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Assess Learning
Below is a collection of resources to help you assess learning in circumstances that require social distancing, virtual participants, or a combination of both. Each resource is categorized by the instruction modes it can help with to make it easy to find what works for you.
Webinars and Recordings: Hands-on Zoom sessions and workshops, either live or recorded.
Learn at Your Own Pace: Guided modules and curated lists of content, arranged based on topics.
Technology Training: Workshops and tutorials focused on the technology available for teaching the different modes.
Resource Title
Description
- Commonwealth Connections: Instructor Day, Fall 2022 Posted in: Canvas, Classroom Preparation, Learning Assessment, Student Engagement, Trauma-Informed Pedagogy, Upcoming Events, Webinars and Recordings - Date: Wednesday, August 10th & Thursday, August 11th, 2022
Time: TBD
Where: Zoom
On August 10th and 11th, join colleagues from the Penn State Commonwealth Campuses to energize for the upcoming semester The event will explore topics related to engaging and supporting students; assessment; and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Hear from your faculty colleagues as they share strategies and tools for success. Be sure to bring your questions and any stories of success you care to share. - Instructor Panel (Instructor Day, Spring 2022) Posted in: Canvas, Classroom Preparation, Format, Learning Assessment, Student Engagement, Webinars and Recordings - Instructors will share their perspectives, experiences, and tips for starting the semester in a way that fosters a sense of community, motivation, and inclusivity in their classrooms.
- Commonwealth Connections: Instructor Day, Spring 2022 Posted in: Canvas, Classroom Preparation, Learning Assessment, Student Engagement, Trauma-Informed Pedagogy, Webinars and Recordings -
- Foe’s Eye View: Engaging Students Through Perspective-Taking Activities Posted in: Learning Assessment, Student Engagement, Webinars and Recordings - Date: Wednesday, August 11, 2021
Time: 3:00 PM
Students think they know how they feel about something and love to debate their position, but what happens when we put them in their opponents' shoes? How might students respond when learning new information from their adversaries' perspectives? - Switching it Up: Using Adobe Spark for Course Assessment Posted in: Classroom Preparation, Learning Assessment, Webinars and Recordings - Date: Thursday, August 12, 2021
Time: 9:00 AM
Join us to learn creative ways of using Adobe Spark Post and Video for both course content assessment and student reflection. This session may be of interest to faculty who are seeking new ways to: engage and assess students, ease students' transition back to the classroom with online activities, and/or reduce the time spent reviewing student work. - Adobe Spark for Creative and Engaging Assignments Posted in: Learning Assessment, Webinars and Recordings - Date: Wednesday, August 11, 2021
Time: 1:00 PM
Join us to discuss using Adobe Spark Pages to replace a more traditional research paper including the parameters and guidelines provided to the students in order to support the learning objectives. Also addressed will be using Adobe Spark Posts to support a student-created brand with logos, flyers, and social media posts. - Allow Students to Author Their Own Learning Path Posted in: Learning Assessment, Student Engagement, Webinars and Recordings - Date: Wednesday, August 11, 2021
Time: 3:00 PM
Giving students a voice in how their learning is structured can make their learning journey more relevant, meaningful and enjoyable. During this session, you'll hear how student-designed lessons and assessments were successfully implemented in two very different disciplines. - Facilitating Effective Group Work Posted in: Learning Assessment, Student Engagement, Webinars and Recordings - Date: Wednesday, August 11, 2021
Time: 3:00 PM
Group projects are very useful assignments but are hated equally by both students and instructors when things don't go as expected. This session will provide strategies for effectively setting up and facilitating group work that you can apply to your own courses. - Teaching Writing with Google Docs in the Post-Pandemic World Posted in: Classroom Preparation, Learning Assessment, Webinars and Recordings - Date: Thursday, August 12, 2021
Time: 10:00 AM
Google Docs can be a powerful tool to teach writing, both face to face and remotely. Now that so many people are familiar with them, it's the perfect time to capitalize on Google Docs advantages. In this session, instructors will share successes and tips for teaching writing with Google Docs in any classroom. Come to pick experienced brains! - Incremental Learning Strategies Posted in: Learning Assessment, Webinars and Recordings - Date: Wednesday, August 11, 2021
Time: 2:00 PM
