Ask a Tech Teacher

AUGUST 12, 2019

It’s clear to me that the course design–how I lay out the mix of resources, homework, classwork, and more–affects how students absorb and share knowledge. One of our Ask a Tech Teacher contributors knows a lot about how course design impacts learning. All of this starts with a good course design.

Course Design 89

Course Design Students Exams Feedback 89

Scholarly Teacher

NOVEMBER 13, 2024

Gabriele Pinto , Baylor University Key Statement: Implementing elements of active learning into a large course may seem daunting task, but think-pair-share aided by quizzing and clickers can be done in any size classroom. 2023; Hsu & Goldsmith, 2021; Venus & Sharma, 2024). Image courtesy of This Is Engineering, Unsplash.

Lecturing 98

Lecturing Active Learning Activities STEM 98

Faculty Focus

MAY 11, 2025

Given this reality in which AI can provide and synthesize information for and to our students at their requests in seconds, it is not completely paranoid to ask the question, What can we, as college instructors, offer our students in the age of AI? The empathetic course design perspective. Teaching of Psychology, 52 (1), 45-52.

Instructors 96

Instructors Motivation Critical Thinking Students 96

eSchool News

APRIL 23, 2020

Students can perform their own analysis of the sample data and answer questions based on their results. With 200-plus interactive activities, the high-quality Pivot Interactives videos give students the opportunity to observe and study hard-to-replicate experiments and phenomena. Scratch is designed for students ages 8 to 16.

STEM 215

STEM Laboratory Teachers Mobile Devices 215

Faculty Focus

MAY 15, 2025

This project started with a deceptively simple question: What arent our students telling us? 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. Tessa Wolf strengthened our commitment to inclusive course design.

Disabilities 53

Disabilities Course Design Lecturing Feedback 53

Faculty Focus

NOVEMBER 12, 2024

Both teachers and students tend to resist prioritizing writing activities into language lessons. Acknowledging both the importance of writing and the challenges it presents, we recently introduced an innovative activity in our Intermediate Spanish class. However, not all students were entirely satisfied with the experience.

Language 124

Language Languages Writing Communication 124

Edsurge

MAY 29, 2020

Here are summaries of the four essential elements of successful online courses, according to the playbook. Course Design Instructors should ask themselves: What do you want students to learn in your course? The answer to this question will help identify the right class materials, activities and assessments to use.

Course Evaluations 196

Course Evaluations Instructors Evaluation Universal Design 196

Edsurge

MAY 6, 2020

The crucial question that has emerged is: how do we engage learners when we are not together physically? In its simplest form, engagement is a measure of how much we are attending to a purpose, task or activity. 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

Edsurge

APRIL 8, 2020

As professors and K-12 teachers adjust to the sudden move to online teaching, one question keeps coming up: How much of class time should be done live—known in education parlance as “synchronous” teaching—and how much should be done so that students can do the work at their convenience—or “asynchronous” teaching.

Teaching 218

Teaching Instructors Distance Learning Lecturing 218

Faculty Focus

NOVEMBER 12, 2024

Both teachers and students tend to resist prioritizing writing activities into language lessons. Acknowledging both the importance of writing and the challenges it presents, we recently introduced an innovative activity in our Intermediate Spanish class. However, not all students were entirely satisfied with the experience.

Language 98

Language Languages Writing Communication 98

Edsurge

OCTOBER 14, 2022

That’s the question tackled by a research paper published this week. But some have raised questions about those efforts, which when done crudely can discourage students so much that they drop out , and may disproportionately discourage students who are first-generation or who don’t feel as welcome in a college environment.

Students 179

Students Course Design Study Coaching 179

Edsurge

NOVEMBER 21, 2018

A) Choose questions that most students will be able to answer correctly. B) Vary the types of poll questions beyond multiple choice. D) Stress that students answer questions independent of their peers. If used thoughtfully, we’ve seen that CRSs can help facilitate active learning in a classroom. Select all that apply.

Instructors 140

Instructors Multiple Choice Questions Course Design Discussions 140

Faculty Focus

JUNE 2, 2024

This poses the question: How can we best serve our online students? Here are some tips for where to begin: Use intentionality when creating content, learning activities, and assessments Instructors should mindfully consider the content they present to students, the learning activities students complete, and the assessments within the class.

