32

Creating Community with Zoom Settings

Alexandra Bitton-Bailey

Create a Profile & Have Your Students Do It Too!

- Post a picture and edit your personal reaction setting (to mirror you)

- Select a screen size (preferably 16:9 like most PowerPoints)

- Add a virtual background

- Manage your settings when entering a room. I prefer to mute and hide my camera when I first enter a room. It gives me a few moments to set myself up

- Be cautious when screen mirroring (especially if your background has words)

- There is also a handy feature to help touch up appearance this can help with poor lighting and camera quality

Build a Safe Zoom Class Community

A strong sense of community will enhance your online class and contribute to student success. Taking measures to make sure your class is free from disruption and intrusion can help! Here are a few ways to achieve these goals:

In the Zoom web portal always check your advanced meeting settings. In “meeting details” select the meeting options that will best fit your class format:

- Allow join before host

- Allow screen sharing

- Allow or limit chat

- Allow or limit annotations

- Allow recording

- Use the Spotlight feature which allows you to record only the presenter

- Ensure privacy and security, by installing the latest Zoom Client, and

- Follow the security recommendations provided on the Keep Zoom Secure site

Before class starts use the waiting room feature to prevent Zoom bombing, but be strategic. For instance, you can add an image or logo and a description. Make the image either something representative of your course or you and make the description a curiosity inspiring question so students are thinking and solving problems as they wait to be admitted to the class.

Encourage camera use but do not require it. Often students prefer to turn off the camera in the large class but turn it on in breakout rooms. Keep in mind that students may have connectivity issues that prevent them from using the camera. They may also have a device that does not allow for virtual backgrounds and they may not wish to show their personal space.

Coach and model online netiquette. For some netiquette guidelines, you can use in your course check out the teach.ufl.edu website. Use this Netiquette Guide for Online Courses (.doc) as a starting point to clarify your course policies regarding expected student behavior.

Accessibility and Inclusivity

Consider accessibility when presenting and recording. You can enable closed captions, which allows your notetaker to transcribe what’s being said in real-time. You can also enable Automatic Live Transcription, but keep in mind that it should be used for accessibility, not for accommodation.

Remember that students access the Zoom interface from different kinds of devices, including mobile phones, tablets, and laptops, so your verbal descriptions should account for those differences.

For more information on using Zoom visit other chapters in the UF Instructor Guide. Topics covered include:

1. How to Pre-Load Students into Breakouts

2. Can Students Use Zoom?

3. Recurring Zoom meetings

4. Does Zoom Have Polling Options?

5. How can I enable raise hand and other non-verbal features?

6. How do I play a video in Zoom?

7. What do I do if students are muted in the Breakout Rooms?

8. How do I see my students?

Using Zoom to Make Learning Magic

Join us as we share how-tos and best practices for teaching in Zoom. Learn strategies for using Zoom features like breakout rooms and polls that can help to engage students in active learning and connect with each other.

Alexandra Bitton-Bailey: Using Zoom to Make Learning Magic (37:46)

33

Convert Face-to-Face Activities to Remote

Jennifer Smith

Your assignments are where the rubber meets the road as far as learning goes. Lectures, readings, and other course content provide the foundation. The course activities help students make sense of new concepts and connect them with previous learning. Your face-to-face assignments and activities may work just fine in a remote-teaching setting. But most often, some adjustment and even re-thinking is needed.

1. Identify what you expect students to get out of the assignment or activity

2. List the steps you have students follow in the face-to-face course

3. Determine how you can get the same result with the available online tools

4. Add any additional steps that will be needed online

List Current Activities and Expected Learning

It can be helpful to make a list of the activities you currently use in your course.

- Next to each item, describe what you expect students to learn from the activity

- Focus on what the assignment needs to DO

- The following types of activities are commonly used in remote teaching:

- Asynchronous discussions

- Synchronous discussions in small groups

- Collaborative Learning

- Annotated reading in Perusall

- Student presentations

Online Adjustments

The tricky part about shifting to a remote environment is that things may take a bit more time. There may also be a learning curve as students become familiar with digital tools. You may not realize how many steps it takes to complete a task in the face-to-face setting because everyone is in the same room so you can quickly answer questions.

- Hold students accountable for the pre-class reading or other preparation by providing a quiz or worksheet.

- Suggest a process or framework students can use to compete the task.

- Provide a “warm up” activity so that students can try out the process.

- If you will be using document-sharing or other technology such as GoogleDocs or Office 365 provide a low- or no-points assignment for students to try it out before class.

- Provide students with an outline or other “starter” Google document by creating a “force copy” link.

- Students can submit the link to their collaborative document into a group Canvas Assignment.

- If you are using Zoom breakouts, students can ask questions using the “Ask for Help” button .

- It takes a bit of time to move students in and out of Zoom breakout rooms (save time by preassigning students to groups).

- Don’t skip having the groups report on their completion of the task.

- Ask about the content covered through the activity within the next assessment (this supports long-term memory as well as demonstrating the importance of the topic).

Example

This example suggests additional steps or information that might be needed for a small group discussion in an online setting.

Small Group Discussion Comparison

Step

Face-to-face

Online

1

Case analysis methodology is modeled in lecture.

Case analysis methodology is modeled in lecture (may be pre-recorded).

2

A case is provided to students in Canvas.

3

Students read the case during class.

Students read the case before class.

4

(During class) Individually, students use the case analysis worksheet, students identify the key points and use them to draw a conclusion.

(Before class) Individually, students use the case analysis worksheet, students identify the key points and use them to draw a conclusion.

5

(Before class) Individually, students use their worksheet to answer questions in a Canvas Quiz (due before the Zoom class meeting time)

6

(During class) Students divide into groups to compare their individual conclusions and combine ideas.

(During class) Students divide into groups (Zoom breakouts) to compare their individual conclusions and combine ideas.

7

(During Class) Each group identifies a spokesperson (this role rotates to a different student each week)

(During Class) Each group identifies a spokesperson (this role rotates to a different student each week)

8

(Full class) each spokesperson is called upon to share their conclusion.

(Full class) Students are brought back into the main room where each spokesperson is called upon to share their conclusion.

(Full class) Instructor highlights insights and ideas for further thought.

(Full class) Instructor highlights insights and ideas for further thought.

34

Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Class Sessions

Jennifer Smith

If you are working to shift a course you have taught face-to-face to online, you may be wondering whether synchronous lectures and activities are better than asynchronous. As is often the case, the answer will depend upon the needs of your course and students.

The Office of Undergraduate Affairs reports that students moving to online learning due to the COVID-19 emergency are expressing a preference for synchronous class sessions. Students report struggles with time management, focus, and motivation.

Keeping the regular class meeting schedule may help to provide students with structure and helps families understand that time must be scheduled for classwork.

Synchronous

Re-creating your face-to-face lectures and activities using Zoom or similar webinar platform can help foster human connections. Synchronous sessions support these course elements:

- Lectures can be presented with slides or other digital media

- Students can raise their hands and answer questions using the polling feature

- Students can send a chat message to the entire class, another student, or the instructor

- Breakout rooms support social connection as well as analysis and critical thinking activities

- They can be recorded for the benefit of students who must miss the session

- The auto-captioning accuracy is not sufficient for a disability accommodation, but it may be helpful to other students

Synchronous Challenges

Zoom is fairly intiutive and user-friendly, but it does require a bit of practice to use well. Some other potential issues include:

- It can be tricky to focus on giving a presentation AND watch the chat

- It takes some time to move students into and out of breakout rooms

- Students may not have the bandwidth to support video

- Students may be in a different time zone or have other issues that prevent attendance

- Outages caused by storms or other factors may prevent student attendance

To help students get the most out of synchronous sessions, include social and cooperative learning activities.

Good Practices for Synchronous Sessions

- Provide students with clear information on how to prepare for synchronous activities

- A short quiz can keep students accountable for readings

- Use Perusall to promote pre-class reading

- Allow extra time for group activities

- It takes time to move students in and out of breakout rooms

- Discussion takes longer

- Put a slides into your presentation to remind you to:

- Record the session

- Ask if there are questions

- Use a high-quality noise-cancelling headset/microphone

- Keep checking the chat or ask a TA or student to monitor it for you

- Mute participants in order to reduce feedback noise

- Set up polling questions to help gauge understanding (this has to be done in advance)

- Look at the camera! That is where your students are!

- If you are using a laptop computer, set it up on books or a box so the camera is close to eye level (this avoids the “up the nose” shot)

- Avoid silhouetting yourself by sitting or standing in front of a light source

Asynchronous

Recorded lectures provide students with maximum flexibility. Students who are working or who may be in a different time zone appreciate being able to watch lectures on their own schedule. Pre-recorded lectures can be crafted to communicate in an efficient and engaging manner.

- Lectures can be presented with slides or other digital media

- The recordings can be divided into segments with activities between each session

- Recordings can include guest presenters, demonstrations, and varied locations

- A short cell phone video can be an engaging way to share something interesting with your students

- UF video production services are available to ensure sound and video quality

- A script or outline helps to ensure that important points are covered

- Videos can be Closed Captioned to support all students

Asynchronous Challenges

There are multiple platforms available for self-service video lectures. Zoom, Mediasite, and audio recording in PowerPoint are the most commonly used tools at UF.

- A low-quality webcam or microphone will create a poor student experience

- It is tempting to re-record until the session is perfect

- Video editing is time consuming

- Scripted recordings may seem stiff and dull

- It generally takes practice to present well on video

Good Practices for Asynchronous Sessions

- Keep videos short (10 – 20 minutes or use the Mediasite “chaptering” feature)

- Include social learning activities to help students connect with each other and you

- Use a high-quality webcam and a separate microphone (the webcam mic is generally not good enough for a recording)

- Smile!

- Practice your presentation to ensure a smooth delivery

- Don’t fret over small stumbles

- Look at the camera! That is where your students are!

