We found 347 results that contain "instructors"

Title: “That Doesn’t Work For Me!”: Tools for Students with ADHDPresenters: McKayla Sluga (History/College of Social Science)Date: May 11th, 2023Time: 11:30 am - 12:30 pmFormat: Learning Technology DemonstrationClick here to viewDescription:Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) affects undergraduate and graduate students—diagnosed and undiagnosed. Often, instructors are unaware of symptoms’ variability or helpful strategies. Even though ADHD’ers frequently have high intelligence, they drop out of academia or leave employment at double the rate of neurotypicals. If they stay, students often experience exacerbated anxiety, depression, and other psychological distress. Why? One explanation is that executive functioning differences often make academic advice ADHD’ers receive ineffective or even damaging. This presentation features three practical strategies instructors can explore to make higher-education teaching and learning more ADHD-friendly.Scrivener organizes large projects in one place with the ability to form subdocuments. This makes it easier to structurally and visually break projects into smaller components. Read Aloud features in Microsoft Word and Google Docs may ease revision or renew stimulation for those struggling to focus or avoid boredom when re-reading familiar work. Bionic Reading is a visual tool that bolds the first letters of each word. It can help those who jump around reading, get distracted reading unchanging text, and want to speed up their reading pace. Tools can remove access barriers while diversifying strategies to complement ADHD symptoms can help students reduce shame or anxiety rather than disparage learning differences. As Devon Price, author of Unmasking Autism, writes, “Refusing to perform neurotypicality is a revolutionary act of disability justice. It’s also a radical act of self-love.” Environments embracing diverse learning approaches can elevate students’ sense of belonging and confidence.

The Zoom meeting size limit is 300 students, and webinar licenses are maxed out at 500 but in some cases MSU has courses that have more students enrolled than that. So, while each person has access to both a 300 student space and a 500 student space, that may not always be enough. This article provides alternatives to synchronous Zoom classes that may help not only solve the license challenges, but also help you navigate teaching a large course fully online. 
Berry (2009) notes that teaching a large course online “requires a shift in focus from teaching to learning (p. 176).” While 2009 was a full 11 years ago and the technologies driving online course delivery have advanced greatly, this fundamental idea remains as true today as it was then. Lynch & Pappas (2017) highlight the challenge that faculty-student interaction presents in large-enrollment courses, whether they be fully online or completely face-to-face. How can a single faculty member effectively communicate with 600 students? In this case, technological affordances are our friend – and Zoom is not necessarily the answer. 
Some Non-Zoom Solutions 
MediaSpace or Camtasia videos and D2L Discussion Forums 
I know this may not seem like the most exciting solution, but it can be an effective and efficient one. Picture this: 

Record a 20-minute video discussing your insights on the week’s content, focusing on what students won’t necessarily glean for themselves in their own review. 
Did you know you can request free captioning services from MSU IT on videos 20 minutes or less?

Click here for more information on getting started with the MSU Crowd Sourced Closed Captioning Program. 


Save the video to Mediaspace and share it with your students in D2L. Give them a few questions to think about while they watch it. 
Guide students to the D2L discussion forum where discussions will happen. Configure the discussion forum to require that they post their response before they can see the responses of others. 
Learn more about ways to configure your discussion forum here 
Grade the discussion forum using the D2L Quick Discussion Grader tool. 
Learn how to use the D2L Quick Discussion Grader tool here 

Half on, half off 
You can split your course in half. What if you had two smaller large courses? Consider inviting half of your students to Zoom, while the others engage in an asynchronous assignment such as a discussion forum or a low-stakes knowledge-testing quiz that’s automatically graded by D2L. Then, use your Zoom time together to discuss what students can only get from you – instructor-student interaction! 

Asynchronous activity idea: Try setting up a discussion forum and have your students work on an applied case together based on the content. 
Asynchronous activity idea: Ask students to collaboratively build a study guide for the exam based on the week’s content. 

