COS Faculty Teaching Tips

December 3, 2024
by Aanuoluwa Adelani

My laboratory courses are hands-on experiential courses organized into weekly modules. The modules are designed and organized in similar ways for easy navigation and accessibility. Each module consists of pre-lab quiz, lab-handouts, PowerPoint slides, lecture videos, and datasheets for each experiment. The pre-lab quiz which must be completed before the lab or on the day of the lab is not interactive enough.

However, the use of PlayPosit videos to deliver lectures and administer assessments in form of embedded quizzes can break this obstacle. PlayPosit is an interactive video learning platform and a resource that can be readily integrated into a Learning Management System (LMS) such as Canvas. At UTSA, PlayPosit is provided by Academic Innovation and available to all faculty and staff with Canvas access. PlayPosit videos are referred to as bulbs, and these bulbs can be created in Canvas by following specific instructions.

PlayPosit videos have many pros; the interactive video offered by this platform is three times more effective than the traditional video. With PlayPosit videos, you will be fulfilling the learning objectives of engaging diverse groups of students with different backgrounds and learning styles. PlayPosit videos have been shown to enhance students' interaction with the course material thus transforming passive students to active learners. This platform also gives instant feedback to students' responses. PlayPosit videos benefits the instructors in the following ways: the ability to make videos interactive, reuse and edit contents, and assess learning and engagement.

Here is my course Canvas page showing the "PlayPosit video" assignments. These assignments account for 10% of the overall grade for this course.

November 26, 2024
by Linda Rutherford

As the end of the semester approaches, the grading process heats up. And of course, students start to submit (later or resubmit) assignments in a rush to get as many points as possible at the end of the semester. Depending on how many students and assignments you track in your Canvas Grades Module, you may have a scrolling nightmare on your hands trying to find and then grade all those in pouring assignments. Canvas as a handy tool to help you organize your chaos. The Apply Filters Tool!

On the Grades tab in Canvas, right above the Students Names you will find the "Apply Filters" button > Create & Manage Filter Presets. Clicking on this will allow you to create multiple easy to use filter presets. The options are endless and can be tailored. You can look for specific assignments, submission categories, assignment groups or even start/end dates.

My favorite filter at this time of year is the "Has ungraded submissions" under the "Submissions" drop down. You can create a preset filter that will pop up any students that have ungraded assignment in your gradebook.

Your saved presets show up at the top of the dialog box when you hit "Apply Filters" so you can quickly check for new submissions or if there are lingering assignments that need additional attention.

But that is just one option for using the tool. Depending on your course structure, you can use it to manage projects and display subsets of your class members to allow you to group the display and apply grades quickly. If you get the chance, I recommend you check this quick and easy tool out. It can save you time and energy at the end of the semester!

November 19, 2024
by Victoria Dougherty

Designing a personalized end-of-semester survey can greatly benefit us by providing targeted, actionable feedback on specific course elements and instructional strategies. This approach can be especially valuable for new instructors or those teaching a new class, while also helping seasoned educators stay connected to our changing students' needs. Making the survey anonymous allows the students to feel safe answering the questions and provides you with honest feedback.

Targeted Insights

We employ various methods to teach and evaluate our students, including lab activities, problem-solving sessions, and supplemental resources. By creating your own survey, you can gather feedback on the effectiveness of your specific assessment methods and curriculum delivery.

Student Engagement in the Feedback Process

Asking specific questions about the course demonstrates to students that their opinions matter and that you are invested in their learning experience. This can increase response rates and the quality of feedback.

Evaluation of Innovative Practices

If you introduced new teaching strategies – such as incorporating PlayPosit, posting instructional videos, or hosting BootCamps – you can gauge their effectiveness. Standard surveys may not have questions that capture the impact of such innovations.

Enhanced Understanding of Student Challenges

We all teach at different levels, and our students’ challenges are unique to our courses. Understanding how they perceive these challenges can help us address them earlier in the semester, increasing their success not only in our courses but also in subsequent classes.

Here is a list of some possible questions:

• Were the course objectives and expectations clear from the beginning?
• Which topics did you find most challenging, and why?
• Did the course materials (e.g., textbook, slides, supplementary resources) support your understanding effectively?
• Did you attend the BootCamp? If so, did you feel it helped prepare you for the course?
• How effectively did the instructor explain complex concepts?
• Were the lectures or discussions engaging and easy to follow?
• Did the instructor provide timely and constructive feedback on assignments or exams?
• Did the laboratory experiments or hands-on activities enhance your understanding of the material?
• Were lab instructions and safety protocols clear and easy to follow?
• How could the lab component be improved to better support your learning?
• Were the assessments (quizzes, exams, assignments) fair and representative of the material covered? (brace yourself for this feedback)
• Did you feel adequately prepared for exams and assignments based on the course instruction?
• Which type of assessment (e.g., exams, projects, presentations) was most effective for your learning?
• Did you find the supplemental resources (e.g., STARS, office hours, videos) helpful?
• What additional resources could improve your learning experience?
• What aspects of the course worked well for you?
• What changes would you suggest to improve the course?
• Do you feel you put in the time and effort needed to achieve the grade you were aiming for?

