A table with several chairs and a floral centerpiece

Breaking Bread: Take a Student to Coffee or Lunch

When you sit down together at the Spartans Table, you belong. The Spartans Table program offers students, faculty, and staff an opportunity to interact in informal settings in the Spartan Cafe in the Sansbury Campus Life Center or the Perk Up Cafe in the Library. Have your lunch or afternoon coffee on us.  Belonging Matters … Continue reading Breaking Bread: Take a Student to Coffee or Lunch

Formative Assessment Cycle: Gather evidence in quizzes, observations, self-assessments; Evaluate Progress and interpret growth; Provide Feedback that is timely, specific, and meaningful; Adjust Process to update activities, add/remove checkpoints to improve the quality of evidence of progress

Formative Assessment and Success-Oriented Feedback

Formative assessment is often discussed in K-12 settings as a standard and expected part of curriculum delivery. In higher education, however, conversations about formative assessment have been somewhat more elusive. Traditionally, we rely on the high-stakes midterm, project, paper, final model which leaves little room for formative assessment that can foster growth. Using formative assessments … Continue reading Formative Assessment and Success-Oriented Feedback

Blackboard Learn Ultra Launch with rocket heading upward

Are You Ready for Blackboard Learn Ultra?

Blackboard Learn Ultra represents the final phase of our four-year upgrade of our Learning Management System (LMS) at USC Upstate and the entire University of South Carolina System. With the launch of Blackboard Learn Ultra as the default course format across the University of South Carolina System in Fall 2024, we will be adopting the … Continue reading Are You Ready for Blackboard Learn Ultra?

SIX THINKING HATS Increase interaction in group work and discussions by asking students to investigate a situation from a different perspective. Hats represent roles for leader, thinking/logic, feeling, creativity, positivity, and cautious

Group Work and Collaborative Learning

Collaborative learning is a well-established high-impact practice (HIPs). According to the Association of American Colleges and Universities, collaborative learning has two main goals: the first is to have students work together to solve problems or find solutions. And the second is for students to gain access to perspectives, experiences, and information they may have not … Continue reading Group Work and Collaborative Learning

Courses that speak to us, desk with laptop, coffee, and earbuds, person driving in a car with audio on

Please Read It to Me: Read Aloud Options for Course Materials

There is a kind of warmth that comes from being read to--a sense that the reader is making a gesture of care. Perhaps this is the attraction of listening to audiobooks on our morning commute or asking Siri or Alexa to read us the news while we make dinner, walk the dog, or complete chores. … Continue reading Please Read It to Me: Read Aloud Options for Course Materials