Resources Guide

 

 

We have created a number of resource guides on various topics related to teaching and learning. We invite you to explore these guides.

 

This guide presents several active learning strategies designed to engage students in thinking about or applying the content in a course.

Active Learning Strategies Guide

This guide provides suggestions for course policies and structures that provide both structure and flexibility and promote student learning.

Balancing Structure and Flexibility Guide (under development)

This guide provides an overview of best practices in supporting collaborative learning, in which students work in pairs or small groups to accomplish shared learning goals.

Collaborative Learning Guide

This guide is designed for instructors who would like to learn about the concept of the "flipped classroom" and the goal of reserving more in-class, group-based time for active learning tasks. In addition to the introductory resources presented here, instructors are encouraged to look for evidence-based studies about the impact of the flipped classroom on learning within their respective disciplines.

Flipping Your Classes to Enhance Active Learning Guide

This guide offers a brief overview of how to write good multiple-choice-type test questions. It also explains how question statistics in D2L BrightSpace can be used to assess test questions and student learning to help make teaching decisions.

Improving Multiple Choice Questions Guide

This guide provides an introduction to learning ePortfolios, including benefits, technology suggestions and guidance, and tips and tricks for implementation in your course.

Learning ePortfolios Guide

This guide presents some teaching and learning strategies drawn from research on learning, which makes it more likely that students will retain what they learn and will be able to use that learning in future courses and after they graduate.

Learning Sciences Strategies Guide

This guide provides an introduction to mindfulness and reflection. It provides suggestions for low-stakes activities and large-scale projects, as well as how instructors can use this pedagogical practice to enhance student metacognition and learning.

Mindful Reflection Guide

This guide provides suggestions for structuring effective office hours and ways to encourage students to utilize them.

Office Hours Guide (under development)

The Discussion tool in D2L is a powerful tool to engage students with your course material and with each other. This guide provides some suggestions for the effective use of this tool.

Online Discussions Guide

This guide provides an overview of the backward-design process, a way of planning lessons, courses, or programs that focuses on the desired learning outcomes first and from there, develop assessment, curriculum, and facilitation.

Learning Outcomes and Backward Design Guide

This guide provides suggestions for increasing student engagement in Live Online classes, even if students do not use their cameras.

Student Engagement in Live Online Classes Guide

Research shows that reflection is essential for developing transfer for learning and metacognition. You will notice that many of these activities overlap with other categories, and that’s to be expected. We hope the following activities and assignments are useful!

Teacher’s Guide to Reflection

This guide consists of 11 tips that introduce new GTAs to various campus and teaching support resources, policies and requirements, and practical strategies to prepare for the first week of classes.

Tips and Resources for GTAs Guide

This guide invites you to think about the nature and purposes of syllabi in your own teaching and to ask questions that help you communicate your course design to others through the syllabus. Moreover, it informs about institutional guidelines, requirements, and templates.

Writing an Effective Course Syllabus Guide