By supplementing the university survey with your own, you gain a richer, more nuanced understanding of the student experience, enabling continuous improvement and maintaining your high standards of teaching excellence.

To set up an anonymous survey follow these instructions:

On your Canvas course, go to create an assignment:

• Select the type of assignment group you want the survey to be a part of or create a new group.
• Insert the number of points.
• Click Graders cannot view student names.
• Fill out the rest of the assignment requirements as needed.

Questions can be multiple choice, essay, matching, or however you want to ask the questions. This is your survey, and you can use your own expertise or curiosity to guide you.

We all strive to enhance our students' learning while trying to provide a supportive and affective learning environment; this is a great way to help us achieve our goals. Good luck with the rest of the semester.

November 12, 2024
by Jessica Beckham

Colleagues, it is with a heavy heart that I write to you today. I am mindful of the loss our university family has experienced. I am also mindful of the sadness, concern, stress, and anxiety that many of my students have personally expressed to me in recent weeks. Today, as I write, classes have been cancelled for all to take some time to reflect and check in with themselves and their friends, colleagues, and loved ones. And to grieve. In the spirit of this Day of Reflection, I have chosen to reflect upon how we might, as faculty, take part in promoting mental wellness in our students. We can’t fix everything, but we can do our best to have a positive impact on our students, to be the light.

Here are some evidence-based ideas for reducing stress and anxiety within your classroom; I have cited the relevant studies for each suggestion.

• Build relationships with your students by engaging in some "noncontent instructor talk" wherein you tell stories and remind your students that you, too, are human (Seidel et al., 2015). For example, I often tell my students about how hard I struggled in my introductory biology courses in college.
• Being called on in class can be stressful (Downing et al., 2020). That doesn't mean you shouldn't call on students to answer questions, but consider trying out "warm-calling," as opposed to "cold-calling." This can take the form of a Think-Pair-Share exercise or a "talk with your team/neighbor" before you call on someone to speak out.
• They don’t call it "testing anxiety" for nothing. High-pressure exams are hard on students. That doesn't mean you shouldn't have exams, but consider how you are assessing students and whether it would make sense for you to lower the pressure. Some ideas are to allow a cheat sheet, drop an exam grade, or add lower-stakes assignments that reduce the weight of exams. Read more about this from Putwain (2008).
• Metacognitive techniques wherein students are encouraged to reflect upon their own learning can also lower test and course anxiety (Spada et al., 2006). You could try embedding reflection questions into exams or other assignments, or experiment with exam wrappers to allow students to think about how they prepared for an exam, as well as what they would want to differently in the future.
• Advertise UTSA resources to students: https://www.utsa.edu/students/wellbeing/.

No, none of these techniques will provide a panacea for all of the stress and anxiety that our students are feeling. But it can't hurt to try and help. Finally, to close, I want to share something my colleague, Cindy Roberts, sent me. Remember, your small kindnesses can mean the world to others.

References

Downing, V.R., Cooper, K.M., Cala, J.M., Gin, L.E., & Brownell, S.E. (2020). Fear of negative evaluation and student anxiety in community college active-learning science courses. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 19(2), ar20.

Putwain, D. (2008). Do examinations stakes moderate the test anxiety–examination performance relationship? Educational Psychology, 28(2), 109-118.

Seidel, S.B., Reggi, A.L., Schinske, J.N., Burrus, L.W., & Tanner, K.D. (2015). Beyond the biology: A systematic investigation of noncontent instructor talk in an introductory biology course. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 14(4), ar43.

Spada, M.M., Nikcevic, A.V., Moneta, G.B., & Ireson, J. (2006). Metacognition as a mediator of the effect of test anxiety on a surface approach to studying. Educational Psychology, 26(5), 615-624.

November 5, 2024
by Eddie Hernandez

Have you ever had some of your colleagues tell you that the reason why they do not administer their course assessments online using a proctoring platform is because of "widespread cheating that occurs online?" The problem with this assertion is that the statistics simply don't support it. A study conducted by Gregory Hurtz and John Wiener (2022) found that integrity on online remote vs. onsite proctored exams were psychometrically sound and comparable across modes and rates of suspect test taking behavior (cheating) were low and not significantly different across modes. So, why not give Honorlock a shot?

