Teaching Tips
Articles on the practice of learning and teaching.
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Mitigate AI problems with alternate assessments to the essay
Generative AI is disrupting normal practices in education, including one of the most often used forms of assessment, the essay. Approaches offered here include using other forms of assessment or embracing AI by modeling good behavior for your students. This tip builds on other ideas published in July.
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Support student motivation with Universal Design for Learning
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework that aims to bridge barriers to learning. This Teaching Tip demonstrates how the layered UDL framework can be applied to address student motivation and self-regulation.
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Use ChatGPT to Generate Question Banks in Canvas
Generating question pools that can be used for effective assessment or practice can be laborious. This teaching tip demonstrates a sequence of steps you can follow that will allow you to direct ChatGPT to create a large number of questions. These questions can then be placed in your Canvas course.
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Adapting the Essay to Maintain Authenticity in the Era of AI
Large Language Model Artificial Intelligence technology like ChatGPT is disrupting traditional methods of assessment, especially as it relates to grading via the essay. This teaching tip offers possible solutions, including the incorporation of a revision cycle with reflection.
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Sharpening Critical Thought with ChatGPT
In this teaching tip, we explore the possibility of using ChatGPT to develop rich question pools with correct and incorrect responses and having students examine each response in a low-stakes manner. The teaching practice is borrowed from a published article from the Journal of Chemical Education.
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Dealing with AI generated academic dishonesty from a policy and teaching perspective
Claiming the work of others, even that which is generated by an AI, as your own, is academic dishonesty. This Teaching Tip will help you face this problem head on and provide solid strategies for helping you and your students navigate an increasingly difficult environment.
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Ways to support your SSS students in/out of the classroom
Student Support Services (SSS), is a federally funded program for first-gen, low-income, and disabled students, which aims to increase academic achievement. Online and in-person students may face financial difficulties, need accommodations, and struggle with self-advocacy in the college environment.
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Supporting Students with Mental Health Challenges
Campuses across the nation are seeing a rise in the frequency and intensity of mental health challenges among college students. This trend is apparent at UAF and many staff and faculty members are left wondering how to best support students experiencing mental health challenges. This teaching tip will describe how the UAF Student Health and…
Best Practices
Support student motivation with Universal Design for Learning
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework that aims to bridge barriers to learning. This Teaching Tip demonstrates how the layered UDL framework can be applied to address student motivation and self-regulation.
Supporting Students with Mental Health Challenges
Campuses across the nation are seeing a rise in the frequency and intensity of mental health challenges among college students. This trend is apparent at UAF and many staff and faculty members are left wondering how to best support students…
Leveraging campus partnerships to reinforce help-seeking behaviors
Faculty are a key conduit in a student’s academic path—connecting them to vital resources in the virtual and physical campus environment. Educators have an opportunity to model help-seeking behaviors that aid students from all backgrounds but significantly benefit students from…
Mental health first aid
As we continue through the winter season, the cold and dark becomes an ever-present factor in our daily mental health. The Student Health and Counseling Center (SHCC) has some helpful tips to keep in mind to prioritize our students’ wellbeing….
Send feedback to advisors about students with barriers
Instructors can feel isolated in their efforts to support students and their success throughout the semester. This is especially true when they have multiple students who are not responding to their outreach about concerns like low engagement, not attending class,…
Experience the benefits of in-semester feedback
You’ve finished marking exams, final grades are submitted, and the semester is done. For many instructors, this is the point at which there’s a moment to reflect on the class, open up course evaluations, and learn what the students thought…
Emerging ideas
Mitigate AI problems with alternate assessments to the essay
Generative AI is disrupting normal practices in education, including one of the most often used forms of assessment, the essay. Approaches offered here include using other forms of assessment or embracing AI by modeling good behavior for your students. This…
Use ChatGPT to Generate Question Banks in Canvas
Generating question pools that can be used for effective assessment or practice can be laborious. This teaching tip demonstrates a sequence of steps you can follow that will allow you to direct ChatGPT to create a large number of questions….
Adapting the Essay to Maintain Authenticity in the Era of AI
Large Language Model Artificial Intelligence technology like ChatGPT is disrupting traditional methods of assessment, especially as it relates to grading via the essay. This teaching tip offers possible solutions, including the incorporation of a revision cycle with reflection.
Sharpening Critical Thought with ChatGPT
In this teaching tip, we explore the possibility of using ChatGPT to develop rich question pools with correct and incorrect responses and having students examine each response in a low-stakes manner. The teaching practice is borrowed from a published article…
Dealing with AI generated academic dishonesty from a policy and teaching perspective
Claiming the work of others, even that which is generated by an AI, as your own, is academic dishonesty. This Teaching Tip will help you face this problem head on and provide solid strategies for helping you and your students…
Ways to constructively use the chatGPT AI in your course
Fed by massive amounts of data scanned from the Internet, the ChatGPT AI does a remarkable job at producing conversational text and even structured code in response to prompts. The amazing thing is that you can “ask” chatGPT questions in…
Pedagogy
Refresh your course in three simple steps
Course revisions can be daunting, particularly this year, but a quick course refresh is achievable in three simple steps: start at the beginning, support failure, and remember — less is more!
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…
Building community in a virtual world
There is a common misconception that it’s harder for students to feel connected when they can’t meet in person, or that distance-based learning is inherently less impactful for students. Although this may apply in some cases, it’s up to the…
We are more than floating heads
Trauma, anxiety, and depression impact us cognitively, emotionally, and physically. Trauma-informed approaches to pedagogy allow us to take a more holistic, embodied approach to the teaching and learning processes. Read more to learn strategies of embodied and trauma-informed pedagogy to…
How to get students to read your feedback
The type of assessments you give will direct the nature and method of feedback you provide students. Feedback provided throughout the semester can be essential for guiding student learning. However, if students miss seeing your feedback or if they don’t…
STEAMy ideas for your course
A recent trend in higher education involves integrating arts, humanities, and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) curriculum now known as STEAM. Large research studies (1) show that integration can broaden the student experience within highly specialized fields, heighten student engagement,…
Tools & How to
What I love about PlayPosit
UAF Associate Professor of Art Mareca Guthrie teaches Beginning Drawing, which consistently has close to 100 enrollments. She has been experimenting with interactive video for several years and shares eight things she loves about PlayPosit.
Canvas mobile apps for teachers and students
As an instructor, you’ll be able to stay on top of what is happening in your courses and to be able to communicate with your students from your mobile device.
Reinvigorate online discussions with Hypothesis
Hypothesis is a collaborative annotation tool now available in all UAF Canvas courses. Hypothesis merges the tasks of reading and discussion through the act of annotation, allowing students to hold contextualized discussions and share their reading experience.
Quick guide to Canvas
UAF begins our transition to Canvas in earnest this semester. This Teaching Tip is a quick reference guide to help you stay oriented as we make the move.
Communicating to students as UAF adopts Canvas
Both Blackboard and Canvas will be in use this semester. Learn what the university is doing to help students have a smooth semester start, and make your own communication plan.
Building good instructions in Canvas
Clear, easy-to-follow instructions for quizzes, assignments and discussions within your course are key in guiding learners through the assessments you ask them to complete. Find tips for writing good instructions in this Teaching Tip.