Peer Review using Eli Review 
Eli Review is a peer review tool that is free for faculty and students at Michigan State University. Here, you can configure peer review writing exercises, automatically sort students into groups, and provide them with a clear series of writing, review, and revision tasks. You can see analytics for completion, helpfulness, and more.  
As stated on the tech.msu.edu page for Eli Review, "many writing instructors have found using Eli for small assignments (i.e., a thesis statement, annotated bibliography) works better than for entire papers. Smaller assignments make it easier to focus on one specific set of criteria and goals. Students stay more engaged with a small task and can move forward in an assignment when the core elements are properly set up." 
Since Eli Review is an online platform, students can use it any time, allowing instructors flexibility in assigning reviews. Eli has a feature to accept or decline late work, so students are responsible for the online homework just as in-class homework. 
Need more help? 
Hopefully some of the ideas shared here have helped you think about some alternatives to pursue should Zoom not be an option for your courses. The instructional technology and development team in MSU IT is happy to consult with you on how you can leverage academic technologies to make your large course experience feel smaller. We can help you think about how to live without Zoom and embrace the asynchronous teaching life if you choose.
 
MSU IT offers a number of valuable tools and services that can help you create an experience that facilitates student success regardless of bandwidth, time zones, or class size. To make an appointment with an instructional technologist, fill out the appointment form located at https://tech.msu.edu/service-catalog/teaching/instructional-design-development/ or e-mail the MSU IT Service Desk at ithelp@msu.edu and request a consultation with Instructional Technology and Development. If you prefer the phone, you can also contact them at (517)432-6200. 
References 
Berry, R. W. (2009). Meeting the challenges of teaching large online classes: Shifting to a learner-focus. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 5(1), 176-182. 
Boettcher, J. (2011). Ten best practices for teaching online. Quick Guide for New Online faculty. 
Lynch, R. P., & Pappas, E. (2017). A Model for Teaching Large Classes: Facilitating a" Small Class Feel". International Journal of Higher Education, 6(2), 199-212. 

Create surveys for your students.

Select the Surveys link in Course Admin. 
 

Select the New Survey button. 
 

Enter the Name of the survey.
Select Add/Edit Questions if you want to add questions to the survey. See instructions below for more detail.
Select one of the Save options at the bottom of the screen to save your changes. Moving to a different tab of the survey will also save. 
 

To preview your survey, click the caret to open the Actions Menu.
 

Select Preview. 
 

You will need to make the survey available to students, either by adding the Surveys link to the course navbar or by adding the survey to Content through the Existing Activities button.

You can access MSU's self-enrollment link for D2L self-directed training videos (including surveys) here.

What are EASE Reports?
EASE (Enhancing Academic Success Early) Reports are a great way to provide students- and their advisors- feedback on how they are doing in your class. Instructors post students' current grades, attendance and engagement, and comments. The instructor chooses if the information is sent just to the advisors or to both students and advisors. I complete the reports during the third week, fourth week (prior to the last day to drop with a refund), halfway through the semester (before the last day to drop without a grade reported), and toward the end of the semester. 
How are EASE Reports Completed?
EASE reports are completed on the Registrar's website. There are two options for posting them: entering grades and comments individually for each student in an online form or uploading a file. Uploading a file is the most efficient way to provide feedback for large classes because information can be quickly copied and pasted for multiple students. This way, you can provide feedback to every student. The tutorial below describes 1) how to download a student list EASE report template from the Registrar's website, 2) how to export grades from D2L, 3) how to combine the student list file and the D2L file, 4) tips and tricks to consider while working on the file, and 5) how to edit and upload the final file for an EASE Report upload to the registrar's website.

Notes to Consider
Make sure to upload it as a CSV.D2L calculates the final grade. Just note that if you have any drops already set up in your gradebook, that it will adjust the grade for those drops. Because of this, when I complete reports at the beginning of the semester, I manually calculate the grade so that drops are not set up. This way, they have a more accurate reflection of how they are doing in the course. Then I add a comment to anyone with a grade below 4.0 that their grade on D2L may be higher than what is reported here because the lowest grade for select assignments is dropped. In the video, I mentioned an equation that I use to check that the D2L and the EASE student list files match. Make sure to delete the demo students from the D2L list and put them both in order by NetID/email. Here is the equation: =if(G2=O2,1) You may need to change "G" and "O" depending on your columns. In my example, the MSU Net ID is in the G column of the file and the Email from D2L is in the O column of the file.I briefly went over the different columns in the EASE report file. Here is a description of each one (do not change the heading of any of the columns):

