05
Jan

First Time Teaching: Advice From the IDC

Instructional Design Center > Posts > First Time Teaching: Advice From the IDC

Be present in the course

  • Use the discussion forum, announcements and email to show students you are actively monitoring and facilitating their learning.

Communicate regularly with students.

  • Create a schedule of your planned interactions with students.
  • Send a “welcome announcement” & reassure students that the semester will go on
  • Email students who are not participating
  • Post announcements about course content and deadlines
  • Remind students of resources and your own availability

Clearly set expectations

  • List course expectations, grading policies, and due dates for students to organize their time.
  • Make sure the syllabus and course information is consistent.
  • Create rubrics or directions so that students will know how they will be graded and will have a way to identify quality of work.
  • Award points, assess or integrate the activity into a participation grade if you want to make certain students complete an activity.

Design the learning experience to meet course objectives.

  • Choose activities and assessments that match what you want students to be able to do.  For example, if you want them to be able to communicate information in writing, a multiple choice test won’t match the outcome
  • Use Bloom’s Verbs to make sure your objectives are measurable. 

Encourage active learning

  • The burden isn’t on you to create long lectures. Research shows students don’t watch long video lectures.  Instead, plan for learning activities where students read, observe, reflect, and analyze.

Use Available Tools and Resources

  • Blackboard has many built-in tools to improve learning for your students. Ask your Instructional Designer for more info or visit the IDC’s Faculty Resource page
  • Contact EKU’s instructional design center to discuss specific ways your course can reach students.

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