Addressing discrimination in learning environments

We can never guarantee total safety or know what feels safe to all students. However, we can do our best to promote conditions of relative safety. Why is establishing relative safety in our learning environments so important? Let’s start with an assumption that...

Strategies for better first-week student engagement

It’s the first week of class. Do you know where your students are? It can be a rocky time for students the first week, even for those who are experienced. Here are some tips for helping them get up to speed as quickly as possible.

Why should we care about OER?

Around 65% of your students may not purchase your textbook due to cost. This can have a significant impact on their success in your course. Using free and open education resources (OER) can ameliorate expenses for students and help make higher education more equitable for all students.

How to inspire success through student interaction

Get ready to inspire someone to do their personal best this semester. This Teaching Tip includes ideas for increasing interaction in your course. Start with one thing and be consistent. Your choices will impact student learning and achievement. Before the semester,...

Ideas for inclusive teaching practice

Inclusive teaching practice involves embracing diversity holistically throughout your course and activities. This Teaching Tip provides some ideas and resources for how to think about your course through an inclusive lens.

The art of the welcome announcement

Sending a welcoming message to students at the beginning of the semester is an important step in designing an effective online course. Intentional design and language choices in the announcement can create a lasting positive impression.

Introducing the online course evaluation rubric

The Online Course Evaluation Rubric serves as a framework for making notes on and progress toward preparing your course for next semester. Several instructional designers worked together gathering important course elements into categories with evaluative statements to jumpstart your review.

Creating a learner-centered syllabus

Research shows that a learner-centered syllabus increases positive student perception of the course and instructor, and generally leads to better learning outcomes. Here are specific ways you can update your syllabus to be more learner-centered.

Aim for progress

At UAF, Student Progress Reports and Nanook Navigator Alerts are two mechanisms for providing feedback, which can lead to better student performance.

Trauma-informed practices for finals

For some of us, the COVID-19 pandemic is one of the deepest experiences of trauma we’ve had. Trauma can be defined as “any experience in which a person’s internal resources are not adequate to cope with external stressors” (Hoch et al., 2015). Between the pandemic, a...

Preventing academic dishonesty in online courses

Instructors are the first line of defense in preventing academic dishonesty in online courses. Solutions are as easy as creating connections with your students, utilizing real life practices and creating a culture of integrity.

My journey teaching an online course

I have been teaching Principles of Genetics (BIOL F260) face-to-face at UAF for the past 15 years. It’s a required course for biology majors and a prerequisite for medical school. In 2019, my department chair asked if I would consider developing the course for online...

Keeping the door open

Now more than ever, you are an important tether between our students and campus. Here are some tips for keeping the door open to maintain a relationship with your students.

How to update due dates in Blackboard

You may have noticed the familiar Set Grade Center Due Dates tool has not been available recently. This handy tool has become incompatible with the current version of Blackboard. While we hope that it can return in the future, there is another way to edit all of your...

Students communicate strategies and pitfalls

During National Distance Learning Week UAF eCampus conversed with students via Facebook. Here’s a light read on student strategies to stay on task as well as a few shared challenges we all face. Read on; it might spark a small change to make in your course as a result.

To withdraw or not to withdraw

Withdrawing a student results in a “W’ on her transcript (as opposed to the possible “F’ you foresee without significant improvement) and would not factor into her GPA. There are multiple considerations when deciding whether to withdraw a student. Consider the following scenarios, options and implications.