The first several columns contain information that you do not change:

Term_Code: semester roster
Subj_Code: the subject of your course
Crse_Code: the course code
Sctn_Code: the section number
Student_ID: students' PIDs
Student_Name: last name, first name of each student
MSUNet_ID: The student's Net_ID; the first part of their email address
Require: Does the student require an EASE report? There will be a "yes" for each student that requires an EASE report and nothing entered for those that do not. Try to complete a report for more than just those that require one.


You enter information for the next several columns:

Grade: Enter a grade for each student (0, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4). One easy way to calculate this is to add a percentage grade column from D2L and then put it in order of percentage (make sure to delete this extra column before uploading the file).
Attendance: enter "yes," "intermittent," or "no." If needed, add any clarifications to the comments column.
Engagement: enter "yes," "intermittent," or "no." If needed, add any clarifications to the comments column.
MeasuresDoNotApply: enter "yes" if the measures "grade," "attendance," and "engagement" do not apply to your course or for that student.
Comments: This is where you type useful feedback to the student's advisor and the student, if applicable. Try to be as specific as possible. Consider having a separate document of feedback that you can copy and paste from each semester.
ShareComments: Enter "yes" if you want students to also see the comments that you provided.



Additional information is provided on the EASE report file upload page on the registrar's website.

 
 

 

 










