We have been welcoming an increasing number of high school students into our courses. Helping these go-getters achieve a passing grade while still working on their high school diploma is easily achieved by following a hidden curriculum.
With strategic course design, it is possible in large classes to provide a strong instructor presence, give expert-level feedback on subjective assignments, and maintain a quality learning experience for students.
Despite the initial challenge, my spring semester students created an environment filled with community and humor, and it ended up being one of the most memorable classes I have ever taught.
Pros and cons of three distance-education methods — audio conference, video conference and online — from UAF’s rural-oriented programs.
Creating active discussions in a course can be challenging. In times of COVID-19, fostering that space for community exploration and making connections between content and the current world can become the anchor that keeps the momentum.
Courses that were already being taught online were not immune to the rapid changes brought on by COVID-19. After all, online courses exist in the world of humans and that world was not normal.
With an unprecedented semester behind us, some faculty share their perspectives on how they adapted their teaching in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In times of uncertainty, we can apply principles from meditation to our teaching practices. Let’s reflect on a few of these principles: impermanence, slowing down and vulnerability.
Course content in the Arts is often lacking in diverse perspectives. Involving your students in collaborative research can help in a variety of ways to reinvent that curriculum to reflect our modern world.
See how two UAF instructors are using Easter eggs – hidden features – in their instructional videos to retain student engagement in their online classrooms.
Proctored exams are a standard practice for preventing cheating but they can also place an inequitable burden on students.
As UAF eCampus launches its eCoaching program, it’s important to remember how our coaching role can lead to student success.
Accessibility is a topic appearing in mainstream conversation with increasing frequency. When it comes to making course materials inclusive and accessible, there are a variety of open tools available.
Give everyone a break from the stress of traditional finals and infuse a new sense of purpose in your final assessment with these suggestions for alternative final assessments.
In celebration of Research and Creative Activity Day on April 9, here are some ways to get online undergraduate students involved in research and creative projects, and how to involve yourself as a mentor.
An agenda creates transparency and welcomes inclusion in the classroom. If these are qualities you strive for in your teaching, consider these principles for creating open, inclusive class agendas.
The early immersion approach gets students involved in the research process as early as possible. Students are able to conceptualize, design, conduct and disseminate research faster when included from the beginning.
We tend to think of innovation as the creation of something brand new that completely revolutionizes the way we do or think of something but it can also be thought of as putting ideas into practice. When we think of innovation in these terms, it is easy to see how stepping back, re-thinking and trying something new can lead to discovery.
Teaching is a practice. We can look to the world of music for advice on how we as teachers can improve our performance in a focused, concentrated and effective way.
Ideas for collecting feedback from your students and how to get them to participate.
The GIF format is ideal for creating animated images and they are commonly used to propagate memes, grab attention, succinctly explain a step-by-step process and otherwise communicate visual information quickly. We see them in news articles, our social media feeds and even in instruction. Is a GIF an element you would consider incorporating into the banner image of your online course?
Interactive video provides an opportunity to merge both instructional and exploratory elements of learning. By employing both visual and auditory elements, interactive video enhances both retention and reinforcement.
Concept comprehension is problematic in intro STEM courses. Digital interactive simulations are an innovative way to enhance student learning.
Two recent studies from the National Association of Colleges and Employers and the National Academy of Sciences highlight the need to address a more integrative curricular approach to improve competencies desired by employers. In this Teaching Tip, we take a brief look at these two reports and invite faculty to join the discussion on how integration of scientific, technical and liberal arts fields can work to enhance post-graduation success.
Turning your course open with Open Education resources, practices, and pedagogy can have profound impacts on how students relate to the materials, to you, to their learning and their positioning relative to that learning. Ready to get started?