students working together

Active Teaching

Excellence in teaching and learning begins with student-centered pedagogy focused on authentic community, assessment, engagement, and collaboration. For additional information about or help with any of the teaching topics below, please schedule a CATE consultation. 

Active Discussion

Active teaching allows for student ownership in the learning process as a contributor instead of a passive recipient. To fill your active teaching toolbox, CATE presents the Active Discussion series focusing on ideas for engaging students in high-level critical and creative thinking to facilitate meaningful interrogation of complex discipline topics. More active discussions are consistently being added, so return to this page periodically for new ideas! 

Four Corners

The four corners discussion is an excellent method to get students moving in class, talking with each other, and generating new ideas. Click the video to the right to see an example of a four corners discussion from Dr. Natalie Czimskey's Fall 2024 Beautiful Brains course.

See Activity Guidelines
Students thinking about the 5 whys

5 Whys

Through repeated iterations of asking “why” questions, students deepen their analysis of the problem and can more clearly articulate a variety of perspectives.

Panel Discussion

Panel Discussions

Panel discussions involve a small group of experts leading a planned discussion with audience interaction to create a robust investigation of course concepts.

Tableau Activity

Tableau Activity

As a specific type of role-playing activity, tableaus offer an active, collaborative learning experience that places students physically in medias res (“in the middle of things”).

Image depicts students creating an anchor chart on the board

Anchor Charts

Anchor charts engage students in co-creating visual representations of the key concepts, processes, and strategies of a learning experience for class discussion.

Jigsaw Activity

Jigsaw Activity

The jigsaw activity supports the introduction of multiple topics in the same class period to effectively build broader and deeper understandings of various concepts.

Five students sit in a row at their desk and completing an assignment on their computers

Exit Tickets

Exit tickets are quick, low-stakes formative assessments for judging the level of confidence students feel about their learning. The approach supports robust debriefing discussions to shore up new knowledge.

Expand Your Active Teaching Practice

Community

Creating a positive and welcoming classroom climate and using clear and regular communication are among the most important things any instructor can do to set the tone and manage the class. One of the best ways to ensure a successful semester for you and your students is to take the time to cultivate a welcoming and supportive climate. In doing so, students are more likely to achieve the learning outcomes of the course, develop higher-order thinking skills, be motivated to learn, and be satisfied with the course (Cornelius-White, 2007; Granitz, Koernig, & Harich, 2009). Here are a few ways instructors can build a positive classroom community:

  • Build rapport by incorporating icebreakers early and often. For more information, see the Center for Teaching and Learning's Guide to Icebreakers with a Purpose. 

  • Consider using a survey to learn about your students – their interests, goals, needs, etc. 

  • Learn and use students’ names. Using the class photo roster in UT CLIPs is helpful! 

  • Arrive to class 10 minutes early and stay 10 minutes late to make space for informal time.

  • Incorporate innovative teaching practices.

  • Tell students that your class welcomes different viewpoints and that you will not tolerate insensitive remarks – hold them accountable as necessary. For more information, learn about Culturally Responsive Pedagogy. 

  • Share your enthusiasm for the subject and for their learning - excitement and positivity are contagious! 

  • Solicit student input and feedback throughout the semester. 

  • Set community standards and / or class norms.

  • Demonstrate and encourage social presence.

  • Include multiple avenues for interaction and engagement.

  • Model participation and behavioral expectations.

  • Adopt a casual, conversational tone in announcements and messages.

  • Allow time before, during, or after class for social conversation.

 

Additional Resources

“Facilitating discourse during the course is critical to maintaining interest, motivation and engagement of students in active learning” (Anderson, et al, 2001). Communication is critical to establishing trust and fostering student engagement. Here are some important tips for communicating with students:

  • Plan to communicate often throughout the course. In long semesters, plan to communicate with students at least once a week, and more frequently early in the semester. 

  • At the start of the course, tell students explicitly what to expect regarding communication, including:

    • your preferred method of communication (email, online discussion tool such as Slack, phone/text); 

    • when can they expect a response from the teaching team; 

    • when office hours are held; 

    • if and when they’ll get reminders about assignments or exams, etc. 

  • Be creative and use different modalities in your communication. For example, use the video feature in Canvas to create a video announcement instead of the usual text. 

  • Encourage students to come to office hours, and not only when they have a question about the subject matter. 

  • Reach out, as possible, individually to students just to check in and see how they are doing. Don’t wait for them to have a problem and come to you, as we know, some never will. 