- If you are using a laptop computer, set it up on books or a box so the camera is close to eye level (this avoids the “up the nose” shot)

- Avoid silhouetting yourself by sitting or standing in front of a light source

Video Production Services

It isn’t necessary for every course video to be scripted, edited, and recorded in a studio. However, the technologies and staff support available to UF faculty can put a professional polish on your course materials. Professional videographers can save you a significant amount of time. If your college does not provide video production support, you can request assistance from the Center for Instructional Technology and Training. CITT’s new production facilities in the HUB include: green screen, iPad, lightboard, and teleprompter, as well as field production and a self-service on-demand studio.

References

- Bonafini, F. C., Chae, C., Park, E., & Jablokow, K. W. (2017). How Much Does Student Engagement with Videos and Forums in a MOOC Affect Their Achievement?. Online Learning, 21(4), 223-240.

- Hibbert, M. (2014). What makes an online instructional video compelling? Educause Review.

- Kizilcec, R. F., Bailenson, J. N., & Gomez, C. J. (2015). The instructor’s face in video instruction: Evidence from two large-scale field studies. Journal of Educational Psychology, 107(3), 724–739. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000013

35

Synchronous Discussions

Jennifer Smith

Meeting with some or all of your students regularly can be a good way to build your learning community. It can also help students to stay on-track and provides a bit of social pressure to keep students accountable for doing the course work. Synchronous activities conducted through a conference platform such as Zoom can make good use of the breakout rooms. Advanced planning is critical in order to provide an efficient and useful learning experience. A quick practice session to test the process and work out the bugs is a good idea as well.

Meeting Time

If a regular meeting time was not listed in the Schedule of Courses when students registered, it may be difficult to require all students to attend a live session. It is possible to provide multiple sessions and ask students to sign-up for a Canvas group that meets at a specific day/time (use the meeting time as the sign-up title). Many factors can conspire to keep students from attending a synchronous session such as: different time zones, family obligations, work obligations, and illness. Just as with face-to-face courses, it is wise to have an alternate learning activity ready for students who may need to make up a session.

NOTE: If the synchronous meeting time is important for your course, double check your course listing in the Schedule of Courses to ensure that it has been correctly listed before students begin to register. Once students have registered, it may be too late to add a synchronous meeting time.

Courses that are part of UF Online are strongly urged to avoid synchronous meeting sessions. Many UF Online students work or have family obligations that make it difficult for them to attend live classes.

Good Practice

Group Discussion as a Compliment to Lecture

Give your students an opportunity to synthesize the concepts you have just covered in lecture. Divide them into small groups of 3 – 10 students to:

- Apply a methodology

- Relate new material to previous concepts

- Grapple with inconsistencies

- Find the flaw in an argument

- Suggest what could go wrong

- Identify points of disagreement

- Identify themes and similarities

- Compare notes

It is a good idea to give students a specific task and a set time to do it. Ask each group to identify a spokesperson (this can be a rotating role) to share the group’s ideas or conclusion with the full class. You can keep the same groups for each class session by uploading a .csv file into Zoom before the meeting. Details on how to do this are in the Zoom section of this guide.

Explain the Benefit

It is more work to participate in a synchronous group activity than to sit passively and listen to your instructor talk. Group discussion takes more time online than face-to-face because moving people into and out of breakout rooms takes a full minute each way. So it is important to tell your class why the activity is worth their time. (Brookfield & Preskill, 2005)

- Describe the benefit to students

- What are the skills they will develop?

- Why do students need these skills?

- How will you help them?

- Providing credit means that you think the activity is worthwhile

Ground Rules

If students are unclear as to what is expected of them, they may be less willing to participate. Online discussions can fall prey to the same challenges as small group discussion in the classroom. Some students may talk too much, while others talk too little. Work with your students to create ground rules that foster a safe space where students help each other to learn. (Landis, 2008)

- Identify the rules you think are needed before the class meets

- Each group generates a list of good/bad practices

- Groups share the top good/bad practices with the full class

- Guide the class to a consensus

- Work with groups to identify sanctions (they generally want something more punitive than you would prefer)

- As the instructor, you have the last word!

- Remind students of the rules when you begin a discussion

Scaffolding

Prepare students to participate fully in synchronous activities before the class meets. Provide an assignment that keeps them accountable for doing the reading, watching videos or reviewing other materials.

- “Worksheet” quiz

- Case study

- Collaborative reading assignment in Perusall

- Provide the prompt in advance (if possible)

- Preparation activity

Activity Ideas

It is possible for students to do many of the small group activities that could be done in a face-to-face class. The exception might be working paper and pencil problems. Even those might be possible by having each student work through the problem and compare results.

List Brainstorm

- Practice divergent thinking by having students write down as many items they can think of in response to the prompt

- Groups then work to categorize their ideas

- Identify useful elements

- Synthesize the ideas they with to share back to the full class

- This type of brainstorming can help to engage quiet students because there is no pressure to provide the one “correct” answer

- A variation of this idea asks students to brainstorm as many questions about the topic as they can

Quotes

Create a list of quotes and number them. Put them into a GoogleDoc or GoogleSlides so that you can provide the link to the groups. (Brookfield & Preskill, 2016)

1. Put students into the breakout rooms

1. Ask each group to select a leader

2. Students within each group number off

2. Provide the link to the quote list in the chat

3. Each student has “drawn” the quote corresponding to their number

4. Give them 1 – 2 minutes to consider the quote

5. They can Interpret, build upon, affirm or contradict

6. Group members share their thoughts as a “round robin”

1. Round robin is where each student shares their thoughts one at a time with no interruption

2. A second round can allow students to ask a question about one person’s thought

7. After two rounds, the discussion opens up for free response

8. Optional: groups can report out

Roles

Giving students the opportunity to experience a topic from a particular viewpoint can provide a very engaging learning experience. Through the use of roles, students can participate as members of a discipline, stakeholders on multiple sides of an issue, or characters in a literary work. Typical roles used in discussions or other small group work include:

- Fact checker – responsible for ensuring that information presented is accurate

- Explorer – finds new resources

- Facilitator – ensures that all members participate fully

- Scribe or reporter – documents the work of the group

- Innovator – researches and suggests new directions for the group to explore

Roles can rotate among group members over the course of the semester. Even if you choose not to use roles in the discussion, it is a good idea to create a “tracker” role to monitor the participation of each group member.

Grading

If you want students to take the synchronous activities seriously, it’s important to provide some type of course credit for the work. The easiest way to do this is to let the class know that there will be discussion or activity-related questions on the exam, and then be sure to make it clear in any exam review or follow up which exam questions came from the synchronous session topics.

Participation

The next easiest way to give credit is by providing “participation” points. Basically, if students attend the session, they get the points. To take attendance in Zoom

- Ask students to type their names into the chat box

- Once everyone has typed in their names, click on the chat icon

- Then click the three dots next to the file icon and choose “save chat“

- You will be able to access the saved chat in your files after the session

- Include a slide in your presentation (if using) to remind you take attendance and/or auto record the chat

Discussion Summary

Provide some reinforcement and accountability for the synchronous activity by requiring the submission of a summary to a Canvas assignment. This could be individual submissions or a group submission (which would be more efficient to grade). The role of summarizer can rotate to different members of the group.

Peer Review

If communication and collaboration practice are one of the course objectives or goals, detailed guidance and feedback on how to do this will be important. In order to get the most out of peer review, students will need a good rubric and practice applying it. It is also good practice to provide an avenue for appeals in the event that a student feels they have been evaluated unfairly by a peer. Just knowing that the opportunity for appeal exists helps students to feel more comfortable with the peer review process.

You can use the Peer Review tool within Canvas, however, this tool can be tricky to implement. Get help from an instructional designer (ID). For the best results, request instructional design assistance as early as you can. Contact your college IDs if you have them, Center for Instructional Technology & Training support is available for other units.

References

Barkley, E.F., Major, C.H., & Cross, . P. (2014). Collaborative learning techniques; a handbook for college faculty. San Francisco; Jossey-Bass.

Brookfield, S. D., & Preskill, S. (2005). Discussion as a way of teaching: tools and techniques for democratic classrooms (Second). Hoboken: Wiley.

Brookfield, S., & Preskill, S. (2016). The discussion book: 50 great ways to get people talking. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Howard, J. R., & Weimer, M. (2015). Discussion in the college classroom: getting your students engaged and participating in person and online. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Smith, K. A. (1998). Active learning: cooperation in the college classroom. Edina, MN: Interaction Book Company.

Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Smith, K. A. (2014). Cooperative learning: Improving university instruction by basing practice on validated theory. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 25(3&4), 85-118.

Landis, K. (Ed.). (2008). Start talking: a handbook for engaging in difficult dialogues in higher education. Anchorage, AK: University of Alaska Anchorage.

McKeachie, W., & Svinicki, M. (2014). McKeachie’s Teaching Tips: strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

36

Asynchronous Discussions

Jennifer Smith

The best teaching practices are generally those that help students to grapple with concepts to develop their own understanding. Discussion between students has an added social benefit. Participating in a learning community can spark greater interest and enthusiasm for course topics and activities.

Online discussion fora provide a different type of discussion-style experience than a face-to-face classroom.

- Students have time to think about the topic before responding

- In order to receive credit, all students must contribute

- A student who thinks of another idea after posting can share the new thought

- Participation can occur on the student’s own schedule

The Revamping Discussions for Online workshop (1:17:16) covers the features of a good discussion prompt, how to get your students to write thoughtful responses, and how to provide feedback in a time-efficient manner. This article from EducauseReview shares “10 Tips for Effective Online Discussions.”

Preparation

Students may be new to online discussions as a means to promote learning. They may even be anxious and afraid of looking foolish or stupid. It is a good idea to lay some groundwork before discussion assignments.

- How will this discussion help students to learn x?

- Why do students need to learn this?

- How will you help them?

- Providing credit for the activity demonstrates that you believe it has value

Ground Rules

Provide netiquette guidelines and expectations for discussion participation.

- Identify the rules you think are needed

- Polite and friendly

- No profanity or shouting (all caps)

- No personal or grade issues

- Remind students that the goal is to build a learning community that cares and helps each other

- Invite students to contribute to the ground rules

- Groups generate lists of good/bad practices

- Synthesize to reach their top 5 (use the “like” feature for rough voting)

- Groups put their top 5 into a full class discussion and vote

- Remind students of the ground rules periodically

What is a Good Prompt?

