Edsurge

APRIL 26, 2018

On Tuesday, April 24 the #DLNchat community got together to discuss and debate: How Can Alternative Assignments Effectively Assess Student Learning? But why, then, do so many courses still rely on exams? The community also noted digital portfolios as an example of assignments whose life extends beyond the course.

Assignments 101

Assignments Exams Instructors Learning 101

Faculty Focus

DECEMBER 8, 2024

We want to make sure that we are serving our students to the best of our abilities and, thereby, creating inclusive, engaging, and meaningful learning experiences. High Impact Practices High impact practices (HIPs) are a set of strategies for improving the student learning experience.

Assignments 109

Assignments Instructors Critical Thinking Activities 109

eSchool News

MARCH 9, 2023

Are students allowed to retake tests on which they did not do well? It is essential that teachers have a clear and supportive grading system in place to address the scrutiny of today’s students, parents, and other stakeholders. Exams that do not reflect that criteria may have been poorly designed.

Grades 269

Grades Teachers Instructors Exams 269

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. The book, co-authored with students, offers actionable strategies and insights to help create more inclusive and humane learning environments.

Disabilities 55

Disabilities Course Design Lecturing Students 55

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? Then, share the assignment prompt.

Assignments 81

Assignments Testing Course Design Writing 81

Faculty Focus

OCTOBER 29, 2024

As educators, we’re always looking for ways to engage students with practical, real-world applications of business concepts. This creative approach resonates with students and helps bridge the gap between theoretical concepts and practical business applications. How does the superhero’s leadership style impact their team/allies?

Assignments 105

Assignments Teaching Ethics Fairness 105

Edsurge

APRIL 8, 2020

for all of her students. She’s in Tennessee—where she is an assistant professor at Vanderbilt University—but some of the students she’s teaching are now taking the class from California, where it’s only 8 a.m. And a couple of students are back home in China, where it’s midnight. When Elizabeth Self starts teaching her 11 a.m.

Teaching 218

Teaching Instructors Distance Learning Lecturing 218

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? Then, share the assignment prompt.

Assignments 72

Assignments Testing Course Design Writing 72

Faculty Focus

DECEMBER 8, 2024

We want to make sure that we are serving our students to the best of our abilities and, thereby, creating inclusive, engaging, and meaningful learning experiences. High Impact Practices High impact practices (HIPs) are a set of strategies for improving the student learning experience.

Assignments 93

Assignments Instructors Critical Thinking Activities 93

Faculty Focus

JUNE 2, 2024

My first and only fully online class taken as an undergraduate student was a complete disaster. 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? He simply gave us all A’s. Poor s leep h abits.

Syllabus 131

Syllabus Course Design Learning Students 131

Edsurge

OCTOBER 14, 2022

Now that so much college work is done digitally in learning management systems, many colleges are trying to analyze student data from those platforms to predict which students need help. There’s a lot to do in between predicting student performance and generating better student outcomes.”.

Students 182

Students Course Design Study Coaching 182

Faculty Focus

JANUARY 9, 2025

Student success is teacher success. When our students overcome obstacles in their learning due to our support and encouragement, or experience transformations from our well-constructed course design and subsequent instruction, we succeed in cultivating spaces where their success is made possible.

Students 122

Students Motivation Feedback Communication 122

Edsurge

SEPTEMBER 26, 2019

I spent the next four years in my assigned seat among the rows of desks, trying to listen to the teacher at the front of the room, completing homework assignments from textbooks, and preparing for tests by making countless flashcards. Twenty years ago, I was a freshman in high school.

Students 164

Students Attention Textbooks Assignments 164

Faculty Focus

JUNE 2, 2024

My first and only fully online class taken as an undergraduate student was a complete disaster. 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? He simply gave us all A’s. Poor s leep h abits.

Syllabus 110

Syllabus Course Design Learning Students 110

Edsurge

NOVEMBER 5, 2018

So are most of the students taking the cultural competency quiz Professor John Branch gives out near the beginning of his MBA-level International Marketing class at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. The average student gets just two of the ten questions right. Source: Course Hero.

Quizzes 167

Quizzes Failure Culture Students 167

Faculty Focus

OCTOBER 13, 2024

Instead of thinking about the LMS as simply a repository for course essentials (syllabus, contact information, etc.), consider how it might be used as a tool for enhancing student learning and engagement. Students now expect the use of this tool by their professors for more than simply providing lecture slides or links to readings.

Syllabus 122

Syllabus Instructors Assignments Faculty Development 122

Faculty Focus

NOVEMBER 1, 2022

Around the semester midpoint you may be noticing that some of your students are becoming overwhelmed, may lack motivation, or feel disconnected from the class. Below, let me share instructional strategies that I use in my courses (virtual, asynchronous, and in-person) to recover student engagement. Sound familiar?

Student Engagement 131

Student Engagement Lecturing Students Feedback 131

Faculty Focus

OCTOBER 27, 2024

Connecting with students is a step towards increasing engagement in the classroom—whether face-to-face or online. Connecting with students shifts the obligation from the instructor working singularly to create an inclusive environment to one where the class works collectively to build the community.

Instructors 116

Instructors Students Minute Papers Course Design 116

Faculty Focus

JANUARY 21, 2024

After four decades of such reflection, I am keenly aware that understanding effective teaching strategies, the students I serve, and how learning works requires my constant attention. When it comes to increasing rates of student achievement, satisfaction, and graduation, what really makes the difference? This is critical work.