  • When teaching, share parts of yourself – use anecdotes and examples from your life to activate emotions. Not only do student remember good stories, they’ll also feel connected to you and appreciate your willingness to share. 

  • Model active listening strategies and do your best to facilitate this in your students. Communication works much better when we listen to understand each other! For more ideas on incorporating active learning into your classroom download this helpful list.  Also, check out this resource on active learning while physically distancing.

 

Additional Resources

Student motivation is both intrinsic and extrinsic and can be inspired by a variety of goals including good grades, high paying jobs, social belonging, personal growth and development, and more. Not all students will be motivated by the same things or in the same ways, so it’s important to use many different motivational strategies to reach as many students as possible. Nilson (2016) provides a list of 55 Strategies for Motivating Students broken down into variety of methods including your persona, the subject matter, your teaching, and assignments and tests. Strategies include:

  • Getting to know your students and vice versa.

  • Delivering presentations with enthusiasm and energy.

  • Fostering good communication.

  • Maintaining classroom civility. 

  • Allowing students to contribute to course content and design.

  • Explaining to students why you have chosen certain materials or methods.

  • Teaching by inquiry.

  • Ensuring the accessibility of materials.

  • Setting high expectations but realistic performance goals. 

  • Providing prompt and regular feedback - and don’t forget about positive feedback!

  • Giving second chances.

  • Allowing different options for students to demonstrate learning.

  • Creating community agreements and using icebreakers regularly.

  • Regularly soliciting feedback and input to shape and improve class.

  • Encouraging attendance at office hours.

  • Offering multiple ways to participate (hand raising, chat, discussion boards, etc.)

  • Using multiple means of representation, action, and expression.

It is critical to solicit feedback from students on your course both during (formative) and at the end (summative) of the semester. At CATE, we suggest starting to collect feedback early in the semester as students will more often take time to give thoughtful, useful feedback if they know it will be incorporated into the rest of the class and impact them positively. Some ways you can solicit helpful feedback are to conduct a survey at the start of the semester to get to know students’ preferred names, pronouns, interests, learning preferences, and constraints. Run polls throughout the semester to get input on student well-being, attitudes, preferences, and needs. Reinforce, at different times and through different channels (e.g., in the syllabus, in class, announcement), that you value student input and will try to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate student needs. After collecting feedback, explicitly tell students how you used their input to make adjustments to the course. Send multiple reminders about Course Instructor Survey (CIS): before it opens, when it opens, and just before it closes. Give a point-based incentive for completing the Course Instructor Survey.

Mid-Semester Feedback

Getting feedback during the semester helps you understand students’ experience and needs and make adjustment that can impact their learning and engagement. CATE has created a mid-semester feedback survey that you can import into your Canvas course, if you wish, to make the collection process easier. Feel free to edit, add or remove questions to make the survey most helpful for you. Details on how to do this, as well as an importable file, are available for you to download.

End of Semester Course Evaluations

UT launched a new Course Evaluation System (CES) in Fall 2022 integrated with Canvas, which now includes a a “Course Evaluation” button in the left navigation panel of each course page. Under this tab, instructors will be able to track students’ response rate live while the survey is active by checking the “Subject Management” task available there. Canvas will automatically send a message to students with a link when the survey is open.

The main platform improvements include a better mobile phone user interface and downloading features to analyze survey results. It also enables Faculty to personalize questions, adding up to three additional enquiries. The new CES also generates a unique QR code and URL that takes the students directly to your survey rather than forcing them to navigate through their dashboard. To generate a QR code or URL, click the three dots at the lower right of the box on Canvas.

Read more about Course Evaluations at UT Austin. 

Read more about the new Course Evaluation System.

Click here to access the new Course Evaluation System.

For more information, email course-evals@utexas.edu.

Improving CES Return Rate

The utility of your Course Evaluation System (CES) results depends on a robust return rate. Below are some recommendations to help boost your CES return rates

The following practices are grounded in research and focus on actions instructors can take without changes to administrative systems, procedures or policies.

  • Share this short video about giving meaningful feedback with students.

  • Explicitly and repeatedly tell students you value their input. 

    • Add a statement in your syllabus.

    • Discuss it in your course introduction.

    • Remind students as the end of the course approaches.

  • Demonstrate that you value student input throughout your course.

    • Poll students to get input on their preferences and needs.

    • Conduct a mid-semester evaluation.

    • Use student feedback to make adjustments in the course.

  • Tell students that their feedback on the CES is important because it is used to evaluate your teaching and you use student input to improve your teaching. Provide examples of changes you have made based on student feedback.

