As a higher education professional, I’ve had the special privilege of wearing multiple hats. I am currently an Instructional Designer, an Instructor, and an online graduate student. In previous roles, I’ve also been an Academic Advisor and a Counselor. In part due to the many roles I’ve had, I’ve worked significantly with online students and the faculty who create online learning. No matter if I’m working with students or with faculty, peer-to-peer interaction continues to be a concern among all in the online learning sphere. That is to say that when faculty translate their course from immersion (in person) to online, they ask, “How can I ensure the same peer-to-peer learning experiences I’d find in an in-person course?”  In the same way, I’ve had students beg and plead with me as an advisor to encourage professors to create peer interaction in their online courses. I even had a student report a complaint against a professor who wouldn’t use Slack in their course. This example, ho...

Why are some courses a dynamic, meaningful, and lasting experience, while others inspire lukewarm engagement and results despite the instructor’s best efforts? In his excellent new book, Super Courses: The Future of Teaching and Learning , higher-education and pedagogy expert, Ken Bain, goes beyond typical course checklists and explores how teachers foster a natural critical learning environment, where activities and collaborations are designed around questions and challenges that students are intrinsically curious about and find deep and emotional value in solving. The book is filled with stories and syllabi of real-life examples of these super courses and begins with a concise analysis of 18 characteristics that were consistently observed in Bain’s research. Here are the 18 characteristics, paraphrased for brevity, and supplemented with examples that could be used in face-to-face, hybrid, or fully online courses: Core course design and policy: The course is centered around big, inte...

Aisles of freshly printed ink on large format paper are a hallmark of major scientific conferences all over the globe. Poster sessions are an arena where seasoned and budding scientists get to communicate about their work, network with peers, and determine new directions in their research. But how can we bring this icon of scientific discourse into the digital classroom? In remote and synchronous online courses, virtual poster sessions can be implemented as an assignment and exercise that allows students to practice real world skills within the community of support inside their course. Poster sessions have long been a tradition in on-ground courses, and are used to give students a taste of what scientific inquiry and discussion is like beyond the classroom. I’ve witnessed countless gatherings of excited students crowded around posters hung proudly on display in hallways at the end of term. These sessions are great practice for students who plan to go to graduate or professional schools...

Feedback takes many forms.  This week's Teach Talk webinar focused on the gathering of feedback from your students as well as colleagues, to enhance the overall learning experience.  Sarah Prosory , Instructional Designer in the School of Life Sciences, shared  different techniques that can be used to gather feedback, and why you should ask a colleague for feedback about your course.  Enhance Learning There are many reasons to gather feedback from students, with a few being: checking for their understanding of a topic, generating ideas, and discovering concerns or issues so you can find a solution. Student engagement occurs as well, when students are asked about their learning.  Adult learners especially like to feel they are a part of their learning. By asking them about teaching or classroom activities, students will feel more included in how the course continues. This leads to better engagement, and can create a feedback loop in which students can comfort...

In Tuesday's webinar, we focused on using feedback as a teaching device. Yuna Buhrman, from the ASU College of Health Solutions, shared a survey that she did on student and faculty perceptions of feedback. This survey contained many insightful comments and tips for faculty to take back to their own classrooms. We worked to better define feedback and the difference between formal and informal feedback, as well as "how" and "when" to use them. We also shared the 3 components of good feedback: Making it relevant by connecting it to the objectives and goals of the student Making it specific by providing examples of how to improve, or validating what was done well. Making it timely by using auto feedback for quick responses, combined with opportunities for individual feedback within a few days.  The webinar ended with tips for using peer feedback, and some of the typical challenges and possible solutions. Below are the resources that were shared with part...

In our second summer TeachT@lk webinar on  Assessment Techniques - Avoid Overload in Grading,  Peter van Leusen, PhD  and  Amy Pate  presented strategies for balancing effective and efficient feedback. As a group, we discussed benefits, challenges, and tools for several strategies including student created rubrics, peer feedback, and checklists. Many shared first-hand experiences and examples included using model responses and pre-tests. Below are some of the resources mentioned during the webinar, along with the slides and recording. Webinar Recording   (60 minutes) Webinar Slides Bonk, C. J., & Zank, K. (2008). Empowering online learning: 100+ activities for reading, reflecting, displaying, and doing . Jossey-Bass. Faculty Focus - Effective feedback strategies for the online classroom Faculty Focus – Be efficient, not busy: Time Management Strategies for online teaching To Register for future TeachT@lk Webinars:   http:/...