Choice matters! I responded to student feedback that they wished we had more time for certain niche topics in a large survey course. I replaced two of my personal niche topics with the chance for them to explore topics that interested them. This improved submission rates, the overall quality of the assignments, and student satisfaction without compromising the overall learning objectives.
I changed the organization of most of my HUM and ENH classes so that students were compiling their responses into one Weekly Report at the end of the module. This has made grading easier for me, and it has helped students see a connection between the various activities and has caused them to value the Learning activities more highly.
Because I found many of my online students weren't participating meaningfully in online discussions, I changed my approach and asked them to Post in the discussion board and then use a separate Report, that only I read, to discuss their classmates' posts. I found that students were more focused on the questions and more willing to participate fully; these two improvements resulted in a significant improvement in their grades.
See attachment.
See attached.
Helping students find success is the goal of teaching. By adding a short preview assignment allowing students to focus on upcoming larger essay assignments in Canvas, they learn the importance of taking the time to review assignment instructions before starting in, they think about what they're being asked to do, what challenges they might face while working on the asisgnment, what resources they can access for help, and ask specific questions of their instructor. Instructors can immediately respond and clarify or realign student preceptions setting students up for success.
In order to encourage my online students to read the comments I leave for them in Canvas, I developed the "Doube-Secret Extra Credit Opportunity" that rewards them for seeing instructions that I leave in a comment in Canvas. (Sadly, none of my students seemed to get the 'double-secret' reference; they mostly called it Super Secret or Secret -- sigh! I guess I'm officaly old if no one remembers Animal House anymore!) The results were amazing; it really got my students talking to me about what they liked and what they were interested in as it relates to the courses
I incorporated "One Minute Paper" classroom assessment technique by K. Patricia Cross (1993) into ENG091 classroom learning during the entire semester of Fall 2017. By far, this class had the most diverse student population that was comprised of: Junior ACE (high school dual students), traditional first year underprepared students, Adult Re-entry students, and students with disability.
After several years of teaching writing, it is clear that revision is the most important and most difficult part of the writing process. I have stopped the traditional process of partnering student up, trading papers, and having them make random corrections. Now, we correct papers as a class, we have substantive discussions about decisions in writing, and my students are actually learning how to be better writers. I have used this in my ENG101 and ENG102 courses at EMCC, but this can easily be used in any course that incorporates writing. I think this would be extrem
Students kept an Excavation Journal through the five weeks of ENH251: Mythology. They were advised to use their journal to record: observations, notes, questions, ideas, images, sketches, maps and artifacts in addition to the answers to the various Dig Sheets. Each Dig Sheet focuses on a particular area of world mythology, engaging the student in reflective thinking about assigned readings while also encouraging their use of creativity.
Within ENG101, last fall in the 2016 semester (traditional 16 week Face-to-Face class met on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.), the instructor incorporated the Weekly Wellness SMART Goal Tracking System into her curriculum. After Lyle’s delivery of the initial orientation to ENG101 students, the instructor invited her entire class to participate in the Weekly Wellness. Nevertheless, interestingly enough, as time progressed, the class naturally broke into the two groups: participants vs.