Honorlock exam proctoring combines AI with live human proctors. Honorlock uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to monitor exams which means that students aren’t constantly being watched. If the AI detects unusual activity – such as another person in the room – it automatically generates a flag and alerts a live virtual proctor. The flags are then sorted as High, Medium or Low and sent to the instructor for review.

The instructor can then click on the Review link and watch the video to determine if there was any suspicious behavior during the exam. You can even advance the recording to timestamp 11:37:59PM to just view the High flag that is indicated in the results to save some time. See below.

If your classes are large like mine and/or your students are required to take an entrance exam to gain admission into professional schools, why not begin preparing them for that experience? Give Honorlock a try!

Academic Innovation has skilled instructional designers that help you get started. Book an appointment.

October 29, 2024
by Janet Vote

At one time or another we have all held exam reviews for our students. The reviews made sense to us at the time, but we were often left wondering why students did not seem to do well, or did not use the review to guide their preparation for the exam. We can all agree that the students today study differently than past cohorts of students, and this requires us to be more creative and sometimes more analytical regarding our classes and their needs.

There are so many ways to create exam reviews that are more engaging and thus work for us as educators. With the diversity of learning modalities available to our students it is necessary to look at how we create reviews and extend them to our students as guidance. Many of us have noted the level of test anxiety that our students are prone to versus past generations of students. A good exam review can help to alleviate that anxiety. Below are different ideas that make reviews work for you and your students and avoid unnecessary reteaching of important material.

Traditional Face-to-Face and Synchronous Online Courses

• Games are a fantastic way to engage the students while they are learning. There are many templates out there for games, such as Jeopardy. Templates like these are easy to turn into a review and play in teams in the classroom. Additionally, if you do not have time to use a lecture period for a review, you can put the game on Canvas for students to play as they study. Game reviews will also work in an online synchronous course using breakout rooms.
• Scavenger Hunts can be used as a team review in the classroom. Student groups can be given a set of information to find within a given amount of time then each group shares their scavenged information with the rest of the class. Students often find peer-to-peer learning helps them commit information to a deeper level of thinking by learning diverse ways of viewing the material. You can also try a QR code scavenger hunt (link below). Again, this will work in synchronous online courses using breakout rooms.
• Student Led Reviews are great if you are looking to increase your students’ academic accountability. Ask for student volunteers to lead the class in creating a list of concepts, terms, etc. that they feel will be most valuable to review for an upcoming exam. You can also have students create a concept map of key material from the learning unit they are being examined on.

Online Asynchronous Courses

• Escape Rooms can be created with pathways for students to explore by answering review questions. This takes a bit more effort to create, but they are engaging, and students enjoy the activity while they are reviewing. I use escape rooms in one of my online asynchronous courses. I created a storyline that is connected throughout the entire course. Students have fun and I have had great feedback from them. Academic Innovation's Office of Teaching, Learning and Digital Transformation can often help you create the escape rooms for use in Canvas, or you can venture out on your own using guidelines that you can find on the internet.
• PlayPosit In-Lecture Quizzes are a terrific way to help students review regularly. Asking students to retrieve information from memory make the learning process more effective. Using 3 to 5 questions about previous material is often enough to increase memory retention.
• Padlet Review Boards can be used to allow students in an online asynchronous course to create their own student-led review. Create a Padlet with concept columns. Ask students to create posts about what things they remember about that topic. You can have key terms, specific concepts, and connections to previous material as column headers. Assign students a specific number of posts to make and allow them to comment on one another’s posts.

These are just a few ideas to leverage assorted styles of exam reviews in your classroom. Below you will find links to some templates and ideas to get started.

• Jeopardy Game Template
• Tic Tac Toe in the Classroom
• QR Code Scavenger Hunt

October 22, 2024
by Cindy Roberts

I created a group activity for my students that encourages them to explore the many resources available to them at UTSA. This idea came from Jessica Beckham, who shared that she includes a list of resources in her course.

In this activity, each group is assigned a specific resource to visit. They take a photo with their group members for proof they visited the resource, speak with someone involved with the resource, and then design a flyer using Adobe Express to present their findings to the other groups.

The resources that I currently include for the students to visit are:

This exercise has been incredibly beneficial for helping students discover resources they may not have known about at UTSA. For instance, last semester one group identified Veteran Services that I hadn't known about!

