Crafting Space for Student Belonging Part III: Building a Better Syllabus

by Jeff Rients

One of the most important tools available to instructors, especially at the start of the semester, is the syllabus. A typical syllabus is jam-packed with useful information about the course, such as the meeting time and location, instructor contact information, required materials, assignment descriptions, grading breakdowns, and various policies. All of this information is extremely useful for succeeding in the course, which is why we tend to become grumpy when students don’t read the syllabus as thoroughly or refer to it as often as we would like.

However, the syllabus isn’t purely informational in nature; it is are also rhetorical. That is to say, your syllabus sets the tone for the course. Students’ emotional relationship with the course and the instructor impacts their learning. And with just a little revising, we can make our syllabi an instrument for establishing a positive bond between students and our courses/ourselves. The five key moves we can make are cultivating a growth mindset, instilling a sense of belonging, demonstrating care, valuing diversity, and normalizing challenges.

Growth Mindset

It is important that students understand that your course is not designed to winnow the natural talents from the undeserving. Rather you want to communicate that your course is a journey that can be completed by any student who is willing both to put in the work and take instructor feedback seriously. Places in your syllabus where you can emphasize this growth mindset in your syllabus include:

  • If the course lists any prerequisite courses, add some information on where students can go to refresh themselves on key concepts from the previous course.
  • Where you list office hours and/or other academic support (such as the Student Success Center), explain that taking advantage of these opportunities is a normal and expected part of the learning process.
  • In your grading or assessment section, describe how the feedback you provide is designed to help students succeed at the course. Encourage them to read all feedback carefully and contact you if they do not understand any of it.

For more on incorporating a growth mindset in your classroom practice, see this prior EDvice Exchange post.

Sense of Belonging

Although all the actions described in this blog post will contribute to students’ sense of belonging and consequently improve their chances of success in your course, you can start to build a sense of belonging directly in your syllabus with just a few simple moves. Consider the following:

  • Explicitly welcome the students to the course. Imagine the first page of the syllabus as an invitation to the learning party you are throwing for them.
  • Include an instructor bio where you share your own trepidations or struggles with the course subject as well as your love for the material.
  • Include a section such as Tip for Success in which you tell students directly that feeling like they don’t belong in the class is a common reaction to encountering difficulty in the course. Assure them that although these feelings are normal, that putting in the work needed and seeking out help can help overcome both the difficulties and the alienating emotions.

Care

Students are more likely to persevere through difficulties if they know that their instructor is their ally, not their antagonist. We can demonstrate an attitude of care towards our students with the following moves:

  • Where you list your contact information, add a note explicitly inviting students to reach out to you whenever they have a question about the course.
  • Create a general purpose discussion board on Canvas for students, inviting them to crowdsource answers to any queries posted there. 
  • If you have a TA, make sure to include their name, contact information, and a note explaining their role in helping the students succeed in the course.

Include links to resources such as the Student Success Center, Cherry Pantry, Wellne,ss Resource Center, and Tuttleman Counseling Services.

Valuing Diversity

Students from minoritized groups are often at highest risk of feeling like they don’t belong in our classrooms. We need all our students to feel welcome in our courses, not just those who are most like us in terms of demographics and life experiences. To signal that you value diversity in your classroom, try these moves:

  • Include your pronouns, and those of your TAs, if any.
  • Invite students who have names or pronouns that have not been updated in the record to share them with you. (For more on pronouns, see this EDvice Exchange post.)
  • If you include a section on classroom discourse rule and course climate, specifically note that you value differing opinions and the input of people with different backgrounds and experiences. Or better yet, spend some class time working with the students on the rules for productive exchanges of ideas and opinions.
  • Acknowledge that more and more students have caregiving responsibilities in your attendance policy.

Normalizing Challenges

Students’ sense of belonging can be threatened when they encounter difficulties in your course. What should be considered an opportunity for learning and growth at best and a temporary setback at worst can be over-interpreted as a sign that they have signed up for the wrong class, that they are in the wrong major, or even that they are not cut out for college at all. These students don’t yet understand that struggle is a part of the learning process. You can normalize the challenges of your course in your syllabus in the following ways:

  • Rebrand office hours as Student Drop-In Hours and explain that coming to the instructor for support is a normal activity for successful students.
  • Emphasize in the section on assignments and/or grading that feedback is meant to inform students how to improve their learning and invite them to come discuss any feedback they do not understand.
  • In the section listing the textbook and/or course readings, add a note explaining that struggling with the course readings is a common student experience and invite students to reach out to you or the TAs for help.

