Faculty Focus

MAY 15, 2025

This article includes a free, open-access resource for educators: What Your Students Arent Telling You: Listening, Learning, and Leading with Empathy. I wanted to change thatnot just by asking better questions, but by building an open-access platform that would amplify student voices and inform actionable change.

Disabilities 54

Disabilities Course Design Lecturing Students 54

Faculty Focus

DECEMBER 5, 2024

The National Center for Education Statistics reports that enrollment in distance learning courses was steadily rising even before the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to do so (Digest of Education Statistics, 2021). This trend underscores the growing popularity of online education as a means of accessing higher education opportunities.

Accessibility 105

Accessibility Disabilities Education Culture 105

Faculty Focus

AUGUST 31, 2023

After several interactions, I noticed the most frequent comment was, “What a cool syllabus…but is it accessible?” You see, I’ve been working to expand the accessibility of resources at my college for a while, so it was great to see this on the mind of so many other educators. Is the document accessible? The answer is no…and yes.

Syllabus 116

Syllabus Accessibility Quizzes Disabilities 116

Faculty Focus

DECEMBER 5, 2024

The National Center for Education Statistics reports that enrollment in distance learning courses was steadily rising even before the COVID-19 pandemic and continues to do so (Digest of Education Statistics, 2021). This trend underscores the growing popularity of online education as a means of accessing higher education opportunities.

Accessibility 98

Accessibility Disabilities Education Culture 98

Faculty Focus

JUNE 2, 2024

Most of our grade was supposed to come from a single class project, but no assignment instructions were ever posted. But what about this assignment that was worth so much of our grade? When students know the purpose of the work they’re being asked to do, they have greater buy-in than if they see the assignment as mere “busy work.”

Syllabus 131

Syllabus Course Design Learning Students 131

Faculty Focus

AUGUST 31, 2023

After several interactions, I noticed the most frequent comment was, “What a cool syllabus…but is it accessible?” You see, I’ve been working to expand the accessibility of resources at my college for a while, so it was great to see this on the mind of so many other educators. Is the document accessible? The answer is no…and yes.

Syllabus 98

Syllabus Accessibility Quizzes Disabilities 98

Faculty Focus

MAY 7, 2024

With a commitment to ensuring educational excellence and student success, in 2020, UF CJC Online developed a comprehensive course design strategy to elevate its online courses, a mission mandated by the State University System of Florida’s 2025 Strategic Plan for Online Education.

Feedback 121

Feedback Course Design Instructors Education 121

Edsurge

MAY 6, 2020

When it comes to learning, engagement is influenced by a learner's level of motivation, focus and cognitive ability as well as online course design and a teacher's decisions regarding facilitation style. Offer tech support: Teachers can create short videos to help parents understand how to access their online content.

Motivation 218

Motivation Education Learning Feedback 218

Ask a Tech Teacher

JULY 12, 2021

One, all assignments were created so that students could have access 24/7. I made sure that there were only two assignments a week with the final assignment being a type of assessment. Integrated in the instructions were screen recorded examples of what I wanted students to achieve in the form of the assignment.

Distance Learning 168

Distance Learning Assignments Feedback Course Design 168

Faculty Focus

JUNE 2, 2024

Most of our grade was supposed to come from a single class project, but no assignment instructions were ever posted. But what about this assignment that was worth so much of our grade? When students know the purpose of the work they’re being asked to do, they have greater buy-in than if they see the assignment as mere “busy work.”

Syllabus 110

Syllabus Course Design Learning Students 110

Edsurge

NOVEMBER 20, 2018

Students cheating on assignments is hardly a new or surprising problem. In research and surveys conducted by Dr. Donald McCabe and the International Center for Academic Integrity over the span of 12 years, 68 percent of undergraduates who responded admitted to cheating on tests or written assignments.

Academic Integrity 147

Academic Integrity Exams Assignments Instructors 147

Faculty Focus

MAY 7, 2024

With a commitment to ensuring educational excellence and student success, in 2020, UF CJC Online developed a comprehensive course design strategy to elevate its online courses, a mission mandated by the State University System of Florida’s 2025 Strategic Plan for Online Education.