October 15, 2024
by Dina Drozdov

Do you sometimes miss Blackboard? While there are many advantages to Canvas, I find myself reminiscing about the Blackboard gradebook and the convenience of doing simple tasks like creating a column in the gradebook. With midterm grades due this week, I wanted to share my small hack on recreating the Blackboard experience of the Midterm Grade column in Canvas.

I find it beneficial to know student grades in the second half of the semester to identify struggling students or students that have shown great improvement. With the Grade Transfer process from the gradebook to ASAP, students and faculty can easily forget how a student performed at the midterm deadline. While grades can and do absolutely change by the final grade deadline, the visual reminder in the Canvas gradebook could serve as a great motivator for students. Here is how I do it for my courses.

1. Create an Assignment.
2. Make the Points out of 100.
3. Assign an Assignment Group.
   (I make this arbitrary as a reading category grade.)
4. Display Grades as Letter Grade using whatever grade scheme you use in your gradebook.
5. Check the "Do not count this assignment towards the final grade."
   (This is very important as you do not want it to affect the actual course grades.)
6. Submission type "No submission."
   (The main point is that this is a placeholder element and not an actual assignment; thus, students do not need to submit anything.)
7. Assign a Due Date.
   (I include this step to remind my students of the midterm grade deadline. As detailed by your course syllabus, the due date should be the deadline in which you transfer over your grades. As my courses run on a weekly basis with a deadline of Friday at 6pm, my due date is the Week 7 Friday at 6pm deadline.)

Figure 1: The assignment settings for Midterm Grade

Figure 2: The assignment description

Then, at the end of Week 7, I will manually type all the "Total" letter grades for the students into this new placeholder column in the gradebook. You could also download the grades into Microsoft Excel and import them back, but I do not take this extra step. This is what the column looks like in the gradebook:

Figure 3: Midterm Grade column in the Canvas gradebook

This is a manual workaround, but a preferable method than referring to ASAP each time a student contacts you about grades. Plus, it helps keep the students accountable for their course performance. As students do not always read assignment descriptions, it is useful to include a text header in the module as well.

Figure 4: Midterm Grade in the Module list

And, voila! You now have a midterm grade column in the gradebook. I include my midterm grade fake assignment in the Week 7 Coursework Module list due to my coursework pacing. However, it might make more sense to include your midterm grade in Week 8 depending on when you do the grade transfer process.

October 8, 2024
by Victoria Dougherty

Excluding students from assignments or attendance "grades" can be useful if they need to miss due to an excused absence. These excluded assignments are not calculated in the students' total grade, nor do they count toward any dropped grades, e.g. if you drop the two attendance grades.

1. Open up your gradebook on Canvas
   
2. Find the assignment where a student needs to be excused
   
3. In the grade field for that assignment, type "EX" or choose the "Excused" option from the gradebook's drop-down menu
   
4. Once excused, Canvas will automatically adjust the student's grade to exclude the assignment from their total score
   
5. You can click on "SpeedGrader" and leave a comment if you like as well.
   

By using this simple feature in Canvas, we can ensure that students who need to miss assignments for legitimate reasons aren't unfairly penalized, while maintaining the integrity of our grading policies. It allows us to support our students' success

October 1, 2024
by Aanuoluwa Adelani

I introduce an icebreaker activity in the form of an online student introduction in all my classes at the beginning of the semester. This activity can be created in Canvas, and it's a way of knowing my students' academic background and their future career goals. The student's introduction is also created for class interaction. Students will get to introduce themselves to their classmates by replying in the provided thread. They can talk about their major, career goals, hobbies, clubs, student organizations, pets.

They can also write about anything they want, in a couple sentences, so that classmates in the course can get to know each other a bit better and have some connection. They can also comment on other student posts to show their support for one another. However, they must keep all discussions on Canvas professional and appropriate by following the guidelines known as "netiquette." I state the netiquette guidelines on my syllabus, which I provided at least a week before classes start. These guidelines highlight the rules and expectations of each student. They can easily refer to these guidelines and not deviate as they participate in the online discussion.

Students will be awarded points for completing the student's introduction assessment on the discussion forum, which is part of the Participation grade. This assignment must be completed on Canvas by the first week of class.

The student's introduction and netiquette are posted in the Home page as shown below:

Other benefits:

• Set clear civility and netiquette guidelines in your syllabus
• Model and reinforce civil behaviors and professional expectations
• Collaborate with students to create community norms about communication

September 24, 2024
by Cindy Roberts

Have you ever wanted to control what students can view or do on Canvas based on their previous actions? While you can unpublish and republish modules, this can be tedious. Instead, Canvas allows you to set up requirements or prerequisites that students must fulfill before accessing the next assignment or module.