At the CAT we recommend reviewing your current syllabi with these five concepts in mind. Are you already doing some of this work? Great! But consider how you might incorporate the others. We need our students to read the syllabus and understand that they are embarking on a great learning journey, but also that they have friends and allies who will be with them along the way.

Jeff Rients, Ph.D., is Associate Director of Teaching and Learning Innovation at Temple University’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching.

Crafting Space for Student Belonging Part II: Using Canvas to Promote Belonging in Undergraduate Courses

By Jonah Chambers and Elizabeth White Vidarte

Imagine it’s your first visit to Philadelphia where you are meeting an important client for a new job. The only address you’ve been given is “The Rocky statue on the Parkway,” so after pulling off I-676, you struggle to figure out where to go once you’ve exited onto The Ben Franklin Parkway. Eventually, you ask a kind stranger who suggests you try navigating to the Philadelphia Art Museum, but following “Art Museum Drive” takes you to a tiny parking lot overlooking the Schuylkill river (a river,  you’ve since discovered with some light embarrassment, that is not pronounced the “Shoo-lee-kill”). You’re clearly at the Art Museum — a large banner proclaims, “Art Splash,” and the pillars and entryway seem familiar from Google Images — but you’re no closer to finding the boxer of 80s legend or your new client. You start to worry, with a vague sense of gloom, that this new job may not be in the cards for you. 

As silly as this scenario may be, it’s not entirely unlike what a brand new college student may feel, to greater or lesser extremes. Walking into a classroom, most students know from twelve-plus years of experience where to sit, who to talk to, and where the professor will likely be standing. But everything else about college may be utterly bewildering (not to mention an online course!). So how do we get our students to feel capable, excited, and welcomed in our learning spaces — instead of lost, confused, and checked-out? 

We know from the research (Strayhorn 2018) that belonging matters a great deal when it comes to student engagement and success. By intentionally structuring your Canvas course, you can promote clarity, inclusivity, and motivation—all of which contribute to students feeling they belong. Here are some practical strategies to help you use Canvas effectively to support belonging in your courses.

1. Design for Clarity and Accessibility

A well-organized course structure makes it easier for students to navigate your content and understand expectations. This reduces anxiety and sets the stage for deeper engagement.

  • Organize content and activities into Modules: In Canvas, Modules are more than just the primary way to organize course content into structured units: they contribute to a sense of belonging for students by providing a clear path through the material, promoting consistency, and creating a feeling of being part of a cohesive learning journey.
  • Organize your modules in a linear progression: As Michelle Miller emphasizes in Minds Online, “Structure is the enemy of procrastination” (2014, p. 214). Arrange your modules chronologically, such as by week or topic, and ensure each includes all required content, activities, and assignments with clear due dates.
  • Provide a Tour of Your Course: A short video tour of your Canvas course can familiarize students with the layout, assignments, deadlines, and resources. This simple step reduces confusion and helps students navigate your course effectively.
  • Provide clear instructions: Break down tasks into manageable steps and use descriptive headings so students can easily find what they need.
  • Ensure accessibility: Use Canvas’s accessibility checker to ensure your course materials are usable by all students, including those with disabilities. Consider font size, color contrast, and the use of alt text for images.

