The FACILITATOR

Select highlights of a Q&A on Teaching with A.I. with Dr. C. Edward Watson. Dr. Watson is Vice President for Digital Innovation with the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) and formerly Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Georgia. Dr. Watson is nationally recognized for expertise in general education best practice and reform, evidence-based teaching and learning practices, as a futurist for higher education. He is also an expert in artificial intelligence in higher education, faculty development, open education resources, ePortfolios, and digital equity. Our NCSC Faculty Book Club has been working through the recently released 2nd Edition of Dr Watson & Jose Antonio Bowen's celebrated Teaching with A.I.: A practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning. Resources Mentioned: Teaching with A.I.: A practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning - 2nd Ed. "A.I. Syllabi Policies - A Look at the Collection" - Lance Eaton Weteachwithai.com Educational Psychology: A Cognitive View - David Paul Ausubel Socratic Mind (A.I. Powered Oral Assessment Tool) AACU Conference on A.I. & Higher Ed

Highlights of Feb 17 Teachers' LunCHAT where Anna Plank & Jordynn Liggett of NCSC Registered Nursing program shared and took peer questions on what has worked for them leveraging Zoom mini recordings to support student success and engagement. Episode Resources: Zoom for Mini Chunk Recordings Tips/ How-Tos Ep 29- Mini Lecture Recording Top Tips

In our increasingly artificiality infused world, how can we hack tools for increasing our presence and connection to our students? Shella & Mike discuss a framework and specific tools and techniques for hacking those tools for very human needs and ends to support success & retention!  Resources Mentioned in the Episode: Community of Inquiry Model Canvas Speedgrader Recording Audio comments Start/ Stop/ Continue Feedback on Instruction technique Canvas Quizzes incorrect Answer Feedback Canvas 'Message Students Who...' Gradebook Tool Zoom Whiteboards

Shella & Mike are back for a new year of teaching tips! We kick off the new year with a powerful cheating buster of adding flexibility in due dates for assignments, with a variety of HOWs to implement this in your classes at 3 different levels of complexity. Resources Mentioned in the Episode: Opposite of Cheating Book Opposite of Cheating Podcast episode on flex Due Dates WHY Model template for one-time SKIP a due date course policy Canvas Assignment group Drop Lowest Feature Best By Flex Due Dates Clemson 'Extension Without Penalty' Case Study Assignment 'Bundles' Contract Grading

Shella & Mike are makin a list! Of Teaching resources for reading or listening or watching over break to help enhance your classes! Resources in this Episode: "Dead Ideas in Teaching & Learning" Podcast AI 'Potemkin Understanding' Creating Significant Learning Experiences Book "Tea for Teaching" Podcast Learner Centered Teaching Book Microsoft Accessibility for Beginners (LinkedIn Learning) The Discussion Book

Very special pre-holiday treat of select highlights of a Q&A on AI v. Academic Integrity with Dr. Tricia Bertram Gallant. Dr Bertram Gallant is an internationally recognized expert in academic integrity and ethics in higher education & the Director of the Academic Integrity Office at UC-San Diego. Dr Bertram Gallant was kind enough to join our NCSC Faculty Book Club earlier this month, which has been working through her (& Co-author David Rettinger) latest book, The Opposite of Cheating. Resources Mentioned: The Opposite of Cheating: Teaching for Integrity in the Age of AI (2025, Univ. of Oklahoma Press) Dr. Tricia Bertram Gallant bio Flipped Classroom Resources & Tips The Opposite of Cheating Podcast

In honor of US Thanksgiving, Shella & Mike each share 2 Teaching Tools & 2 Teaching Techniques they are thankful for - with a couple bonus honorable mentions. Resources Mentioned- Techniques: Hybrid/ Blended Classes Tips Active/ Experiential Learning How-Tos/ Tips Place-Based Education Fishbone/ 5 Whys Technique Ep 18 - Team-Based Learning (featuring 4S technique)  Resources Mentioned- Tools: Zoom Tips/ How tos Zoom Persistent Whiteboards Poll.ly Free Polling tool Canvas New Quizzes

Shella & Mike delve into the choppy waters of AI detector tools and look at their weak points and offer tips on how to use them as part of a general intentional AI Literacy and Authentic Assessment strategy. Teaching Resources Mentioned: The Problems with AI Detectors: False Positives & False Negatives (Univ. San Diego Legal Research Ctr) Ep 21- "Redesigning Assignments for AI Cheating Resistance" "Detecting AI may be impossible. That's a big problem for teachers" (Washington Post) Ep 40 -"AI for Good in Teaching" AI Acknowledgement Statement Template (Word doc) Perplexity Specific AI Detection Tools TurnitIn AI GPTZero ZeroGPT Specific AI Detector Beating 'Scrubbing' Tools  Rephrasy Trickmenot.ai

