Course Design

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Benefits of Implementing Course Templates in Your Department

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Around the world, instruction is increasingly delivered asynchronously online, with educators facing new challenges and searching for ways to maintain rigor and quality content. As online education has emerged across mainstream higher education, an increasing number of MPA programs are offering online courses, hybrid courses and entire degree programs online (Naylor and Wilson, 2009; Powell, 2007). …

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Backwards Design and Transparency 2: Modules and Assignments

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Previously we discussed how to use backwards design to design an entire course. You can apply some backwards design principles when creating your modules as well. Brightspace’s HTML editor and Insert Stuff tool are great for creating modules that provide clarity to your students by keeping the rationale for your decisions easily accessible and in …

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Backwards Design and Transparency at the Course Level

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Numerous instructional and course design models depend upon “backwards design” as their prime organizing principle. Many instructors start by deciding which content they want to include in their course, then decide on assessments, then course objectives. Backwards design reverses that process, making content the last thing you would choose.  Flower Darby, in her book Small …

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Gagné’s Nine Events of Instruction: Time tested approach to successful instruction

Course Design / By

Oftentimes instructors need a simple, repeatable process to help them when they are in the weeds of course design. One such process is Gagne’s Nine Events of Instruction.  Robert Gagné was an American educational psychologist best known for developing multiple systems for simplifying and delivering instruction. He pioneered the science of instruction during World War …

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Using Anonymous Grading (& Why You Should)

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Anonymous grading can help provide better outcomes for learners, instructors, and the organization because: Test-takers can receive results faster so they know the areas in which they’re excelling and areas where they can improve. A lot of logistical needs can be automatically taken care of for instructors and markers, enabling them to spend more time working with learners. The process …

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Using Brightspace for Foreign Language Courses – Débora Maldonado-DeOliveira on Best Practices for the New Normal

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The pandemic brought with it major shifts in education and an abundance of opportunities to try new strategies and practices. During Planning Week 2021 several faculty members presented some of their pandemic success and how these best practices can continue to be utilized as we adjust to a new normal. Associate Professor of Spanish Débora …

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Better Videos with WeVideo – Alyson Colwell-Waber on Best Practices for the New Normal

Course Design, Success Spotlight / By

The pandemic brought with it major shifts in education and an abundance of opportunities to try new strategies and practices. During Planning Week 2021 several faculty members presented some of their pandemic success and how these best practices can continue to be utilized as we adjust to a new normal. Professor of Dance Alyson Colwell-Waber …

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