Each week, the Faculty Collaborative for Teaching brings you an easy-to-implement tool that you can use immediately in your classroom teaching. The goals of these tips are to add to your teaching toolbox, share resources on teaching, and alert you to upcoming teaching and learning opportunities from the Faculty Collaborative.

TUESDAY TEACHING TIP: Introducing students to your course

Welcome to the first day of spring quarter! We hope you had a lovely break. Syllabi are like snowflakes, no two are alike. The same goes for course organization on Camino. This week, we challenge you to make explicit what is often left up to the students to figure out - how to navigate your course. Imagine if you provided students a primer on how to read and follow your syllabus, or where to find important information on Camino. Students wouldn’t be left guessing and you’d get fewer emails asking for clarification. 

Today’s tip focuses on ways you can let students know how you want them to navigate your course.

Here’s one way to do it 

• Use a share setting on your syllabus so that students can leave comments on your syllabus. Ask them what they’re most and least looking forward to in your class this quarter or what needs more detail, clarification in class.
• Quiz students on your syllabus assignments and policies. Not feeling the quiz idea? Call it a scavenger hunt so it’s perceived as something they’ll have fun doing.
• Put students into groups on the first or second day of class and have them generate a list of important aspects of your syllabus and questions they may have.
• Walk through your Camino course page during the first week to show students how it’s  organized and where to find important information.
• Create a video of you navigating the course on Camino and let them know how and where you’d like them to access different information.

Additional Resources

• Loom is a free screen capture and short video service that allows you to record a video with your screen. This can be an excellent way to share a walk through of your course site with your students.
• The Canvas (Camino) Community is a place where users share resources, tools, and experiences in developing an engaging Camino course site.

DID YOU DO IT?

Let us know how it went? We would love to hear your feedback about how you implemented today’s Tuesday Teaching Tip in your classroom. Click here to fill out our 3-question survey.

WANT TO READ A LITTLE MORE?

• Faculty Collaborative DRT page on Orienting Students
• ACUE Welcoming Took Kit Syllabus Activities
• ACUE Guide to Syllabus Activities (2020)

This week’s Tuesday Teaching Tip was prepared by Justin Boren and Patti Simone on behalf of the Faculty Collaborative.

Missed a teaching tip? Read them all here:

• Teaching Tip #1 - Reflection (January 30, 2024)
• Teaching Tip #2 - Mid-Course Evaluation (February 6, 2024)
• Teaching Tip #3 - Beyond Think-Pair-Share (February 13, 2024)
• Teaching Tip #4 Grading–Good for them and good for you? (February 20, 2024)
• Teaching Tip #5 - Inclusive Teaching (February 27, 2024)
• Teaching Tip #6 - Mindfulness and Self Care (March 5, 2024)
• Teaching Tip #7 - Syllabus Design
• Teaching Tip #8 - Assignment Design

UPCOMING EVENT

Do you provide formal or informal mentoring for your faculty colleagues? Want to learn more about recent research and good practices on this topic? Join us for a lunch discussion on April 9th. 

And check out our full calendar of CAFEs and other Faculty Development and Faculty Collaborative events.