Feedback 111

Feedback Course Design Instructors Education 111

Faculty Focus

OCTOBER 13, 2024

Even before the pandemic, students were becoming accustomed to having a digital (and therefore readily accessible) extension of their classes via an LMS. Duplicate or misplaced assignment pages create confusion (and potentially issues with the gradebook). Many faculty don’t include due dates, which can lead to missed deadlines.

Syllabus 122

Syllabus Instructors Assignments Faculty Development 122

Edsurge

OCTOBER 14, 2022

That might be because community colleges are open access, and so colleges don’t know much about students when they come in. Not surprisingly, courses that are online or blended use the LMS more heavily than those that are fully face-to-face. Meanwhile, collecting and working with the LMS data takes significant time and effort.

Students 172

Students Course Design Study Coaching 172

Faculty Focus

JUNE 6, 2023

These courses offer many advantages, like remote access, self-paced learning, flexibility, and affordability. In addition to the numerous benefits, online courses also have a few obstacles that must be addressed to make these courses attractive and successful. Designing a website on Google is easy.

Accessibility 69

Accessibility Course Design Students Research Methods 69

Faculty Focus

APRIL 18, 2023

If I utilize Nearpod, Kahoot, a quiz, video, website, or exercise during the live session, I also include this in the session summary post for asynchronous learners to complete and for any student who did attend the session in-person to access later should they wish to review it again. Every educator has the same course design and materials.

Exams 111

Exams Course Design Assignments Learning 111

Edsurge

JANUARY 2, 2019

And improved access to devices and high-speed Wi-Fi means that traditional classrooms lectures need not be limited to the physical classroom space. In addition to using technology in my own biology courses, I also work with faculty across the country on how to teach with technology through an inclusive lens.

Technology 167

Technology Teaching Intellectual Development Instructors 167

Faculty Focus

OCTOBER 15, 2023

Organization and structure  Students appreciate courses where assignments and course materials are organized and structured. Clear labels and categories make navigation easy, and having everything accessible, especially the syllabus, lecture materials, and study guides, was a recurring preference. 

Syllabus 126

Syllabus Instructors Peer Review Lecturing 126

Edsurge

NOVEMBER 5, 2018

University of Michigan marketing professor John Branch rebuilds the learning experience by taking a precision engineering approach to course design. Source: Course Hero. He engineers every aspect of his courses, down to which students he’ll shoot the breeze with before class. What Is Course Hero? Why did it fail?

Quizzes 167

Quizzes Failure Culture Students 167

Faculty Focus

OCTOBER 13, 2024

Even before the pandemic, students were becoming accustomed to having a digital (and therefore readily accessible) extension of their classes via an LMS. Duplicate or misplaced assignment pages create confusion (and potentially issues with the gradebook). Many faculty don’t include due dates, which can lead to missed deadlines.

Syllabus 105

Syllabus Instructors Assignments Faculty Development 105

Faculty Focus

NOVEMBER 1, 2022

My rationale here is to not make it a mandatory assignment, but an extra credit opportunity to know more about their current learning experiences. I specify how I plan to respond once I collect their feedback; for example, adding more clarifications on assignments or identifying themes and concerns.

Student Engagement 131

Student Engagement Lecturing Students Feedback 131

Faculty Focus

APRIL 18, 2023

If I utilize Nearpod, Kahoot, a quiz, video, website, or exercise during the live session, I also include this in the session summary post for asynchronous learners to complete and for any student who did attend the session in-person to access later should they wish to review it again. Every educator has the same course design and materials.

Exams 98

Exams Course Design Assignments Learning 98

Faculty Focus

OCTOBER 27, 2024

Be Present Being present in your online course goes beyond delivering the curriculum and providing assignment feedback. Let students know when they may expect announcements, feedback on assignments (along with where to access them), and office hours. Consider preemptive intervention through regular outreach.

Instructors 116

Instructors Students Minute Papers Course Design 116

Faculty Focus

OCTOBER 15, 2023

Organization and structure  Students appreciate courses where assignments and course materials are organized and structured. Clear labels and categories make navigation easy, and having everything accessible, especially the syllabus, lecture materials, and study guides, was a recurring preference. 

