Course-in-a-Box for New CU Educators

Course Design

Whether you’re teaching at CU for the first time, creating a brand new course, or refreshing an existing one, the Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL) is here to help! This course-in-a-box is your go-to guide, offering essential resources to design, develop, and deliver an effective course from start to finish.

What’s Inside

We’ve organized key resources to support you:

  • Before the Semester: Get started with tools for course planning and preparation.
  • During the Semester: Explore strategies for effective teaching, student engagement, and classroom interactions.
  • End of the Semester: Wrap up with tips for grading, student feedback and self-reflection, and preparing for your next course.

Need More Support?

If you’re looking for specialized resources or personalized guidance, we’re here for you!

  • Join Us: Attend one of our upcoming events or programs.
  • Get Help: Schedule a consultation with the CTL for one-on-one support.
  • Explore: Use the search bar to find additional online tools and resources tailored to your needs.

Before the Semester Starts

Get started with Canvas: Canvas is CU’s Learning Management System (LMS). This site includes links to resources for creating a Canvas site; posting documents, media, and other content to your Canvas site; creating graded assignments, quizzes, and discussions; publishing your Canvas course; and other helpful information from CU’s Office of Information Technology (OIT).

Note: If you need to add eBooks or other digital resources to your Canvas site, you may need direct assistance from the publisher of those digital resources (e.g., Norton).

Canvas Course Template: With resources like a start-of-semester survey, campus resources page, and fillable student-centered syllabus, the Canvas course template aims to reduce the time spent building out your courses, while promoting promising practices in teaching and learning, digital accessibility, and design.  

Grade for Student Success Faculty Guide to Student-centered Grading in Canvas: This guide presents 16 straightforward practices to enhance transparency around grading practices, policies, and student grades and feedback in Canvas. Each practice is paired with a video, written tutorial, or other resources to assist you with implementing it in your own courses. 

Grading in Canvas: This site includes links to resources for setting up a grading scheme and grade cutoffs in Canvas, setting up assignment groups and weights in your Canvas gradebook, setting up assignment drop policies and other grading policies in your Canvas gradebook, hiding and posting grades, etc. 

Add people (TAs, graders, etc.) to your Canvas site.

Sign up (or drop in) for Canvas trainings through CU’s Office of Information Technology (OIT).

Explore additional Canvas resources and support from Instructure, the developer and publisher of Canvas.

Get to know instructional technologies like Canvas, iClickers, VoiceThread, and Zoom.

Learn now to set up and use iClickers (for classroom polling, attendance, quizzes, etc.).

Capture high-quality video recordings of your lectures with Classroom Capture. (Available in medium and large classrooms.)

Decide where and when to hold your office hours: For guidance, consider asking your colleagues what office hours modality (in-person, Zoom, or hybrid) and days and times they recommend, as well as department- or program-specific requirements regarding office hours (e.g., required number of office hours per week). 

Note: If you do not have a campus office and wish to hold in-person office hours, you may need to talk with your department about reserving a physical space for your office hours. 

Scheduling a recurring meeting in Zoom (for remote or hybrid office hours).

Establish TA responsibilities and expectations via an Instructor/TA agreement 

Welcome email: Consider sending out an email to welcome your students to your course. We recommend doing this at least a week before the first day of class. Include when and where your class will meet, required textbooks or other course materials or technology (e.g., clickers), and any other information that will help students prepare for your course. The welcome email is also a great opportunity to begin building rapport with your students by introducing yourself and sharing why you are excited to teach this course!

Consider using a start-of-semester survey to begin learning about your students’ goals, interests, and lives; interests in the course; and needs or concerns heading into the semester. 

During the Semester

Check out these first day tips for a successful first day of class!

Communicate regularly with students via Canvas, ungraded Canvas quizzes, and other methods (see section on Communication) 

Refer to the Grade for Student Success guide for how to make grading policies, practices, and students' own grades and feedback transparent and easy to find in Canvas

Learn about waitlists 

Familiarize yourself with drop/add deadlines and policies (and share reminders with your students, as needed)

View approved accommodations for students in your course(s) via the Accommodate portal (managed by Disability Services)

Revisit Flex Plans (If any of your students qualify for a Flex Plan, Disability Services will reach out to you to set up a plan for your course)

Consider using the Student Testing Center to administer testing accommodations to students registered with Disability Services

Many students enter college unaware of our expectations of them around earning letters of recommendation for later applications to graduate and professional programs and jobs. Taking time in class to explicate what students should do to earn a strong letter of recommendation from you can help students set themselves up for success! This may include sharing your expectations in terms of in-class participation, meeting with you in office hours or before or after class, giving you a certain number of weeks notice between requesting a letter of rec and the deadline, or other expectations.

Attend CTL events! 

Participate in CTL programs and services 

Remember that many disciplinary professional associations maintain their own high-quality and, often, peer-reviewed teaching resources

Administer an early- or mid-semester survey to get student feedback on your instructional methods, aspects of the course structure, and/or the learning environment

Completing a classroom observation to get expert formative feedback on your teaching methods

Implement strategies to foster an inclusive classroom climate

Explore this student support toolbox for additional campus resources

End of the Semester

Familiarize yourself with CU’s grading system

Refer to the Grade for Student Success guide for additional effective grading practices to wrap up the semester 

Posting final grades (includes guidelines and deadlines) 

Syncing Canvas gradebook with the web grading system 

Navigate Incompletes: Please contact your department leadership (usually, the Associate Chair/Director of Undergraduate Education) for department-specific policies and procedures for Incompletes.

Consider backing up your Canvas courses (and other end-of-semester tips from OIT)

Learn how to submit a grade change request (if you need to change a grade once your grades have been submitted)

Assess and reflect on your teaching, including interpreting FCQs and other forms of student feedback 

Further Reading & Resources:

The CTL offers individualized, confidential consultations free of charge to all educators on the CU Boulder campus. CTL staff can consult on specific aspects of your teaching or simply hold a general conversation. We likewise provide confidential classroom observations and conduct classroom interviews. When needed, our staff can quickly connect you to appropriate campus support and resources. 

  Schedule a Consultation with the CTL