Teachers and students can benefit from assignments that promote incremental learning. We may all benefit from designing and rewarding step-by-step project development, re-assessment opportunities, and academic integrity. - Designing Projects to Enhance Understanding and Engagement Posted in: Learning Assessment, Student Engagement, Webinars and Recordings - Date: Thursday, August 12, 2021
Time: 11:00 AM
Designing student projects to increase student engagement and understanding. We will discuss two types of student projects, 1) utilizing case studies to review theories and incorporating an incremental final project where students prepare their own case studies to demonstrate their research and knowledge; 2) increasing students’ communication skills and digital fluency through a compelling infographic storytelling project where students highlight a local entrepreneur’s journey, from start-up through growth. - Commonwealth Connections: Instructor Days, Fall 2021 Posted in: Canvas, Classroom Preparation, Learning Assessment, Student Engagement, Trauma-Informed Pedagogy, Webinars and Recordings, Zoom - On August 11th and 12th, join colleagues from the Penn State Commonwealth Campuses to energize for the upcoming semester. The event will explore topics related to invigorating your teaching practice, strategies to preserve from Pandemic teaching, and practices for supporting students. Hear from your faculty colleagues as they share strategies and tools for success. Be […]
- Increasing Student Engagement with Top Hat Posted in: Classroom Preparation, Learning Assessment, Student Engagement, Webinars and Recordings - The University has a new tool to enhance student participation in your courses. Top Hat is a cloud-based audience participation solution with presentations, questions, and assignments built-in. In this session, faculty and learning designers will share the ways that Top Hat is being used in the classroom.
- Reducing Students’ Temptation to Cheat Posted in: Learning Assessment, Webinars and Recordings - The high stakes exam fosters a strong temptation to cheat. Rather than focus on policing that exam, consider changing your approach to assessment. In this session, faculty share their approaches to creating assessments that reduce the desire to cheat and ensure fairness across students.
- Providing Feedback That Students Will Use Posted in: Classroom Preparation, Learning Assessment, Webinars and Recordings - Feedback is valuable but only when students take advantage of it. In this session, presenters will provide examples of how and when to provide useful feedback to your students and discuss several grading tools that can make the process more efficient.
- Using Learning Mastery in the Canvas Gradebook Posted in: Canvas, Classroom Preparation, Learning Assessment, Webinars and Recordings - The vast majority of students pass their courses and progress through their major even as they accumulate gaps in their knowledge. The Mastery approach prevents these gaps by making individualized modifications so that all students can achieve the same level of learning.
- Teaching in Mixed-Mode: Lessons Learned Posted in: Canvas, Classroom Preparation, Learning Assessment, Student Engagement, Trauma-Informed Pedagogy, Webinars and Recordings, Zoom - Faculty from across the University share their experiences in teaching mixed-mode courses in the Fall semester. Find out what went well, what didn’t go well, and what tips you might want to incorporate into your Spring courses.
- Too Much or Not Enough: Quantifying the Time Students Spend in Engaging Courses Posted in: Classroom Preparation, Learning Assessment, Student Engagement, Webinars and Recordings - Instructors thoughtfully create high-quality, engaging course design experiences, but is time dedicated to assessing the rigor that’s placed on students? This session will first focus on the benefits of and strategies for reviewing the time spent on instructional activities. Participants will use various tools and resources to review the instructional activity/student rigor each week of […]
- Kaltura Editing and Quizzing Posted in: Learning Assessment, Student Engagement, Webinars and Recordings - Would you like to edit your Zoom class recordings? Create quizzes with video? Join us to learn how to use our Kaltura media management system for video editing and quiz creation.
- Introducing Top Hat at Penn State Posted in: Learning Assessment, Student Engagement, Webinars and Recordings - The University has a new tool for student participation in your courses. Top Hat is a cloud-based audience participation solution with presentations, questions and assignments built-in. Join us for this introduction to Top Hat.
- Instructional Strategies for Promoting Honest Efforts Posted in: Classroom Preparation, Learning Assessment, Webinars and Recordings - For many educators, fostering educational objectives while protecting the integrity of course materials has become an even bigger challenge than before. In this presentation, we’ll discuss students’ motivations for academic misconduct and offer strategies to foster academic honesty.