You can get more tips in the Response Rate Guide. Click here to download.

For face-to-face Courses and Synchronous Online Courses

  • Let students know in advance when you plan to administer the CES and remind them to bring a laptop, tablet, or smartphone.
  • Allow class time for students to complete the mobile-adaptive CES. The instructor should not be present when the CES is being administered. In Zoom, you can make someone else the host and exit the meeting.

For Asynchronous Online Courses

  • Let students know the time window when the CES will be open before it opens.
  • Send a reminder when the CES window opens.
  • Send a “last chance” notice just before the CIS window closes.
  • Include a link to the CES in your Canvas course and in your reminder messages.

Incentives

Research shows that extra credit is one of the most successful strategies for boosting course evaluation response rates. A point-based micro-incentive worth ≤ 0.5% of the overall course grade can be effective in boosting course evaluation return rates.

  • You can require students to submit a screenshot of the CES completion confirmation screen as evidence that they completed the survey. This does not reveal any of their responses.
  • A class-wide incentive giving extra points to the whole class if a high threshold response rate (e.g., 70%) is achieved can be as effective as individual incentives and is simpler to administer.
  • If you offer point-based incentives, it should be only one of multiple ways to earn extra credit. Students should be able to earn all available extra credit through other means. For example, you could add a bonus question available to everyone to a final assignment or test if the course evaluation return rate meets a given threshold.

Additional Resources

Teaching teams in Moody College can consist of teaching assistants, assistant instructors, Undergraduate Learning Assistants (ULAs), and/or undergraduate graders. Incorporating innovative practices into your work with the teaching team not only benefits current learners in your classroom, but also helps set up the next generation of  teachers for success. Whether you teach a large lecture course or a smaller lab-based class, here are some best practices for working with TAs, AIs, and ULAs:

Set Expectations

  • Meeting as a group before the semester starts, and setting up regular meetings during the semester, helps clarify the roles that each teaching team member will play. This is particularly important for ULAs or TAs who may be assisting in a new class for the first time.
  • During group meetings, set the teaching team up so everyone is in alignment with the course goals. Aim to eliminate guesswork at all stages. What do you expect for grading policies, for leading discussion sections, or for supervising labs? Provide clear expectations and guidelines.
  • Providing these clear expectations and instructions allows team members to better plan their time so they can do their best work. Be sure to clarify that all TAs know which students they will be grading, and if they have specific sections of the class to work with.
  • Have a clear grading dispute policy in your syllabus; for example, let students know how long they have to report a dispute, and what a report entails (written explanation, etc.).
  • Noting deadlines for completing grading is extremely important, as this will ensure that students receive their feedback at the same time regardless of who is grading their assignments. If you are working with multiple TAs or AIs, decide who will change the Canvas settings so students do not see grades until all work is scored.
  • Use rubrics for all assignments and use the blind grading feature on Canvas. This helps everyone if there are grading disputes. Have graduate students score practice exams or assignments first, and provide your feedback on the scoring.
  • Making assignments from previous semesters available for graduate students to refer to as example is also a good practice. Consider creating a Google Drive or UT Box folder for your class, where students can share slides from labs or discussion sections with future TAs/AIs.
  • Implementing these class-wide policies instills confidence in undergraduates that they are receiving the same treatment regardless of who is grading them.

Set Boundaries

  • Work with students to decide on a class-wide policy for when teaching team members are available for questions. For example, you can set ‘business hour’ availability, where questions will be answered within typical 9-5 (weekday) business hours. Establishing class-wide policies allows students—and you!—to step away from certain class responsibilities over the weekend.
  • Having a class-wide policy can be especially helpful for ULAs, who are closer in age to the students in class and may not feel as comfortable turning down requests for help.
  • In large classes with many teaching team members, you can establish one person as a “lead” for question-answering.
  • You can also set up a designated online space, such as a Canvas discussion board or a Discord server, for urgent questions or for FAQs. Keep adding to this throughout the semester as questions come in.
  • How do you best communicate? Do you prefer texts, emails, phone calls? Let your graduate students know- and ask them their own preferences. Some classes have weekly phone call check-ins, while others communicate via email or have regular in-person meetings.
  • Communicate clearly about when everyone’s working hours are- some people are early risers, while others are night owls. Knowing when people work best helps to set up what the class-wide availability is.

Know Your Graduate Students

  • Many TAs have only recently graduated themselves, and may be uncomfortable grading undergraduates so close to them in age.
  • Regular meetings with TAs and AIs provide space to address potential barriers and provide support for graduate students.

