Course Design

function over form - online course design

Put Function Over Form when Designing Online Courses

Faculty tend to lament that student evaluations are just opportunities for students with bad grades to hammer their instructor. But I always believed that student surveys where actually designed to inflate approval ratings. They always start by asking simple class format questions, such as “Did

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improving the instructional designer - faculty relationship

Improving the Instructional Designer-Faculty Relationship

When online instructors and instructional designers work together to develop a course, communication is often one of the biggest challenges as thoughts and intentions on both sides get lost in translation. As a faculty member who’s also spent time as an instructional designer, I’ve had

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model for adding simulations in teaching

A Simple Model for Adding Simulations to Your Courses

One of the goals of professional programs is to develop students’ critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, however it’s not always easy to create authentic exercises that enable students to practice the kinds of critical thinking skills required by their profession and then demonstrate competency. This

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Improve Your Online Course with Pre-Entry Information

Improve Your Online Course with
Pre-Entry Information

Students traditionally receive only the course description and textbook list prior to starting a class. Everything else about the course is learned from the syllabus they get on the first day. But some of the information contained in the syllabus might be valuable to students

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OER textbooks - faculty adoption

Getting Faculty to Adopt Open Educational Resources

It is no secret that the cost of textbooks has skyrocketed over the past years, with students spending on average around a thousand dollars a year on textbooks (Meyer, 2016). It should thus come as no surprise that the majority of students have opted out

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online learning tools - Softchalk

How to Add Interactivity to Your Online Courses

Faculty across disciplines have been increasingly embracing online learning, with the goal of enhancing student learning. The intention is good, but it doesn’t always produce the desired outcomes. Much of the traditional online content lacks interactivity and fails to engage students.

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Replace Textbook with a Free E-Book

Replace Your Expensive Textbook with a Free E-Book

I have taught undergraduate students for nearly 35 years. In the past decade, I have seen an increasing number of students who don’t buy the textbook or, if they do, rarely read it. Many of my non-native English students struggle to understand discipline-specific terminology and

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Integrate Library Instruction in Your Online Courses

Integrate Library Instruction in Your Online Courses

Information literacy is critical to the success of a student, as many students fail due to not knowing how to find quality resources. While many instructors recognize this need, they normally incorporate it into their courses by asking a librarian to come in to do

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