The more intriguing and interesting your discussion prompt is, the better your engagement and responses will be. Aloni and Harrington (2018) describe the following features of a good prompt:

- Promotes critical thinking skills

- Has more than one answer

- Open ended

- Higher cognitive level (Bloom’s Taxonomy)

- Requires students to apply previous knowledge

- Invites exploration

- Expectations for participation are clear

- Promotes divergent thinking

- Interesting or thought-provoking

- Provides a task

- Forges a personal connection with the material

- Does not “waste students’ time”

Things to avoid:

- Too vague (especially at the beginning of the semester)

- Questions with a definitive answer

- Asking for opinions, unless substantiated with evidence

Good Practices

- Divide students into groups

- 5 – 10 students per group generally works best

- Canvas will do this automatically

- You must manually add students who add the course afterwards

- Create an assignment asking them to set their notifications

- They should subscribe to an FAQ or course questions DB

- Use the “likes” for rudimentary voting

- Suggest that students use keywords to facilitate search

- Provide a worksheet to guide understanding of readings

- Provide a model of a good post and explain the elements

- Use the “require post before view” setting

- Let students do the talking if possible

- Show that you are “listening”

- Refer to discussion comments in announcements and/or lectures

- Share out insightful comments via FAQ or course questions DB

- Provide a “well done!” affirmation (compliment the post, not the person as per Carol Dweck)

Encourage

- Ask everyone to post a photo (including you and your TA!)

- Does this disadvantage some students?

- Suggest that students be “true to themselves”

- Keep posts conversational and informal

- Formal academic writing can kill energy

- Encourage good grammar and effective communication

- Short and to the point

- Media, links

Roles

Assign students to take the roles of different stakeholders involved in an issues. This can help students engage more deeply with the topic as well as to gain a different perspective. Roles that mirror those in your discipline can be useful as well. Typical roles include:

- Fact checker

- Explorer

- Facilitator

- Scribe or reporter

- Can students “act out” a scenario?

- Provide a “rehearsal room” discussion board for them to plan

- Provide the “performance” discussion board for the scenario

- A third discussion board can be the after performance “talk-back”

Logistics

- Create 2 deadlines (for a typical initial post + follow up)

- Create the first deadline as a 0 points assignment in the Assignments tool

- Be sure to let students know that the grading and points for the initial post will be included in the discussion

- Be clear as to the deadline for the initial post

- The second deadline should be set in the actual discussion forum within the Discussions tool

- Don’t be afraid to remind students of the upcoming deadlines

- Set deadlines an automated announcements in the Multi Tool within Canvas

- See details on the Multi Tool in the Canvas – Advanced section of this guide

Grading

- Rubric or checklist

- Try to reuse the same one or two rubrics for all of the discussions

- This helps students understand your expectations

- In large enrollment classes, assign a rotating “summarizer” role

- This student will synthesize the discussion and submit to a Canvas Assignment

- Then you can grade the work of each group

- Peer review and self-review can contribute to grades as well as develop evaluation skills

- The Peer Review tool in Canvas can be a bit tricky to set up

- Request help from an Instructional Designer

Challenges

- “Flaming” – can this be a teachable moment?

- Talk with students individually

- Remind students of the ground rules they identified in the discussion instructions

- Academic Integrity

- Provide clear guidelines on plagiarism

- Explain how sources should be cited

- Recommend students link to references rather than copy them

- Demonstrate good citation practices in your own work

- Quiet Students

- Online discussions are usually good for these students

- Possible issues with poor writing skills or language

- Be mindful of how writing “sounds”

- Short messages seem terse and unfriendly

- Use humor with caution (avoid sarcasm)

- Be aware of pronouns – “Hey guys”

References

Aloni, M., & Harrington, C. (2018). Research based practices for improving the effectiveness of asynchronous online discussion boards. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 4(4), 271–289. doi: 10.1037/stl0000121

Bender, T. (2012). Discussion-based Online Teaching to Enhance Student Learning: Theory, Practice, and Assessment. Stylus Publishing, LLC.

de Noyelles, A. A., Mannheimer Zydney, J., & Baiyun Chen, B. (2014). Strategies for creating a Community of Inquiry through online asynchronous discussions. Journal Of Online Learning & Teaching, 10(1), 153–165

Howard, J. R., & Weimer, M. (2015). Discussion in the college classroom: getting your students engaged and participating in person and online. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Jacobi, L. (2017). The structure of discussions in an online communication course: What do students find most effective?Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 14, 11.

37

Digital Laboratory Activities

Jennifer Smith

Considerations

Transitioning a course that relies upon kinesthetic learning into a meaningful experience online takes a bit of thought and planning. It CAN be done successfully and UF has instructional designers who can help!

1. Determine what is feasible.

- Work with your department chair and dean to determine which course goals are realistic

- Identify possible changes to M&S or course fees as early as possible

2. Online does not necessarily mean on a computer

- Students may record interactions that take place in their own location

- Kits can be mailed to students (there are vendors who specialize in these)

- Check with Environmental Health & Safety if students will be using hazardous materials or equipment

- Citizen science organizations provide opportunities for students to record observations and analyze data

- Performances can be recorded, critiqued, and combined using video recording platforms

3. Consider cost – both financial and time.

- Determine the start-up and management time costs

- Will students need to purchase equipment, kits, or software?

4. Technology

- Software or webtools may need to be approved for use with student records (restricted data).

- UF’s Privacy and Security offices take some time to complete the review process

- Contact the Center for Instructional Technology & Training (CITT) for help with this

- Most vendors provide extensive student and instructor guides

- Review these carefully so that you know what is required on your part and from the student side

- Clearly describe how students should request technical assistance

- Include this in your syllabus and throughout your course information

- Remind students of the procedure when they begin a new assignment

5. Set reasonable expectations (including your own).

- The online environment may require a different way to approach the same learning objective

- Communicate your expectations and any variations from previous labs may have experienced clearly and consistently to students.

6. Be patient and flexible.

- Prepare for the unexpected. It is likely that not everything will go to plan.

- Identify things that are likely to go wrong and provide students with FAQs describing what they should do

- What flexibility can you provide in assignments, due dates, and grading criteria?

- Keep in mind that students may have low bandwidth that could hamper access to video or simulations.

As for help from the Center for Instructional Technology and Training (CITT), the Center for Online Innovation and Production (COIP), or the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE).

Online Simulations

It may become necessary to translate face-to-face laboratory or experiential learning activities to an online environment. In some cases, an online lab simulation can provide significant benefits to students.

- Students can run experiments that might not be practical due to cost or time factors

- Students can apply different protocols and analyze a variety of data sets

- Students who may not be able to participate in a physical lab may be able to participate online

- Meet Dr. Shawn Weatherford, UF Department of Physics (1:27)

- Dr. Weatherford’s lab uses the iOLab Wireless Lab System

Labster and Jove

UF Online has provided with unlimited access to digital resources supporting STEM courses and labs through 2023. Anyone can use these tools in courses and labs of any format, whether those courses/labs are convened on-campus, online or any combination in between. These resources support: biology, physics, math, chemistry, and all fields of engineering.

1. Labster: Labster is a virtual lab platform that hosts 130 simulated labs based in gamified case studies. Labs take around 45 minutes to complete and allow students to manipulate variables, make mistakes, and analyze resulting data.

2. JoVE: The Journal of Visualized Experiments, JoVE, is a world-leading producer of video solutions to meet the needs of science students and researchers at all levels and includes a full catalog of engineering resources and a ton more. Visit the UF library guide to JoVE to learn more and get started.

Both of these resources will integrate with Canvas. Visit the UF Online Faculty Resources to learn more!

Keep in mind that “online lab” does not necessarily require a simulation. Custom lab kits can be created in collaboration with a vendor and sold directly to students or through the UF Bookstore. These do need to be approved by Environmental Health and Safety, so it is important to determine your course needs as early as possible.

Online Lab Examples

- View Dissection Introduction from Applied Human Anatomy (Lab Kit) (7:00)

- View ZOO3603 Evolutionary Developmental Biology sample  (11:13)

- View Labster catalog of simulations

- View GLY320C Earth Materials (Lab Kit) (10:25)

Lab Simulation Resources

There are free resources available online that allow students to explore, observe, examine, and investigate. Your library subject specialistcan help you to help identify resources appropriate for your course.

- Florida Museum

- Harn Museum of Art

- Tour of the International Space Station

- Google tours of the Grand Canyon or Petra.

- Online repositories: MERLOT and JoVE.

Chronicle of Higher Education: How to Quickly (and Safely) Move a Lab Course Online

38

Experiential Learning Activities

Jennifer Smith

What is Experiential Learning?

When it comes to learning new things, there is nothing like first-hand experience. However, it can be a challenge to fit activities that support experience into a semester-based class schedule. Jennifer Smith provides an Overview of Experiential Learning Frameworks (16:28)

What IS Experiential Learning?
“Learning in which the learner is directly in touch with the realities being studied. It is contrasted with learning in which the learner only reads about, hears about, talks about, or writes about these realities but never comes into contact with them as part of the learning process.” (Keeton & Tate, 1978)

Alice and David Kolb suggest an adaptable framework envolving experience, reflection, abstract thinking as well as an active experimentation component. (Kolb & Kolb, 2018)

Alice and David Kolb (Kolb & Kolb 2018) suggest that a four stage learning cycle can be useful in developing experiential learning activities. Activities that promote curiosity and problem solving can have a big impact. This framework is not intended to be proscriptive, but rather to suggest the need for multiple modes of learning.

Colin Beard (2010) suggests six “dimensions” of learning that can help instructors think creatively about how course concepts may be explored. Beard proposes these dimensions to, “begin the deeper understanding of the complexity of the interrelatedness of whole-person approaches to experiential learning.” (Beard, 2010).