Syllabus 131

Syllabus Course Design Learning Students 131

Faculty Focus

NOVEMBER 1, 2022

Adding small activities for engagement. In addition to mid-semester check-in techniques, I try to incorporate at least one low stake active learning strategy instead of direct teaching. We know that it’s important to incorporate small changes in our teaching, such as periodically adding a learning activity in place of a brief lecture.

Student Engagement 131

Student Engagement Lecturing Students Feedback 131

Edsurge

APRIL 30, 2020

They dug into the principles of universal design for learning, how instructions can use rubrics to empower students to demonstrate knowledge in many different ways, and how to break up class sessions to make it easier for everyone to participate fully. Audience question]: So I had a question about students with ADHD.

Accessibility 218

Accessibility Disabilities Universal Design Syllabus 218

Edsurge

JANUARY 4, 2019

These articles range from course content and pedagogy, to fostering an inclusive learning environment, and even extracurricular activities. Access and Equity Across topics, students have raised questions and concerns around who has access to the benefits of technological innovation, and which students or groups are not being served.

Fairness 164

Fairness Education Students Disabilities 164

Faculty Focus

OCTOBER 6, 2024

Many institutions are looking at increasing the number of online students through a combination of course availability, carousel offering, sequencing, and timing rather than increasing caps in online courses. Lowenthal et asl 2019) In person classes allow for real-time communication, non-verbal cues, and spontaneous group activities.

Instructors 116

Instructors Course Design Students Authentic Assessment 116

Faculty Focus

NOVEMBER 29, 2022

Do you want to help students transition effectively from one learning activity to another? Priming your students will provide solutions to these questions. Priming prepares students for upcoming information or a learning activity before they receive the information or participate in the activity in a course.

Knowledge 126

Knowledge Quizzes Students Learning 126

Edsurge

OCTOBER 10, 2017

Learner Profiles are tools that students can create to reflect on who they are as learners and subsequently use to take an active role in the personalization of their learning. The activities that the teachers complete are listed in the next column and are completely determined by the teachers. What about the ILPs worked well for you?

Teachers 160

Teachers Lecturing Blended Learning Students 160

Edsurge

JANUARY 13, 2017

A few trees were saved, but courses weren’t any smarter. So if automation and interactivity differentiate a smart phone from a phone, what makes a course “smart”? What attributes of course design and applications of technology transform outcomes and impact, as opposed to gratuitous investment in technology for technology’s sake?

Multiple Choice Questions 131

Multiple Choice Questions Instructors Textbooks Feedback 131

Edsurge

JANUARY 2, 2019

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. The narrative I often hear centers on how students may resist active learning approaches, a teaching style that often (but not always) is predicated on some technology.

Technology 167

Technology Teaching Intellectual Development Instructors 167

Edsurge

NOVEMBER 5, 2018

The average student gets just two of the ten questions right. University of Michigan marketing professor John Branch rebuilds the learning experience by taking a precision engineering approach to course design. Source: Course Hero. Let’s a say I have a 90-minute course session.

Quizzes 167

Quizzes Failure Culture Students 167

Edsurge

DECEMBER 11, 2017

Those are just some of the questions we’ve asked at #DLNchat , and the answers from your peers abound ! The host, @HigherEdSurge , will post questions using Q1, Q2, Q3, etc. to indicate the questions. These will often appear in the form of question cards as well, like the one below. Pacific / 4:00 p.m. Chat it up.

Mobile Devices 116

Mobile Devices Learning Participation Course Design 116

Edsurge

DECEMBER 5, 2016

At the university level, course design has traditionally been easy for faculty to manage on their own—until, that is, digital technologies began to play a role and online courses started to take off. 7 Reasons Why Learning Design Might Be Right for You. You're always asking insightful questions.

Interdisciplinary 163

Interdisciplinary Ethics Learning Learning Styles 163

Faculty Focus

OCTOBER 27, 2024

Louis’ Olin Business School encourages instructors to select a few questions to create an authentic course introduction video. Be Present Being present in your online course goes beyond delivering the curriculum and providing assignment feedback. questions). Interview-style question bank. link] Wehr, K.