With Shella on vacation this week, Mike flies solo this week to talk about the WHAT/ WHY & HOW of the excellent template for instruction that is the 9 Events of Instruction. In particular, the WHY for the Age of AI to help defang cheating motivations. Episode Resources: 9 Events of Instruction Tips/ Rsrcs Video Illustration of the 9 Events w/ Cats Gagne's Instructional Design Principles Ep 25: Activating Prior Learning (Step 3)

Shella & Mike look at the professor's wunder weapon that is Authentic Assessment - with lessons from Covid about how it can not only address student engagement, success & retention, but also for combating cheating with AI. Episode Resources:  Authentic Assessment Tips & How Tos Combating Academic Dishonesty, Part 7: Authentic Assessments & the Challenge of AI Ep 7 - Local Teaching Excellence w/ Jason Tucker: Simulated Lab Audits OER Virtual Labs/Simulations Repositories Ep 37 - Student Voice & Choice Problem-Based Learning Ep 18 - Team-Based Learning Reflection Techniques Rubistar Rubrics Repository

Shella & Mike talk about keys to the start of class for both first day and week to set the table for success, engagement & retention: Curiosity, Community, Expectations & Getting Comfortable with Required Tools. Teaching Resources Mentioned: Ep 30 - Hacking Quality Matters: Standard 1 Course Intro Online Essential Questions Technique Background Knowledge Probe K-W-L Chart Think-Pair-Share Using Discussion Forums to Set Climate Perusall Social Annotation Tool

Shella & Mike talk about the oldie but a goodie of the 'Flipped' Classroom for live session classes (Hybrid or traditional). What, Why & How & its relevance to the AI age. Teaching Resources Mentioned: Flipped Classroom Tips & Rsrcs. Zoom Lecture Chunk Recording Learning Glass Studio Best Practice Active Learning Techniques Team-Based Learning

Shella & Mike talk about one of the indispensable teaching tools to any college teacher- Grading Rubrics. They discuss different kinds, how to get started and top tips for getting biggest learning and success bang for the buck with them.  Teaching Resources Mentioned: Grading Rubrics Rsrcs & Tips Single-Point Grading Rubric Rubistar Rubric Repository/ Builder Canvas Rubric Tools How Tos Canvas Rubrics Tool Canvas Rubric Grading in SpeedGrader Canvas Peer Review (w/Rubric) Tool

Shella & Mike looks at some of the silver linings AI offers professors that can make good things happen in our teaching, as well as current crop of helpful AI teaching tools and general tips for maximizing AI.  Teaching Resources Mentioned: Episode 21 - Redesigning Assignments for AI Proofing Assignment Stress Testing/ Enhancement Prompt (Pritts- Univ AZ) AI Prompts for Instructors Repository (More Useful Things) Effective Prompts for AI (MIT) AI Tools Mentioned: ChatGPT (uses DALL-E for images) CoPilot Claude  Gamma (slidedeck generation) Gemini Google Notebook LM (Research summary) Grammerly (Writing Assistant) Hemingway App (Readability Assistant) Napkin (Chart/ graph generator) OpenArt (Image generation) Perplexity (tutoring assistant)

Shella & Mike talk tips for how to have online 'office hours' that Students will utilize, as well emerging trends for re imagining office hours to defuse student anxiety & build connections with students to help them persist. Teaching Technique/ Tools Mentioned Resources: Zoom for Virtual Office Hours Tips & Rsrcs "With Card Games, Coloring Sessions & 'Hang Out Times', Professors Rethink Office Hours" (EdSurge) "Academic Success Tip: Rebrand Office Hours" (Inside Higher Ed)

Shella & Mike delve into the WHAT/ WHY & HOWs for adding different levels of interaction to your live Zoom online classes to engage students for enhancing success. Teaching Technique/ Tools Mentioned Resources: Active Learning Fishbowl Discussion Backchannel Chat Technique Chat Waterfall Zoom Raise Hand Tool Zoom Reactions Zoom Breakout Rooms Think-Pair-Share

