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CITL Teaching and Learning News: June 27, 2023

Jun 30, 2023, 17:01 PM
CITL Teaching and Learning News June 27, 2023
 
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Instructor Voices

 
     
 
  Photo of Kary Zarate
 

From Traditional to Ungraded: Student Perspectives on a Spectrum of Grading Practices

Special Education faculty Catherine CorrJessica HardyEmily Tarconish, and Kary Zarate explore a variety of grading practices including traditional point and letter grades, non-traditional formats like qualitative feedback, and a blend of both approaches. As Hardy explains, “... we know that there are challenges associated with traditional grading practices, both in understanding how to interpret them and to really understand if they even measure learning. And if they do, how?”

In this discussion, Zarate, Corr, Hardy, and Tarconish examine how these grading processes impact students and describe their efforts toward developing a universally designed grading scheme. “We know that grading conventions have evolved over time and will continue to evolve, so it behooves us to understand what we do and why we do it,” says Hardy.

 
 

CITL Announcements

 
     
 

Illinois Students & Graduates Host National Online Conference on AI in Education

Registration is open for the AI x Education Conference, a national online conference spearheaded by recent graduates and students at Illinois addressing pivotal topics surrounding artificial intelligence in education. The conference, Generating the Future of Education with AI, is August 5-6, 2023, from 10 am to 4 pm (CDT). It is free and was designed by recent UIUC graduates and students for K-12 and Higher Ed educators, AI experts, EdTech leaders, students and parents. The conference aims to demystify AI and enhance understanding of its role and potential in education; provide insight into current challenges and how to overcome them; share innovative experiments and solutions; underscore the importance of incorporating students’ perspectives; and foster future discussions and collaborations with educational experiments. See the Schedule of Events for more information.

Register Now. For questions, please email organizer@aixeducation.com.

 
 

Workshops and Events

 
     
 

Canvas Open Office Hours
Every Thursday
11am - 12pm, Zoom
Host: CITL Instructional Support Team

Stay tuned for this semester's events! Bookmark the CITL Event Calendar for all upcoming workshops and the Training Services (formerly FAST3) Calendar for additional training opportunities. 

 
 

Teaching Tips

 
     
 

Online Course Organization: Using Modules

“For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned.” – Benjamin Franklin

Optimized course organization is a major component to success for students in your course. The ability to be able to quickly find course components will save the students time and headaches searching for things that they need. It will also save you time from answering questions as to where things are! Read below to get started.

Organizing content into Modules on Canvas reduces that amount of time students need to spend searching for course materials or assignments. You might consider using the term "module" instead of "week" because it is more malleable from semester to semester. In most cases, a module lasts a week (Monday – Sunday), so you shouldn’t need to change your course flow with this terminology. With Fall and Spring semesters having Thanksgiving and Spring break respectively, using module helps to avoid moving things around too much to accommodate the term. 

We suggest instructors greet their students at the beginning of each module with a module overview. Add a title for the module and a date range, and then a summary of what the module will cover. We also suggest you include the learning objectives for the module, and an instructional activities table that lists the tasks students will be required to complete. Each instructional activities table will differ based on what components your course and each module has.

The familiarity of a patterned structure helps students understand the flow of the course and what tasks or assignments come next. For this reason, we encourage instructors to organize the course so every module follows the same organizational structure, and each instructional activities tables follows reflects that structure. Typically, the overview is followed by a Readings and Lessons page, and then Discussion Prompts and Assignments.

See below for Word templates:

See the CITL Canvas Course Template for additional information.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
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