We checked in with instructors who were award course development funding in 2020 to see how they used the funds to identify the best methods to engage with Flag material in an online format, and how that improved their courses and student outcomes.
Stacy Sparks – CH 301 (QR Flag)
The Course Development Award from the Center for the Skills & Experience Flags enabled our teaching team to restructure our General Chemistry I course sections in such a way as to continue our emphasis on problem-solving and analytical reasoning skills in our new online format. This involved the generation of numerous new practice sets to be used by the students, plus the organization and supervision of new Zoom discussion sessions, meant to provide problem-solving practice plus a support network and chemistry community for our approximately 2000 students, mostly freshmen. The funds were largely used for teaching assistant stipends for the support work they did proof-reading the new practice problems and worksheets we developed, entering problems into our new online system, and their hand-grading of discussion group assignments.
Deborah Beck – C C 303 Introduction to Classical Myth (GC and E Flags)
I used some of the funds to facilitate a brainstorming group with five students from my spring 2020 CC 303 class, to help me with my course design. We talked about what worked well and what didn’t work so well, both in our class and in the students’ other on-line courses. As a thank-you, I sent each student who attended an Amazon gift card. That brainstorming session was probably the single most useful thing I did to figure out what turned out to be an almost complete redesign of the course.
Jason Cons – ANT 324G (GC and II Flags)
I used the supplemental award to develop a set of asynchronous teaching materials for my Environmental Anthropology class. Based on my consultation with the curriculum specialist (which was exceptionally helpful), I developed a strategy for providing short video segments with intermediary assessment questions that students would complete as they worked. This allowed me to deliver the lecture content of the course in ways that could be easy re-viewed and completed at a pace comfortable for students. It also allowed me to preserve synchronous class time for more active engagement with students. This ended up working better than I anticipated and I am now wondering what will be lost when I return to in-person delivery of this materials. In other words, I used the course supplement funds to help me to split my course such that students consumed information through asynchronous work and spent class time doing more hands-on, critical thinking activities.
Jennifer Keys Adair – ALD 321 (II Flag)
The course development award I received helped me develop an online, interaction version of a large lecture. We incorporated Panopto, Padlet, and many different interest groups using breakout rooms on Zoom to create sub groups and many interactive projects throughout the course. We also realigned the course to begin with a social justice framework and conceptualize children’s learning and development in connection to larger societal issues.
Sally Ragsdale – SDS 328M (E, II, and QR Flags)
Transitioning a large, multi-section service course like SDS 328M Biostatistics fully online presented many challenges. I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to keep students engaged with the ethical content in the class and maintain the consistency of graded assignments across dozens of teaching assistants in a completely remote environment. But with the Online Course Conversion Award, I was able to hire experienced and creative undergraduate teaching assistants to create engaging ethics assignments, build detailed grading rubrics for all assignments in Gradescope, and develop detailed training modules in Canvas for both graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants.
Jayme Walenta – SUS 374 (II and Wr Flags)
Last summer I used the award to accomplish four tasks (1) pre-record lectures for asynchronous content and add in weekly activities intent on having students practice tools introduced in the first part of the class, (2) conduct interviews with sustainability stakeholders on how they use metrics and measurement in their work and integrate into course materials, (3) develop a new course material on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion metrics, and (4) add a course module centered on project design such as developing annotated bibliographies and providing more targeted guidance on proposal drafting.
Traci-Ann Wint – AFR 330 Beyoncé Feminism, Rihanna Womanism (GC and CD Flags)
I have a strong interest in instructional design and used some of my course conversion award for texts and materials that were really helpful in helping me to figure out best practices for e-learning and how to translate rather than merely transfer my course from in-person to online. The award also allowed me to be able to set up my workspace for maximum efficiency. As simple as it seems, an iPad and a stand for my laptop, has made it possible for me to simultaneously manage Zoom, Canvas, and other programs. Finally, I invested funds in a number of online software programs such as Mentimeter, Padlet, and Canva, all of which were really useful for creating dynamic presentations and fostering classroom community and connections.
Daniel Fridman – R S 304 Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (GC and E Flags)
The Flags Course Development Awards helped me focus energy on improving online course delivery during Fall 2020 and implementing new learning strategies. Besides improving online delivery equipment, I worked in collaboration with the Benson Library digital humanities team in order to innovate on assignments for virtual environments, increase social connection among students, and encourage online collaborations. 1) For two assignments, students worked both synchronously and asynchronously in reading, interpreting, and presenting statistics from Latin America in collaborative maps. 2) For another assignment, students gathered news from Latin America and placed them in one of several online mapping/timeline applications. 3) Throughout the semester, students shared annotations over assigned readings (using a new app called Hypothes.is), this was very successful in increasing communication between students in an online course. 4) I was able to enhance visual elements of the course (including effective synchronous lecture delivery) to be used collaboratively in small groups.