1. Belonging: Focus on the “where”

1. How do we relate to physical space?

2. How can visual and spacial thinking provide a learning map?

2. Doing: Focus on the “what”

1. Problem-based learning

2. Learning about people

3. Interacting with objects, technology, or other physical works

3. Sensing: Focus on the “how”

1. Consider experiences

2. Senses support memory

4. Feeling: Focus on the “emotions”

1. Reflecting

2. Metaphors can help explore emotional connection

5. Knowing: Focus on the “mind”

1. Innovating and creating

2. Moving from concrete to abstract

3. Linking kinesthetic and special awareness to mind, body, and voice

6. Being: Focus on “awareness” and “change”

1. Stories

2. Reflecting

3. Service learning

Recommendations

The frameworks described above are not intended to be hard and fast rules guiding education-driven experiences. However, the following suggestions are good practice for getting the biggest bang for the time spent (Hart, 2019):

1. Provide some student choice

2. Opportunities to discuss and reflect

3. Includes senses and emotions (whole person)

4. Create a final project or work

Learning experiences can become even more important when shifting to remote teaching and learning. Active engagement can help to reduce feelings of isolation and foster a sense of community.

1. Keep in mind that online does not necessarily mean on a computer.

2. Ask for help from an Instructional Designer to identify tools and resources to support your activity.

3. Observational activities can incorporate publicly available media and data as will as library resources. (Ask for help from your UF Subject Specialist Librarian!)

4. Consider non-traditional ways for student to share their experience such as videos, podcasts, or blog posts.

5. Tie the experience back into the overall course goals by guiding students to connect their work with specific course topics and their peers.

Examples

Why Tell Stories?

Dr. Alison Reynolds is the Associate Director of the UF Writing Program and Co-Director of Quest 1. She likes to use the phrase, “Learning from experience.” She begins her course, Why Tell Stories?, with Alice in Wonderland and had intended to visit Maggie Taylor’s Harn Museum show coupled with a portfolio as the experiential activity. When classes shifted to remote learning due to the COVID-19 emergency, she asked her students to keep a visual portfolio of their own experiences with the pandemic. The resulting work gave students a voice to express their fear, disappointments, and frustrations in a powerful way.

Dr. Alison Reynolds: Why tell stories? (15:26)

Chemistry in the Cocina Latina

Dr. Valeria Kleiman teaches a UF Quest course that combines science and the humanities. Latin culture is combined with the science through cooking and laboratory experiments. When it became necessary to shift on-campus experiments to remote teaching, she modified the protocols so they could be done at home with ingredients they would most likely already have. Both the experiments and cooking activities ended up working very well in unexpected ways.

Dr. Valeria Kleiman: Chemistry in the Cocina Latina (15:39)

Body, Self, World

Meredith Farnum teaches dance in the School of Theatre & Dance. Her UF Quest course, “Body, Self, World” explores mind-body practices and the connection between experience and sensory perception. Students used works from the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art as inspiration for discussion and as a departure point for duets. The shift to remote teaching due to COVID-19 meant that the students performed their works via Zoom.

Meredith Farnum: Body, Self, World (15:55)

Great Teaching with Vulnerable Storytelling

This workshop is inspired by research professor Dr. Brene Brown who is a renowned expert in the study of vulnerability, courage, shame, and empathy. Through an imaginative exercise, we will explore our own stories and life experiences and discuss how we might be able to use them in the classroom to build trust with the teacher, help students evaluate their own life choices, and/or segue into teaching a concept.

Susan Schuld: Great Teaching with Vulnerable Storytelling (47:22)

Nature as a Classroom!

Have you wondered if you can bring the curiosity of nature into your class? Some of the nuggets include making and documenting data from nature observations, creation and use of dichotomous keys, using apps and webcams to provide educational experiences through observation, leading students to build their own adventure through self-directed learning, embedding graphs and forms in Canvas for group data collection, and implementing and managing group projects.

Dr. Rebecca Baldwin, Dr. Nicole Gerlach & Dr. Brantlee Spakes Richter: Nature as a Classroom! (1:49:39)

References

- Beard, C. (2010). The Experiential Learning Toolkit: Blending practice with concepts. London, Pennsylvania: Kogan Page.

- Hart, H. (2019, June 18). Experiential Learning Initiative. Retrieved July 13, 2020.

- Keeton, M. and Tate, P. (1978) (eds) Learning by Experience – what, why and how, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.

- Kolb, Alice & Kolb, David. (2018). 2018 Kolb and Kolb 8 things learning cycle AEL reprint 40-3.

VII

Technology for Teaching & Learning

Whether you meet your students in a physical classroom, virtual classroom, or a combination of both, technology can help to enhance the learning experience for your students. According to a recent Chronicle of Higher Education report, “Growing up entirely in the era of the smartphone and social media mean that GenZers see technology as an extension of themselves with respect to how they communicate, manage friendships, consume information, and learn.” (Selingo, 2018)

Tips for Teaching Technologies

1. Human interaction with course instructors, TAs and peers is still the most important course element–don’t let technology get in the way.

2. Don’t waste students’ time–they will appreciate explicit directions for using technology as well as details that describe how this tool will help them to learn.

3. Use as few tools as possible–look for apps students may already use.

4. When introducing new technology, provide as much asynchronous how-to information as you can.

- Make use of vendor guides and LinkedIn Learning (access via the e-Learning homepage).

- Provide a low- or no-points “try it out” assignment to help students become familiar with the tool.

5. Keep Accessibility in mind.

- Some tools may not support all students, ask an Instructional Designer to help you determine the accessibility of a tool.

6. Don’t wait to ask for help!

- UF has Instructional Designers available both at the department and college level as well as centrally.

- These folks are experts at using technology for teaching and can save you time and frustration.

- Request central assistance through citt.ufl.edu > click on the “Request Assistance” button in the upper right corner.

References

Selingo, J. J. (2018). The New Generation of Students: How colleges can recruit, teach, and serve Gen Z. (p. 26). Washington, D.C.: The Chronicle of Higher Education.

39

Canvas - Getting Started

Canvas is UF’s Learning Management System (LMS).  It  can be an efficient way to make course material and grades available to your students.  It has features that can help you, whether you just want to house a few files or to teach a fully online course.

Request your Canvas course shell through the e-Learning Course Request form. Do this as early as you can (it can sit until you are able to work on it). Once you have your shell, set the course start date and time. This is VERY IMPORTANT! It starts your class of poorly if students can’t get to your course.

1. In your Canvas shell, select “Settings”

2. Under the Course Details tab, set the Start date and time (e.g., May 11, 2020, 8:00 am)

1. Select the box next to “Restrict students from viewing this course before start date”

3. Select “Update Course Details” at the bottom of the page

4. Go back to the home page, and select “Publish” under Course Status

NOTE: Many students appreciate being able to log into their course BEFORE classes begin. This helps students to get a head start on course work and to reduce anxiety. If you are willing to open up the class a bit early, send your students an announcement to this effect. However, students may start emailing you with questions right away, so don’t open the class early if you are not able to respond.

How Can I Learn to Use Canvas?

- Face-to-face and synchronous online workshops on how to use Canvas are available through UFIT Training.

- Canvas Guides provide step-by-step instructions for all things Canvas.

- LinkedIn Learning provides short video tutorials on how to use Canvas

- Access LinkedIn Learning through the e-Learning home page

- Use your Gatorlink credentials to access the LinkedIn Library at no cost

- The LinkedIn Library is available to students too!

- Short on time? Visit the Canvas QuickStart Guide

Communicate with Your Students

Announcements

Use Canvas Announcements to send out general messages to your class. It is a good idea to provide a 0-points assignment that guides your students to set up their Canvas notifications. Otherwise, they may not receive your messages.

- How do I set my Canvas notification preferences as a student? (Links to an external site.)

- Consider setting up “automated” messages before the semester starts these can include:

- Weekly assignment reminders

- Highlight assignment elements where students typically run into trouble

- Link to additional resources that can support struggling or high achieving students

- You can organize your automated announcements using the “Delayed Announcement Modifier” in the Multi-Tool (see below for details)

Setting up some automated messages before the semester starts gives you one less thing to worry about. Don’t forget to set your own notification preferences so that you don’t miss any student questions.

- How do I set my Canvas notification preferences as an instructor?

Chat

Chat is a synchronous text communication tool. Some instructors find that it works well for virtual office hours. Enable it within your course by going into “Settings” and dragging it up to the navigation items visible to students.

- Be sure to let students know how to access the chat

- Let them know when your office hours will be

- Click on the “Chat” link in your navigation

- The chat window can be open on your computer while you do other work

Inbox (email)

Tell students to set up their notification preferences so that their Canvas emails will show up in the UF email account. Students can also go to their Canvas inbox to check for messages. Be sure to let your students know how you will communicate with them.

- How do I use the Inbox as a student?

You should set up your own notifications so that student messages sent to you via the Canvas Inbox will go directly to your UF email account. While you’re at it, this is a good time to upload a photo of yourself. Why? A friendly, smiling picture of you can help students to feel more comfortable about reaching out to ask questions.

Discussions

The Canvas discussion forum can be a good place for students to ask general course and content questions. This will allow students to respond to each others’ questions and for you to provide FAQs.

- What are Discussions?

- How do I reply to a discussion as a student?

The general questions or FAQ discussion forum should be checked daily. If students don’t receive a response to a query, then they are  likely to resort to emailing you individually. A quick response can help you to answer questions that more than one student may have and help to reduce your emails.

Course Content

There are two main ways to provide content to students. The “Modules” tool can be used with either method to further guide student progress through the course activities.

Files

The Canvas files tool can make documents available to students. It is important to organize them so that students know what they should be looking at when. You can group materials into folders by week (or whatever organization schema you prefer) and then number them with the order in which they should be viewed. This method of organization works best if your course content consists of static files. If you have multimedia, links to content outside of your course, and explanations to provide, the Pages tool generally works best.

If you want students to access the files folder, you will need to make them visible to students within the left-hand navigation. How to do this:

1. Choose “Settings” from the left navigation

2. Select “Navigation” from the top menu

3. Drag “Files” from the list of tools at the bottom (these are hidden) to the top list of items

4. Click the “Save” button at the bottom of the page

Pages

The Pages tool allows you to create webpages with links to course materials as well as to provide text instructions or other information. Your Canvas pages can be as simple or detailed as necessary. Use headings and subheadings to divide content and maintain accessibility.

