Learning and Educational Center
Great news! Registration for the 2024 LEC Teaching and Learning Virtual Conference is officially open. By registering, you can ensure your place at this must-attend event on November 7th and 8th, 2024. This event is designed to empower NSU educators to enhance the quality and relevance of teaching and learning and is centered around the theme “Raising the Bar: Educating the Modern Learner.”
Read more
Did you know that you can obtain a certificate of completion for any of these workshops?
Read more
As a part of the Learning and Educational Center’s continuous efforts to promote course quality and academic success, we have created a fresh new look with three new Canvas Course Template options. The new template pages have a sleek, visually appealing look and feel while remaining quality-focused to assist faculty in creating courses that provide organization and transparency for students. These templates can be used individually as a complete package or pages from different templates can be combined to meet your needs. The new Course Template options are based on the Backwards Design model as well as the essential standards of the Quality Matters (QM) rubric. Templates for Learning The templates are designed to help you modify your courses to be accessible and inclusive of the diverse needs of all students. Drawing upon the collective research of professional organizations such as Quality Matters and the Online Learning Consortium, we know that clear course organization enhances the overall learning experience. Additional recommendations include keeping things simple by driving students to central locations within the course for ease of access to relevant course information and materials. For instance, students should be able to access readings, assignments, and supplementary resources on the “Module Overview” pages. You may want to avoid having students click several links or scrolling endlessly to locate pertinent information. Students find this approach frustrating and it detracts from the overall learning experience. The new Course Template design options feature a placeholder for the name of your course as well as […]
Read more
Hi Sharks! Shark Notes is a brief summary of article highlights that you may find helpful. Whenever we read an article we’d like to share, we’ll provide the link in our newsletter. Since you probably get quite a few suggested articles coming from colleagues, external companies, and so on, you can first read the Shark Notes to help decide whether you want to read further. Check out our third article recommendation along with the accompanying Shark Notes. We promise, there will not be a quiz! Bringing the Outdoors Online: Creating Online Field Labs https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/online-course-design-and-preparation/bringing-the-outdoors-online-creating-online-field-labs/?st=FFdaily%3Bsc%3DFF210301%3Butm_term%3DFF210301&utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Bringing+the+Outdoors+Online%3A+Creating+Online+Field+Labs&utm_campaign=FF210301 Summary: During these unprecedented times, science teaching faculty are faced with the challenge of moving their lab courses to the online environment. This article presents strategies on how you can create online field labs throughout multiple semesters in an online course. The best practices in this article reinforce concepts to deliver successful and engaging online field labs. Highlights: Data Collection techniques – What powerful data collection tools can students use to collect data given to lacking access to the area and equipment? How can these tools be used to meet the learning objectives? The practice of science – Given a pre-collected data set, can students formulate a […]
Read more
There was an excellent article recently on Faculty Focus by Tracey A. Carter, Student Engagement in the Online Classroom: Eight Quick Tips to Spark Students’ Learning. I would like to touch on these tips and give some examples of how you can put these tips to use with the common software and tools in use at NSU. Provide Lecture Outlines Outlines are useful to students for a straightforward breakdown of what they are about to learn. As professors there are several ways to make outlines available to your students, here are a few suggestions: Upload a Word or PDF document to your course and link the document in a page as part of your weekly or topical course modules. Present the document in your Zoom meeting, linking to it in your Zoom chat prior to starting. Develop a short video that can be watched prior to starting your lecture. Videos can be uploaded to SharkMedia and embedded into a page accessible prior to the start of the lecture content. Use Pre-course Videos and Subject Matter videos Constructively Using software, you can record your webcam, your computer screen or both and create a short introductory video to the course or weekly modules. Recording videos is as easy as downloading the SharkMedia Kaltura Capture application. Kaltura Capture can automatically connect to your SharkMedia account and store your recorded videos in your video library, making them easy to […]
Read more
Check out our second article recommendation along with the accompanying Shark Notes. We promise, there will not be a quiz! Distracted Minds: The Role of Tempo in Good Teaching https://www.chronicle.com/article/distracted-minds-the-role-of-tempo-in-good-teaching Summary: Wondering what you can do to keep your students attentive during class? This article presents strategies to “think like a conductor” so that you can “change the pace and the action” in your classroom. The three strategies listed in the article helps captivate your student’s attention in class. Highlights: Structure and signpost – Once you have outlined the structure of your class, identify ways you can captivate your students once they have become distracted. Inspiration from index cards – How can you arrange the activities to be more meaningful and more engaging? Pentecostal pedagogy – What are some of the attention-renewal strategies you use in your classroom and how does this relate to your classroom structure? Viewing the article may require Free registration to the Chronicle of Higher Education. Lang, H. (2016, November 16). Distracted Minds: The Role of Tempo in Good Teaching. Retrieved February 02, 2021, from https://www.chronicle.com/article/distracted-minds-the-role-of-tempo-in-good-teaching
Read more