With the new academic year now underway, we would like to remind instructors of the campus subscription to the Teaching Professor sponsored by the William G. Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning. The Teaching Professor is a highly informative newsletter with a singular purpose: to provide ideas and insight to educators who are passionate about teaching. It’s a source of cutting-edge information and inspiration for more than 10,000 educators at universities and colleges worldwide.
To access the Teaching Professor visit teachingprofessor.com:
- On campus you can obtain full access to all Teaching Professor content (including their extensive archive) if your computer/device is connected to the campus network (except the MichiganTechGuest network). It is not necessary to create an account or log in to access the subscription on-campus.
- Off campus access is also available but does require you to create an account.
Take advantage of this resource and contact the CTL (ctl@mtu.edu) if you have any questions.
CTL Services
Ever wonder how the Center for Teaching and Learning can support your instructional needs? We are here with support for any questions you may have about Canvas, Huskycast, Gradescope, Turnitin, Zoom, or iClicker. Already familiar with these but would like to take a deeper dive into some of these technologies or maybe you have never used these and would like to give them a try in your classroom, we would be happy to provide some one-to-one training! Feel free to drop by during our walk-in hours from 10-noon and 1-4pm Monday through Friday. We can also provide in-person consultations in classrooms for classroom teaching technologies. No time to stop by the CTL? Be sure to check out our online resources that can be found on our site in our Teaching and Learning Knowledge Base, Canvas Instructor Guides, and the Getting Started With Canvas sections. Our CTL Blog is another great place to get information, especially for upcoming events and workshops!
We also have a wide range of devices for short-term instructional loan such as Surface Pros and iPads. If you’re in need of a microphone or portable document camera to hold a phone or iPad for recording, those are available as well!
iNSwan document camera
IPEVO Uplift Multi-Angle Arm for Smartphones
IPEVO VZ-R HDMI/USB Dual Mode Document Camera
IPEVO V4K Ultra High Definition USB Document Camera
Snowball Ice Plug and Play USB Microphone
Swivl Robot camera with tracking
Are you interested in taking a deeper dive into a specific instructional topic? We also have a periodical library available for checkout covering a wide range of topics! Feel free to stop in anytime and review the collection.
Feel free to contact us at 7-3000 or email us at elearning@mtu.edu.
Are you interested in creating an online course? Do you have colleagues who enjoy teaching online, but you’re not sure how to get started? Below are some tips for developing an online course. (If you are already teaching online, consider joining our Fall 2024 book club where we’ll read Flower Darby’s Small Teaching Online.)
Develop a Vision for Your Course
When you begin developing an online course, start by thinking about what you want to teach students and why an online course would be a good way to teach what you want to teach.
Many times, online courses are developed as an additional section of an in-person course that is already being taught at the university. In these cases, the purpose for teaching the course and the learning outcomes that you want students to achieve by taking the course may already be clear.
Sometimes, an online course is developed to meet a specific need before a similar in-person course has been developed. For example, your department may be launching a new online program, and a new course needs to be developed to support students in achieving the program learning outcomes. In these cases, it’s important to clarify how the course will fit into the program and what learning outcomes students should achieve by taking the course.
Determine How to Assess Student Achievement
After you have decided on the purpose for your course and what students should learn from taking the course, it’s important to think about how you will assess student achievement using assessments that have been tailored for an online environment. In addition to or instead of multiple choice tests and writing assignments, authentic assessments can be useful for assessing student achievement in online courses. Authentic assessments “are tightly aligned with the learning objectives of a course or learning experience and have learners working on ‘real world’ problems” (Niemer, 2024). These types of assessments can be more engaging for learners and can better prepare them to use what they are learning in a course in their professional and personal lives.
For more information about authentic assessments, see Rachel Neimer’s (2024) discussion of Creating Authentic Assessments.
For more information about assessing students in online courses, see Creating and Adapting Assignments for Online Courses.
Collaborate with Instructional Designers
Once you have a vision for your course and ideas about how you would like to assess student achievement, consider working with an instructional designer as you continue designing and organizing your online course. The instructional designers at the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning can help you:
- Gain access to the MTU online course Canvas template
- Brainstorm effective online assessment and learning activities
- Consider how to make your course accessible to as many students as possible
- Prepare to meet the Michigan Tech online quality course standards
To contact the CTL’s Instructional Design team, email Dan Ye at dany@mtu.edu or Catharine Gruver at cgruver@mtu.edu.
References
Niemer, R. (2024, January, 15). Creating authentic assessments. M Online Teaching. https://onlineteaching.umich.edu/articles/creating-authentic-assessments/
The Ohio State University Teaching and Learning Resource Center. (n.d.). Creating and adapting assignments for online courses. https://teaching.resources.osu.edu/teaching-topics/creating-adapting-assignments
As we begin a new fall semester I’m pleased to share an update on classroom renovations that were completed during the summer.