Syllabus 111

Syllabus Instructors Peer Review Lecturing 111

eSchool News

JULY 26, 2016

The University of Akron launched the GenEd Core Pilot Program in Fall 2015 to help increase access to higher education. The program used Brightspace to deliver blended learning courses designed with experiential learning elements that allowed them to be offered with significant cost savings.

Online Learning 139

Online Learning Quizzes eLearning Learning 139

Faculty Focus

OCTOBER 27, 2024

Be Present Being present in your online course goes beyond delivering the curriculum and providing assignment feedback. Let students know when they may expect announcements, feedback on assignments (along with where to access them), and office hours. Consider preemptive intervention through regular outreach.

Instructors 105

Instructors Students Minute Papers Course Design 105

Faculty Focus

MAY 11, 2025

In higher education, we see our students use AI in many ways, to provide both authorized and unauthorized aid in their completion of assignments. He said that students could read much of the content off our PowerPoint slides and in the assigned readings without AI. As instructors, our role is not just to provide access to content.

Instructors 115

Instructors Motivation Critical Thinking Students 115

Faculty Focus

JUNE 16, 2024

The central tenets of social justice are centered around providing fair and equitable treatment of others as well as access to services, remaining mindful of the diversity of thought, culture, and perspectives one brings to a learning environment, and remaining inclusive in our actions and in creating a welcoming learning environment for all.

Learning 111

Learning Universal Design Course Design Fairness 111

Faculty Focus

JUNE 16, 2024

The central tenets of social justice are centered around providing fair and equitable treatment of others as well as access to services, remaining mindful of the diversity of thought, culture, and perspectives one brings to a learning environment, and remaining inclusive in our actions and in creating a welcoming learning environment for all.

Learning 111

Learning Universal Design Course Design Fairness 111

Faculty Focus

JANUARY 12, 2025

When completing assignments or preparing for tests, there is a concern that they might be “faking it until they make it.” For instance, is there a quiet student who excels in written assignments but struggles with a course outcome tied to public speaking?

Learning 109

Learning Evaluation Students Course Design 109

Edsurge

MAY 16, 2024

She’s also director of the Center for Teaching Excellence there, which provides faculty with support for instruction, edtech, course design, classroom management and grading. It's good to support learning, it's important for accessibility, it's important to address accommodations for students. So that stuff is really important.

Students 196

Students Instructors Lecturing Participation 196

Faculty Focus

JULY 7, 2024

The central tenets of social justice are centered around providing fair and equitable treatment of others as well as access to services, remaining mindful of the diversity of thought, culture, and perspectives one brings to a learning environment, and remaining inclusive in our actions and in creating a welcoming learning environment for all.

Learning 111

Learning Universal Design Fairness Course Design 111

Edsurge

JULY 22, 2022

They account for only about 10 percent of construction workers, so they don’t have much access to entire categories of jobs that pay decent wages without requiring a college degree. It can be subtle, like assigning women less-desirable tasks, fewer shifts and fewer overtime opportunities to advance their skills.

Participation 152

Participation Culture Course Design Skills 152

Edsurge

MARCH 29, 2017

They visually demonstrate how students will complete assignments and apply learning in the real world. However, you can think of a pedagogically rich online course like a balanced meal that should strive to provide at least a serving of each. “Demonstrate” videos illustrate how to do something in a step-by-step way.

Instructors 144

Instructors Education Lecturing Knowledge 144

Faculty Focus

JANUARY 12, 2025

When completing assignments or preparing for tests, there is a concern that they might be “faking it until they make it.” For instance, is there a quiet student who excels in written assignments but struggles with a course outcome tied to public speaking?

Learning 103

Learning Evaluation Students Course Design 103

Faculty Focus

NOVEMBER 1, 2022

My rationale here is to not make it a mandatory assignment, but an extra credit opportunity to know more about their current learning experiences. I specify how I plan to respond once I collect their feedback; for example, adding more clarifications on assignments or identifying themes and concerns.

Student Engagement 98

Student Engagement Lecturing Students Feedback 98

Faculty Focus

MAY 15, 2025

This article includes a free, open-access resource for educators: What Your Students Arent Telling You: Listening, Learning, and Leading with Empathy. I wanted to change thatnot just by asking better questions, but by building an open-access platform that would amplify student voices and inform actionable change.

Disabilities 64

Disabilities Course Design Lecturing Students 64