The Pedagogy Toolkit

In this episode, Abi Moser returns to discuss the Office of Blackboard Support here at the University of Arkansas. We discuss how Blackboard Support can help online instructors and their students.Email bbhelp@uark.eduCall (479) 575 HELP (4357)Visit bbhelp.uark.edu

In this episode, Amalie and Camie discuss civil discourse in online courses.Guide to Civil DiscourseKeeping It Civil OnlineCivil Discourse: A Higher Education ConversationSteps to incorporating civil discourse in your online class:Set norms and proceduresScaffold curriculum so that students have the information needed to discuss the topics.Model norms and procedures for students and rely on questioning strategies to guide the conversation.Share mental health resources.

The best teaching harnesses curiosity...and curiosity is all about finding the answers to our questions. In this episode, Amalie and Camie talk about the importance of being intentional in how we ask questions as educators and how we teach and encourage students to ask them as learners. We also talk about how to put those questions at the center of your curriculum and how to make the best use of the technology available for your online courses. Want to reach out? Email us at gccreate@uark.edu and we'll be happy to chat!Extra Resources:"Why Questioning is the Ultimate Learning Skill," Forbes MagazineThe Right Question InstituteCenter for Innovation in Teaching and Learning at University of Illinois Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning at Northern Illinois UniversityTeaching Excellence in Adult Literacy, The American Institute for Research Center for Teaching and Learning at Washington University St. Louis Center for Teaching Innovation at Cornell University 

In this episode, Alex and Camie discuss how vital teacher presence is for fully online courses for student success, instructor’s benefit, and meeting federal guidelines for asynchronous courses. We take a moment at the beginning to remember those lost and those who served in the time of need on September 11th, 2001 as this episode launched on the 22nd anniversary of this tragedy. We also want to make one clarifying note – around the 2:00 minute mark, Alex and Camie discuss Laura Ingalls Wilders’ book series The Little House on the Prairie. A comment is made regarding the land being “not settled”. This comment is not meant to be taken as insensitive to the realities of that era. We acknowledge that the areas were settled by indigenous peoples, and we were describing the premise of the book, which is a fictionalization of Wilder’s childhood stories. Want to reach out? Email us a gccreate@uark.edu and we'll be happy to chat!Extra Resources: Regular and Substantive Interaction: Background, Concerns, and Guiding Principles Bailey K. “There’s Nothing Virtual About Online Connections” (2020). Ohio Wesleyan University. Rivers, J. “Why Strong Student-Teacher Relationships Are Vital” (2023). Cengage. The Importance of Instructor Presence – UARK Global Campus TIPS

This week, we've done something a little different at The Pedagogy Toolkit. Cammy Bean, instructional designer and author of The Accidental Instructional Designer kindly sat down with James and Amalie to discuss her career, the industry, and why she wrote a second edition of the book.Cammy's book is available for purchase, and highly recommended by us-- in fact, we both read the first edition and thoroughly enjoyed the second just as much!

Rubrics. Most of us either love them or hate them. In this episode, James and Amalie discuss the benefits and brilliance of using rubrics, as well as the pitfalls they encountered on their paths to becoming the rubric lovers they are today. Further reading about grading:Why the 100 Point Grading Scale is a Stacked Deck The Case Against ZeroRubric Resources:How to Use Rubrics from the MIT Teaching + Learning Lab RubricMakerRubiStarQuickRubric

In this two-part episode, Abi Moser and Camie Wood discuss strategies in Blackboard for setting yourself and your students up for success.

In this two-part episode, Abi Moser and Camie Wood discuss strategies in Blackboard for setting yourself and your students up for success.

In this episode, Alex and Camie discuss the concept of alignment. Alignment focuses on the consistency and coherence between components of an online course, including materials, activities, assessments, objectives, and outcomes. Applying this concept in the development of any course, and especially online, can greatly improve the student and instructor experience.Referenced from the show:Course Map Guide - Example TemplateQuality MattersCurriculum Alignment by David SquiresUnderstanding by Design - Vanderbilt UniversityBackward Design - Harvard University

When we think of assessments in our courses, we think of the usual suspects: multiple choice tests, long-form essays, short answer quizzes. But there are so many other options. In this episode, Alex and Amalie take a look at some of the ways instructors can incorporate these alternative assessments into their classrooms.A few resources for further reading:Grasp: The Science Transforming How We LearnBest Practices for Alternative Assessments from Ryerson UniversitySir Ken Robinson, education reform activist and researcher