Arts & Composition
Rhetorical Patterns of Writing
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Service Learning Pre and Post Test
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Peek-a-Boo!: Previewing Assignments to Set Up Student Success
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.
The Joys of Double-Secret Extra Credit Opportunities
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
Extremely Simple "One Minute Paper"
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.
Communal Corrections: Facilitating Class-Led Peer Revisions in College Composition Courses
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
Excavation Journal: Mining the Creative Mind
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.
Weekly Wellness (WW) SMART Goal Tracking System into ENG101 Curriculum
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.
No Paper Need to be Applied
To combat students being overly concerned with page length and the number of quotes/paraphrases when writing research papers, I decided to take the paper out of the equation. For this research project, students use the research process to determine how realistic the science/technology is in a selected Marvel film. By removing the paper, the students are able to focus on and practice the various steps in the research process, such as crafting a research proposal, annotated bibliography and outline.
Literature Circles: Second Go-Round
I utilized Literature Circles as a method for creating stronger community in online classes, deepening the engagement between students, and practicing group work in prep for the course final. Students were in 1 group for duration of the semester, each group given additional readings to read, analyze and report out using the Literature Circles roles. The student in the Connector role would collect the student’s work and post it in Canvas for grading and students would switch roles on their own each week.
Using a Single-Point Rubric Online
In fall 2017, I piloted the use of single-point rubrics for certain assignements in my online ENH 245 class. Typically, a single-point rubric provides the criteria for proficiency, and then allows for feedback for how a student exceeded or failed to achieve proficiency in given areas, the goal being that the "undefined advanced column" places no limits on how students might stretch themselves" (Gonzalez, 2014).
The LearnQuiz
After noticing how quickly my online students will take quizzes and surveys, I had to start keeping them from opening too soon so that students wouldn't take the quiz before the learning activities it tested. Then, I thought of a way I could leverage their love for quizzes and came up with the LearnQuiz approach. In my latest online course development (for HUM108), I developed quizzes that had questions that included the learning materials -- then, I made it so that students would get feedback on their correct or incorrect responses to redirect or reinforce their learning.
Perpetual Canon: Literature Circles in World Literature
In ENH202: World Literature after the Renaissance I utilized Literature Circles as a method for creating stronger community in online classes, deepening the engagement between students, and practicing group work in prep for the course final. Students were in 3 groups for 4 weeks at a time, each group given additional readings to read, analyze and report out using the Literature Circles roles. The student in the Connector role would collect the student’s work and post it in Canvas for grading and students would switch roles on their own each week.
Scream Challenges: Using Gamifcation to Level Up
In ENH235: Survey of Gothic Literature I utilized gamification as a method for offering modified assignments (prizes) and extra credit. For each week, I created a "Scream Challenge" that was optional for students to complete. These were typically short critical thinking writing assignments. There were three levels of Scream Challenges: Monster Head (3 points), Mad Scientists (5 points), and Nightmares (10 points).