International Students

  • Be aware of the individual factors that may impact how graduate students can succeed as TAs and AIs. Studies show, for example, that native speakers of English can have negative attitudes towards teaching assistants who are non-native English speakers, and that international students may not be accustomed to American classroom practices (Kang, Rubin & Lindemann, 2015). As an instructor, you can take steps to mitigate potential harm and help graduate students learn about a new setting.
  • Many international graduate students come from teacher-centric and lecture-heavy learning communities, in which it is rare for students to interrupt a lecture with questions or to challenge a grade (Meadows et al, 2015). Acknowledging during your early meetings that such practices are more common in American university settings is helpful.
  • Similarly, model teaching for native speakers of English and for American students who are on the teaching team. Create an expectation of cultural difference (Dimitrov et al, 2014) by acknowledging that, for example, people may participate in class in different ways. Build opportunities for all to participate.

Model Empathy

  • Model trauma-informed grading practices. Trauma-informed pedagogy refers to understanding “how violence, victimization, and other traumatic experiences may have figured in the lives of the individuals involved and [applying] that understanding to the provision of services and the design of systems so that they accommodate the needs and vulnerabilities of trauma survivors” (Carello & Butler, 2014). Trauma-informed grading, for example, centers transparency about all aspects of the grading process so as to build trust.
  • Help graduate students learn to spot students who may be in distress and/or need additional campus resources. The difference between poor academic performance and a distressed student is not always immediately clear.
  • Demonstrate clear communicative practices in the classrooms; for example, clearly break down jargon or technical terms for newcomers or students from other disciplines. Invite questions from both students and teaching team members.

 

Additional Resources

Engagement

The methods you choose to teach should be based the desired result of learning as defined by your learning outcomes. Your teaching methods should also be aligned with the way you intend to assess student learning to support their successful performance. Teaching methods include all learning experiences you provide in the form of assignments and activities whether in class or outside of class. A wide variety of teaching methods are available, such as lecture, interactive lecture, recitation, discussion, writing exercises, classroom assessment techniques, group work, peer feedback, case method, problem-based learning, project-based learning, service learning, role plays, games, simulations, debates, and fieldwork and clinicals. Some teaching methods can be used to support learning outcomes at most levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy. For example, writing exercise, problem-based learning, project-based learning, and case method can be used effectively to address most cognitive levels in Bloom’s Taxonomy. Other methods are more limited. For example, lecture-only, interactive lecture, and recitation support learning outcomes at the lowest level in Bloom’s Taxonomy.

An excellent summary of teaching methods aligned to different levels of learning outcomes is available in Teaching at Its Best by Linda Nilson (2016). See also the section on “teaching moves” in the same book.

CATE recommends using multiple teaching strategies to best serve the wide variety of learners in your classes. While students may have learning preferences, using multiple teaching modes will ensure you reach all students and that all students are challenged to learn and grow in new ways. More abstract material should be paired with more concrete material. Modes can include reading, listening, speaking, writing, visual, experiential, and more. Research shows that the more modes that are activated in a learner, the more learning takes place. Using active learning strategies, such as brainstorms, group work, case studies, projects, games, or simulations, is a great way to use multiple modes and keep students engaged. By teaching in multiple modes, you are also practicing innovative teaching as you are offering student a variety of ways to access and process the information. It also provides multiple ways for students to demonstrate knowledge and participate in the class, which benefits everyone.

Additional Resources

At the simplest level, experiential learning allows students to construct knowledge through direct experience. Experiential learning is often thought of as experiences outside the classroom, such as internships, field work, or study abroad. But experiential learning can take place in an academic setting or a real-life setting. Benefits of experiential learning include developing deep understanding of subject matter, promoting critical thinking, applying knowledge in complex circumstances, providing deeply engaging experiences, fostering key professional skills, such as leadership, teamwork, communication, and problem solving.

CATE’s views on experiential learning are closely aligned with UT’s Center for Teaching and Learning. According the the Center, experiential learning includes several key components: “Experiential learning opportunities offer students assignments and activities based on real-life situations or primary research that engages them in reflection and problem-solving with multiple avenues of inquiry.” Assignments parallel the activities and thinking of professionals. Students works with raw data, text, or artifacts that have not be pre-processed to understand their significance. Students reflect on what they have done and concluded to analyze their learning. Students use evidence they can collect to analyze and synthesize conclusions. Students have agency to make decisions about their process and product. The UT Center for Teaching and Learning has compiled an excellent Deeper Dive Instructional Guide on experiential learning. Members of the UT community can self-enroll. Join with your UT EID.