 
Introduction
Academic integrity is critical in any teaching and learning environment, but with the move to more frequent online learning, this conversation becomes more important because of increased concern with student dishonesty on assessments, particularly exams. In this lesson, we will discuss how to promote a climate of academic integrity within your classroom. We will first examine factors that motivate students to cheat in courses. After that, we will examine strategies for minimizing academic dishonesty.
Why Students Cheat
Research shows that both students and faculty believe that cheating is more prevalent in online learning compared to face-to-face. However, many studies indicate this is not true and that cheating is no more common online than in person. Let’s examine some of the common reasons students turn to academic dishonest behaviors.
Many students enter courses with extrinsic motivation to succeed, meaning they are focused only on the end grade result and not the actual process of learning. When students tie their classroom goals to only a grade, they often view exams as not being valuable outside of a way to achieve a 4.0. Combine this view of assessments with the fact that grade competition is common, and the scenario for cheating becomes more attractive. For example, over half of medical school applicants will be denied admission, and admission prioritizes GPA, so grades are frequently a driving motivator for pre-med students.
Exam structure can also affect the likelihood of academic misconduct. When exams are high stakes, meaning they account for a significant percentage of the final grade, or cover a considerable amount of material, students are more likely to use dishonest behavior.
Student characteristics also play a role. Students may have test anxiety, preventing them from succeeding, so they rely on cheating. Students may also hold beliefs that the exams or the instructor are unfair, and so they see the effort they would put into studying as worthless. Finally, students may simply be unprepared for the exams.
There are also reasons related to academic integrity itself. An important issue discovered in integrity research is that there is a disconnect between faculty and student perceptions of what actions constitute cheating. Students will admit to dishonest behaviors, for example, asking a friend for their opinion on a question, but also claim they did not cheat, and that is because they do not view these actions as cheating. Research has also shown that students are more likely to cheat if they believe the consequences of being caught are minor.
Context Matters!
As we discuss these common reasons why students cheat, it is important to recognize that Spring 2020 was not a good example of online learning, student anxiety, or integrity. There was a significant increase in the number of faculty and student complaints regarding academic misconduct in the classroom, but the switch to emergency remote learning was challenging for everyone, and student actions in spring are not indicative of typical online learning experiences.
Strategies
Integrity Considerations
Managing discussions surrounding academic integrity can occur right at the beginning of the semester. When you inform students of the grading scale and exam dates, also mention the importance of academic integrity. Practicing integrity as a student is important for ethical practices in other courses and after graduation. Remind students about integrity expectations, particularly at the time of each exam or assessment.
Be transparent with your expectations. Define the behaviors you consider to be examples of academic dishonesty. If collaboration is allowed on some but not all assignments, make sure students understand those instructions. Likewise, explain to students the consequences of academic misconduct in your class, such as penalty grades and submission of an Academic Dishonesty Report.
Finally, have student sign an honor code or the Spartan Academic Pledge at the beginning of every assessment. Honor codes have been shown to decrease cheating particularly when they are used in a classroom or institution that promotes and values academic integrity.
Extrinsic Motivators
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an instructional framework that attempts to minimize barriers to allow for a diverse group of learners to all be successful in the classroom. One of the three main components of UDL is increasing student engagement in the course, which can result in an increase in intrinsic motivation and a decrease in extrinsic motivation.
Students are more likely to be engaged with content when they feel that the learning is valuable to their goals. By writing clear learning objectives for the course and having those objectives be relevant to student interests, it increases student participation and buy-in. This does not mean course content must only be limited to content students choose; it means by presenting the content chosen by the instructor as being valuable, students will become more motivated to participate. Explicitly explaining how the content of your course increases future success in another course or in a career path can motivate students that might not have seen those connections on their own. When students understand the broader purpose of a course or assessment, they are also less likely to complain about the work being unfair.
Integrating reflective or metacognitive assignments during the semester can also mitigate the effects of external motivators. These assignments allow students to think about their individual process of learning and can move focus away from getting a specific grade. Reflective work can help students self-assess their effort, determination, and persistence, and help them gain a growth mindset, which views errors and failures as learning opportunities.
Exam Structure & Student Considerations
There are multiple approaches that an instructor can take when managing exam structure, and some of these amendments can alleviate concerns related to the student characteristics as well.
Decreasing the amount of content that is covered on an exam and increasing the frequency of assessments can turn high stakes, high anxiety testing into something viewed as more manageable by the student. Additionally, deciding to make exams open book or collaborative will level the playing field for students since this removes some of the more traditional forms of academic dishonesty.
Allowing materials or collaboration, though, is more successful when exam questions are written to assess critical thinking or other higher-level skills. It is possible to write multiple choice questions that test problem solving. When this is accomplished, explaining how the assessment aligns with course learning goals and is relevant to student learning can help obtain student buy-in, which decreases the prevalence of cheating.
There are also ways to use D2L exam tools to reduce academic dishonesty during exams. Options such as selecting questions from a larger pool, randomizing questions and showing only one per page, and determining the appropriate amount of time for a student to complete the exam but not have extended time remain can take away opportunities for cheating.
Finally, scaffolding learning in the classroom with appropriate formative assessments provides students with opportunities for practicing skills and learning content. These activities will help students feel prepared when it is time for the assessment.
Conclusion
It should be noted that none of these strategies are guaranteed to stop cheating in the classroom. However, integrating these practices into your curriculum can decrease the likelihood of academic dishonesty. All decisions regarding assessment and integrity must weigh the risk of cheating with the overall effect on the course. The actions suggested here have been shown to decrease academic misconduct while also being equitable and creating a valuable educational environment.




 

 

 

 

Lecture or Instructional Session Outline
As an instructor, I've always worked towards organization and consistency in my lectures and sessions. I have personally found this approach to be helpful for myself, and my students. Several years ago I worked on a 'format' to outline how I organize my sessions / lectures. Several faculty members and instructors I have worked with have asked if I would 'share' this format. Here it is (a link to the Google Doc is provided below). You can use this as is, or modify it to meet your own needs. Over time these outlines have become invaluable for refinements and modifications for the courses I have taught or designed. Further, it helps when reflecting on how sessions went.
Title of Session / Lecture: 
Course:
Unit / Module:
Date:

Session Objectives
1.
2.
3.
4.

Prerequisite / Prior Learning
(Readings / Recorded Lectures / Activities)
1.
2.
3.

Anticipatory Set (Warm-up or icebreaker questions to set the tone for the lecture / session)
1.
2.
3.

Session / Lecture Materials (What resources will you use for this session?)