There are some differences between requirements and prerequisites:

Requirements can be used to ask students to view items, mark items as done post replies, submit assignments or meet a minimum score. This is a great use if you have a Syllabus quiz that requires the student to get 100% before any of the modules open. Requirements are also helpful if you want the students to stay in order in the module.

In the image to the right, I clicked the three dots on the right of the module's name that the assignment is located that I want the student to complete. Notice, I have they must complete all the requirements in the module and then 100% on the Syllabus / Orientation Quiz. You can see here that you can modify this to what your needs are if you want them to stay in order or simply one requirement.

Prerequisites can only be set at the module level, meaning the module is locked until the student completed the required items in the prerequisite module.

The next module, clicking on the three dots on the right of the modules name, I set the prerequisite of the Start Here module (see image left). Notice there is also a Lock Until that you can have modules open certain dates and times, such as weekly schedules.

These techniques are very useful to have structured learning pathways as well as even controlling the release of content. These tools can help prevent students from feeling overwhelmed by too much information at once. It encourages better time management and pacing of their study routines.

September 17, 2024
by Jessica Beckham

We are just a few weeks into the new semester, and I am already beginning to dread getting back into the arms race with scholastic dishonesty. It is time-consuming, exhausting, and discouraging! But maybe it doesn't have to be this way.

First off, have you ever considered why students cheat? When I first began teaching, further back than I'd like to mention here, I assumed a cheater just lacked moral fiber. But over the years my mindset about cheating has evolved. Are there students who are basically dishonest? Probably. But research has shown us that there are many other reasons students cheat that have little to do with their virtue and ethics.

Some students cheat because they don't believe they have the ability to do well on an assignment; others may have family or work obligations that leave them with little time to complete coursework (see Amigud & Lancaster, 2019 for a nice review of reasons students cheat). If we take a collective look at the data, students who cheat generally feel the assignment isn't meaningful, and that they don't have the ability to complete it in a way that is acceptable.

Here's a potentially unpopular opinion: maybe we need to take a hard look at our assignment. How are they designed? Have we communicated how they are connected to course objectives? And have they been scaffolded in a way that provides a route to success?

While we cannot control student circumstances or behaviors, we as instructors are not defenseless against cheating. By thinking carefully about how we communicate expectations and design course goals and assessments, as well as using tools that encourage academic honesty, we can empower students and limit the burden of academic dishonesty in our classes and on our time.

For this week's teaching tip, here is a short list of ideas and tactics that you could help limit cheating in your classes:

Make your expectations clear

• Explain what is considered cheating for specific assignments (Boehm, Justice, & Weeks, 2009).
• Share the UTSA Scholastic Dishonesty Policy
• And here's a great resource from the UTSA Library on identifying and avoiding plagiarism.

Reduce the pressure

• Incorporate frequent, ungraded assignments into your curriculum as practice for graded assessments (Farland & Childs-Kean, 2021).
• Provide many, varied low-stakes assessments that contribute to the overall grade.
• Allow retesting or group testing to increase scores on assessments.
• Consider flexible timelines for assignment due dates.

Increase engagement

• Give students choices in assessments (e.g., choose their own topic for a research project) (Daniels et al., 2021).
• Design assessments that are relevant to student career goals (Daniels et al., 2021).
• Get to know your students!

Use digital tools to hold students accountable

• Randomize question pools on multiple choice exams. This can easily be done in Canvas as well!
• Provide an honor pledge for students to sign / agree to. Here's the Roadrunner Creed as inspiration: https://www.utsa.edu/students/being-a-roadrunner/.
• Enable the Turnitin tool to detect plagiarism on written assignments: https://odl.utsa.edu/turnitin/ (UTSA has rolled this tool out to replace Unicheck as of Fall, 2024).
• Enable Honorlock on online quizzes/tests as an online proctoring solution: https://odl.utsa.edu/honorlock/.

And I cannot end this tip without a note on AI. We know it is here and we know students are using it. Faculty are using it. The music industry is even using it! And we know our students may be expected to know how to employ it as they enter the workforce. So, perhaps we should embrace it. If you would like to explore ways that you can use generative AI in your teaching and research, Academic Innovation has developed many resources. Check them out on the Generative AI Teaching & Learning page.

References:

Amigud, A., & Lancaster, T. (2019). 246 reasons to cheat: An analysis of students' reasons for seeking to outsource academic work. Computers & Education, 134, 98-107.

Boehm, P. J., Justice, M., & Weeks, S. (2009). Promoting academic integrity in higher education. The Community College Enterprise, 15(1), 45-61.