Lecturing is one of the most prevalent teaching methods in higher education. Although there is ample evidence that learner-centered active methods are more effective for promoting higher order thinking and deep understanding, lectures are effective for conveying factual knowledge. Avoid lecturing on material that is available elsewhere or duplicates other course material. Define the learning outcomes for each lecture, and inform students of the outcomes you expect. Limit the scope to a few main concepts. Include a clear introduction, body, and conclusion. The introduction should provide context and review of material covered in the previous class session. The body of the lecture should be divided into 10- to 15-minute chunks. Make the organization clear by providing an outline. Use concrete examples to elucidate concepts and connect with real-world experience. The conclusion should provide students with the opportunity for retrieval practice to promote retention. This can take the form of oral summaries by a few students, a free-recall writing exercise or one-minute paper, or a quiz.

The most common problems with lectures are trying to include too much material and delivering the material too fast. Pace yourself as you are speaking. Let your enthusiasm for the material show. Lecture slides should contain minimal text focusing on high level main points. Incorporate graphics or short videos to increase engagement and illustrate concepts.

Students’ attention begins to wane after 10-15 minutes, so plan two- to five-minute breaks between the segments of your lecture. The good news is you can use these breaks for active learning tasks that reach higher cognitive levels than just conveying factual knowledge. Depending on the activity, students will work individually or in pairs or triads. Common activities include think-pair-share, pair and compare notes, free-recall of main points, reflection or reaction paragraph, multiple-choice poll question followed by paired discussion, students write a multiple-choice test question, pair or group graphic (e.g., concept map, graphic organizer, flowchart), or a small group discussion of open-ended question.

There are a multitude of reasons that students may not adequately prepare for class, many of which are out of the hands of the instructor. That said, there are steps you can take to incentivize preparedness, starting with clearly conveying your expectations about preparation in the syllabus and at the start of the semester. When assigning homework, include study questions or another small assignment to complete while they read, view a video, listen to a podcast, etc. Use class time to answer questions and clarify content from the homework but not to lecture the same material. Use innovative teaching practices to increase engagement, for example allow students to choose some readings, podcasts, or films or ask them for input on an assignment. If they’ve helped to curate the materials or create the assignment, they’re more likely to complete it. It’s also helpful to assess students regularly using low-stakes quizzes, group assignments, or discussion posts that require them to have completed the readings or other homework. Finally, make sure that homework is tied to the learning outcomes for the course and make this explicit to the students, that way they understand the “point” of the homework.

Additional Resources

Assessment

Assessment is about more than just assigning a grade after learning has occurred. Assessment can also be a vital part of the learning process. Keep in mind that there are different types of assessment. The two most important in teaching are 1) Formative Assessment: monitoring student progress toward the learning goal and providing feedback to help students iteratively improve, and 2) Summative Assessment: evaluating whether students achieved the learning goals, i.e., assigning a grade. Formative assessments are often no-stakes or low-stakes (ungraded, or low grade value) such as a short quiz or reflection assignment. Summative assessments are often high stakes, and high stress, such as a final exam or final project.

As you plan how you will assess student learning, consider how you can incorporate low- or no-stakes formative assessment to help you monitor student learning, and to help students monitor their own learning. Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs) are an easy way to integrate formative assessment into class time. With regard to summative assessment, having a small number for high-stakes assessments can increase student anxiety, and their motivation to collude or cheat. Having more frequent, lower stakes tests or assignments can reduce the stress and the temptation to violate academic integrity. Additionally, more frequent deadlines prevent students from falling too far behind.

Additional Resources

Your choice of assessment techniques should be driven by your learning outcomes. Learning outcomes are measurable statements of what learners will be able to do as a result of learning. Well-designed learning outcomes clearly indicate the cognitive level in Bloom’s Taxonomy.

Numerous assessment techniques are available to evaluate student learning. Many instructors rely on objective quizzes, test, and exams that typically involve multiple-choice, true-false, fill-in-the-blank, or matching questions. A big advantage is that they can be automatically graded (e.g., by Scantron or within a Canvas quiz). A limitation is that these types of questions can assess learning outcomes only at the lowest cognitive levels. They cannot be used to assess ability to organize, communicate, or create.

Another commonly used assessment technique is called constructed response. This includes essay questions and writing assignments. While constructed response assignments can be used to assess learning outcomes at the higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy, they may require significant effort to grade. Using a rubric can make grading writing assignments more efficient.