2. Personalize Your Presence

Students feel more connected when they see their instructor as an approachable, real person. Canvas offers several tools to help you build rapport:

  • Welcome video: Kick off the course with a short video introducing yourself, your teaching philosophy, and what excites you about the course. Videos you record in Panopto will automatically generate captions and can be easily embedded in Canvas. The CAT’s Ready, Set, Panopto! self-enroll course lets you learn about Panopto at your own pace.
  • Announcements: Use announcements not only for logistics but to celebrate student achievements, offer encouragement, or share relevant opportunities and current events. You can even use the availability dates to pre-populate your course with timely announcements, such as a weekly announcement that students can expect to appear every Monday at 9am outlining how the content for this week builds upon that of last week’s.
  • Discussion board participation: Engage with students in Canvas Discussions by responding to their posts, posing follow-up questions, and connecting their ideas to course concepts or other students’ ideas. If the number of students in your sections makes this impossible, message a smaller number of students directly each week, offering thoughts and feedback on their contributions, ensuring every student receives at least one such message each semester. Consider writing a final post to the discussion bringing together common threads, highlighting points of divergence, and posing further questions that can be taken up in class.
  • Multimedia comments: Use Canvas’s built-in media recorders in SpeedGrader to provide feedback in audio or video form to add a personal touch. Captions are also now auto-generated for video comments in SpeedGrader.

3. Foster Peer-to-Peer Connections

Belonging doesn’t come just from student-instructor relationships; peer interactions matter too. Use Canvas to facilitate collaboration and community building.

  • Introduce icebreaker activities: In the first week, create a discussion prompt that allows students to share something about themselves—their academic interests, hobbies, or goals.
  • Leverage group work: Use Canvas Groups to facilitate collaborative projects or study groups. Assign roles to ensure everyone contributes and feels valued.
  • Create a Q&A board: Set up a forum where students can ask and answer questions, fostering a sense of shared responsibility and support.

4. Connect Course Content to Student Goals

Students are more likely to engage when they see how the material connects to their personal and professional aspirations. Canvas can help you make these connections explicit.

  • Preview learning outcomes: At the start of each module, include a brief overview of what students will learn and why it matters.
  • Reflect on relevance: Encourage students to reflect on how course topics relate to their experiences, interests, or career goals. Use discussion boards or short journal assignments for this purpose. Consider embedding a question that prompts reflection on relevance into quizzes and exams.
  • Alternate Content with Assessments & Activities: Layer content delivery with activities. After each new segment of content, provide opportunities for students to apply their knowledge through discussions, quizzes, or collaborative projects. This multimodal approach will deepen learning.

5. Support Student Progress

A supportive course structure keeps students on track and engaged.

  • Schedule a Clear, Reasonable, and Consistent Workload with Due Dates: Plan assignments and activities that align with the course’s credit hours, and provide sufficient time for students to complete their work. Set consistent deadlines—e.g., initial discussion posts due Tuesdays at 9 PM and replies due Fridays at 9 PM—to help students develop routines.
  • Guide Students Sequentially through Modules: When you want students to progress sequentially through Modules, consider using Requirements within the module to require students to complete one activity or task before moving on to the next. This will help keep students on track and scaffold their learning.
  • Check in with Your Students: Offer mid-course surveys to gather feedback and monitor student progress using Canvas Analytics. These tools allow you to track login frequency, page views, and assignment submissions. Early interventions, such as personalized emails, can help struggling students re-engage.
  • Offer multiple ways to engage: Provide content in various formats—videos, readings, and interactive elements—to appeal to different learning preferences.

By thoughtfully using Canvas to structure your course, personalize your presence, and build connections, you can create a learning environment where students feel they belong. Supporting students with clear structures, regular check-ins, and inclusive practices fosters motivation and success. Start with small changes, and watch how your students’ engagement grows!

References

Strayhorn, T.L. (2018). College Students’ Sense of Belonging: A Key to Educational Success for All Students (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315297293

 

Elizabeth White Vidarte, Ph.D., is Online Learning Specialist at Temple University’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching.

Jonah Chambers, M.A., is Senior Educational Technology Specialist at Temple University’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching.