Suzy Seriff – ANT 302 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (GC Flag)
For me, the course development funds allowed me to re-design the asynchronous “lectures” for my large, 300 student “Introduction to Cultural Anthropology” core course to include a series of guest speakers—anthropologists, folklorists, community organizers, healthcare professionals— who shared their cutting edge fieldwork, community work, and research on such timely topics as tenant organizing in the time of Covid, global health and the impact of race and racism as social determinants impacting health, migrant labor movements, nation building in the Sakha Republic, religious practice and mourning rituals in the time of the pandemic, and anthropological approaches to media studies and art. These issues and case studies then became the prompt for student-led dialogue, discussion and take home essay writing throughout the semester.
Rachel Ozanne – HIS 315K The United States, 1492- 1865 (CD Flag)
The course development award enabled me to invest time and resources into learning about the latest in online pedagogical tools. I also benefitted immensely from consulting with the curriculum specialist about how best to create and implement a new online group assignment that is tailored to the Cultural Diversity Flag requirements. Thanks so much!
Rudy Pett – CMS 306M Professional Communication Skills (E Flag)
Receiving the CSEF course development award helped us a) enhance our existing Flag content and b) facilitate students’ transition to an online course format. We knew that in order to maintain the same level of student learning through an online delivery, both of those objectives would be important. The CSEF award made it possible to accomplish those objectives. Specifically, we used the award funds to create customized case studies illuminating real-life ethical dilemmas within professional communication contexts. The award funds also aided the development of a customized Canvas learning module focused on helping students adapt to enacting professional communication behaviors in online contexts.
Geoff Smith – R S 304 Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (GC and E Flag)
The course development award allowed me to purchase technology (ring light and USB microphone) to enhance my online teaching. I was also able to use the funds to pay for additional childcare so I could have the time to move my large undergraduate lecture course online.
Amanda Hager – M 302 Intro to Mathematics (QR Flag)
I used the grant to create graphics used for higher-quality assessments in the course. Using Adobe Illustrator, I can create mathematically accurate geometric objects and fractal approximations that can be used for online quizzes and exams. Later, when I return to the classroom, I will be able to use these same graphics as homework assignment questions so that my students do not have to rely on a textbook to get their work done.
I received a $2,000 grant for supplies to improve my M 302 Introduction to Mathematics course, which carries the QR flag and also satisfies the Mathematics portion of the University Core Curriculum. 800-900 students per year take this course, and I typically teach about 400-500 of them.
I used the grant to create graphics used for higher-quality assessments in the course. I purchased a Macbook Pro; I needed this newer laptop so I could more easily use my Adobe Illustrator subscription, which I pay for personally. Using Adobe Illustrator, I can create mathematically accurate geometric objects and fractal approximations that can be used for online quizzes and exams. Later, when I return to the classroom, I will be able to use these same graphics as homework assignment questions so that my students do not have to rely on a textbook to get their work done.
A specific example: one of the learning outcomes for the 4-D section of the course is that students should be able to visualize four-dimensional objects, which cannot be seen, using 3-D “slices” of those objects which can be observed in our world. In order to work on that skill, students need to be able to practice looking at a 3-D object and describing what the 2-D slices would be of that object, take a collection of 2-D slices and guess or draw what the 3-D object would be, and then repeat those two tasks on 4-D objects. It is virtually impossible to create these practice opportunities without graphics, and those images need to be as mathematically accurate as possible.
Before the grant, I would create graphics using PSTricks, a package in LaTeX. I would calculate and hand-code the coordinates for each line segment. I cannot describe how much faster I am able to work now. I have full rights to all of these images, so when I eventually publish these course materials as OER, I will be able to reduce my students’ course costs without any copyright issues to worry about. The images can be endlessly tweaked to create versions of exercises, which is good for exam security/academic honesty.
Finally, my learning modules (which replace lectures during the pandemic) appear to be popular. They do have videos (which sometimes feature my graphics if I am using slides), but those videos are much shorter. Incidentally, those videos are produced using Camtasia, which I could not use well using my old laptop. In any case, I combine those short videos with text content and low-stakes assessments to create visually attractive, easy-to-consume, accessible online lessons.