Assessing learning outcomes at the highest levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy is often best achieved by performance tasks and projects that are open-ended, complex, and authentic. Authentic tasks parallel the processes and products of working professionals. Some examples include working with a real client to design an advertising campaign, conducting original research and submitting it for publication, writing a screenplay and pitching it to a production company, creating a software training video that can be used by next semester’s students. As you plan how to assess your students, consider how to make their assessment products renewable rather than disposable.

Additional Resources

Test preparation is important and there are a lot of things that instructors can do to help students to feel well prepared for any exam. Exams are not just for evaluation but can also be great opportunities for learning, which means that teaching students to properly prepare for an exam is also enhancing their learning in your class. There are many strategies you can use to help students to prepare starting with teaching them proper reading and note-taking techniques right from the start. Students will then have a good base of information when it comes time to review the course content in preparation for an exam. Organize formal study groups as a way to encourage group-facilitated learning and have students hold each other accountable for their studying. Encourage distributed practice (spacing out study activities over time) rather than massed practice (cramming at the last minute). You can create study guides, but be sure to include some guidance on how best to use them. Provide sample tests, if possible, or provide a list of questions to review that connect to the class learning outcomes and represent the different formats they will find on the exam. Suskie (2009) suggests using a test blueprint, in which you write out the learning outcomes you want to assess and then create your test questions for each outcome. Students can use the blueprint (which should include content areas, their relative importance, and a list of what you want students to be able to demonstrate for each area) to prepare for their test.

You can also host a review session, which many students want, but it should come after students have had ample opportunity to use other preparation methods. It’s best not to use these sessions as review for readings and course content, but to have students do that on their own beforehand, using methods above, and then use the time in the session for Q&A and review questions. When possible have the students answer each other’s questions (retrieval practice) and work in groups or as a class to answer challenging review questions. You could use techniques such as think-pair-share to engage the whole group in the review. You can also have students come up with questions that they feel would be appropriate for the exam and then actually use the best ones.  

Finally, you can take steps to reduce anxiety and build confidence in your students. Having review sessions and study guides, using encouraging words and positive reassurance, and reducing interruptions during the exam can all help students to accurately demonstrate their learning.

 

Additional Resources

We are all affected by different types of bias. Confirmation bias is the tendency to focus on information that supports one’s prior beliefs and values and dismiss evidence that does not support prior beliefs and values. Implicit bias is unconscious attitudes and stereotypes associated with categories of people. Implicit bias can affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious or unintentional manner that may be inconsistent with our conscious values. Consider a situation where student A pays attention in class, actively contributes in discussions, and turns in assignments on time. Student B is distracted in class, seldom contributes to discussions, and turns in assignments late. Do you think bias could influence how you grade these students?

Three proven strategies for minimizing bias are blind grading, rubrics, and calibration. In blind grading, student identifiers are removed before review. It improves student belief in accuracy of assessment when they are aware of the practice. In Canvas, anonymous grading hides students’ names form the grader when viewed in SpeedGrader.

A rubric defines the criteria and performance levels for grading a particular type of student work. There are numerous benefits for using rubrics, including defining evaluation criteria for both learners and graders, providing a framework for giving feedback, promoting consistency if there are multiple graders, and supporting consistent grading across semesters. Creating a rubric in Canvas take a bit of time, but it saves time when grading in SpeedGrader.

Calibration is a technique for minimizing variation between grades. Graders first review and discuss the rubric. They select a sample of student submissions and all graders independently score each submission. Then they compare their results and decide what adjustments are needed. Finally, they divide the remaining submissions and complete final scoring. If a submission is difficult to score, the grader should check with the group or the grading leader.

 

Additional Resources

The purpose of feedback is to 1) reinforce the learning outcome, 2) confirm progress toward the outcome, 3) correct mistakes, and 4) guide future actions. It often means pushing students out of their comfort zone into a place of ambiguity and uncertainty where real learning strides can happen. It’s always a good idea to tell students what they have done successfully and express appreciation of their ideas, connections, creativity, or conclusions. When giving feedback, state your tangible observations, not your interpretations. Be specific, sometimes more explicit than you think is needed. Especially when pointing out mistakes or shortcomings, address the product, not the person. E.g., Rather than “you didn’t use APA format” say “the citations do not conform to APA format.” Frame comments in terms of “I” rather than “you”.  E.g., Say “I don’t see any evidence for this claim” rather than “You didn’t provide any evidence for this claim.” Use questions to identify errors. “What evidence is available to support this claim?” Suggest how the student can do better next time. “In revising this report, I suggest providing at least three reasons to justify the method used.” Finally offer encouragement and express confidence that every student can achieve the learning goal.