Modules

The Modules tool allows you to guide students through the course materials in an organized fashion. Create a module for each week (or whatever organizational unit you prefer) and then add pages, files, discussions, assignments and quizzes in the order they should be accessed. You can move things between modules and reordered them easily using the drag and drop interface.

You can also control student access to content based upon completion of assignments or specifying a quiz score. If you wish to use quiz score as a trigger, be sure to allow students multiple re-takes.

Canvas Time-Savers

Canvas has features that can save time for both you and your students.

The Calendar tool will automatically display any assignment deadlines that you create in Canvas AND it will update the dates automatically when you copy the course to a new term. Be sure to double check these to ensure they are correct. Incorrect due dates are a big source of frustration for both teachers and students.

Multi-Tool: Set/Adjust Due Dates and Times

Consider using the “Multi-Tool” to help you quickly set deadlines across all of your assignments.

- To do this, go to Settings > Navigation and drag the multi tool up from the hidden items to the course navigation (students won’t see it).

- Be sure to click Save.

- Then click on the Multi-Tool in the left menu and choose Due Date Modifier

Multi-Tool: Delayed Announcement Modifier

Once you have enabled the Multi-Tool in your Canvas course (see above), you can use the “Delayed Announcement Modifier” to organize announcements for the semester. Faculty often worry about “spamming” their students. The truth is, students actually appreciate meaningful communications from their teachers. As long as you give them useful information, you are doing fine!

40

Canvas - Design Tools (Advanced)

If you are interested in adding a bit more visual style to your Canvas course site, Design Tools can help. The Center for Online Innovation and Production (COIP) currently covers the cost for a campus-wide Design-PLUS license (be sure to thank COIP instructional designers when you see them!) Design-PLUS (also called Design Tools or Kennethware) have some wonderful time-saving features.

The Design-PLUS suite of tools allows you to:

- Set your course deadlines all in one page with the “Multi-tool!”

- Create multiple modules from template pages with one click using the “Module Builder”

- Easily make your Canvas pages more attractive and organized with “Design Tools”

How to Use Design Tools

The Center for Online Innovation and Production has created a how-to guide for using Design Tools in your Canvas course.

- Visit the COIP Design Tools Resources

- The DesignPLUS User Guide also provides step-by-step details

Design Tools Snippets

The Center for Online Innovation & Production (COIP) has created some “snippets” in Design Tools. You can use these to do some advanced formatting such as create columns.

Open Design Tools by clicking the rocket ship in the upper right corner.

1. Under Create/Edit Content choose a “Theme” for your page

2. Go to Settings (gears at top right)

3. Turn on HTML Snippets

4. Under Add Advanced Elements choose “HTML Snippets”

5. Under Institutional Snippets“Select a Snippet to Insert”

6. Click Save to check layout

7. Edit your page, add content, and enjoy!

Templates

This tabbed interface was created by COIP for Jennifer Smith’s Visual Communication course.

Once you create a page or set of pages, assignment, quiz, and discussion that meet your needs and look good, label them as a [TEMPLATE] and use the Multi-tool to automatically build your modules. See the DesignPlus Userguide for the details on how to do this. Then you can add the appropriate content to each of the module elements.

Jennifer’s tabbed interface template (Created by COIP) This link requires UF Gatorlink credentials.

Download the template to your computer and then import it into your Canvas course by going to Settings > Import Course Content. Choose Content Type: Common Cartridge 1.x Package.

It can be a bit tricky to work with the tabbed template. Here are some tips:

- Be sure that your cursor is inside one of the blue boxes when you edit

- Save your page frequently in case you accidentally change something

- Check your page BEFORE you save to make sure it is correct

- Not all edits will be visible before you save

- Need help? Contact cte@aa.ufl.edu

FAQ

Where can I get help with using Design Tools?

DesignPlus (aka DesignTools) is not a centrally supported tool at UF. It is paid for by the Center for Innovation and Production (COIP). So at present, there is no central support. But if you need help, please contact the Center for Teaching Excellence and we’ll do our best to answer your questions!

If you would like to see DesignPlus supported centrally, please let your department chair and dean know, so they can communicate this interest to UFIT.

41

Video Tips

Jennifer Smith

Videos, when properly used, can be an incredibly useful teaching tool: They give you the opportunity to deliver course content in ways that are memorable, meaningful, and fun. Videos allow students to easily re-listen to the content they don’t understand, or to review material, all at their own pace.

Is Video Right for You?

Jennifer Smith (CTE): Is Video Right for You? PowerPoint and Transcript

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://ufl.pb.unizin.org/instructorguide/?p=683

Video Pros & Cons

- To Video or Not To Video

- Effective Uses of Videos in Online Classrooms

- LinkedIn Learning course – Teaching with Technology (Kevin Kelly)

- Recording Lectures and Presentations (5:03)

- Enhance Lectures or Presentations (3:21)

Campus Video Production Resources

- Center for Instructional Technology and Training (CITT) Video Services and samples

- Located at 2215 Turlington Hall

- DCE Video Production Studio

- Located at East Campus 2046 NE Waldo Rd., Suites 1100-1250

- email DCE Production Studio

- Unit production services

- Your college or department may have video production support designed to meet the needs of your discipline

- Check with your department chair regarding the availability of unit services

Which Video Type is Right For You?

Video recording software has become cheaper and easier to use than ever.  In this section, we’ll look at a few different options and their features. We will also cover how to determine your software needs, and identify which video formats fit your needs.

Jennifer Smith (CTE): Which Video Option is Right for You? – PowerPoint & Transcript

An interactive or media element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://ufl.pb.unizin.org/instructorguide/?p=683

Examples of Video Types

- Lightboard Presentation – Dr. Darin Acosta:  Gravitation

- Interview – Spotlight on Kevin Knudson

A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: https://ufl.pb.unizin.org/instructorguide/?p=683

- Mini-Documentary

- Dr. Elizabeth Ross – Wo-Haw Between Two Worlds

- Mindy McAdams (UF College of Journalism) – How to create a mini-documentary with a still camera

Equipment & Software

Cell Phone

Center for Teaching Excellence: Cell Phone Equipment – PowerPoint & Transcript

- The 6 Easiest Video Making Tools and Editors (and their cost!)

- Microphone:

- Check your manual to determine the type of TRSS port on your phone

- Audio Recording with a Smartphone – Provides technical details as well as suggested equipment

- Download an app that allows you to select the external microphone

Screen Recording

Mediasite

- Available for Mac and PC

- How to request a MyMediasite Account:

- Go to UF’s Video & Collaboration Services

- Click on the “Request Service” form to get an account

- In your MyMediasite account, click the “Download the Desktop Recorder” button

- You may need to ask IT support to install the recorder

- Once you have the recorder installed, you MUST register it (otherwise your recordings will disappear)

- View the MyMediasite Tutorials

Camtasia Studio

An educational license for Camtasia Studio can be purchased for about $180.00.

- Available for Mac and PC

- The quizzing feature is not available for Mac

- Download a Camtasia Studio free trial

- Tutorials are available through LinkedIn Learning

Zoom

Zoom is available for free to all UF students, faculty and staff.

- How to log into Zoom

- Go to https://ufl.zoom.us/

- Click on “Sign In” to view your Zoom profile or;

- Click on “Host a Meeting” or “Join a Meeting” to start using Zoom.

- Tutorials are available through elearning.ufl.edu

- CTE – Using Zoom for Online Course Delivery – Quick Tips

Multimedia Tools

Adobe Spark (Free!)

- Incorporates text, images, video and audio

- Very easy to use!

- This is best used for one-time applications as there is no way to archive your content.

- Inspiration Gallery

Adobe Premiere Clip (Free!)

- New Video Editing App!

- Create amazing videos from your phone!

- Premier Clip in Action

Planning Your Video

Writing a Script

To get the most out of your video investment, you’ll want to communicate your message in the most effective and memorable manner. Your script and the accompanying visuals are critical. You’ll save time and frustration if you do some planning before you shoot. This section will give you the resources to identify the features of effective and interesting visuals, write an engaging script, and create a storyboard.

- James Babanikos: Preparing your Online Lectures

- LinkedIn Learning
“Finding Content for your Class: Teachers as Collage Artists” (Kevin Kelly)
“Motivating viewers” (Amy DeLouise)
“The Benefits of Scripting Before you Shoot” (Amy DeLouise)

Presentation Slides

- Dave Carlson: PowerPoint Takeaways

- Garr Reynolds: Top Ten Slide Tips

- Faculty Focus: Adapting PowerPoint Lecture for Online Delivery: Best Practices

- LinkedIn Learning – Redefining PowerPoint in the College Classroom (Alan Ackman)

- Selecting Meaningful Images  (4:52)

- PowerPoint Design Concepts (7:01)

Create Engaging Video

- Faculty Focus: Simple Ways to Create Videos to Engage Students

- Faculty Focus: Seven Steps to Creating Screencast Videos for Online Learning

- Duke University: Visual Storytelling: the Digital Documentary

- Center for Instructional Technology and Training: Video Studio Preparation

Storyboard

- Jennifer Smith: Storyboarding for Great Videos –PowerPoint and Transcript

- Storyboard Template

- How to Make a Storyboard

Accessibility

Think about Accessibility as you plan your video. This can save time later AND improve your students’ experience!

- Do-It: Creating Video and Multimedia Products That Are Accessible to People with Sensory Impairments
John Jordi (CTE):  Video Accessibility

Performance

In this section, we’ll discuss some strategies to help you feel comfortable in front of the camera as well as provide some suggestions for effective oral communication. The resources provided here will suggest rehearsal tips for quality presentations and help you to critique your own practice video.

Performance Practice

A bit of practice prior to a video shoot can help you to get the results you want in fewer takes.