Shella & Mike talk about the What, why & how to tap into the great power of giving your students voice & choice.  As well as best practice safety guardrails to get the full bang for the buck. Teaching Technique/ Tools Mentioned Resources: Pedagogy of Students Creating OER for the course Student Voice/ Choice Rsrcs/ Tips Midterm Soft Course Evals Background Knowledge Probe Passion Based Learning Problem-Based Learning Teaching with AI Tools/ Prompts

Interview with North Central State College English Adjunct Kristina Butke (MFA -, Seton Hill University, BA - English Literature, Capital University) on distilling teaching tips & lessons learned about teaching from her Adjunct Teaching Journey. Teaching Technique/ Tools Mentioned Resources: Activating Prior Learning Blooket Interactive Quizzes (Kahoot Alternative) Grading Rubrics Respecting Diverse Talents/ Ways of Learning

Shella & Mike's chat about tips to Hack Quality Matters (QM) Course Design Rubric- Standard #5 : ACTIVITIES. Three specific levels of building the key parts of this standard into your courses are discussed - Beginner (quick & dirty), Intermediate (little bit more time/ tinkering) & Advanced (digging into it).  Episode Resources: Regular & Substantive Interaction (RSI) Standards Canvas 'Message Student Who...' Gradebook Tool Canvas Record Personalized Audio/ video Feedback w/ Grade Active Learning Cycle Active Learning Frameworks Team-Based Learning (TBL): Ep 18-TBL at NCSC | Ep 19-TBL Online  Project Zero's Thinking Routines Toolbox

Excerpt of Shella & Mike's Live workshop on tips to Hack Quality Matters (QM) Course Design Rubric- Standard #3 : Assessment. Three specific levels of building the key parts of this standard into your courses are discussed - Beginner (quick & dirty), Intermediate (little bit more time/ tinkering) & Advanced (digging into it).  Episode Resources: Developing Fair, Consistent & Transparent Grading Practices (NIU) Derek Bruff's 6 Questions for Assignment Makeovers for AI Age (Agile Learning) Grading Rubrics Tips & Resources Student Self Assessment with Rubrics Peer Review with Rubrics Assessment Resources Authentic Assessment Course Sequencing of Assessment & Feedback

Excerpt of Shella & Mike's Live workshop on tips to Hack Quality Matters (QM) Course Design Rubric- Standard #2 : Learning Objectives. Three specific levels of building the key parts of this standard into your courses are discussed - Beginner (quick & dirty), Intermediate (little bit more time/ tinkering) & Advanced (digging into it).  Episode Resources: Aligning Objectives with Assessments & Activities Editing Canvas Assignments Canvas Outcomes Tool Video Walk Through Canvas Learning Mastery Gradebook

The primary method to assess what our students know, throughout Higher ed,  remains stuck in a silo to simply audit and provide a grade, rather than a fully integrated learning tool itself.  L. Dee Fink in Creating Significant Learning Experiences (& others) have advocated for applying the research for an intentional shift to "Educative" Assessment. Mike unpacks the 4 pillars of this approach to assessment. Episode Resources: Educative Assessment Giving Prompt Feedback Grading Rubrics Peer Review

'Death by Powerpoint' is real. We know from the literature that doing default Powerpoint presentations reduces comprehension, retention and engagement out of a classroom, with time for active activities being lost as well. However, hacking PowerPoint by using the 'Pecha Kucha' (or its cousin Ignite Talk) format, make TED-talk style, engaging, cognitively effective and time efficient presentations of material that opens up time for application and active activities follow-up. Episode Resources: Pecha Kucha (Ignite Talk) Presentation Example, Tips & Resources "The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint: Pitching Out Corrupts Within" (Tufte) Five Ways to Reduce PowerPoint Overload [PDF]

Excerpt of Shella & Mike's Live workshop on tips to Hack Quality Matters (QM) Course Design Rubric- Standard #1 (Course Introduction). Three specific levels of building the key parts of this standard into your courses are discussed - Beginner (quick & dirty), Intermediate (little bit more time/ tinkering) & Advanced (digging into it).  Episode Resources: Quality Matters Course Design Benchmarks CTE's START HERE/ Week 1/2 Module QM Templates  Harvard's Project Zero Thinking Routines: Introducing & Exploring Ideas Instructor Presence & Interaction Recording Mini Zoom Videos Regular & Substantive Interaction (RSI) Standards

