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ASSETT Newsletter - April 2022

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What should you expect when you design and reflect on a course?

Course Design Matters

During a recent faculty consultation, I was reminded of the importance of our work. I was listening to an instructor describe how excited they were to make changes to their course; things like adding new technology, incorporating active learning and formative feedback opportunities. Yet at the same time, the investment in the process of iteration seemed daunting and stressful. “I’m not sure where to begin and I’m overwhelmed” were the key takeaways from this very well intentioned faculty member and then came the big question, “does it even matter?”. Looking back at this conversation, it helped stretch my empathy muscles as an instructional designer and it became the catalyst for this article. ASSETT is here to help!

First, it is important to acknowledge that during the last couple of years teaching has been stressful.The pandemic required faculty to have an adaptive, flexible, and frankly ready-for-anything approach to courses and teaching. Course design and lesson plans have had to respond to changing teaching modalities AND changing student needs. Whether you are teaching in-person, online, hybrid, synchronously, or asynchronously, your course design matters. Understanding how students learn, what they need to be successful, and delivering a well-developed course using systematic processes can create a better learning experience for students and can actually save time and energy for faculty. 

  • It can create a welcoming environment and is part of an inclusive pedagogy
  • It can help learners retain knowledge and spark engagement
  • It can boost learning goals and course outcomes by adding clarity

So what should you expect when you design and reflect on a course? 

  1. Start with the big picture and “backwards design”. What do you want students to remember from your course? Set course-level learning goals and objectives, determine key milestones, assessments, and recurring learning activities for the syllabus. Make sure that accessibility issues and universal design for learning are being addressed! 
  2. Build modules and consider mapping out the course. Create module-level objectives, chunk topics, gather materials/curriculum/content, and decide on a consistent structure. Look at strategies, pedagogies and technologies for maximizing student-centered learning, interaction, and engagement. Think about how grades and rubrics will be incorporated into the course and any other tools such as discussions, Canvas studio or third-party technology like padlet or flipgrid could be used.
  3. Add and test elements before the start date. Estimate how long it takes a student to work through a module, check dates on assignments, schedule or plan announcements, proofread and make any needed changes, upload a finalized syllabus and add a homepage so students have a central spot for important information like contact information and office hours and add a welcoming message.
  4. Plan ways to collect data, evaluate the design and consider any revisions. Focus on a few areas that you might want to change in the next interaction or the next time you teach that course. Don’t forget to reflect on the challenges and celebrate your successes as an educator.

At ASSETT, faculty are encouraged to contact us for consultation or attend a course design workshop. Every course has its own goals, educators have their own style and pedagogies, and faculty can approach us at any stage of preparation with questions about teaching and learning. To schedule a course design consultation, email us at ASSETT@colorado.edu or register for our upcoming 3 day workshop in May. 

Resources available here.

NEH Award

Interdisciplinary Cross-College Team Receives National Endowment for the Humanities Award

blog
The ASSETT (Arts & Sciences Support of Education Through Technology) Innovation Incubator is thrilled to announce that a team of Arts and Sciences faculty has won a $150,000 Humanities Connections Implementation grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. This project, titled “Humanities Core Competencies as Data Acumen: Integrating Humanities...

New & Upcoming

GCoP - The Great Escape: Design Virtual Escape Rooms

May 4, 2022 from 1:30pm-2:30pm: Wondering how virtual escape rooms can fit in with your assignments, curriculum or even active learning? To solve that puzzle, come play this virtual escape room with a well-developed narrative, and lots of quantitative reasoning and information & technology literacy clues and puzzles.

You have 30 minutes to collaboratively solve the puzzles and escape the room. We'll spend the rest of the time debriefing and looking at how to use the design in your courses. Session will also be useful for anyone looking at doing open pedagogy projects where students can design their own.

Center for Teaching & Learning and ASSETT Faculty Fellows

Applications due May 15, 2022 for full consideration.

The CTL and ASSETT are pleased to announce a campus-wide Faculty Fellows program! During fall 2022, faculty fellows will attend a seminar and engage with a cohort of colleagues around teaching topics such as course design, active learning, inclusive teaching, teaching assessments, teaching with technology and other topics of interest. At the end of this seminar, fellows will propose a project to actively address identified teaching and learning challenge(s). 

ASSETT’s Call for Excellence in Teaching with Technology Award Nominations

Nominations due by 11:59 PM on May 16, 2022

To nominate an individual, complete the online form. Peers and students are encouraged to submit nominations; nominations of early-career faculty members are especially welcome. 

Register for ASSETT's Three Day Course Design Workshop Series

May 17th, 18th, and 19th, 2022 from 1:00-3:00 PM - Do you want to change the way you deliver your course content? Do you want to explore the different frameworks of the flipped classroom, hybrid, or online course designs? If you do, please join us for a Course Design Workshop. ASSETT’s Course Design Workshops provide a comprehensive and accessible introduction to developing a range of technology-enhanced learning experiences. Whether you are looking at teaching a new course or wanting to update an existing course, we will cover course design for face-to-face teaching, hybrid and remote delivery, providing a foundation of pedagogy, technical tools/skills, and research-informed practices that can be used flexibly to support Canvas courses.

The 2nd Annual Rocky Mountain Teaching & Learning Collaborative Spring Conference

May 19, 2022 from 8:45 AM - 1:30 PM: This half-day event will once again bring together higher education teaching and learning professionals from the region to share ideas, resources and successes from the past year while learning together. The meeting will feature talks by colleagues at community colleges and four-year institutions. All sessions will occur online, via Zoom.

Reacting Summer Conference

Invigorate your classes. Activate your teaching. Engage your students. The Reacting to the Past Conference, hosted by the University of Colorado’s Center for Teaching and Learning and the Arts & Sciences Support of Education Through Technology’s Innovation Incubator, will be held in person in Boulder from June 13-16, 2022, in the Center for Academic Success and Engagement building. Our goal is to provide a conference that will rejuvenate and encourage faculty in their pursuit of active learning through Reacting to the Past!

Innovating Large Courses

Applications due June 30, 2022 for work to begin in Fall 2022

The Innovating Large Courses Initiative is a NEW program that provides 3-year funding and educational support to departments to improve student success in large lecture courses. Apply now for the fall cohort.

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