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Annual Conference recap

by Jeff Rients and Emily Barber

On January 8th and 9th over 250 faculty members from Temple and surrounding schools gathered at the Howard Gittis Student Center for the 23rd Annual Faculty Conference on Teaching Excellence, hosted by the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and co-sponsored by Temple Libraries, Information Technology Services, the General Education Program and the Office of Digital Education.

large conference room with tables filled with conference attendees and Tom Tobin at the front of the room

Our keynote address was provided by Dr. Thomas J. Tobin, one of the founders of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Teaching, Learning, and Mentoring, and an internationally recognized scholar, author, and speaker on technology-mediated education. Dr. Tobin’s presentation was “Three Fabulous Design and Teaching Ideas that Take Work off Your Plate” and focused on issues of access to materials, assessment plans, and engagement strategies.

workshop attendees watching stage with 2 presenters

One of the Wednesday workshop sessions was “From Engagement to Empowerment: Designing Courses That Inspire Lifelong Learning”, facilitated by Rebecca Petre Sullivan and Victor Rizzo from the Lewis Katz School of Medicine.

multiple people discussing poster

Here Kristina DeVoe from University Libraries and Laura Zaylea from Media Studies and Production discuss their poster, Faculty-Librarian Collaboration in Designing Student-Centric Assignments. Kristina and Laura went on to receive the second place award in the poster competition, as voted by the conference attendees. Jessica Babcock in Math took third place with her poster, Did the Pandemic Change the Way We Teach? Yes- but not for the reasons you might think! and the overall winner was Rebecca Rivard from Villanova University with Creating of Digital Escape Games in Powerpoint.

people discussing stickie notes on large sticky pads set up throughout the room

Jingwei Wu from the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics led a hands-on workshop titled “Beyond the Lecture: Techniques for Energizing Student Engagement through Thoughtful Interactions in the Classroom”.

President Fry addressing the conference room with microphone

Day two of the conference began with John Fry, Temple’s new President, offering some kind and encouraging remarks for faculty. Thank you, President Fry!

Jose Bowen presenting to filled room with attendees and tables

The plenary session was led by Dr. José Antonio Bowen, one of the real superstars of teaching and learning in higher education. Dr. Bowen’s presentation was called “Teaching Change with a New 3Rs” and focused on the role of relationships, resilience, and reflection in the classroom.

Man presenting with laptop at small table for lightning talk 11

The final event of the conference was the Lightning Talks session. Here Sezgin Ciftci from the College of Public Health quickly explains his intriguing concept “Playful Mistakes: Teaching Through Failure and Stupidity to Increase Engagement.”

We want to thank the many, many people who contributed to the success of the conference: the keynote and plenary speakers, the co-sponsors, the workshop and breakout session facilitators, the poster exhibitors, the lightning round presenters, the Student Center event staff, the caterers, and the CAT staff. And a special thank you to all the faculty who took 2 days out of their busy schedules to sharpen their pedagogical skills and thinking before the start of the semester. We hope to see you again next year!

And if you’ve never been to our Annual Faculty Conference on Teaching Excellence, please consider joining us in 2026. Temple faculty can register for free!

 

 

Jeff Rients is Associate Director of Teaching and Learning at Temple University’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching.

Emily Barber is Graphic and Digital Design Coordinator at Temple’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching.

Crafting Space for Student Belonging, a CAT Series, Part I: Designing Courses to Promote Belonging

by Stephanie Laggini Fiore, Ph.D

Anyone who has spent time with me has heard me say that I’m bionic. I had my knees replaced in 2018 and now have titanium in my body that sets off alarms at the airport. I’ll take it! The TSA can pat me down anytime they want if it means I can live without the chronic pain I experienced for decades. During that painful time, especially in the latter stages of my condition when climbing stairs was particularly difficult, curb cuts in sidewalks were a lifesaver. As was intended when they were created post-WWII to provide a more accessible environment for people with disabilities, curb cuts allowed me to maintain mobility, making it easier to cross streets while walking around town. But here’s the thing: I still use curb cuts and I’ll bet you do too. As Angela Glover Blackwell explains: “Then a magnificent and unexpected thing happened. When the wall of exclusion came down, everybody benefited—not only people in wheelchairs. Parents pushing strollers headed straight for curb cuts. So did workers pushing heavy carts, business travelers wheeling luggage, even runners and skateboarders.” Blackwell is describing universal design, which allows better access to people with a range of abilities and needs. Similarly, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an educational framework that provides better access to learning for people with a wide variety of abilities and needs. For 40 years, CAST has been working to educate faculty on the power of UDL to create more inclusive learning environments, ones where courses are designed to value every learner, thereby catalyzing student belonging. 