- James Babanikos: Performing Your Video Lectures

- Dave Carlson: Performing Online Lectures

- Adam Westbrook: How to Make Boring Things Interesting in Video

- Matthew Rolston:  How to Look Good on a Webcam

- Write-out-loud.com:

- Diction Exercises

- Quick, easy effective tips for vocal variety

- Quick & easy tips for speaking rate

- Effective tips for using pauses in speeches

- Teach yourself body language

- Breathing:  The Seductive Key to Unlocking Your Vocal Variety

- Self-Review Video Tips

Recording

It’s not necessary for every video you create to be a polished Hollywood production. But if students can’t see and hear you, it will be difficult for them to receive your message. This section will give the resources to select the right microphone, determine your lighting needs, set up your equipment, and shoot your video.

Lighting & Audio

- Chris Lavigne: Lighting on the Fly

- LinkedIn Learning: Web Video: Lighting (Rick Allen Lippert)

- Understanding essential equipment 3:56

- Setting up a home or office shooting environment 3:50

- Understanding color temperature (2:49)

- Creating a basic lighting setup in a home or office (6:11)

- Creating an advanced 3-point lighting setup on a budget (7:59)

- LinkedIn Learning: Create Screen Capture Training (Oliver Schinkten)

- Recording Equipment (2:53)

Microphone

For cell phone recording:

- Audio-Technica Omni Lavalier Microphone for Smartphones (available through Amazon.com ~ $20.00)

- iPhone users will most likely need a 3.5mm adapter

- If using out-of-doors a windscreen is recommended (available through Amazon.com, 5 pack for ~ $6.00)

- Most iPhones and smartphones these days come with a TRRS port for the headphones. If your headphone jack has 3 lines (4 rings) on it, it’s a TRRS, which means it can act as a microphone as well as headphones. Before you attempt to connect an external microphone via the headset port, make sure it is a TRRS port.

- Audio Recording with a Cellphone

- Canon WM-V1 Wireless Microphone (available through Amazon.com ~ $176.00)

For screen capture, a noise-canceling microphone is your best bet:

- Do not use the built-in computer or webcam mic

- There are a variety of headset and desktop USB microphones ($30 and up)

Storage

Video files take up a lot of storage space. As much as it is possible, you’ll want to keep your raw footage, because you may be able to reuse it. Check with your IT department to determine the best storage solution for your needs.

Screen Capture

- LinkedIn Learning: Creating Video Training (Garrick Chow)

- “Choosing a Recording Location” (3:08)

- “Dos and Don’ts” (5:51)

- “Handling Mistakes” (2:48)

Cell Phone or iPad

How to record with a cell phone:

- Shooting Movies With i-Phone 6s

- Tips for Shooting Quality Videos With Cell Phones

- Getting Great Video From A Mobile Phone

- Eisa Al Nashmi on creating Great Videos with Mobile Phones

Post Production

If you did a good job of planning your video, the editing job will be much easier. There is a variety of editing software depending on your skill level and how much time you have. Starting out, it’s best to keep it simple.

Editing

- The MyMediasite desktop recorder has some editing capabilities

- Request a MyMediasite account

- View the Video Services tutorials on how to upload and edit videos in MyMediasite

- ABCOpen Tipsheet: Basic Video Editing iMovie

- Eisa Al Nashmi: Creating and Editing Mobile Videos

- Adam Dachis: Lifehacker: The Basics of Video Editing The Complete Guide (PDF version)

Accessibility

Closed Captioning for video course content is required by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act

- Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act requires that all organizations that receive federal funding to make accommodations for equal access.

- Videos that are housed in Mediasite can be Closed Captioned fairly quickly and easily.

- If your department/college uses a different video storage system such as Kaltura, contact your IT folks to determine how to get CC.

- For registrar courses, request closed captioning through accessibility.ufl.edu.

- Fill out the Captioning Request Form on the homepage.

- Units offering self-funded or non-registrar courses are responsible for closed captioning costs

Closed Captioning Tips

- Providing the video script can significantly reduce CC costs

- YouTube CC is generally too full of errors to meet Federal requirements

More Resources

Video editing can be VERY time-consuming. Unless you feel that you would enjoy learning to using the specialized software, this work is best left to professionals who do this every day. Contact the Center for Instructional Technology and Training (CITT) and click on the Request Assistance button in the upper right-hand corner. There is a cost for Non-registrar and self-funded courses. UF Online courses should work with the Center for Online Innovation and Production (COIP).

To access LinkedIn Learning materials (formerly Lynda.com) you must enter the site through elearning.ufl.edu. Once you are logged into the site, enter the video title into the search window.

- LinkedIn Learning: Ashley Kennedy: Introduction to Video Editing

- LinkedIn Learning: Norman Hollyn

- LinkedIn Learning: The Art of Editing

- LinkedIn Learning: iMovie Training: iMovies 10.0.2 Essential Training

References

- Educause: What Makes Online Instructional Video Compelling

- Columbia University: Creating an Effective Online Instructor Presence

- Rene F. Kizilcec et al.: The Instructor’s Face in Video Instruction:  Evidence From Two Large-Scale Field Studies
Actions

42

Zoom

Alexandra Bitton-Bailey, Micah Jenkins, and Jennifer Smith

Zoom is a video conference service available to all UF students, faculty, and staff.

- Zoom meetings can accommodate up to 100 participants.

- Webinar rooms that can accommodate 100, 300, 500, and 1000 participants are available.

- Details and access can be found on the UFIT Video & Collaboration Services website.

- Step by Step Faculty Guides for Using Zoom

- Vendor guides and help center

- Zoom in Canvas (e-Learning)

Set up

You must sign-in once through the UF Zoom website in order to create your account before using Zoom through Canvas. Access and create Zoom sessions from within your Canvas course site. To do this, first enable the tool in your class:

- Log into your class and click the “Settings” link in the left navigation

- Find Zoom in the bottom list of tools that are hidden from students

- Drag Zoom from the bottom list to the top list of tools students see in the navigation

- Click the “Save” button at the bottom of the screen

When you schedule class meetings in your Canvas site, students will receive an email message to tell them about the session. It’s a good idea to also send out an announcement describing the session topic and whether a recording will be made available to them.

Zoom Security

In order to avoid “Zoom bombing,” it will be important to use one or more of Zoom’s security settings. Visit ufl.zoom.us/, sign in, and then click on Settings in the left-hand navigation. Options include enabling waiting rooms, setting meeting ID requirements, and restricting meetings to authenticated users.

- Set a passcode (best for class meetings) OR

- Enable the waiting room (best for office hours)

- If you will record the session, notify session participants that the meeting will be recorded

- Be sure to include the new syllabus statement that informs students of the privacy issues

- Let students know that it’s an honor code violation to share the link video recording link to people outside of your course

- Standards for recordings that involve students are located at the bottom of UF’s FERPA Confidentiality page

Visit the UFIT resource: Keep Zoom Secure site, for more recommendations and how-to information. The UF Computing Help Desk is also ready to assist with your video conferencing questions.

NOTE: Beginning September 27, 2020, all Zoom meetings will be required to have either the waiting room enabled or a meeting passcode set.

Chat Recording

The University of Florida Faculty Senate Academic Council has drafted a syllabus statement about zoom recording. The statement is included in the UF Policy on Course Syllabi.

Our class sessions may be audio-visually recorded for students in the class to refer back and for enrolled students who are unable to attend live. Students who participate with their camera engaged or utilize a profile image are agreeing to have their video or image recorded.  If you are unwilling to consent to have your profile or video image recorded, be sure to keep your camera off and do not use a profile image. Likewise, students who un-mute during class and participate orally are agreeing to have their voices recorded.  If you are not willing to consent to have your voice recorded during class, you will need to keep your mute button activated and communicate exclusively using the “chat” feature, which allows students to type questions and comments live. The chat will not be recorded or shared. As in all courses, unauthorized recording and unauthorized sharing of recorded materials is prohibited.

To avoid recording the chat:

- First set up the meeting in your Canvas Zoom Conferences

- Then go to your Zoom account at ufl.zoom.us

- Choose Settings from the left menu

- Then choose Recording from the top menu

- Uncheck the box next to “Save chat messages from the meeting/webinar”

Zoom FAQs

Generate an Attendance Report in Zoom

1. Log into Zoom

2. In the navigation bar on the left, select “Reports”

3. Select “Usage”

4. Select the date of the meeting you want to search for

5. When you have found the correct meeting, select the number in the participants’ column

6. Zoom will display the names of each meeting participant along with the time they joined and left the meeting. You can export the meeting participants as a .CSV file

7. You can then import the .CSV file into the Canvas gradebook as an assignment

How to Pre-Load Students into Breakouts

If you have a large class, you may wish to set up breakout rooms with specific groups before your class meets. This feature can also be helpful if you will be replicating groups created in a face-to-face setting.

1 – Enable Pre-Assign in Settings

Before you can pre-assign students to a breakout room, you’ll need to enable the setting that allows you to assign participants. To do this:

1. Go to ufl.zoom.us

2. Click “UFL Sign In”

3. Login

4. Click “Settings” (left hand side of the page)

5. Click “In Meeting (Advanced)”

6. Under “Breakout Rooms” select “allow host to assign participants to breakout rooms when scheduling.”

2 – Set up Meeting In Canvas

In Canvas go to Zoom Conferences in your left-hand navigation. If you haven’t enabled this yet, go to Settings > Navigation and drag Zoom Conferences from the bottom (hidden from students) to the top. Then click “Save.”

1. Click “Schedule a New Meeting”

2. Set your date, time, recurrence (if desired)

3. Choose your recording settings

4. Click the “Save” button

NOTE: You do not have to create the class meeting within Canvas, you can create the session within your ufl.zoom.us account and provide the link to students.

