Faculty Focus

OCTOBER 29, 2024

The Assignment: Exploring Leadership Through Superheroes In this assignment, students are asked to compare five leadership styles—autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire (sometimes called free-rein style), transactional, and transformational—with the leadership qualities of at least three superheroes.

Assignments 92

Assignments Teaching Ethics Fairness 92

Faculty Focus

MAY 15, 2025

Download it here: [link] In higher education, we often track student success through grades, credit hours, and retention rates. Dr. Emily Tarconish, a teaching professor in the College of Education, contributed her deep knowledge of Universal Design for Learning and accessible course design. They are co-creators of it.

Disabilities 53

Disabilities Course Design Lecturing Students 53

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? Aside from a bare-bones syllabus, the professor never showed up. I emailed the professor and waited…and waited…and waited—silence.

Syllabus 130

Syllabus Course Design Learning Students 130

Edsurge

MARCH 7, 2024

That’s an approach that’s grown over the past decade or so where colleges try to harness the digital breadcrumbs left by students as they move through digital platforms and online course materials to find patterns that can improve course design and even personalize material for individual students. “AI

Intelligence 212

Intelligence Syllabus Feedback Assignments 212

Faculty Focus

OCTOBER 13, 2024

Learning Management Systems shouldn’t be seen as simply a catchall for handouts or a place to enter grades; when used effectively, the LMS can be a powerful tool for engaging learners and helping them connect with their professors, peers, and the content they’re learning. Many faculty already use an LMS, but how they use it is important.

Syllabus 122

Syllabus Instructors Assignments Faculty Development 122

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 146

Academic Integrity Exams Assignments Instructors 146

Ask a Tech Teacher

FEBRUARY 7, 2022

All classes follow an easy-to-use course design: establish goals–what students will learn by the end of the class. Search the course catalogue by 1) credit type (Quick Classes, PD, or grad school credit), 2) content, 3) Academic partner (the college or University you are sending credits to), or 4) grade level.

Teaching 179

Teaching Education Learning Assignments 179

eSchool News

JULY 20, 2016

Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education has launched a short online course designed specifically to help educators create rich and meaningful opportunities for communication within the classroom. The course, Effective Conversation in the Classroom, launches in August with three online sessions.

Teaching 177

Teaching Exams Disabilities Learning 177

Edsurge

OCTOBER 14, 2022

Not surprisingly, courses that are online or blended use the LMS more heavily than those that are fully face-to-face. In addition, courses that have few graded assignments have little data on which to base a prediction until weeks into the semester, making early intervention difficult.”

Students 179

Students Course Design Study Coaching 179

Faculty Focus

APRIL 18, 2023

All sections of bi-modal courses receive a copy over of the asynchronous LMS master course. The faculty team could be consulted as to what materials should be placed in the master course. Every educator has the same course design and materials. Flexible (UDL) assignment design.

Exams 111

Exams Course Design Assignments Learning 111

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 118

Feedback Course Design Instructors Education 118

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? Aside from a bare-bones syllabus, the professor never showed up. I emailed the professor and waited…and waited…and waited—silence.

Syllabus 104

Syllabus Course Design Learning Students 104

Faculty Focus

OCTOBER 15, 2023

Organization and structure  Students appreciate courses where assignments and course materials are organized and structured. They particularly appreciated the gradebook, assignment submission, and announcement features, which streamlined their learning experience.  Avoid confusing instructions.

Syllabus 126

Syllabus Instructors Peer Review Lecturing 126

Faculty Focus

OCTOBER 13, 2024

Learning Management Systems shouldn’t be seen as simply a catchall for handouts or a place to enter grades; when used effectively, the LMS can be a powerful tool for engaging learners and helping them connect with their professors, peers, and the content they’re learning. Many faculty already use an LMS, but how they use it is important.

Syllabus 105

Syllabus Instructors Assignments Faculty Development 105

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 108

Feedback Course Design Instructors Education 108

Faculty Focus

JANUARY 21, 2024

Flexible policies such as dropping the lowest quiz/assignment score and offering one free pass for a “no-questions-asked” due-date extension can reduce anxiety and logistical rigor. This type of intellectual rigor is desirable in course design. Lastly, we map the various due dates onto a calendar.

Syllabus 132

Syllabus Exams Students Motivation 132

Faculty Focus

JANUARY 21, 2025

Trusting students does not mean ignoring accountability; it means designing courses, policies, and practices that build their confidence and skills while treating them as equal partners in their education. These activities encourage participation without the anxiety of high-stakes grading (Freeman et al., 2014; Agarwal, 2019).

Plagiarism 116

Plagiarism Syllabus Ethics Feedback 116

Edsurge

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

You enter and on the board is your first assignment: create something—a drawing, a model of a house, a sketch of a new product, a sculpture. And tells you your next assignment is to pick up the pieces (including yourself) and make something new. It’s crucial that educators have the freedom to design and redesign in a guided process.

Education 167

Education Schools Art History 167

Faculty Focus

APRIL 18, 2023

All sections of bi-modal courses receive a copy over of the asynchronous LMS master course. The faculty team could be consulted as to what materials should be placed in the master course. Every educator has the same course design and materials. Flexible (UDL) assignment design.

Exams 96

Exams Course Design Assignments Learning 96

Faculty Focus

JANUARY 18, 2024

In preparing that first course, I focused on what I thought were the essentials of teaching: finalizing the syllabus, picking the readings, and writing the assignments. You could also integrate videos or podcasts into your course materials, in addition to assigning readings. Encourage student participation.

