Are you looking for a cleaner and a clutter free Canvas course? Our newest application, available only to instructors, is integrated with Canvas is TidyUP from Cidilabs! TidyUP scans the course looking for content that is no longer relevant, duplicated, or could not be accessible to some students; this content must be in use by being embedded or linked to a page in your Canvas course. A great use for this application is if a course is repeatedly copied from term to term and streamlining the content, files, folders files is needed.
The first step is to get Tidy Up in your Canvas course navigation menu. Choose Settings, Navigation, and scroll down and click the More Options (3 stacked dots) and choose Enable; choose Save when you’re done.
To get started, select TidyUP from your Canvas menu and that brings up the initial splash screen. Scans can be All content or Custom depending on your desired outcome.
Here is an example of an All content scan using my Canvas sandbox:
From these results I would be able to begin working with my Canvas course content!
For more information and training videos, see Cidilab’s TidyUP videos on their support hub!
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.
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.
Rich Content Editor – Find and Replace
A longtime requested tool from the Canvas community is nearly here! If you’re a Canvas user and you’ve created a quiz, discussion, or assignment, you’re probably familiar with the Canvas Rich Content Editor tool. Coming next month as a Canvas update, the RCE tool will have a new plugin tool Find and Replace which will work throughout Canvas wherever the RCE can be utilized. It will be similar in functionality to Find and Replace in other applications. When it’s available, choose Tools from any RCE toolbar and enter the text you’d like to find and replace; it’s quick and simple!
Discussion Redesign
This video from Instructure will share with you the updated features to include Full and Partial Anonymity for Graded Discussions, Improved Accessibility, Split View, Reply Reporting, and Quoting and @ Mentions along with all the existing functions! Additional information is available from Canvas here! Whatever your role, this information will ensure you make the best use of the Discussion redesign; stay tuned for more information!
The Canvas Gradebook helps instructors easily view and enter grades for students. Depending on the Grade display type, grades for each assignment can be viewed as points, percentage, complete or incomplete, GPA scale, or letter grade. Only graded assignments, graded discussions, graded quizzes, and graded surveys that have been published display in the Gradebook. Not Graded assignments are not included. (Source: more Gradebook information from Canvas)
Did you know there were several options within the Canvas Gradebook to make the grading process easier and the instructor’s gradebook more organized? Utilizing the Canvas Gradebook keeps your students apprised of their academic standing in the class and keeps the course grades organized and in one place.
Organizing Gradebook columns:
From the Canvas navigation menu, choose the Gradebook. Columns can be arranged to suit instructional needs. Place the mouse cursor over a column, press the left mouse button and hold it, and move the column to the desired location.
There are additional options under the three stacked dots (More Options) on the right hand side of the column header for coursework. Using the Sort by you are able to sort scores in ascending or descending order or by submission status.
From the More Options, instructors can adjust the Grade Posting Policy for that particular assignment or quiz.
Gradebook View Options:
From the Canvas navigation menu, choose Grades and then from the upper right hand choose the Gear\View Options.
The View Options tab allows filtering and sorting of the Gradebook according to viewing options:
- Arrange By: arrange columns by default, assignment name, due date, points, or module.
- Show: show or hide the notes column, the unpublished assignments column, the split student names column, hide assignment group totals, and hide total and override columns.
- Status Color: view and change the color for a grading status (late, missing, resubmitted, dropped, and excused).
New column available in the Canvas Gradebook:
If you’ve looked at your Canvas Gradebook recently, you may have seen a new column just to the right of the student names; the new column is Major and lists the student fields of study. Please note: the column is not able to be moved or hidden and will be available for Michigan Tech courses starting Spring 2024.
If you have further questions about utilizing the Canvas Gradebook, feel free to reach out to the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning at 487-3000 or email us at elearning@mtu.edu.
Is your Early Term Survey ready for your students? The fourth and fifth week of the term is right around the corner and it’s your opportunity to gather valuable and constructive anonymous feedback from your students about your instructional processes; the survey results provide a roadmap for pedagogical adjustments early in the term. Both the Provost and the University Senate (Policy 505.1) advocate for distributing an Early Term Survey.
In each Canvas course shell, an Early Term Survey resides within the Quizzes section. Three default questions are provided; however, instructors have the ability to add, delete, or modify the survey questions based upon the type of feedback they are seeking. Creating a survey question is the same as creating a Quiz or Assignment.
Once an instructor is satisfied with their questions, the quiz can be published and accessed by the students during the allotted time frame.
After the surveys are complete, instructors are able to see the results through Moderate This Survey.
For more information and general guidelines about the Early Term Survey, please refer to the Faculty Handbook.
If you have further questions about administering the Early Term Survey or would like to discuss ways that you can successfully apply the feedback to your course, feel free to reach out to the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning at 487-3000 or email us at elearning@mtu.edu.