3 – Upload Your Student Groups

1. Return to your account in ufl.zoom.us

2. Find the meeting you have created within Canvas

3. Click on the meeting name

4. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click the “Edit this Meeting” button

5. Scroll down to the Meeting Options

6. Check the box next to “Breakout Room pre-assign”

7. Upload a csv file of your student emails (you can export this from your Canvas gradebook–this is the SIS Login ID)

1. You can assign students to groups in the .csv file (see sample below) OR

8. Click the “Create Rooms” button

9. Add the students to their groups

Sample .csv file format

Zoom Breakout Room .csv file format

Pre-assign Room

Email Address

room1

test1@abc.edu

room1

test2@abc.edu

room2

test3@abc.edu

room2

test4@abc.edu

room3

test5@abc.edu

room3

test6@abc.edu

You can download a sample .csv file from the Zoom Guide: Pre-assigning participants to breakout rooms

If your Zoom and Canvas accounts are not linked, you can still assign your students to breakout rooms. However, both you and your students will have to access Zoom through the ufl.zoom.us site, you’ll need to provide them with the meeting link (you can post it in Canvas or email it to them.)

Can Students Use Zoom?

All UF students have a Pro Zoom account. To access their accounts, students will need to:

1. Go to ufl.zoom.us

2. Click “UFL Sign In”

3. Login

Students cannot automatically record their Zoom meetings to the “cloud.” If you want to view (for spot-check, peer review, or grading purposes) their recordings, students will need to upload the file to one of the following storage services: OneDrive, GoogleDrive, or DropBox. Then students will need to make set the file to be “viewable” and provide a link in an assignment or discussion forum within Canvas.

Recurring Zoom meetings

Depending upon how often your course meets follow the below steps:

- Select the checkbox next to a recurring meeting

- Select the appropriate recurrence in the dropdown.

- Weekly will most likely be the best option

- Select from the dropdown repeat every 1 week (unless your course doesn’t meet weekly)

- Select the days in which your course meets by clicking the checkbox next to the day

- Then set an end date

Does Zoom Have Polling Options?

Yes, but you need to load your questions in advance using a .csv template (scroll to the bottom of the meeting creation screen in your Canvas Zoom tool.)

https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/213756303-Polling-for-Meetings

How can I make sure a Zoom meeting is secure and confidential?

https://elearning.ufl.edu/media/elearningufledu/zoom/Privacy-and-How-to-Close-a-Room-for-Private-Discussion.pdf

Zoom security recommendations

How can I enable raise hand and other non-verbal features?

- Access your account via ufl.zoom.us

- Click on “settings” in the left menu

- Scroll down and turn on “nonverbal feedback”

How do I play a video in Zoom?

- When sharing your screen, check the box at the bottom of the share screen prompt that states “Share Computer Sound”.

- If you have already done this, you may need to check the box next to that, which states “Optimize Screen Sharing for Video Clip”.

What do I do if students are muted in the Breakout Rooms?

- The automatic muting most likely happened if you have enabled “Mute participants upon entry” in your Zoom meeting settings.

- You can disable this in your settings (either in the Settings tab found in ufl.zoom.us, or in the Meeting itself by clicking “Edit Meeting”).

- Otherwise, you should be able to unmute them all through manage participants.

- As the host, during the meeting, you can also allow participants to unmute themselves so you won’t need to do it manually.

How do I see my students?

- View gallery

Improving Audio and Video Quality

Everyone wants a high-quality video and audio connection to Zoom so you can see and hear everyone and they can see and hear you. We also want a class that feels engaging and motivating.

The following suggestions can be edited, adopted and used to help your students have a positive class experience:

To improve connectivity:

1. Disconnect other devices on your local network that may be using up bandwidth. Even “uploads” (Netflix, Xbox) can cause “download” problems.

2. Use “Speaker View” instead of “Gallery View” in your lecture. Having only one video stream on screen at a time reduces the bandwidth needed.

3. Turn off your video. Dropping the video during dips in Internet bandwidth can help improve your audio.

4. Quit other applications on your computer that may be using significant processing power. Having lots of open browser tabs can also cause problems.

5. Use a smartphone on a mobile (“LTE”) network instead of a laptop on your local network. You can use the Zoom app on your phone, and look at downloaded materials on a computer. Or you can open the Zoom meeting on your computer without mic or video and call in on your phone. When you join by both phone and computer be sure to merge your two identities. This can help both your devices show as one and move with you when you are sent to breakout rooms.

6. Merge your phone and computer in a zoom meeting:

1. Join the Zoom meeting

2. When prompted to select one of the audio conference options (join with computer audio or join with phone audio) select join with phone audio

3. Click the phone call tab dial one of the given numbers using your phone and enter the meeting ID

4. Enter the participant ID (this is the important step because it merges the phone to the face to make one rectangle in the gallery of participants otherwise participants will have a  block for their computer and one for their phone.

5. You can also do this when already in a meeting by clicking the arrow next to the mic icon and selecting to switch to phone audio.

7. Use a wired connection to your home router if possible.

8. Check your internet speed with speedtest.net. Speeds of 600kbps (0.6mbps) are required for Zoom (both download and upload). Speeds of 1.2mbps are required for high quality video. If your speeds are below these values, consider using a smartphone (#4, above) or, if possible, connect to another network. You can request a hotspot from your phone or other device.

9. Use headphones whenever possible If you still hear or produce an echo or if you have a lot of background noise headphones will help!

10. Share and use keyboard shortcuts in Zoom. For the most commonly used one visit Digital Trends.

43

Perusall - Annotated Reading

Effective reading skills are critically important for student success and are vital when students enter their chosen profession. Reading may also be the most difficult thing to motivate students to do. The Perusall platform pairs social commenting and annotations with reading. The University of Florida Privacy and Security offices have approved Perusall for classroom use. This free tool is integrated with UF’s Canvas instance and can be added to the left-hand course navigation.

What is Perusall?

Perusall is an online tool that takes advantage of social learning strategies to promote asynchronous engagement with text and images. The instructor can upload reading materials, highlight important concepts and assign tasks to the class. Students can ask questions, make comments and respond to the comments of others. Instructors can view a “confusion report” to identify concepts that are unclear to students. Perusall will automatically assess student participation. Grades can be edited by the instructor (or not) and pushed to the Canvas gradebook.

This tool is centrally supported, and is available to you within Canvas. You can request a consultation about using this tool from the Center for Instructional Technology & Training (Click the Request Assistance button in the upper right corner).

How Do I Use Perusall?

Perusall Setup

- Create the Canvas Assignment using the External Tool feature  (Perusall is already available as a choice)

- Click “Load AssignmentName in a new window,”

- If this is your first time, follow the prompts to create the course, link your account, and tour Perusall

- Review and adjust course Settings to your preference

- It’s a good idea to lower group size from the default of 20 students

- Set your Grading Standards

- Go to the Documents tab (Course Home page) to +Add (upload) your document

- Go to the Assignment tab (Course Home page) to +Add assignment by completing all steps

- VIew CITT’s Perusall Guide (recommended)

- View Perusall’s Getting Started guide.

Upload a Reading

1. Click on “Documents” on the Perusall home page

2. To add a book from Perusall’s catalog, click “Add > Textbook”

3. To upload a reading (PDF or EPUB format) from your computer:

1. click “Add > Documents from my computer” or

2. “Add > Documents from Dropbox”

4. To add a web page as a reading, click “Add > Web page”

Create an Assignment

1. Click on Assignments on your course home page

2. Click Add assignment and select the document you want to assign

3. Choose how much of the reading you wish to assign,

1. Set a deadline

2. Click Save changes

4. Learn more about managing assignments

What else can Perusall do?

Harvard University faculty member Kelly Miller and her colleagues used Perusall in an introductory Physics course, comparing two cohorts of students (one using Perusall and one using an annotation tool without social and machine learning features). They found that the Perusall group scored significantly better on exams. (Miller, 2018). The study authors provide the following recommendations:

- Sections – Divide students into groups of no more than 20

- Perusall will do this automatically

- Smaller group sizes help to keep the number of comments from being overwhelming for students

- Avatars – Students can see who else is viewing the reading at the same time, the study authors felt that this encourages students to engage more with the reading.

- Upvoting – Students can identify posts they found helpful or questions they would like to see answered.

- Email Notifications – This feature keeps students involved in the conversation by letting them know that someone has responded to their comment or question.

- Automatic Assessment – Perusall will evaluate student participation based upon:

- Timeliness

- Quantity

- Quality

- Distribution

- Students will not see their scores until you “release” them.

- Click the button at the bottom of that column, or enable automatic grade release within Settings > General.

- Grades can be set to push to the Canvas gradebook.

- Instructors can override the automatic Perusall grades.

- Confusion report –  Perusall mines questions  and groups them to help identify the top areas of confusion.

Question: What about copyright?

Just as with any material that you put into your Canvas course site, you’ll want to be sure the material falls under Fair Use, the Teach Act, Creative Commons license, or is licensed through the UF library or textbook purchase. Perry Collins, UF’s Scholarly Communications Librarian can help you to determine whether the material you wish to use meets copyright requirements. Your Subject Specialist Librarian can help you to identify content specific to your topic.

Is Perusall Effective?

Miller, Lukoff, King and Mazur explored the use of Perusall in promoting active reading and learning improvement. They found use of the Perusall platform improved exam performance. “With Perusall, 90-95% of students complete all but a few of the reading assignments before class.” (Miller, 2018) Other findings from this study include:

- Reading broken into multiple sittings yielded better performance than fewer sittings

- Students using Perusall spent more time reading than what is described in the literature

- Students using Perusall did better on the in-class exams than those using a text annotation tool without the social learning features (the authors recognize that this does not indicate causality and more research is needed)

This study was done in an undergraduate introductory physics course over two semesters with 74 and 79 students. Students using Perusall performed 5 – 10% better than those not using the platform. (Miller, 2018)

Where Can I Get Help with Perusall?

Perusall is one of the centrally supported tools at the University of Florida. If you have questions or need help with the setup, visit the Center for Instructional Technology & Training website and click the “Request Assistance” button in the upper left corner.

References

Miller, K., Lukoff, B., King, G., & Mazur, E. (2018). Use of a social annotation platform for pre-class reading assignments in a flipped introductory physics class. Frontiers in Education, 3. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2018.00008

44

Pressbooks

Micah Jenkins

Pressbooks is an online book/document formatting system that gives you complete control over your course content. Pressbooks can help you produce professional, platform-agnostic course materials in multiple formats: all Pressbooks templates are optimized to look great in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. This includes Kindles, phones, and iPads for ebooks, as well as the printed page.

