Canvas LMS

Planning for the first week of classes

The start of Fall 2020 will be radically different from previous years as will the manner in which courses are taught. This resource page aims to help faculty prepare for the first week of classes.

Use repeated practice to help students master the basics

Featured Instructor: Rebecca Roston

As teachers, we work to equip our students to move from lower-order thinking (e.g. remember, recall, or describe) to higher-order thinking (e.g. create, design, or evaluate). Mastery quizzes are designed to help students gain competency in foundational lower-order skills before attempting higher-order thinking.

Using Accessibility Checker for Course Materials in Canvas and MS Office

This presentation focuses on making course materials more accessible and working towards Universal Design for a biology course.

Providing Essential Student Resources in a Robust Orientation Module

Presenter: Eyde Olson, Instructional Designer, Center for Transformative Teaching

Contact info: eolson2@unl.edu

Making your course more user-friendly for students

Students are reporting that one of their biggest challenges this semester is dealing with the cognitive load required just to navigate their widely varying courses. While individual instructors can’t do much about all of this variation, they can work hard to ensure their own courses are as intuitive and easy to navigate as possible.

Experiential Learning Log

The experiential learning log leverages Canvas, a simulation, cases, various technological tools, and pedagogically sound teaching to create a scaleable, flexible, personalized, scaffolded, experiential learning combined with repeated reflection.

Active Learning Online: Effective online communication - Muddiest Point

Use the "muddiest point" technique to gain insight to your students' learning and provide targeted instruction.

Active Learning Online: Post-lecture Quizzes

Use quizzes to bust the fluency illusion and give timely feedback.

Leveraging Student Feedback: The Power of Formative Surveys

This workshop focuses on the attributes, logistics, and effective use of formative student surveys. Participants will learn how to create effective and useful surveys in Canvas and will be given time to work on building their own formative surveys while receiving help from instructional designers.

Using analytics to gain insights into student engagement in flexible hybrid courses

In this article, we’ll look at the tools in Canvas, VidGrid, and Zoom that can give you some insights into student engagement and metrics. These may also be helpful in developing attendance and participation policies, but more importantly, they may help you identify disengaged students sooner than later.

More Reps for Better Learning

In Psychology 350, Research Methods & Data Analysis, Professor Cal Garbin makes extensive use of large question banks to provide opportunities for his students to do enough "reps," or practice, that they develop the skills and knowledge needed to approach course assessments with confidence. Garbin’s approach combines many assignment exercises with strategic proctored testing.

How to Support Engaging and Thoughtful Discussions Online

Conducted on July 24, this workshop helped participants develop their skills at cultivating online discussions that also included in-depth demonstrations of how to use either the Yellowdig or the Canvas discussion platform.