Peer Evaluations Can Lead to Teaching Excellence
Peer teaching evaluations can make even exceptional educators feel anxious or skeptical. But they don’t have to. As long as teaching and learning have worked together to create dynamic classroom environments, the educator and the peer observer have benefitted from this formative collaboration. And here’s how. When we send a manuscript to a peer-reviewed … Continue reading Peer Evaluations Can Lead to Teaching Excellence
A Student-Centered Approach to Communication
A recent Pathify study reported the average click rate of emails in higher ed is less than 7%, even though email is the primary mode many institutions use to communicate important information to faculty, staff, and students. Right before the Pandemic, I also discovered that student responses to my emails had noticeably declined. More students … Continue reading A Student-Centered Approach to Communication
Creating Constellations of Meaningful Relationships
When I was in college, one of the RAs would host a weekly watch party for one of her favorite shows, The West Wing. Most of us did not have TVs, so anyone in the dorm or anywhere on campus who heard about it and wanted to go was invited. With her RA funds, she provided … Continue reading Creating Constellations of Meaningful Relationships
Blackboard Ultra Courses Increase Student Activity and Student Engagement at USC Upstate
Beginning with Fall 2024, new courses in the University of South Carolina Learning Management System (LMS) will be created in Blackboard Learn Ultra Course View. Based on a comparison of student activity in Ultra v. Original courses, this change has the potential to improve student engagement, increase student activity, and lead to greater student success. … Continue reading Blackboard Ultra Courses Increase Student Activity and Student Engagement at USC Upstate
Dynamic Duo: Using Blackboard Ultra Gradebook and Starfish Together
Image by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash As the semester kicks off, we’re met with an opportunity to consider the relationship between our gradebook and the Starfish early alert system. Fall of 2016 was the first time I used Blackboard Original to monitor and record students’ grades. I met with Blackboard support several times to get step-by-step guidance … Continue reading Dynamic Duo: Using Blackboard Ultra Gradebook and Starfish Together