The number of best practices for technology implementation, the scaffolding of skills, practice opportunities, inclusivity, and collaboration can be overwhelming when considering adjustments to a course design. The list is long, but as always these ideas are meant to be part of a large interwoven tapestry rather than isolated practices. There are methods for integrating efforts across these best practices to get as much use out of a single course interaction as possible, thereby reducing the burden on you and your students (and bloating your assignment list or syllabus). One of my favorite areas of the course to apply this concept to is in the first week of school during course introductions. Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels Why Introductions? I’ve spoken about course introductions and first day of school activities before in the blog posts ““ Ice Breakers” and Community Makers: The Importance of the Introduction in Online and Face-to-Face Classrooms ” and “ More than “Syllabu...

Students are more tired than ever before and it’s impacting their well-being . In 2020, we suffered through a pandemic, social unrest, and a lot of uncertainty. We are now four months into 2021 and there is no clear end in sight. Although the prospect of vaccines and social justice accountability gives us hope, we can not discredit that students are still struggling and may continue to struggle for months to come. Not to mention it is the end of the academic semester, where motivation and energy are lacking for students and instructors alike. Students are hard at work studying for finals and putting the finishing touches on culminating projects. Many students respond to these increasing demands in classes by putting in longer hours (i.e, all-nighters), which in turn takes a toll on students’ overall wellbeing. What we know from Dr. Sara Goldrick-Rab’s Hope Center and the #RealCollege movement is that basic needs have a significant impact on student success. When students aren’t doing w...

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” The quote above sounds a lot like something you’d read on an Arizona State University website, #1 in innovation and consistently striving to propel ASU education into the realms of the future as the New American University, but it’s a quote from director and storyteller, Walt Disney . Most people have heard of the American theme park creator who continues to inspire children and adults around the world nearly 100 years later. This far-reaching effect flourishes as technology evolves, perpetuating Walt’s innovative mindset to “keep moving forward” into new and thrilling park experiences. Propelling the beloved franchise into technological achievements are Disney Imagineers, the creative and technical minds behind the success of Disney’s theme parks and legacy. Like the heartbeat of the Disney franchise, a spirit of innovation and imagination encompass...

Do you feel frustrated when assignments are submitted that are lacking important criteria? Do you have several people grading and want to maintain consistency and fairness? Are you wishing to provide more feedback to students, to help them improve their skills? Answers to these questions can be targeted by building effective analytic rubrics.  In a recent webinar, I shared how to build effective analytic rubrics, including what they are and why you should use them. Understanding the what, why, and how will help you to determine where to start when creating effective rubrics for your course. Let's begin! What is a rubric? A rubric is “...a document that articulates the expectations for an assignment by listing the criteria or what counts, and describing levels of quality from excellent to poor" ( Reddy and Andrade, 2010 ). Typically comprised of rows and columns, where the rows are used to define the various criteria being used to assess an assignment. And the columns are used ...