Announcements
If you would like to explore ideas and principles for good course design—either because you'd like to tweak or redesign a course you have taught previously or because you'd like to design a new course—we encourage you to utilize a Canvas resource called (Re)Design Your Course…
iClicker Cloud is a free in-class student response system that provides instant feedback to instructors. It can be used to promote active learning through low-stakes knowledge checks and polls. iClickers can also be used for taking in-person attendance based on geolocation.
iClicker Cloud is synced with Canvas’ roster and…
Upcoming Training Sessions
Instructors will learn the core functionalities of a Canvas course site. We will leave time for Q&A at the end. The session includes:
- Assistant in Instruction (AI)
- Faculty
- Instructional Staff
Looking for a tool to administer and grade paper-based assessments more efficiently and consistently? With Gradescope you can collect handwritten responses, including equations, formulas, or drawings, and have multiple graders work simultaneously. In this session, we will provide you with an overview of Gradescope and recommended workflows. We will leave time for Q&A at the end. This session includes:
- Assistant in Instruction (AI)
- Faculty
- Instructional Staff
This training is customized for AIs who are new (or relatively new) to Canvas and would like to review the core functionalities of a Canvas course site, with a focus on tasks that AIs are often asked to do. We will leave time for Q&A at the end. This session includes:
Canvas Information
Support: The McGraw Center supports teaching teams in multiple ways. Our instructional designers offer individualized assistance and consultations; we host training sessions for faculty, teaching assistants, and administrative staff; and we also respond to questions at canvas@princeton.edu.
Resources: We have created a set of guides to teaching with Canvas, which supplements our Field Guide to Canvas.
Blackboard: Blackboard is no longer available for teaching, although faculty, staff, and students will continue to have archival access to the last 7 years of courses. Read more: Blackboard Archive Mode.
Faculty Spotlights
Using Gradescope last fall revolutionized the exam grading process for MOL 345. Whether the exams were in person or online, Gradescope made grading faster, more consistent, and more transparent.
Canvas provides a one-stop platform to create and administer writing assignments. My students submit their work and do peer reviews on Canvas. Not having to email back and forth to share Word attachments saves precious time.
I found Ed Discussion useful. In the large applied mathematics class that I teach, Ed served as a discussion tool and question and answer tool for students, in a format everyone can see.
I use Hypothesis to engage students with the text in advance and to have a better sense of the themes we will address during the readings’ discussion. It helps to identify passages that we wish to spend more time on, to structure the class, and prepare additional material in advance.
I used Mentimeter to create my lecture slides for my large introduction to moral philosophy class in the fall, and I am using it again this semester to create the lecture slides for my smaller environmental ethics class.
I use iClicker in my class for attendance and to check student understanding. In every class, I ask one or two multiple-choice questions to determine if students understand the concepts presented. Since this is to gauge their understanding, I don’t penalize them for incorrect answers.
Once you get to know your way around Canvas, the day-to-day management of a class is, at least in my experience, much smoother and quicker (than in Blackboard).