Session Interactivity (What ways will you engage students during the lecture / session)

End of Session Questions (Parting questions you will pose to your students)

Post Session Learning Activities 

Opportunities for Students to Receive Feedback and Clarification (e.g. Exit Tickets, Muddiest Points)
Access a Google Doc version of this outline to customize for your own planning purposes by clicking this link.
Photo by Kaleidico on Unsplash

So you’ve collected your mid-semester feedback data. What do you do next? Select a method for sharing and responding to student feedback that works for you. Will you share a summary in D2L? Maybe you’ll provide an overview with a few slides at the next synchronous class. No matter what mode you choose, identify some patterns and touch base with your students promptly! Be sure to thank students for their comments. According to Cornell’s Center for Teaching Excellence (2012) your learners appreciate knowing you care what they have to say.
Critically reflect on the student's comments. Some feedback you get may be positive, while other feedback could be negative. In fact, almost all instructors receive negative feedback at some point in their careers. Give yourself space to acknowledge the hurt or anger you may feel. Then think about how you could continue to grow and develop your educator practice. You can also check out “How to make the best of bad course evaluations” in The Chronicle.
If you’ve identified the trends and utilized the articles in the other sections of this playlist but are still not sure about what changes to make, start by talking with a mentor and/or a peer group. MSU Interim Associate Provost for Faculty and Academic Staff Development and facilitator of the Academic Advancement Network, Dr. Marilyn Amey, shared “If I know someone is a good teacher, I might just reach out to them directly.” When prompted, “what if an instructor doesn’t know who has been successful at teaching in the past”, Dr. Amey brought up two of MSU’s educator cohort programs as resources for “people connections”.
Lilly Fellows: The Lilly Teaching Fellows Program began in 1991 and has served as “an opportunity to engage in a year-long exploration of the robust scholarship on effective practices in University teaching.” The Lilly Fellows Program has supported Fellows to become future faculty leaders and to inspire a broad range of faculty to pursue excellence in teaching. After two years of redesigns of the original Lilly Program, the 2020-2021 version of the program will focus explicitly on leadership development for those educators who see teaching and learning as core to their path toward leadership.
See if any of the past Lilly Fellows are in your network!
Adams Academy: The program brings together a cross-disciplinary group of faculty and academic staff for a year-long fellowship focused on teaching and learning. Adams Academy Fellows explore the literature on effective university teaching and learning practices and consider how this robust body of research can be used to guide instructional decisions in the courses they teach. Participants learn from and contribute to a community of teacher-scholars committed to excellence in teaching and learning.
See if any of the past Adams Academy Fellows are in your network!  
According to Dr. Ellie Louson, Instructor in Lyman Briggs College and Learning Experience Designer at the Hub for Innovation in Learning and Technology, in this Medium Article on Mentorship, “The university is a setting for many types of mentorship. A more senior student can mentor someone more junior, faculty or staff members mentor students, and colleagues mentor each other (near-peers with different skills to teach and learn, or a more senior person to someone more junior).” 
You can plug into existing groups and ask questions. If you don’t know of a group, check in with the units you identify with. For example, the Academic Advancement Network is hosting a regular gathering of new educators in “Starting an Academic Career in Unusual Times” community discussions. MSU’s Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA) hosts a regular writing group and monthly orientations. The Academic Specialist Advisory Committee (ASAC) provides the governance structure for the academic specialist community providing advice to university leaders and offering Table Talks and community gatherings throughout the year. 
Ultimately, don’t feel like you have to go it alone. Research has shown that reviewing student feedback in consultation with someone else is more likely to result in positive modifications in teaching/course design which can later influence future evaluations.
 
Source: Murray, H. (1997). Does evaluation of teaching lead to improvement of teaching? International Journal for Academic Development, 2(1), 8-23
 

You can find a full list of all workshops from the MSU Libraries here. SeptemberStable Links Workshop (Online)September 7, 2021, 10am -12pm

This workshop will take place on ZOOM, and registered attendees will receive an email the day before the scheduled workshop containing the meeting ID and password.  Questions can be emailed to leekrist@msu.edu.
Although many understand the value of sharing online library resources such as e-journal articles, e-book chapters, or streaming media in D2L or other course-related materials, the process for doing so is not intuitive or transparent. To complicate matters, copyright compliance and licensing agreements require the use of appropriate stable links for integration of proprietary content in a course. This Stable Links for Electronic Resources workshop will guide participants through the process of integrating journal articles, e-book chapters, or streaming media into their course(s). Instructions for creating stable links in various platforms will be provided and participants will gain hands-on experience in successfully integrating stable links into D2L and other course-related materials.