Syllabus 132

Syllabus Exams Students Motivation 132

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. EdSurge: Why is student disengagement or absenteeism something that you’re thinking about? So that stuff is really important.

Students 202

Students Instructors Lecturing Participation 202

Faculty Focus

JANUARY 9, 2025

Student success is teacher success. When our students overcome obstacles in their learning due to our support and encouragement, or experience transformations from our well-constructed course design and subsequent instruction, we succeed in cultivating spaces where their success is made possible.

Students 111

Students Motivation Feedback Communication 111

Faculty Focus

OCTOBER 27, 2024

Connecting with students is a step towards increasing engagement in the classroom—whether face-to-face or online. Connecting with students shifts the obligation from the instructor working singularly to create an inclusive environment to one where the class works collectively to build the community.

Instructors 105

Instructors Students Minute Papers Course Design 105

Faculty Focus

JANUARY 21, 2025

Creating a trust-based classroom begins with an essential mindset: students are doing their best. When we approach teaching from this perspective, we move away from punitive measures, fear-based management, and skepticism about students honesty. Students should feel safe to experiment without fear of punishment or penalty.

Plagiarism 123

Plagiarism Syllabus Ethics Feedback 123

Faculty Focus

OCTOBER 13, 2024

Instead of thinking about the LMS as simply a repository for course essentials (syllabus, contact information, etc.), consider how it might be used as a tool for enhancing student learning and engagement. Students now expect the use of this tool by their professors for more than simply providing lecture slides or links to readings.

Syllabus 105

Syllabus Instructors Assignments Faculty Development 105

Edsurge

NOVEMBER 22, 2017

But Chatterjee, an international student from India, did not feel confident about the assignment, and thought it was Western-centric and focused on physical powers associated with attractive males. Based on that feedback, the professor, Julia Parra, says she changed the assignment to make it broader, and more inclusive.

Culture 153

Culture Teaching Syllabus English 153

Edsurge

MARCH 7, 2024

A few weeks ago, Ferris State University made a splashy announcement that it planned to enroll two chatbot “students” in its classes, calling it a novel way for colleges to test their curricula. How can we fine-tune responses from AI so they reflect the diversity of our student body or reflect the needs of a first-year student?”

Intelligence 213

Intelligence Syllabus Feedback Assignments 213

Faculty Focus

JULY 4, 2023

Classic online course standards emphasize the value of three types of interactions: student-instructor interaction, student-content interaction, and student-student interaction. Especially today in an age where students are fully bathed in other online communities of choice through TikTok, Twitch, and Reddit.

Exams 116

Exams Students Instructors Evaluation 116

Edsurge

MAY 6, 2020

Recent class discussions have focused on the difficulties of getting through to students without in-person contact, especially during a time of enormous stress. Some teachers report that their students lack interest and in the worst cases, that students are dropping from classes entirely.

Motivation 218

Motivation Education Learning Feedback 218

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 122

Feedback Course Design Instructors Education 122

Faculty Focus

MAY 11, 2025

Balch & Blanck, 2025; Butulis, 2023; Parks & Oslick, 2024) and to provide their students with instruction and practice in using AI in productive and ethical ways (e.g., As the capacity of AI grows to complete increasingly complex tasks, we (as college instructors) may wonder what we can offer our students in the age of AI.

Instructors 115

Instructors Motivation Critical Thinking Students 115

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 151

Academic Integrity Exams Assignments Instructors 151

Faculty Focus

JANUARY 12, 2025

Students need to demonstrate their competencies in areas beyond traditional classroom assessments. In an era of advanced technologies and artificial intelligence, the use of these tools in education raises concerns about its impact on student learning, particularly when it comes to assessments.

Learning 111

Learning Evaluation Students Course Design 111

Faculty Focus

OCTOBER 15, 2023

We firmly believe that doing so not only meets the evolving needs of today’s students but also enhances the overall learning experience. Furthermore, it places both faculty and students in a better position to adapt, should the need for another rapid shift to remote learning arise.

Syllabus 126

Syllabus Instructors Peer Review Lecturing 126

Faculty Focus

MAY 30, 2023

Traditionally, the one-size-fits-all approach to assessment has been dominant, with all students completing the same activities throughout the course. This method, however, often leads to a lack of student engagement and, consequently, less effective learning.

Student Engagement 98

Student Engagement Assignments Instructors Students 98

Faculty Focus

NOVEMBER 27, 2022

It is usually about two-thirds to three-quarters of the way through the semester when we (and our students) start to feel a little grumpier. 2011) into all parts of our courses (see Saucier et al., 2022 for a discussion of the empathetic course design perspective). Being empathetic benefits not only our students (e.g.,

Course Design 142

Course Design Assignments Teaching Philosophy Instructors 142

Faculty Focus

JANUARY 21, 2024

After four decades of such reflection, I am keenly aware that understanding effective teaching strategies, the students I serve, and how learning works requires my constant attention. When it comes to increasing rates of student achievement, satisfaction, and graduation, what really makes the difference? This is critical work.

Syllabus 105

Syllabus Exams Students Motivation 105

Ask a Tech Teacher

FEBRUARY 7, 2022

Model Teaching is an online educator training program with a goal not only to provide teaching knowledge but to improve overall student performance. Classes are designed to help new and experienced K-12 teachers master concepts and immediately apply them to their lessons. Student-led Classroom Management. What is Model Teaching?

Teaching 180

Teaching Education Learning Assignments 180