Daniels, L.M., Goegan, L.D., & Parker, P.C. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 triggered changes to instruction and assessment on university students' self-reported motivation, engagement and perceptions. Social Psychology of Education, 24(1), 299-318.

Farland, M.Z., & Childs-Kean, L.M. (2021). Stop tempting your students to cheat. Currents in Pharmacy Teaching and Learning, 13(6), 588-590.

September 10, 2024
by Dina Drozdov

Built into the Canvas gradebook, there is a great feature called "Notes" that you can choose to add by simply clicking on that option from the Gradebook Settings. To view your gradebook settings, go to the Grades tab from the left panel of Canvas. Then, click on the gear settings icon on the far right of the screen at the top. The Notes can be included in the gradebook by selecting that option under the heading "Show" as seen below:

Figure 1: The Notes are located in the View Options section of the Gradebook settings on Canvas
The Notes column will then be added to your gradebook at the very front of the gradebook next to the Total column (if you have forced that column to the front). This is a very handy visual reminder about the students you are monitoring, and it is conveniently located adjacent to their course grade. The Notes column is not visible to students and can be a great tool to help keep track of students that have either communicated an issue or are struggling in the course. To add a note, simply click on that cell, type, and click Save. Some examples of notes to include:

• poor performances
• technical issues
• upcoming travel or absences
• graduating students
• students on academic probation or students that need/want a certain grade in the course
• medical or well-being issues
• BIT reported students

Figure 2: An example of how I have used the Notes column in my courses this semester
You can remove the note once or if the matter is resolved or remove the column entirely by deselecting the option back in the Canvas gradebook. In the past, I have always written physical notes, reminding me of students that have reached out to me for assistance. With large course enrollments, I get hundreds of emails each semester. This had led to lots of notes and post-its scattered in many different places. I hope that my addition of digital notes this semester will help streamline the process and result in more effective support for my students.

August 27, 2024
by COS Faculty Champions

Hi COS Faculty!

Welcome back as we begin the Fall 2024 semester! We hope everyone had a fun and restful summer and are ready to inspire students!

We are the COS Faculty Champions, a team that includes a faculty member from each department in the College of Sciences. We meet regularly to discuss best practices in teaching, successes, and challenges in the classroom, and how to help faculty in the classroom. Please reach out to your faculty champion or any one of us if you have questions or need resources. We can find answers or help point you in the right direction. We will be sending out information, opportunities, and tips for faculty through the semester.

COS Faculty Champions

We are looking forward to a great semester, and please reach out if you have any questions!

May 7, 2024
by Terri Matiella

Finals:

Finals week is here! Final grades are due by 2 pm on Monday, May 13. The final grades can be transferred over from Canvas starting on Monday, May 6 anytime until May 13. Click the link for more information on the Grade Transfer Tool in Canvas.

Looking Forward:

Academic Innovation is happy to announce several enhancements to Simple Syllabus for the Summer 2024 semester. These updates reflect the ongoing commitment to improving both the faculty and student experience.

As of Fall 2024, all undergraduate lecture, lab, and seminar courses will be required to use Simple Syllabus to ensure UTSA is in compliance with House Bill 2504. All other undergraduate and graduate courses are not required to use Simple Syllabus, but it is highly encouraged. All syllabi created in Simple Syllabus will become part of the UTSA repository, including those for graduate courses.

Check out the Simple Syllabus page for more information and dates for Simple Syllabus Trainings!

Note: After August 31, 2024, faculty will no longer have access to Blackboard Archives. If you need information from Blackboard after this date, please contact Academic Innovation.

Have a great summer from the COS Faculty Champions, and COS Teaching Tips will return in Fall 2024!

April 23, 2024
by Janet Vote

"Hi Professor, I have no idea how to do this assignment, or why it is important for this course."

If you have ever gotten an email or message from a student like this, you might benefit from creating an assignment writeup using the TILT (transparency in learning and teaching) method of teaching. Transparency in our assignments and assessments is important to help the student understand their purpose with the assignment and the direction you want them to go. It allows us as instructors to communicate the "hows and whys" of a concept. At the same time, transparent assignment design increases the students' conscious awareness of the learning process they are engaging in within your course assignments.

Transparency in learning and teaching places the students in a position of being a part of the assessment process. Using a basic template, you can make your choices for lesson plans clear to your students and create learning objectives that help relate your choices to the goals of the course. While you are getting ready for the Summer and Fall semesters, you can easily create learning objectives for your assignments and incorporate them into the TILT template (link below).