Teaching 119

Teaching Syllabus Feedback Instructors 119

Faculty Focus

OCTOBER 15, 2023

Organization and structure  Students appreciate courses where assignments and course materials are organized and structured. They particularly appreciated the gradebook, assignment submission, and announcement features, which streamlined their learning experience.  Avoid confusing instructions.

Syllabus 111

Syllabus Instructors Peer Review Lecturing 111

Edsurge

APRIL 30, 2020

But now that so many students are taking courses remotely, in improvised environments that may not be especially conducive to learning, it may take some extra effort to redesign instruction, assignments and assessments to address everyone’s needs. It's not like we're grading it for huge stakes. Physical accessibility.

Accessibility 218

Accessibility Disabilities Universal Design Syllabus 218

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. Do they count that as part of a grade or is it more like if you choose not to show up, you're not going to learn? It depends.

Students 203

Students Instructors Lecturing Participation 203

Faculty Focus

SEPTEMBER 19, 2023

However, assessment is more than just grading and is often misunderstood. In order to provide useful information to instructors and students about student achievement, it must be understood that student assessment is more than just a grade because it should link student performance to specific learning objectives.

Fairness 122

Fairness Instructors Feedback Evaluation 122

Faculty Focus

OCTOBER 27, 2024

Pro tip: Consider employing the notes column within your LMS grade book to reference and utilize student information gathered from the questionnaire. Be Present Being present in your online course goes beyond delivering the curriculum and providing assignment feedback. Consider preemptive intervention through regular outreach.

Instructors 115

Instructors Students Minute Papers Course Design 115

Faculty Focus

JANUARY 18, 2024

In preparing that first course, I focused on what I thought were the essentials of teaching: finalizing the syllabus, picking the readings, and writing the assignments. You could also integrate videos or podcasts into your course materials, in addition to assigning readings. Encourage student participation.

Teaching 109

Teaching Syllabus Feedback Instructors 109

Faculty Focus

MARCH 19, 2023

The Business Education Design Thinking Instructional Model (Wickam et al., For example, written papers and class discussion are assignments that can be used to aid students in reflecting on each stage of the design thinking process (Clark & Brennan, 1991; Grandzol & Grandzol, 2006; Wickam et al.,

Course Design 115

Course Design Testing Feedback Assignments 115

Faculty Focus

FEBRUARY 11, 2024

This faculty member may give exams and may collect student artifacts, such as projects or papers, but the faculty really doesn’t connect student performance with the course design or classroom experience. Rather than treating assessment as endemic to grades or any other static category, assessment should prioritize movement.

Feedback 126

Feedback Course Design Assignments Evaluation 126

Faculty Focus

JANUARY 21, 2025

Trusting students does not mean ignoring accountability; it means designing courses, policies, and practices that build their confidence and skills while treating them as equal partners in their education. These activities encourage participation without the anxiety of high-stakes grading (Freeman et al., 2014; Agarwal, 2019).

Plagiarism 98

Plagiarism Syllabus Ethics Feedback 98

Faculty Focus

APRIL 16, 2023

Educators are available to students and are responsible for designing bi-modal content. Content should incorporate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and offer choices to students. IT-ready classrooms may not be available for all courses. These are not challenges associated with online courses. Provide course materials.

Learning 105

Learning Assignments Course Design Instructors 105

Faculty Focus

DECEMBER 10, 2023

Lesson one: Planning teaching presence At our university training during the pandemic, professors learned that enhancing flexibility for online learners involved making all assignments and activities accessible on the first day of class—this way students could work at their own pace. The Internet and Higher Education, 2 (2-3), 87-105.

Quizzes 126

Quizzes Teaching Learning Feedback 126

Faculty Focus

JANUARY 11, 2024

I read course materials, created assignments, and graded student work in my free time.  Other days, I might quit sooner than planned because I’m tired and/or grumpy and none of my students really want me grading their work with that frame of mind. Simplifying assignments.  Do I really need them all?

Assignments 111

Assignments Elementary School Elementary School Grades 111

Faculty Focus

JANUARY 11, 2024

I read course materials, created assignments, and graded student work in my free time.  Other days, I might quit sooner than planned because I’m tired and/or grumpy and none of my students really want me grading their work with that frame of mind. Simplifying assignments.  Do I really need them all?

Assignments 111

Assignments Elementary School Elementary School Grades 111

Faculty Focus

OCTOBER 27, 2024

Pro tip: Consider employing the notes column within your LMS grade book to reference and utilize student information gathered from the questionnaire. Be Present Being present in your online course goes beyond delivering the curriculum and providing assignment feedback. Consider preemptive intervention through regular outreach.

Instructors 105

Instructors Students Minute Papers Course Design 105

Faculty Focus

SEPTEMBER 19, 2023

However, assessment is more than just grading and is often misunderstood. In order to provide useful information to instructors and students about student achievement, it must be understood that student assessment is more than just a grade because it should link student performance to specific learning objectives.

Fairness 109

Fairness Instructors Feedback Evaluation 109

Scholarly Teacher

NOVEMBER 20, 2024

One theme on building critical consciousness explored in our program is the presence of implicit linguistic biases in course syllabi and assignment designs. What does the language in the syllabus/assignment assume about students (e.g., language choices for turning in assignments?

Teaching 98

Teaching Instructors English Language 98

Faculty Focus

APRIL 16, 2023

Educators are available to students and are responsible for designing bi-modal content. Content should incorporate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and offer choices to students. IT-ready classrooms may not be available for all courses. These are not challenges associated with online courses. Provide course materials.

Learning 98

Learning Assignments Course Design Instructors 98