Mike does a brief dive into a collection of top tips for making cognitive friendly, reusable and easy to maintain mini lecture 'chunks' with a professional polish. Episode Resources: Zoom Tips (Live or Recording) Mini Lecture Recording with Zoom Taking Teaching Online: The Micro-Lecture Why Long Lectures Are Ineffective Cheapest Way to Soundproof a Room

Mike takes a spin at a brief WHAT/WHY/HOW of James Lang's "Small Teaching." Now in its 2nd edition, Lang's book wonderfully lays out and distills 3 key elements form the science of learning - KNOWLEDGE, UNDERSTANDING & INSPIRATION. A starter for each of the HOW for the three specific principles under each of the headers can be done in Low/ No Prep by faculty in any area. Episode Resources: Episode 25 - Activating Prior Learning (HOWs for the RETREIVING principle) Small Teaching Faculty Hub Summary/ Resource Page Small Teaching Book (ThriftBooks copies from $6) 

Flying solo, Mike dives into how application of principles from usability research to our course sites & materials can promote student success, engagement & Retention. Mike introduces the WHAT of Usability with ISO 9241 & Nielsen Norman Group's definitions. The linkage to WHY is addressed with intersection of several course design quality rubrics and teaching best practices. Then the application with HOW starts with Modules Usability (& common misuses). Next, chunking topical content via PAGES, as well as Optimizing Text for reading on screens., Naming Conventions & Consistent formatting is discussed. Our Usability world cheat sheet concludes with looking at LEGIBILITY & READABILITY of course materials - whether digital or hard copy etc. Episode Resources: 5 Ways to Optimize Canvas Sites Tips, Examples & How Tos 8 Ways to Optimize Course Content Tips, Examples & How Tos The Hemingway app Legibility Readability & Comprehension: Making Users Read Your Words [Nielsen Norman Group]

Amid the ongoing scrutiny of the value of higher ed education, Shella & Mike dive into the timely topic of how to increase the learning value of classes with alternatives to lecturing. While lecture lurches on in higher ed (for now) as a predominant teaching technique, science and mounds of data tells it is a poor teaching tool with 5% of info being retained on average from a lecture. As such, we turn to the WHAT/ WHY (see above) & most crucially the HOW to diversify our teaching toolbelt! Episode Resources: NCSC Ctr for Teaching Excellence Non-Lecture Teaching Techniques 226 Active Learning Techniques (Iowa State U.)

Wading into the WHAT/ WHY & HOW of levering the powerful learning science of Activating Prior Learning for Engagement, support student (& Faculty!) time on task and promoting success. Episode Resources: NCSC Ctr for Teaching Excellence Activating Prior Learning Tips/ Resources

Tackling the HOW of Best Practices for teaching condensed/ accelerated 8 week courses for optimizing student success. Shella & Mike get into Sequencing (1:35) - what happens when with integrated 'Spiral' Design reinforcement; Managing Cognitive Load (3:14) on Students; Scaffolding with Support Resources (3:55) to offer built-in recovery/ time efficiency/ engagement;  Time Efficient Canvas Tools: Canvas Pages (6:55) for reusable evergreen remedial built in support resources;  Early Publishing of Your Canvas Course Site (8:20) to allow for a bonus 'Week Zero' of student prep/ orientation for success; Canvas Quizzes for Self-Check/ Practice (10:26) to allow students to be active learners and build confidence for applying/ higher order use of material;  Canvas Modules Optimization (11:48) applying best practices for lean but content packed modules; Grading Rubrics (12:33) for supporting student practice & faculty time efficiency;  Canvas Mastery Paths (14:31) to efficiently automatically connect students to appropriate level work; Communication Strategy/ Reinforcement (15:32)  for ensuring students get the word/ know what to focus on; Kicking 'Coverage' Fallacy (16:44); Outcomes Focus (17:37). Episode Resources: Sequencing a Course Tips/ Resources Managing Cognitive Load of Students Ways to Optimize Your Canvas Sites (Pages, Modules , Assignments etc) Canvas Early Access for Students Chickering & Gamson Respecting Diverse Talents/ Ways of Learning Lang's Small Teaching Research Grading Rubrics Using Rubrics in Canvas SpeedGrader Canvas Mastery Paths

Shella & Mike discuss the WHAT/ BENEFITS/ HOW & UNIQUENESS of the Perusall 'Social Annotation' tool.  Perusall allows instructors to assign students to annotate and dialog on a layer right around assigned readings, videos or podcasts etc. Instructional opportunities and scenarios with examples are discussed for how to apply this tool to your college courses. Episode Resources: Our Perusall Resource Page Social Annotation Tips 7 Things You Should Know About... Collaborative Annotation Tools [PDF]