When creating achievable learning objectives for your assignments keep these points in mind:

• Simplify your goals.
• Ensure your goals are specific.
• Ensure your goals are measurable.
• Recognize every step of the process.

To learn more about the TILT project, visit https://tilthighered.com/

Click here to use a template or create your own.

If you missed out on any of the Spring 2024 COS Teaching Workshops, you can view the recordings on the COS Faculty Workshops page.

April 16, 2024
by Linda Rutherford

With the end of the semester fast approaching, do you have great ideas you want to use for your next semester? Are there tools you want to try out? Assignments, quizzes, or exams you want to modify but don’t want to impact your live course? Do you want to save time modifying your course on your own time instead of in a rush right before the next semester starts? Maybe you want to share a course or have it evaluated for feedback.

If you answered any of these questions with a yes, you should reach out to Academic Innovation and request a Development Shell for your course (or courses!). These "clean slate" courses, also called "sandboxes," allow you to test, modify, and prepare a course in a safe and unpopulated Canvas course (students are never allowed in these shells). They also are persistent and stay available in Canvas for as long as you need them, providing you the flexibility to build and change on your own time. Once classes are about to start, course copying from the Development shell can take all your major worries away.

You can request a Development Shell directly in Canvas by selecting the Help icon and then "Request a Canvas Course." During the ticket creation process, you should specify you want a Development Shell, or you can also call Academic Innovation directly at 210-458-4520.

April 9, 2024
by COS Faculty Champions

Hi COS Faculty! We are nearly finished with the semester – only a few short weeks left!

How are you doing? We encourage faculty to check in with students to see how they are, and we should also check in on each other to see how things are going.

Use this QR code or the COS Faculty Padlet link here and sign in with your UTSA SSO to post!

Note: If a log in window does not automatically open, you can also log in via your UTSA Canvas account to get access.

April 2, 2024
by Jessica Beckham

We’ve all had it happen. A student sends an email with no subject line from their "taytayrocks48774@email.com" email address and simply says, "Hey prof, what's up with my grade?" If you're like me, you receive large volumes of student emails. In fact, my daily to-do list typically factors in at least 30 minutes (if not more) to handling student email requests. It can be very frustrating to receive emails that contain no context. The grumpy side of me views it as a waste of my time!

On a less selfish note, students need to be able to construct a proper email. An email is often our students' first interface with potential employers, internship coordinators, grad school admissions teams, and many more! I realized a few years back that I can get annoyed, or I can use my platform as their instructor to help them develop this life skill (and just maybe help them get a job and also save myself some time).

Today I wanted to share the instruction and image that I share with my students at the start of every semester. It is housed in my "Start Here" module under "Sending Emails to Instructors." Feel free to copy and paste, edit, or otherwise use this in any way that you would like!

My instructions to them are as follows:

As many of you may be new(ish) to college, I wanted to address proper email etiquette for students writing to professors. While I am writing regarding my own expectations, you will no doubt make many of your professors happier if you include these pieces of information and write in a formal manner. Please see the image detailing five components of a good email, and also watch this humorous video on the subject when you have a chance. It is especially helpful for you to identify your section, as I teach four different sections of this course :) Thanks in advance for helping me to work with you in a more constructive manner!

Include the following in your email:

• Subject Line: Summarizes your concern and includes your course number, course section, and your full name.
• Greeting: Address your instructor by title and correctly spelled name.
• Introduction: Introduce yourself and identify your course number and section.
• Body: Provide a concise explanation of your issue and include a direct question.
• Sign Off: End your email with a closing statement and your name.

I also like to share this brilliant little video: https://youtu.be/TeHnzfO0glA?feature=shared.

Good luck with your inbox!

March 26, 2024
by Cindy Roberts

After spring break, numerous students return feeling sluggish and may have lost their motivation. Instead of immediately diving back into work, I designed a Padlet to help students in reacclimating and supporting each other as they transition back into their routines.

Example Discussion Prompts:

• How Do You Organize School Workload?
  This is a great starter as students love to discuss how they use calendars, specifically Outlook reminders, as well as tips for their classmates on keeping up with the material. For example, one group wrote "As a group, writing things down and having a calendar helps keep us all organized. For example, planners, desk calendars, reminder apps, the app Notion, and communication with other people in your class."
• How Do You Balance School, Work, and Social Life While in College?
  Time management is always a struggle, especially for Freshmen. One student wrote "Taking it day by day, concentrating on what is happening at the moment and prioritizing what is important now, while still somewhat looking in the future. It will help you worry less and live in the moment."
• Fixed Mindset vs. Growth Mindset
  This is an area that is a struggle with students coming back to get back motivated on the work. Students are given the prompt that one of their classmates has come to them stating they cannot understand the material and are overwhelmed. One student responded, "An easy way of fixing a fixed mindset is adding the word yet to the end of the sentence. For example, I do not know how to solve this problem... YET. Always believe in yourself and nothing is impossible."