Collaboration

Learning is the responsibility of the learner; however, many students do not know how to learn. Instructors can take a number of steps to teach students how to take responsibility and guide themselves through the learning process. When possible, encourage self-regulated learning, which is the process of conscious planning, monitoring, and evaluating one’s learning. Students often use ineffective learning techniques so it’s important that you teach them effective learning techniques and help them to be better learners. Incorporate opportunities for goal setting for learning in your class and encourage connecting their goals to the learning outcomes. Knowledge surveys at the beginning and again at the end of a course can help students to see where they started and how much they grew over the semester. Including lots of active learning followed by reflection keeps students engaged in the learning experience while facilitating the reflection and processing necessary for self-regulated learning. Using techniques such as minute free-writes, pair and share discussions, reflective writing assignments, and self-correcting exams gives you and your students opportunities to check in on their learning and make adjustments as needed. Students learn in different ways and at different paces, it’s important to give students agency, with support, throughout the process. It’s important to show compassion – remember a time when you were learning something new and both the challenges and rewards of your hard work.

Additional Resources

The benefits of group learning are numerous, including improving student productivity, critical thinking, self-esteem, intercultural relations, and interpersonal relationships. Students often dread group work because they have been in a group that was not well-organized or had members that did not carry their weight. To avoid the potential pitfalls of group learning, it’s important to carefully structure group assignments and support group formation. Group learning requires students to become active problems solvers, take risks, take personal responsibility, become interdependent with their team, and see their peers and themselves as sources of knowledge. The instructor’s role also changes from being expert provider of knowledge to being a facilitator and coach.

In successful groups, members are individually accountable but interdependent. Each member does their fair share of the work and feels personal responsibility for the success of teammates. Here are some suggestions to encourage interdependence and accountability: 

  • Require teams to develop and sign a team contract. 

  • Allow time early in the semester for teams to agree on how they will deal with non-contributing members. 

  • Give all group members a group grade as well as an individual grade. 

  • Provide information or resources to individuals so they have to share with the team. 

  • Assign individuals a part of the overall task. 

  • Randomly call on students to speak for the group. 

  • Require all members to edit or sign off on the final product. 

  • Provide criteria for team members to evaluate themselves and their peers, and count that in their final grade.

  • Avoid letting students form their own long-term groups. Assign them to groups based on their interests or some other criteria. Take care to form groups that are heterogeneous in terms of ability, race, gender, and other characteristics. This contributes to developing social skills, helps students understand and get along with people of different backgrounds, and learn the material better.

  • Allow some time in class for team meetings. 

  • Avoid assignments or projects where it’s easy to simply “divide and conquer,” thereby not reaping the benefits of group learning. Group assignments should pose a legitimate challenge that requires higher order thinking by more than one student to solve the problem within the time limit. There should be multiple acceptable solutions or multiple means of reaching a solution. 

  • Explicitly discuss the qualities that make good teammates (e.g., active listening, being prepared, sharing resources, giving constructive feedback, etc.) and include those among the learning outcomes for the group assignment. 

  • Give groups a structured task that requires a specific product at the end. For long-term group projects, set interim deadlines for the components (e.g., pitch, outline, data collection, first draft, etc.).

  • Set expectations for respectful, professional collaboration

  • Assign roles to ensure engagement

  • Check out the Center for Teaching and Learning's Guide to Group Learning

Discussions, when effectively facilitated, can be a great complement to lecture and help students meet learning outcomes such as active listening, critical thinking, oral communication, and application of the information they’re learning. Consider the timing and placement of discussions in your course, prepare students to engage appropriately by setting both expectations and ground rules for participation and civility. While you can use policies such as grading to encourage participation, often participation will come down setting a positive class climate. When managing discussion, be proactive about reducing barriers to participation. Strategies include:

  • Beginning with a low-stakes warm up topic to get students talking. 

  • Developing prompts that stimulate dialogue and exchange of ideas. 

  • Using thoughtful pauses or create time for students to make notes before opening up for comments.

  • Utilizing small groups and share outs.

  • Continuing the discussion with blogs, wikis, Canvas posts, etc. 

  • Asking good, deeply probing questions that are open-ended and encourage problem-solving. Consider using Socratic questioning or use questions at each cognitive level of Bloom’s Taxonomy (see Nilson, 2016). 

  • Modeling and facilitating productive discussions you can train students to lead discussions, ask good questions, and engage one another.