EERC 2nd. floor
The entire second floor of the Electrical Energy Resources Center (EERC) was renovated and all existing classrooms were impacted. The renovation included new wall and ceiling work, new light fixtures and new flooring. Furniture was replaced in all rooms with the exception of EERC 218 which received new active learning furniture as part of a pilot last spring semester. If you are teaching in this area now, we’d love to hear your comments about these updates.
Rekhi G006
Rekhi G006 is a new 54 seat active learning classroom. It features 6-person tables with stacked monitors that can display both instructor content as well as local student group work. Both wall-mounted and personal size whiteboards are also available. The room technology includes a document camera and room cameras for recording presentations or for Zoom sessions.
ChemSci 104
Room 104 in the Chemical Sciences and Engineering building was renovated, combining what was previously two separate smaller classrooms (104A/B). The new 60-seat classroom features multi-level seating options for groups of six students with plenty of whiteboard space. The room technology includes a classroom camera and ceiling microphones for Zoom or recording applications.
The large classroom in Dow 641 also received much needed new furniture this summer. It features larger tabletop works surfaces with available power to better support students who use laptops/tablets and better supports active learning activities.
Contact the CTL (elearning@mtu.edu) if you’d like more information about these classroom updates or to arrange for a room orientation.
The Essential Ed Leadership Team is setting up weekly “Office Hours” to support our campus community as we implement the new Essential Education curriculum. Individuals, department committees, and other working groups are welcome to attend to consult with Essential Ed leaders about adapting degree audits, planning Essential Ed minors, developing new courses, assessment, ePortfolios, and any other Essential Ed questions.
Location: Library Conference Room 103
Time: Noon until 1:00 p.m.
Dates:
| Wednesday | Thursday | |
| September 4 | September 12 | |
| September 18 | September 26 | |
| October 2 | October 10 | |
| October 16 | October 24 | |
| October 30 | November 7 | |
| November 13 | November 21 | |
| November 27 | December 5 | |
| December 11 |
Empowering Educational Equity: Affordable, Open, and Inclusive Course Materials
Creating Impact: How to Fall in Love with Teaching Again with Dr. Angela Trego
Are you ready for Fall semester? A new school year brings students back to campus and the chance to review and refresh our courses. Consider taking this opportunity to refresh your course syllabus.
Tone
Take a moment to read over the first paragraph of your syllabus. What is the tone? Does it sound like you are encouraging your students and looking forward to the course? According to Zakrajsek and Nilson (2023), “studies show that students prefer a learning-focused syllabus that states strong student learning outcomes and [has] a positive, motivating-tone over a traditional content- and policy-focused syllabus (p. 66). There is no need to reduce course rigor to create a warmer or more positive syllabus. Instead, focus on introducing course requirements using positive and supportive language.
The President and Fellows of Harvard College (2023) share several suggestions for creating a syllabus with a positive tone. These include:
- Using friendly language
- Providing a rationale for assignments
- Sharing a little bit about who you are
- Showing your enthusiasm
- Expressing compassion
For more information about each of these, take a look at the full article Syllabus Language Sets the Tone for Your Course.
What to Include
There are a variety of opinions about what to include in a syllabus and how long it should be. However, Michigan Tech’s Senate Policy 312.1 provides a list of content required in MTU course syllabi. This list includes:
- Instructor information
- Course information
- Grading information
- A schedule of course assignments
- References to three university policies
- Academic integrity
- Disability
- Equal opportunity
- Course policies
To help you create a syllabus that includes this required content, the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning provides a syllabus template that you can use as a starting point for your own syllabus.
Taking time now to review and revise your syllabus can help you set your students up for success by effectively providing them with important information and motivating them to actively engage in your course.
Resources
For additional information about what to include in a syllabus and how to do so, consider reviewing:
- Kevin Gannon’s advice guide on How to Create a Syllabus
- Maryellen Weimer’s collection of A Potpourri of Syllabus Ideas (Courtesy of Our Readers)
If you have questions about creating or refreshing your syllabus, contact a member of the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning team at 487-3000 or ctl@mtu.edu.
References
Michigan Tech University Senate Policy 312.1 (2015). https://www.mtu.edu/senate/policies-procedures/list-policies/312.1/
The President and Fellows of Harvard College. (2023). Syllabus language sets the tone for your course. Retrieved from https://teachingandlearning.knowledgeowl.com/docs/syllabus-language-sets-the-tone-for-your-course
Zakrajsek, T. D. & Nilson, L. B. (2023). Teaching at its best: A research-based resource for college instructors (5th ed.). Jossey-Bass.