Teaching Excellence: A Blog
First day jitters! (September, 2023 )
Welcome back, Business Badgers! I can’t think of a more exciting time than the beginning of a new school year. Growing up, my parents always took my picture by a tree in front of our house on the first day of school. Except for a few years during my undergraduate days, I kept up that tradition wherever I lived. This is a picture of me on the first day of my final year of coursework during my doctoral degree. You can see how excited I was! Now, a “few” years later, I am here with all of you, ready for a fresh start in my first academic year at WSB.
We’re all familiar with the importance of “firsts”; our first steps, a first date, first impressions, the first day of class or at a new job. Firsts can be filled with excitement as we explore new horizons and meet new people. But firsts can also cause anxiety and fear. Fear of the unknown, anxiety that we might commit a faux pas or won’t know what to do in a new environment. [Yep, as I sit here writing my very first blog post for an audience who are mostly strangers to me (for now). First day jitters, check!] While I am sure some of you are having these feelings, we can be certain that some of our students are as well. Despite this conflict of emotions, I think the best thing we can do is to embrace them. Recognize that uncertainty is inevitable and go forward, albeit cautiously, together.
Speaking of first impressions, let me take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Karin Spader, with the Teaching, Learning, & Assessment team here at the WSB. I earned my Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, right here at UW-Madison. My research interests are designing online courses as engaged, participatory learning environments and more generally, understanding how learning communities flourish in online courses. I have a long background in higher education with a M.S. in Experimental Psychology and a M.A. in Sociology; I taught undergraduate courses in both disciplines (and more) for seven years before returning for my doctorate. Throughout the pandemic I supported the continuity of instruction efforts and facilitated many, many webinars and online micro-courses to help instructors across campus move to a remote learning experience (perhaps you attended one of my sessions). Today, I am your Associate Director of Professional Programming. My main job will be offering teaching and learning programs that will help you create and deliver quality learning experiences for your students, but not before I better understand your needs. More on that later.
If you are reading this blog, you are already aware that one of our team’s first big changes is revamping our website. What was formerly the “Teaching & Learning Toolkit” is now “A Toolkit for Teaching Excellence”. Although not a major change it is significant because it suggests a broader goal, that of distinction. As one of the oldest business schools in the U.S. there is a long history here of innovation and striving for excellence. We seek to continue that tradition by responding to the modern challenges of the college classroom, whether it is undergraduate or graduate, online or in-person. This website is only one of the ways our team provides support for your teaching. Here you can find self-serve resources about course design, instructional media, teaching strategies, and our efforts to assess the ever-changing landscape of teaching and learning at WSB with our assessment team. This fall we will have programming on improving student mental health, Universal Design for Learning, and how to facilitate quality discussions (regardless of modality). In the future we will offer more programming with your input. There will be a variety of ways to give us feedback, so be on the lookout for that. For now, you should always feel free to leave comments on my blog posts. I plan to post new entries every month, or whenever something creative or innovative is happening that you can all benefit from.
Okay, let’s turn back to what you need to be effective in your teaching. Since we are just about to start a new semester, I thought the most timely advice I could offer would be about starting a course off strong. These tips work regardless of modality (online or in-person) although they may be designed and delivered a little differently (maybe not). You could use one or all of them, but they each have their own impact.
3 Teaching Techniques to start your semester strong:
Welcome message
About a week before your class starts, send out a personalized email message to your students. Show your personality and provide students with a brief snapshot of what your course will be like. This isn’t a syllabus, instead it should serve as an introduction to your students and a roadmap for what is to come (e.g., course style, major projects, key outcomes/takeaways). Your welcome message should get students excited for the semester ahead!
Module 0 (zero)
Even if you aren’t teaching a fully online course, you are most likely going to be using Canvas. The orientation module, or Module 0, is your chance to clarify participation expectations, technology use, assignment submission processes, etc. You might do these things verbally on the first day of class, but there is so much information students are receiving that first week it can really help to permanently record that information within your Canvas course. Whenever students have questions, they will know that they can refer back to the module for clarification. If you are teaching a fully online course, you might also include a video introduction and course walkthrough so students can see your face and hear your voice. This practice really helps increase teaching and social presence (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 1999).
We’ve put together a Module 0 template for you to use in your Canvas courses. There is information about campus-wide and WSB support available to students and it is fully editable. In fact, you will need to go through and make course-specific adjustments, but the layout and content placeholders are ready for your unique situations.
Community-building discussion
It doesn’t matter if you are online or in the classroom, we learn better when we learn with and from others. Furthermore, our students benefit from meeting new people in their college classes as they form lasting professional networking relationships. So, this practice intentionally helps students get to know each other. I encourage you to set up a Canvas discussion (or other tool like Padlet or Flipgrid) and have students record introductions so that you, and other students, can revisit them as needed. This is also a great way to organize meaningful groups if you are planning group projects in your course. Groups always work more effectively when the members have something in common.
Here are three easy prompts to include in your intro discussion:
- Introduce yourself! Name, major, where you grew up (optional).
- What is something that makes you happy? It really could be anything and gives students flexibility in their responses, but really allows others to learn about them.
- How does your career path relate to this course? This prompt encourages students to find a personal connection to the course (which aids learning) and helps you better understand your students.
These strategies will help you create a more inclusive classroom as you improve the structure of your course and foster community from the start. Students know what to expect, where to find support, and feel welcomed. I hope you find them inspirational and useful.
Alright, that’s it…for now! On behalf of the Teaching, Learning, and Assessment @ WSB team, I want to welcome you to the new “Toolkit for Teaching Excellence”. I hope you will take time to explore the new layout, become acquainted with our various units and teammates, and familiarize yourself with the resources we are continuing to develop and working on adding to. If you can not find what you are looking for you are always welcome to submit a Service Request and you will be connected with the right person for your needs. We hope to see you at our fall 2023 programming and are excited to embark on a new semester, Together Forward.
~ Karin