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Boosting Engagement in Research in a Synchronous Online Foreign Language Class: Using an E-Conference Format, Peer-Reviewing and Pressbooks

July 6, 2021
In the COVID new normal, many courses have changed modality or had to displace the face-to-face classroom in an e-campus. The problematic for Humanities courses that heavily rely on research and collaboration is how to redefine the connection between instructor and students, and how to create fruitful research collaboration among students in a delocalized synchronous…

Using Video Discussion Boards to Increase Student Engagement

December 4, 2018
Discussion boards in online courses are widely known to encourage higher-order thinking and reflection. However, text-based discussions may not be the best choice for all students or all learning outcomes. Student-created video is used increasingly in the form of video discussion boards. For example, instructors may have heard of Flipgrid, a popular video discussion software…

Develop Critical Thinking Skills through Online Simulations Created with Blackboard’s Testing Tool

November 21, 2017
Simulation with sophisticated manikins or standardized patients has firmly established itself as an effective teaching practice in nursing and medical education (Liaw, et.al., 2015; Shin, Park & Kim, 2015). Although mastering many skills of advanced practice nursing requires high fidelity simulation, the thinking processes – diagnostic reasoning and clinical decision-making – can be successfully learned…

Using GIST Statements for Summary of Learning Content

October 20, 2016
Description The goal of a GIST statement is to write a summary in a given amount of words (i.e 20 words, 15 words, 10 words). GIST is an acronym that stands for: Generating Interactions between Schemata and Texts (Cunningham, 1982; Herrell, 2000). The instructor can determine the amount of words when writing the GIST statement.…

Using Student Created Blogs as a Progressive Formative Assessment in an Online STEM Course

October 19, 2016
The utility of writing assignments to enhance learning biology is well documented (e.g. Mynlieff et al., 2014; Couch et al., 2015). Such assignments can provide the basis for assessing higher-order and critical-thinking skills (Kelly et al, n.d.). Furthermore, when students are able to react to instructors’ feedback by re-drafting or adjusting their written work, exam…

Assess Individual Learning from Group Projects

October 19, 2016
While many instructors across instructional venues integrate collaborative activities that emulate professional realities, collaboration assessments often disenfranchise some contributors. When evaluation hinges on groups producing a cohesive, homogenized artifact, the outcome favors compromise. Homogenized perspectives don’t generally reflect the complementary visions of individuals. This can foreclose on participant satisfaction if the outcome silences or abandons…

Provide Formative Feedback for Student Success in Interactive Assessments

April 9, 2015
Research suggest that faculty interacting with and providing constructive feedback to students were significantly and positively related to students’ learning gains in professional skills (Bjorklund, Parente, & Sathianathan, 2004). If students work on an assignment which does not exemplify the best they can do to meet the assignment criteria, they are allowed to revise and…