Other advantages of Pressbooks include:

- Affordable access for students

- Unlimited ability to edit, update and redistribute materials.

- Ability to collaborate with other authors and editors

- A variety of book formats

The Short Guide to Pressbooks

1. Register for a Pressbooks account.

2. Add book information. This includes important elements like your name, the title, and the copyright license, which can be assigned on the Book Info page.

3. Add and Organize Text. Import your materials or add in your chapters, then structure the content on the Organize page.

4. Choose your book’s theme. Themes are the design templates for your book, which you can select by going to Appearance > Themes.

5. Distribute your book.

For in-depth instructions and video tutorials, visit the Pressbooks User Guide.

How to Use Pressbooks

Register for an Account

Register for an account . During the registration process, you will create a username and password. You will need to provide a ufl.edu email address with no subdomains (e.g. aa.ufl.edu). Pressbooks will send you an email to complete the registration and activate your account. Be sure to check your spam folder if you don’t receive the confirmation email.

STEP 1: Start the registration process here, and follow the easy instructions.

You’ll also be prompted to create and register a book at the time of your account creation, or wait to create one later.

Adding Book Information

The Book Info page is where you edit and add important information about your book. This includes information such as:

- Title

- Author name

- Publication date

- Publisher

- Copyright license and notice

- Ebook cover image

This list is far from exhaustive. Some information is necessary to add or edit, as we use it to automatically build integral parts of your book. This includes the book’s title and author name. Most other elements you can choose whether or not you’d like to add.

Adding and Organizing Text

You can add and organize your text from the Organize page, available from the left sidebar menu of your book’s dashboard.

This will be how you access all of your chapters and content in order to revise or create your text. You can reorganize chapters and parts of your page to change the layout of the book as well. You’ll see the three main parts of your book on this page:

Front Matter: Content in this section may include your introduction, foreword, dedication, and more. For more information on front matter, go to the Pressbooks font matter guide.

Chapters: This is the main body of your book. The main body can be broken up into several distinct parts.

Back Matter: Content in this section may include your epilogue, author’s note, appendix, and more. For more information on back matter, go to the Pressbooks back matter guide.

The Organize page is not the only place you can upload your text. For more information on how to bring content into Pressbooks, check out the How to Get Your Book into Pressbooks guide.

Choosing a Book Theme

Every Pressbooks user has access to more than 20 professionally designed book templates, which are called themes. The theme you choose governs the display of all of your exports, including PDF, ebook, and webbook. It determines the typeface of your text and the chapter title page design, among other features. The themes Pressbooks offers span a large range of genres, from textbooks and monographs to science fiction and romance. You can browse themes by going to Appearance > Themes.

Themes to browse book themes" width="1423" height="790">

You can hover over any theme and click Theme Details to see information about that theme and its intended use.

Theme Options

Many of the other design elements of your book can be customized in your theme options after you’ve chosen which of the 20+ themes you’d like for your book. This includes elements such as page size, paragraph separation, and more.

The choices that you can make in your theme options are divided into four sections: Global Options, Web Options, PDF Options, and ebook Options. Global theme options apply to all formats of your book and include elements such as table of contents display, language and script support, and chapter license display.

Each of the three other theme option sections apply changes to only one specific book format. This is because the web, PDF, and ebook versions of your book are created with three separate style sheets.

This enables you to, for example, have one paragraph separation for the web version of your book and another for the print version of your book, which can be an important accessibility consideration to make.

How to Distribute Your Book

You can distribute four of the five supported book formats Pressbooks creates from the Export  page, which you can find on the left sidebar menu of your book’s dashboard. This includes

- Print PDF

- Digital PDF

- EPUB

- MOBI

The fifth supported book format is your Pressbooks webbook, which you can view by hovering over the title of your book on the top menu in Pressbooks, then clicking Visit Book.

You an also export several other experimental formats of your book. Note that Pressbooks does not provide technical support for any of the file types below:

- EPUB 3

- XHTML

- HTMLBook

- OpenDocument

- Pressbooks XML

- WordPress XML

STEP 5: Export your book

Attributions

This chapter is adapted from material in the Pressbooks User Guide by Pressbooks and is used under a CC BY 4.0 international license.

45

PowerPoint Tips

PowerPoint can be a useful communication tool to enhance your lecture. Unfortunately, it can also pull attention away from your presentation. Dr. John Medina, researcher and author describes 12 “Brain Rules.” Rule #4 is: “We don’t pay attention to boring things.” He goes on to point out that “The brain is not capable of multi-tasking. We can talk and breathe, but when it comes to the higher level tasks, we just can’t do it.”

46

VoiceThread

Crystal Marull

VoiceThread (Gatorlink credentials required) is an interactive collaboration and sharing tool that enables users to add images, documents, and videos, and to which other users can add voice, text, audio files, or video comments.

Dr. Crystal Marull uses VoiceThread in her online Spanish courses to promote student engagement.

Typically, an instructor creates the initial narrative slides and students then add their comments at any point in the narration. VoiceThread can be used to simulate conversations and interviews, allow users to critique and comment on interviews, and analyze a conversation for body language and other nuances such as tone of voice. In short, VoiceThread allows instructional collaboration centered on communication and can easily be added into Canvas via the “Share” feature.

For a walkthrough on getting started with VoiceThread, watch the Asynchronous Active Learning with VoiceThread workshop recording.

47

Blogger

Jennifer Smith

In this screen capture, the “flipcard” setting in Blogger is used to organize thumbnail images by student.

If you are looking for an organized and aesthetically pleasing way for your students to present artifacts that demonstrate learning, a blog may be your solution. For a summary of the pros and cons of teaching with blogs, visit the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching.

I have used Blogger to provide a visual forum for displaying images, comments, and sharing for in-class discussion. Blogger can be linked within Canvas by using the “redirect” tool. This application of Blogger was developed by Patrick Grisby who teaches in the School of Art & Art History. Here is what Professor Grisby says about using Blogger for his classes:

Each student is invited to the space to join and membership permits commenting. The entire blog can be made private, but I make the settings public for viewing, but membership required to contribute. It is easy to use, but takes some instruction and acculturation of use (there is a lesson in the sketchbook course that requires learning the tool through photographs of century tower for the on campus version of the course). Muscle memory then makes it common practice to upload photos of analog drawings in the sketchbook.

View an example of a “Flipcard” blog site: Visual Communication 2021

Issues

Blogger is a free tool that has been taken over by Google. It appears that they have recently begun to update the service, so functionality may improve. Blogger can be a good choice to display visual content, but I think it would be too cumbersome to manage if you have a large class.

Blogger has not been approved by UF Privacy and Security so it is important keep personal information off of the site. Access requires a Google account. Unfortunately, your UF Google account will not allow you to access Blogger. So both you and your students will need a non-UF account. It is a good idea to make your blog “Private – Only blog authors.”

You can set up the blog to display within Canvas, but students cannot edit or create posts from within Canvas (there may be a setting that allows this, but I haven’t found it yet.)

Create the Blog

Blogger’s “Help Center” has pretty good step-by-step directions on how to set up the blog. The “Themes” make it easy to create something that looks good and has the functionality that you need.

You will need to give students author access if you want them to be able to upload images and write posts. There is a limit of 100 members (that includes authors, administrators, and readers). You can export student emails from Canvas and send the invitation to their official UF address. They will be prompted to use an existing Google account or create a new one. Remind them NOT to use their UF credentials for this account.

Choose a Theme

The “Flipcard” view allows you to sort thumbnail images by author or label.

It is a good idea to create a couple of sample posts with the type of content that you will want your students to submit. Then you can apply the different themes to see what works best. I found that the “Flipcard” view provides a flexible way of organizing submissions. This is the view that Patrick Grisby uses for his art classes.

- Choose “Theme” from the left menu

- Scroll down to “Dynamic Views”

- Choose “Flipcard”

- Click the “Apply” button (or click “Preview” first to make sure it works with your content)

Add to Canvas Navigation

Use the Canvas “redirect” tool to add a link to any external site to your navigation.

Use the Canvas “redirect” tool to add a link to your blog in your Canvas navigation. This tool is handy for linking to any external resource that you want to have easily available for your students.

- First, enable the redirect tool by adding the app

- Go to “Settings” in the left menu

- Choose “Apps” and choose “All”

- The “redirect” tool is a large curved arrow

- Click the “+Add App” button

- In the text box that opens:

- Replace the text in the “Name” box with your link text

- Enter the URL

- Choose “Add app”

You may need to refresh the page to see your link appear in the navigation.

Student Instructions

Blogger set up seems to have an awful lot of steps, but once you have created the blog and have it working in Canvas, it is pretty easy for students to create posts. Students can even create posts using their phones. It is a good idea to create a low-points assignment that walks them through through the account set up and their first submission. Download and customize these Blogger instructions to meet your needs.

Direct students to apply a “label” with the specific assignment to each post. Be aware that students will frequently forget to do this, however, as the administrator, you can apply the appropriate label. With the “Flipcard” view you will be able to sort by recent, date, label, or author.

You can set up your blog to allow posts by members. In my class, we discussed the posts in a synchronous class session, so we did not use that feature. You could also direct students to put the link to their post into a Canvas discussion board and for peers to post comments there. That would help to keep critique and feedback in a UF-approved location. You could also attach the points for the assignment in a rubric associated with the discussion board to make grading easier.

48

Inkscape

Sujata Krishna

Inkscape is a free and open source vector graphics editor for GNU/Linux, Windows and MacOS X. It offers a rich set of features and is widely used for both artistic and technical illustrations. The program is suitable for all skill levels and can be utilized by instructors across multiple disciplines to create classroom materials. For help with using Inkscape, you can listen to the recordings below or view the Inkscape tutorials.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Inkscape Used for and Who Should Use It?

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What are SVG Files?

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Does Inkscape Take a Long Time to Learn?

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How Do I Export an EPS File From Inkscape?

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Should I Use Raster or Vector Images for Course Materials?

Limitations of Raster (Bitmap) Images

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Why Vector Images are a Better Option

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