Instructors 115

Instructors Students Minute Papers Course Design 115

Faculty Focus

JANUARY 30, 2024

Here, we discuss all things course-related while reflecting on the activity we just completed and examine how our discussion introduces, reinforces, or masters content. These questions reside in a discussion board so all students can see responses. Samples of silly questions include: “What is your petty presidential promise?”

Syllabus 124

Syllabus Lecturing Discussions Science 124

Faculty Focus

JUNE 2, 2024

This poses the question: How can we best serve our online students? Here are some tips for where to begin: Use intentionality when creating content, learning activities, and assessments Instructors should mindfully consider the content they present to students, the learning activities students complete, and the assessments within the class.

Syllabus 106

Syllabus Course Design Learning Students 106

Faculty Focus

JUNE 16, 2024

Thus far, we have discussed the Universal Design for Learning and the integration of the IPEC competencies to foster inclusion and encourage active collaboration. The next thing to consider is the design and structure of the learning offering or activity. Let us focus on applying design thinking.

Learning 110

Learning Universal Design Course Design Fairness 110

Faculty Focus

JUNE 16, 2024

Thus far, we have discussed the Universal Design for Learning and the integration of the IPEC competencies to foster inclusion and encourage active collaboration. The next thing to consider is the design and structure of the learning offering or activity. Let us focus on applying design thinking.

Learning 110

Learning Universal Design Course Design Fairness 110

Faculty Focus

OCTOBER 6, 2024

Many institutions are looking at increasing the number of online students through a combination of course availability, carousel offering, sequencing, and timing rather than increasing caps in online courses. Lowenthal et asl 2019) In person classes allow for real-time communication, non-verbal cues, and spontaneous group activities.

Instructors 98

Instructors Course Design Students Authentic Assessment 98

Edsurge

SEPTEMBER 10, 2017

This drastic class redesign demanded that I ask myself some big questions: what content was required, what elements of learning could students control and what traditional and new measures I could use to gauge progress? Almost every question led to another. From 2011-2015, I continued to iterate on the course design for my class.

Syllabus 159

Syllabus Learning Course Outline History 159

Faculty Focus

JULY 7, 2024

Designing With Intention Thus far, we have discussed the Universal Design for Learning and the integration of the IPEC competencies to foster inclusion and encourage active collaboration. The next thing to consider is the design and structure of the learning offering or activity.

Learning 109

Learning Universal Design Fairness Course Design 109

Faculty Focus

MARCH 18, 2025

While many of our conversations have focused on what generative AI means for student assignments and learning outcomes, there’s another question faculty are askingoften individually and quietly: How can we leverage AI in our own academic and administrative work? And more importantly, should we?

Assignments 79

Assignments Testing Course Design Writing 79

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. I was thinking a lot about this kind of work and related to the question of how does physical absence affect other students in the classroom?

Students 203

Students Instructors Lecturing Participation 203

Faculty Focus

OCTOBER 27, 2024

Louis’ Olin Business School encourages instructors to select a few questions to create an authentic course introduction video. Be Present Being present in your online course goes beyond delivering the curriculum and providing assignment feedback. questions). Interview-style question bank. link] Wehr, K.

Instructors 105

Instructors Students Minute Papers Course Design 105

Faculty Focus

NOVEMBER 1, 2022

Adding small activities for engagement. In addition to mid-semester check-in techniques, I try to incorporate at least one low stake active learning strategy instead of direct teaching. We know that it’s important to incorporate small changes in our teaching, such as periodically adding a learning activity in place of a brief lecture.

Student Engagement 98

Student Engagement Lecturing Students Feedback 98

Faculty Focus

APRIL 6, 2023

Active learning is another key aspect of my philosophy. I believe that students learn best when they are actively engaged in the learning process, rather than passively receiving information. I encourage you to spend a few moments each semester to review your philosophy and to reflect on the practices you employ in your courses.

Teaching Philosophy 111

Teaching Philosophy Teaching Beliefs Universal Design 111