Stable Links Workshop (Online)September 15, 2021, 1pm-3pm

This workshop will take place on ZOOM, and registered attendees will receive an email the day before the scheduled workshop containing the meeting ID and password.  Questions can be emailed to leekrist@msu.edu.
Although many understand the value of sharing online library resources such as e-journal articles, e-book chapters, or streaming media in D2L or other course-related materials, the process for doing so is not intuitive or transparent. To complicate matters, copyright compliance and licensing agreements require the use of appropriate stable links for integration of proprietary content in a course. This Stable Links for Electronic Resources workshop will guide participants through the process of integrating journal articles, e-book chapters, or streaming media into their course(s). Instructions for creating stable links in various platforms will be provided and participants will gain hands-on experience in successfully integrating stable links into D2L and other course-related materials.EndNote and EndNote OnlineSeptember 21, 2021, 11am-1pm

A virtual version of our basic introduction to EndNote and EndNote Online.  Learn how to:
   * Import references from MSU's online catalog and article databases
   * Format citations and bibliographies in a Word document
   * Use EndNote Online to create groups and share references with other users
This workshop will be held over Zoom. After registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with the workshop URL and password, and a reminder email the day before.
**It is recommended that you install the EndNote software prior to the workshop. For more information, visit http://libguides.lib.msu.edu/endnote or contact us at endnote@lib.msu.edu.Learn QGIS: Making a Color Shaded Map in QGIS (in person and online)September 22, 2021, 4pm-5pm

Learn the basics of QGIS, the free open source geospatial software—this workshop will demonstrate how to make a choropleth (color shaded) map and place graduated symbols representing data on it, load shape-files and .csv table files into QGIS, join data to spatial information and edit features.
This workshop will be held in person at the Digital Scholarship Lab computer lab (on the 2nd floor of the west wing of the library) and online via Zoom.OctoberEndNote Q&A SessionOctober 7 2021, 9am-11am

Have questions about using EndNote? Join one of our instructors for a virtual office hours-style session to get answers on how to do specific tasks using EndNote or EndNote Online.
*Note: this will not be an introduction to using EndNote. Please visit https://libguides.lib.msu.edu/endnote for available training opportunities.
This workshop will be held over Zoom. After registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with the workshop URL and password, and a reminder email the day before.EndNote and EndNote OnlineOctober 18, 2021, 1pm-3pm


A basic introduction to EndNote and EndNote Online.  Learn how to:
   * Import references from MSU's online catalog and article databases
   * Format citations and bibliographies in a Word document
   * Use EndNote Online to create groups and share references with other users
For more information about this popular program, visit http://libguides.lib.msu.edu/endnote
*Previous experience searching article databases available from the MSU Libraries is highly recommended.
For more information, please contact us at endnote@lib.msu.edu.NovemberMSU GIS Research and Teaching Meet UpNovember 5, 2021, 2pm-4pmVisit with other MSU community members who are using GIS in their teaching, research and other work. We will be discussing any issues, projects and topics that community members want to bring to the meet up. Questions about new GIS products, GIS method questions, and strategies for teaching GIS are all possible topics of conversation. The goal of this event is to break through the usual disciplinary and departmental boundaries to have a lively conversation about GIS at MSU. EndNote Q&A SessionNovember 12, 2021, 1pm-2pm

Have questions about using EndNote? Join one of our instructors for a virtual office hours-style session to get answers on how to do specific tasks using EndNote or EndNote Online.
*Note: this will not be an introduction to using EndNote. Please visit https://libguides.lib.msu.edu/endnote for available training opportunities.
This workshop will be held over Zoom. After registering, attendees will receive a confirmation email with the workshop URL and password, and a reminder email the day before.