- Considerations in Teaching Offshore International Students Posted in: Classroom Preparation, Learning Assessment, Student Engagement, Webinars and Recordings - Due to the pandemic, travel ban, and delayed visas, a large number of our international students are currently studying remotely from their home countries. This training module addresses the prevailing issues facing faculty in teaching students who are physically outside of the United States. In addition to covering topics on differences in academic culture, learning […]
- Academic Integrity Posted in: Classroom Preparation, Learning Assessment, Webinars and Recordings - This session will focus on the importance and role of faculty consistently and persistently messaging students about practicing academic integrity. The PSU academic integrity policy and process will also be reviewed.
- Faculty Seminar on Teaching with Technology Posted in: Canvas, Classroom Preparation, Learning Assessment, Student Engagement, Webinars and Recordings - This Faculty Webinar on Teaching with Technology for Fall 2020 features Berks faculty sharing innovative pedagogical strategies and uses of instructional technology. These strategies include the use of Packback in Canvas, an online scavenger hunt, tips for keeping students organized and on-task, and an award-winning way to combine quizzes and reflective journal assignments.
- Canvas Gradebook Posted in: Canvas, Learning Assessment, Webinars and Recordings - Explore updated features of the course gradebook, and use the tools provided to keep your students informed of their progress in your courses.
- Resources for Remote Synchronous Posted in: Canvas, Classroom Preparation, Learning Assessment, Student Engagement, Webinars and Recordings, Zoom - This session covers how to engage, assess, and support students in a remote-synchronous course.
- Resources for Mixed Mode Posted in: Canvas, Classroom Preparation, Learning Assessment, Student Engagement, Webinars and Recordings, Zoom - This session covers ways to implement a mixed-mode course, how your plan for the course can be communicated to your students, and some of the resources available to you to help in this process.
- Integrating Penn State Tools in Canvas for Better Teaching and Learning Posted in: Canvas, Classroom Preparation, Learning Assessment, Student Engagement, Webinars and Recordings, Zoom - This session will cover the use of a variety of technology tools in your course design, answering the following questions: How can we use Zoom technology to a) make individual assignments more engaging and b) foster more meaningful learning? How can we use Zoom technology to ensure academic integrity for individual assignments? How can Zoom […]
Resource Title
Description
- Adopting a Metacognitive Approach to Teaching Posted in: Classroom Preparation, Learn at Your Own Pace, Learning Assessment, Student Engagement - Learn about the benefits of metacognitive teaching for students and how to implement these strategies into your courses.
- ITLD Assessment Posted in: Learn at Your Own Pace, Learning Assessment - Recommendations for creating good, high-quality examination questions.
- A Quick Guide for Remote Asynchronous Teaching Posted in: Canvas, Classroom Preparation, Learn at Your Own Pace, Learning Assessment, Student Engagement - This resource gives a quick overview of things to consider for remote asynchronous teaching, from class planning and organization to the ways you can engage students asynchronously.
- The Engaging Students Series Posted in: Canvas, Classroom Preparation, Learn at Your Own Pace, Learning Assessment, Student Engagement, Zoom - A collection of past webinars and related resources that were shared during sessions in the Engaging Students Series.
- Flexible Instruction Teaching Guide Posted in: Canvas, Classroom Preparation, Learn at Your Own Pace, Learning Assessment, Student Engagement, Zoom - A curated collection of resources to help support you and to give students the best learning experience possible. This guide is helpful for all instruction modes and covers a wide variety of topics.
- A Quick Guide for Remote Synchronous Teaching Posted in: Canvas, Classroom Preparation, Learn at Your Own Pace, Learning Assessment, Student Engagement, Zoom - This resource gives a quick overview of things to consider for remote synchronous teaching, from class planning and organization to the ways you can engage students remotely.
- A Quick Guide for Mixed Mode Teaching Posted in: Canvas, Classroom Preparation, Learn at Your Own Pace, Learning Assessment, Student Engagement, Zoom - This resource gives a quick overview of things to consider for mixed-mode teaching, from class planning and organization to the technology available to you.
Resource Title
Description
- Canvas: Creating Effective Assignments (ITLD) Posted in: Canvas, Learning Assessment, Technology Training - This hands-on workshop will prepare participants to design and deliver assignments in Canvas, as well as explore assignment settings, assignment groups, and adding rubrics.
Note: Only PSU authenticated users can join these sessions. If you have trouble getting into the Zoom room, please log in to Zoom using your Penn State user ID and password from Zoom before clicking on the meeting link.