There are many opportunities here to reignite students' motivation after a break. The crucial part lies in their receptiveness to peer input, and quickly regaining that motivation is important for the remainder of the semester.

I have added the link to my complete Padlet with more categories. The Padlet can even be copied for your course to then make any needed modifications. Example of Cindy's Padlet

February 20, 2024
by Dina Drozdov

Learning how to effectively study is one of the most fundamental and challenging skills to master in college. Every student is different, and what works for some will not work for everyone. In my courses, I offer study resources to my students, share my advice and recommendations as well as the wise words from former students in the course. Additionally, I give space to the students to reflect on what they would like to achieve in our semester together. What are their goals? How will they achieve those goals? How do they define success? During different times in the semester, I remind them they can always adjust or altogether change their study habits to still meet those goals.

Through my participation in ACUE workshops, I have amassed a collection of documents that detail the best practices regarding study habits. I have enclosed two of the most key resources here on how to take notes and study tips.

This semester, my personal goal was to work on fostering a sense of belonging amongst the classmates, even in an online and asynchronous environment. I created a Padlet icebreaker in my Pre-Coursework Module, where I asked the students to comment on their course strategy. Not only is Padlet a fun visual tool when directly embedded into Canvas, it allows for interaction throughout the semester. The student response was fantastic and really enabled them to show their creativity with the addition of memes and emoticons. Plus, as Padlet allows for anonymous submissions, there is less pressure on the students.

Brainstorming icebreaker on Padlet on the topic of course strategy

If you wish to learn how to create a Padlet to embed into Canvas, you can follow this guide: https://teacherscollege.screenstepslive.com/a/1489641-embed-a-padlet-in-canvas

Lastly, as an end of the year reflection exercise, I offer my students a bonus question on the last exam to give their best pieces of advice for future students enrolled in the course. As this bonus will add points to their exam score, the students are highly motivated to provide quality feedback (even if they did not follow their own advice during the semester). Then, I compile said comments into a document, which I share with students in the next semester course. For courses taught in multiple modalities, you can create a document for each modality type.

You can check out these sessions from Dr. Saundra McGuire, who discusses the application of cognitive science and learning theory to increase student academic performance by giving study tips and discussing the study cycle. Her talks provide tips specifically for faculty, undergraduate students, and tutors/peer mentors working with students in the different sessions.

• STEM Faculty Session
• STEM Student Session
• Peer Mentor/Tutor Session

February 13, 2024
by Jessica Beckham

Allen et al. (2021) define a sense of belonging as "the subjective feeling of deep connection with social groups, physical places, and individual and collective experiences." Research suggests that retention and success in college students is enhanced when students feel a strong sense of belonging; students even enjoy their classes and are more motivated when they feel like they belong (Pedler, Willis, and Nieuwoudt, 2021). But how do we foster a sense of belonging in our classes? There are actually lots of simple ways to make students feel welcome! Sharing your own story to help reduce imposter syndrome in your students, designating your pronouns, and demystifying academic jargon can all help students feel as though they belong!

I wanted to share a quick, easy, and fun tactic that I use to get my students engaged, build their sense of belonging, and communicate to them that I care about their well-being: the check-in. The check-in comes in the simple form of asking my students an open-ended question that allows them to share how they are feeling, what they are thinking about, or even what they had for breakfast. There are all sorts of ways you can implement these check-ins, from displaying a Padlet to sharing an editable Google doc to using TopHat/iClicker questions. If you want to go the low-tech route, give your students Post-it notes or index cards to write on.

Here are some ideas for fun and belonging-building questions to start your classes off:

• What are you looking forward to this weekend?
• What is one thing that made you smile this week?
• Share a picture of your pet (or the pet you wish you had).
• What has inspired you this week?
• What is something that you are proud of?
• And one of my personal favorites... "On this squirrel scale, how do you feel today?"
  

References:

Allen, K.A., Kern, M.L., Rozek, C.S., McInerney, D.M., & Slavich, G.M. (2021). Belonging: A review of conceptual issues, an integrative framework, and directions for future research. Australian Journal of Psychology, 73(1), 87-102.

Pedler, M. L., Willis, R., & Nieuwoudt, J. E. (2022). A sense of belonging at university: Student retention, motivation and enjoyment. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 46(3), 397-408.