Excerpt of the 6/11/24 Teaching Tips Tuesday session on improving online discussions with guest Star Officer Dave Kopeke from the NCSC Criminal Justice Program.  In which, we chat about WHAT online discussion can/ should be to engage and promote meaningful discussion beyond the tool driving the bus; Aligning the Intellectual Task with proven Best Practice models using 1) Bloom's Taxonomy 2) Boettcher's Four Online Discussion Types & 3) Project Zero's Thinking Routines, with working through an example using the Project Zero 'Object, Perspectives, Parts & me' model protocol. See Also a broader discussion on Online Discussions back in Episode 3. Episode Resources: Our Online Discussion Models Resource  Bloom's Taxonomy Project Zero's Thinking Routines 

WHAT & WHY of Redesigning college Assignments for the AI Age. 14 ways HOW to both make assignments resistant to cheating with AI, but also use the opportunity of both the Tools themselves and enhancing your assignments with industry Best Practices! Resources: PDF Worksheet for AI Assignment Makeover (CTE)  Top 20 Generative AI Tools & Applications in 2024 (eWeek) "Professors Cautious of Tools to Detect AI-Generated Writing" 2/9/24 (Inside Higher Ed) Bruff's 6 Questions for AI Assignment Makeover (Agile Learning)

Basic Intro to the best practice teaching technique of transparent, randomized selection of students/ groups to call on to start/ continue/ extend activity or discussion.  https://spinthewheel.app/  http://wheeldecide.com/  https://www.classtools.net/random-name-picker/ 

Follow-up to Ep 18 with how to adapt the best practice active learning course design of Team-Based Learning (TBL) for a fully online asynchronous format with no live class meetings. Prof Bill Roberson's Team based Learning Team Readiness piece approach with Canvas:  https://ctl.pointloma.edu/teaching-online/team-based-learning-online/   

Basic Intro to the best practice active learning course design of Team-Based Learning (TBL) utilized throughout the world to great effect, as well as some data & lessons learned from its utilization at North Central State College.

Part 2 of Interview with Sara Rollo of North Central State's Math program - sharing how she has had success with Reflections to promote student engagement, success & retention. See also Episode 5 for more on the power of Reflections in teaching.

Part 1 of Interview with Sara Rollo of North Central State's Math program - sharing how she has had success with Mini Lecture Recordings with Zoom to promote student engagement, success & retention.

Low/No Prep Examples & ideas from local NCSC Faculty & proven others on how to implement the 7 Best Teaching Practices - PART 7- Respect Diverse Ways of Learning

Low/No Prep Examples & ideas from local NCSC Faculty & proven others on how to implement the 7 Best Teaching Practices - PART 6- High Expectations

Low/No Prep Examples & ideas from local NCSC Faculty & proven others on how to implement the 7 Best Teaching Practices - PART 5- Support STUDENT Time on Task

Low/No Prep Examples & ideas from local NCSC Faculty & proven others on how to implement the 7 Best Teaching Practices - PART 4- Prompt Feedback

Low/No Prep Examples & ideas from local NCSC Faculty & proven others on how to implement the 7 Best Teaching Practices - PART 3- Active Learning

Low/No Prep Examples & ideas from local NCSC Faculty & proven others on how to implement the 7 Best Teaching Practices - PART 2- Encourage Student-Student Interaction. 

Low/No Prep Examples & ideas from local NCSC Faculty & proven others on how to implement the 7 Best Teaching Practices - PART 1- Encourage Faculty-Student Interaction. 

Part 3 & conclusion of Interview with Jason Tucker of North Central State's BioScience program - sharing how he has had success with Supporting Time on task with Canvas and other means as well as some of his personal Teaching Innovation inspirations.

Part 2 of Interview with Jason Tucker of North Central State's BioScience program - sharing how he has had success with Surprise Simulated Audit Exercise to Communicate High Expectations.

Part 1 of Interview with Jason Tucker of North Central State's BioScience program - sharing how he has had success with Active Learning using Case Studies.

Reflecting on the under utilized teaching super power of Reflection for enhancing student outcomes. For more info or to consult on anything on any Facilitator Podcast, contact the CTE at: [email protected]

Small Groups for GOOD in Learning! Why do SMall Group activities had a bad rep?! What is even the value of the things?! How to do them well? For more info or to consult on anything on any Facilitator Podcast, contact the CTE at: [email protected]