Research Guides: Start Strong: Build Your Online Course: 2. Putting It Together

Ready for the Semester?

Get Ready!

Try our checklists with detailed recommendations to help you stay on track while your prepare your courses.

Are you on schedule for the semester? Review the Preparing & Managing Your Blackboard Course Space timeline.
Are you are a Blackboard and online teaching expert? Try Housecleaning for Your Copied Course.
Do you teach face-to-face in the classroom? Facing Next Semester: Prepare Your Face-to-Face Course is for you.
Developing a new course? Start with Moving In: Prep Your New Course.

Preparing & Managing Your Blackboard Course Space
Are you on schedule for the semester? Starting four weeks before the semester begins, and counting down, the Preparing & Managing Your Blackboard Course Space checklist breaks down the tasks needed to prepare your course guide week by week.
Housecleaning for Your Copied Course
Are you are a Blackboard and online teaching expert? This is for you. You've done it before. You have old courses that you want to copy and reuse for the next semester. But, it takes more that just a course copy. It's easy to miss updates and course tweaks.
Prepare Your Face-to-Face Course
Do you teach face-to-face in the classroom If you use Blackboard to share course materials, give exams, manage snow days, or even receive student submissions, use the checklist to prep your Blackboard shell
Moving In: Prep Your New Course
Ready to prep your new course? Get started! Download and print the Moving In: Prep Your New Course Checklist with detailed recommendations to keep you on track..

Assessment: Measuring Student Learning

We assess in order to understand how and what our students are learning, and where there are still muddy points or confusion. Authentic assessment is built into your course or lesson right from the start, and is based on your learning outcomes. (See also Teaching Resources tab Language of Teaching section.)

Examples of Authentic Assessment:

Essays

Blogs

Podcasts

Case studies

Videos

Group projects

e-Portfolios

Peer reviews

Self-assessment

Research projects

Writing

Collaboration

Demonstration

Web sites

Exam

Quiz

Student-led discussion

Student-created TED Talk

Presentations
(via web conferencing or recorded)

From Efficient Ways to Check for Understanding

Resources

Sewell, J., Frith, K. H., & Colvin, M. M. (2010). Online assessment strategies: A primer. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 6(1), 297.

Comparing Summative and Formative Evaluation Approaches
From Tomorrow's Professor. "What differentiates formative evaluation from summative evaluation is the role of feedback obtained; this feedback enables instructors to modify instructional activities midstream in light of their effectiveness, impact, and value."
Formative and Summative Assessments
Definitions of formative and summative assessments with examples and recommended strategies from The Yale Center for Teaching and Learning.
56 Assessment Examples
A list of creative options for formative assessment. They work for all ages of students.

Every Teachers Guide to Assessment
Provides a list of assessment types, question types, delivery methods,and diagnostic assessment idea.

Learning Activities

Module Interaction Worksheet
What will students DO to learn

Learn how to develop an engaging assignment and select instructional content that builds students' critical thinking skills. This example draws on Ken Bain's book, What the Best College Teachers Do.

Leading Classroom Discussions
Skip the 50 minute lecture! Break it up with mini-lectures (topically focused 15 minute presentations). Then...talk about it using a structured approach.

Syllabus & Schedule

A syllabus is so much more than a list of rules, assignments, and dates. A syllabus can a be a learning tool. The articles below offer some up-to-date and creative takes on making the syllabus informative and engaging, as well as a point of reference for the entire semester.

*Your school may have a preferred template and standardized language. Be sure to ask first.

How to Turn Your Syllabus into an Infographic

The 3 Essential Functions of Your Syllabus, Part I

The 3 Essential Functions of Your Syllabus, Part II

How To Create a Syllabus: Advice Guide This article is long but rich in advice.

Syllabus Design

Selecting Content

Identifying Quality Course Materials
Read 7 criteria for selecting highly quality instructional materials.

Are You Assigning Too Much or Too Little? Estimating Student Workload
Learn techniques for estimating student homework hours. Later, ask students for feedback on the workload.
7 Things You Should Know About Microlectures
"Microlectures" are short recordings on a single topic. They may be used in any learning setting.
Open Education Resources (OERs)
Learn about Open Education Resources (OREs) materials and how they can enhance your teaching and lower costs for students. Be sure to download the resources.
Creating and Using Podcasts Across the Disciplines
Podcasts let your students listen to micro-lectures "on the go", and come ready to discuss in the classroom and primed for the full lecture.

