Salisbury University |  Instructional Design & Delivery Newsletter | October 3, 2023

Mid-Semester Check-In With Students: Supporting Student Success and Improving Pedagogical Practices

While end-of-semester course evaluations can be a great source for student feedback about a course and instructor, it comes at a time that is too late for the current learners. Instead, consider adding a formative feedback strategy to ask students what is working (or not) so far in the course. Such formative feedback is important because it allows you to identify areas where students are struggling and to provide timely support, which in turn helps students succeed in meeting the course objectives. 

Mid-semester feedback is also important for strengthening your pedagogy because it can help you reflect on your teaching practices. By understanding how students are experiencing the course, you can identify areas where additional instructional materials may clarify a particular concept, or how more effective communication or engaging teaching practices can be added to your course to support student learning.

ID&D has provided a Formative Course Assessment survey template in the Canvas Commons that you can import into your MyClasses course. Not sure how to import content from the Canvas Commons? We have a video tip for that!

Instructional Designer Candidates: Open Sessions

Instructional Design & Delivery is interviewing for our next instructional designer and we invite campus stakeholders to the open session presentation where each candidate will address an effective teaching strategy (either Socrative questioning, problem-based/inquiry-based learning, or scaffolding and authentic assignments/assessments). All sessions will be held in Instructional Design & Delivery, Guerrieri Academic Commons, Room 220H from 3:30-4:30 p.m. on the following dates:

• Tuesday, October 10
• Wednesday, October 11
• Friday, October 13
  

Please join us for the open session; we welcome your interaction and feedback. Candidate assessments forms will be provided to those who attend.

Video Tip: SpeedGrader Comment Library

The Comment Library allows instructors to save and reuse commonly used text feedback in SpeedGrader. These comments are not unique to a specific course; rather, your comment library remains the same across all courses and sections. You can add, edit and delete comments from the library as needed, such as before and after grading a particular assignment. Additionally, you can edit a comment that you select from the comment library in order to personalize it for each student and press Submit when you are done for the student to see your comment. This can save you significant time when grading, if you have a structured comment that you update/modify for each student.

If you plan to add additional comments to each student, add those comments after you add a comment from the comment library, as adding the comment from the library will overwrite any existing comments drafted in the SpeedGrader comments areas. Watch the SpeedGrader Comment Library video tip for more information about using the comment library when grading.

14-Day Writing Challenge Program: Deadline Today

The National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD) offers a variety of resources to help academics (of all stages) better align their professional and personal goals. Because SU is a NCFDD Institutional Member, these resources are free to use!

One of the most popular programs is the 14-day writing challenge, which uses best practices to help you create a consistent writing practice. The next opportunity to participate is October 9-22. During this time, you are asked to commit to writing every day for at least 30 minutes. You log on to the NCFDD’s online community, start the timer, complete your writing, post your progress and encourage others in your assigned writing group. Past participants credit this program and the accountability of the writing groups with helping them to establish better writing habits or to refresh stagnant ones.

Registration closes Tuesday, October 3.

Maryland OER Summit: Call for Proposals

The 2023 Maryland Open Source Textbook (MOST) Summit: Cultivating Agency Through Open Education Resources is  hosted by Salisbury University on Friday, December 1, 2023. At the core of the conference theme is the question: What happens when students and their collaborators – peers, faculty, community members, librarians and more – drive knowledge creation?

This event is co-organized by Salisbury University and the MOST initiative. SU is a 2022 recipient of a MOST institutional grant focused on building institutional capacity around open pedagogy, and their work will be featured at the convening. 

A call for proposals that contribute to this conversation and showcase innovative approaches to open educational practices that empower learners to be active creators of knowledge and contributors to a more inclusive and equitable world is open. Deadline to submit is Monday, October 9, 2023.

Please save the date and visit the event website for registration and more information.

Using New Quizzes Workshops

Want to learn more about New Quizzes? Each month during the fall and spring semesters, ID&D facilitates an online "Using New Quizzes: Creating and Migrating Assessments in MyClasses" workshop to help faculty move to New Quizzes by Summer/Fall 2024.

Workshop Description: Learn how to create and manage online assessments, establish assessment settings, and create and manage question item banks using New Quizzes (which replaces Classic Quizzes in June 2024). In addition to creating assessments and Item Banks in New Quizzes, we will discuss the various pedagogical strategies for assessment construction. Discussion on the appropriate method to migrate assessments from Classic Quizzes to New Quizzes is included in this workshop. While this workshop focuses on New Quizzes, questions regarding Classic Quizzes are also welcome.

Fall 2023 Workshops:

• Friday, October 6 • 1-2 p.m.
• Friday, November 10 • 10-11 a.m.
• Friday, December 8 • 1-2 p.m.

Register for your desired session by visiting the Faculty Development Calendar.