Peer review badge Lightboard Lecture Pedagogy and Best Practices

Description Faculty seeking a dynamic lecture-recording method for their online, hybrid, or flipped classrooms appreciate the Lightboard strategy. A Lightboard is an educational technology tool with a glass writing surface embedded with LED lights, allowing instructors to face the camera and create engaging instructional videos. LED lights and fluorescent markers make the writing highly visible …

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Peer review badge Incorporating a Success Module in Precalculus Algebra to Face Post-Pandemic Challenges

Description “In the United States, almost 50% of the students who follow a degree in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) will not complete it” (Johnsom et al., 2022). Moreover, when the World Health Organization announced about the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kindergarten to 12th grade schools and institutions of higher learning worldwide responded …

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Peer review badge Digitalizing Gallery Walks: A Method for Student-Centered Feedback and Engagement

Description Traditional gallery walks let students stroll through the classroom viewing their peers’ work, which is often set up on the top of their desks. At its heart, a gallery walk is an interactive, discussion technique where students move around the room, actively analyze information, and provide peers with feedback about their work (Fasse & …

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Peer review badge Maintain a Collaborative List of Key Course Terms on Google Docs

Description Conrad and Donaldson note that the shift from the instructor as provider of knowledge to the “the instructor as facilitator of active student learning” began well before the introduction of online learning, with the work of John Dewey, who emphasized “diverse and meaningful peer collaboration” in learning environments. One of the ways to foster …

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Peer review badge Digital #Powerups: Hashtags to Empower Higher-Order Student Engagement in Online Discussions

Description The digital powerups strategy provides an innovative way for instructors to engage students in higher-order online discussion by humanizing and personalizing the discussion. This strategy should be used to allow students to engage in online discussions in relevant and authentic ways. Online discussions can “allow students to participate actively and interact with students and …

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Peer review badge Post an Introduction Video to Welcome Students to Your Course

Description If one of the central goals of higher education is “deep and meaningful learning” as Rourke, Anderson, Garrison, and Archer suggest (1999), it is important to consider how to best capitalize on the ease and abundance of interaction in online courses to facilitate this type of learning (p. 3).  In their Community of Inquiry …

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Peer review badge Create Intentional Communities through Meaningful Student Introductions

Description Student introductions are a high-impact practice: they build community within the course, set the stage for more substantive forms of student-student and student-instructor engagement, and can reveal unknown issues or strengths on the part of students (Dolan, Kain, Reilly, & Bansal, 2017). Building community in online classes (Nelson & Goodson, 2018) through introductions helps …

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Encourage Metacognitive Learning by Visualizing Objectives

Description Students want to know what will be on the test. But faculty want students to focus on authentic learning rather than simply scoring well. Our strategy addresses both desires. Good course design involves alignment of course and lesson objectives with relevant activities and assessments. It is imperative that students be provided with this “roadmap” …

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Present Homework through Videos

Description It can be difficult to build a sense of community in an online course (Moskal et al., 2010), especially in mathematics where written work is usually somewhat limited. I find that regular class discussions provide a considerable benefit in this process. But the practice that has most effectively improved connections between students and between …

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Use Digital Posters for Online Community Introductions

Description A sense of community within a course can increase student engagement, persistence, and performance (Rovai, 2002; Vesely, Bloom, & Sherlock, 2007). In asynchronous teaching, creating community can be challenging. Instructors can facilitate a sense of community by providing ways for students to introduce themselves to each other. Glogs (graphic blogs) are interactive electronic posters …

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