  • Being patient and making space for pauses and silence.

  • Staggering deadlines for initial posts and responses

     

Sample Discussion Prompts

CMS 347S Communicating With Stuff (Barry Brummett)
Example 1: Here’s a brief history of sagging. Discuss what sagging communicates. Talk about whether you sag and what it communicates, and talk about how you understand the meaning of when others sag. Discuss any cultural differences or implications of this kind of stuff as communication.
Example 2: Lectures discuss the problem of having stuff with no “currency” in a context you might find yourself. Use this idea to think about how stuff works as currency. Have you ever found that your stuff had no currency with a context in which you found yourself? Why did that happen, and what did you do about it?

CMS 313M Organizational Communication (Joshua Barbour)
Finding your power CASE? Step 1: Read 6-3d Case Study Talking Turkey from your text and address the following prompt in your SLACK group discussion. REMEMBER to use evidence in your response. Evidence can include course concepts (briefly define them), outside articles that support your position, or examples provided by popular press.
Share your take on the case. As you put together you post, consider these questions:
* How would you evaluate the argument between Brandon and Gabriella?
* Are either or both of them being exploited? If so, how?
* How does this case illustrate the concepts of power, ideology, and hegemony?
* How would a critical theorist work to achieve emancipation for Brandon and Gabriella?
* Would either of them want to be emancipated?
* How could either Brandon or Gabriella exercise resistance in their work?
* Your post does not have to address all these questions, but it should make clear what you think about who is being exploited here if anyone and why as well as what is to be done about it if anything and why. Be sure to share your reasons.

Step 2: Read over your groupmate's responses. Respond to at least two posts. Think about these questions as you do so (without feeling you must answer them all or in this order):
* Do you agree/disagree with your groupmate’s post that Brandon and/or Gabriella are being exploited (or not)? Why?
* Do you agree/disagree with your groupmate’s view on Brandon and/or Gabriella’s desire for emancipation? Why?
* What lessons can you draw from this discussion for the upcoming organizational assessment assignment? Be sure to share at least two lessons.

RTF 305 Intro to Media Studies (Joe Straubhaar)
The topic of Week 6 is Music and Genre. This week's topic focuses on music genres, but still opens to a variety of possible aspects, such as the development of a particular music genre, the transformation of music and genre in general, the impact of technology on music genre, music evolution and the recorded industry, social impacts of different music genres, among others. First of all, you need to find a newspaper or magazine article, TV or radio story, video, etc. that reflects on the topic, post it/them at the beginning of the post.
* (1st paragraph) Following the link/s, please summarize the example you give. If you need to quote, do give credits to the author. Do not over-quote the original article/video/radio scripts.
* (2nd paragraph) Then, tell us why you think the example is relevant to the topic of the week.
* (3rd paragraph) Lastly, apply a theory/concept that we learned this week to analyze your example. Be specific to give a definition of the theory/concept, and explain why it is applicable to the example you give.
After the posting, please give comments to at least two other posts. Do remember to write substantial and meaningful sentences that are more than "I agree" and "Good": tell your peers what you agree, what is good, how and why. This discussion is worth a total of five points. The initial reply is worth three points and should be posted by midnight Tuesday. The two comments are one point each and should be posted by midnight Friday.

 

Additional Resources

When it comes to difficult situations in class, anticipation and prevention are key. However, some controversial topics and challenging conversations cannot always be avoided. Indeed, sometimes they should not be avoided. Here are some tips for managing difficult classroom situations:

  • Establish your classroom presence with a balance of authority and approachability to set a tone of respect for you and for the class space. 

  • Set class norms and expectations early and refer back regularly while encouraging students to hold each other accountable. 

  • Consider setting expectations collectively as a class so that students will buy in. 

  • Ask everyone to use “I” statements and not to speak for someone else. For example, "I'm not sure what you mean by ___" instead of "you aren't making any sense."

  • When something happens, in the moment, you can ask students to pause and reflect before engaging. This also gives you a moment to gather your composure. 

  • Depending on the situation, you may need to address things directly with the group or you may be able to address it individually on a break or after class. 

  • It can be critical, in the moment, to acknowledge an incident and the damage it may have caused. It can be equally critical to not let it derail the class or take up unwarranted space. This will likely be a judgement call for you. 

  • Afterwards, be sure to follow up and check in with individuals as needed. You may also wish to make space in the next class or later in the semester to address the issue in more depth as a group. 

Remember that you are not alone in dealing with difficult situations and can draw on support from colleagues or CATE staff!

Additional Resources

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