Forms of Assessment - Assignments

There are many types of assessment. Choosing which one to use depends upon the type of learning and what you are assessing. We've included a few resources for some of the more difficult or less common assessments.

Projects
- Project Based Learning
  The website is your handbook to developing a real-world project that develops deep knowledge, critical thinking, and creativity.
- Problem Based Learning
  A student-centered model of problem solving based on inquiry. Learn the 6 steps to developing the project.
Videos
Presentations
Papers
Quizzes
- 5 Tips for Using Multiple-Choice Tests to Bolster Learning
  A well-written multiple-choice question can be a very effective assessment tool. These 5 recommendations will help you focus and support student learning as well.
- Testing - It's Not Just for Assessment
  These 6 learning benefits frame testing in a new light.
Recordings/Podcasts
- Four Mistakes I Made When Assigning Podcasts
  Creating a podcast may be daunting for some. Help your students by avoiding these four instructor mistakes when you assign the project.
- Project Audio: Teaching Students How to Produce Their Own Podcasts
  Learn step-by-step how to develop, implement, and support student podcast projects. (PDF available below)
Journals
- Assignment Type: Reflective Journal
  Connecting new knowledge and experiences with previous is core to learning. Journal assignments are an informal structure that let students explore those connections through reflective writing.
Charts
Maps
Infographics
- The Power of Infographics in Online Education
  An infographic assignment can support thoughtful analysis and creative problem-solving. An effective infographic concisely communicates complex information that requires a deep understanding in order to create one.

Project Audio: Teaching Students How to Produce Their Own Podcasts
see description above

Rubrics are fast and easy to use. Simply evaluate the student work against the rubric’s qualitative statements and assign the associated points. The feedback is “built in”. Develop your own or use one of the many rubrics found online. Build your rubric in Blackboard and it’s ready to use. Share it with your students in advance to set expectations and supply structure.

Sample Rubrics Packet
Download these rubric examples from Introduction to Rubrics: An Assessment Tool to Save Grading Time, Convey Effective Feedback, and Promote Student Learning
Common Rubric Mistakes to Watch Out For
If you are using a grading rubric, make it easy to build and easy to use. Remember, rubrics don't "give the answers"; they support student learning.

AAC&U VALUE Rubrics
"VALUE (Valid Assessment of Learning in Undergraduate Education) is a campus-based assessment approach developed and lead by AAC&U as part of its Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) initiative. [...] Teams of faculty and other educational professionals from institutions across the country—two- and four-year, private and public, research and liberal arts, large and small—developed rubrics for sixteen Essential Learning Outcomes that all students need for success in work, citizenship, and life."
A College Professor’s Experience with Rubrics from Research to Practice
"Heidi Goodrich Andrade’s “Teaching with Rubrics: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” is a short article from College Teaching. In it she explains several types of rubrics, the benefits, downsides, and potential problems..."

What Grading System Can I Use?
This resource discusses when and how to use points or percentages.
10 Tips on More Effective and Efficient Grading
Learn ten tips to stay on top of your grading.
How to Grade Faster in 2020
Another view on efficient grading from an instructor who eschews rubrics.
Grading Faster and Smarter
This article is written for teaching assistants, but offers good advice for any instructor.
Grading Student Work
This article from Vanderbilt University includes:
* What purposes do grades serve?
* Developing grading criteria
* Making grading more efficient
* Providing meaningful feedback to students
* Maintaining grading consistency in multi-sectioned courses
* Minimizing student complaints about grading

Distributing Points and Percentages Across Assignments and Activities
How much is this paper or exam "worth"? Surprisingly, the answer to this question affects your students' learning and communicates the importance of the assignment.

How Are You Doing?

Mid-Semester Student Feedback
How do you know if your teaching is effective? Use a student feedback survey to learn what your students think. For example, are they happy with the course, confused about a concept, frustrated with information, or satisfied with your support? Use a mid-semester survey. You'll discover your what you are "doing right" and what "needs improvement". Use this to adjust the course when possible and to revise next semester's course.

Falling into Place

You have a course on paper -- now, how do you deliver it to your students? Move along to the "3. Engaging Your Students" tab for advice and guidelines in how you interact with your class.