Why is belonging important? Studies report a variety of benefits that a sense of belonging provides for students, including academic engagement and motivation, academic achievement, retention, and positive effects on well-being, among others. Our pedagogical practices play a very real role in improving student belonging, which is why we have created Crafting Space for Student Belonging: A CAT Series. We have chosen UDL to begin this series because belonging starts with course design. By eschewing a one-size-fits-all approach and instead following UDL principles in designing your course, you will lower barriers to learning, allow students to have greater agency in their learning, and increase students’ sense of belonging. 

The UDL 3.0 guidelines encourage us to design our courses by considering how we can provide multiple means of engagement, representation and action & expression. Much as with UDL in the built environment, a UDL-designed course will provide support to students with a range of abilities and needs. For instance, many consider captions of video content to be a necessity for students with hearing impairments. But other students may use captions to move through a video more quickly or slow down, repeat, and listen again. And some may use captions because they are watching the video in a space that is not private, where they cannot turn on the sound. I’m guessing you’ve used captions when you watch TV for greater clarity of dialogue. (For me, the Scottish English in Shetland is hard to decipher, but I love that show – so captions it is!) Here are a few ideas for beginning to design a course according to UDL principles: 

Multiple Means of Engagement— the “why” of learning

Welcoming Interests & Identities:

  • Allow choice and autonomy wherever possible. Let students choose a research topic that connects with their interests or permit them to choose the mode of delivery that is most motivating for them.
  • Incorporate storytelling that allows students’ creativity and lived experiences to connect to content in the class.

Sustaining Effort & Persistence

  • Intentionally embed activities in your class that help students to connect with each other and form mutually-supportive networks.
  • Provide specific feedback that both recognizes the positive aspects of a student’s work and areas that need improvement. 
  • Message your belief that they can reach standards set for the course.

Emotional Capacity

  • Allow space for individual and group activities that encourage reflection.
  • Elevate the assets students bring to the class.
  • Develop classroom agreements on appropriate interactions in the classroom.

Multiple Means of Representation—the “what” of learning

Perception

  • Ensure that the materials for your course follow accessibility standards.
  • Review the materials and examples you use in your course to provide a more diverse representation of identities in them.

Language & Symbols

  • Use a variety of media beyond text for student access to content.
  • Clarify unfamiliar terms, vocabulary or references. Don’t assume that everyone in the class has the same background.

Building Knowledge

  • Have students use concept mapping to visualize connections among ideas in the course.
  • Point out key concepts in your course, or have students reflect on the key concepts they believe they have learned and provide feedback.

Multiple Means of Action and Expression—the “how” of learning

Interaction

  • Use the accessibility checker in Canvas to ensure that your course materials are accessible.
  • Design course requirements to allow for flexibility, wherever possible.

Expression & Communication

  • Scaffold major assignments, gradually releasing scaffolds as skill develops.
  • Allow students to use a variety of media in order to demonstrate what they have learned.

Strategy Development

  • Clarify course and assignment goals. 
  • Provide opportunities for students to reflect on their progress and learning.

If you click through the UDL 3.0 Guidelines, you will find so many more ideas. It can feel a bit overwhelming! So here’s an approach I recommend. Review the guidelines and conduct a self-assessment of your teaching practices. Where are you already enacting some of these principles? Where might you want to improve your practices? Then commit to one way in which you will improve your course design using UDL principles. Once you have successfully implemented that change, choose another, and so on. Incremental change is fine – the important thing is to get started! 

Remember that we at the CAT are here for you if you need assistance in how to implement practices that improve belonging.  

Coming up next in the Crafting Space for Student Belonging series:

This spring series on belonging will provide blogs and videos that describe practical ways for you to enact practices that lead to student belonging. Here’s what coming up this month:

  • January 21, 2025: CAT Tip video: Introducing the new UDL Guidelines
  • January 27, 2025: EdVice Exchange: Canvas design that encourages belonging
  • February 4, 2025: CAT Tip video: Using modules to organize your content in Canvas
 
Stephanie Laggini Fiore, Ph.D., is Associate Vice Provost and Senior Direct of Temple University’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching.

Post-Election Resources for Faculty

As human beings, ongoing global and national events—such as elections, wars, and political conflict—can significantly impact our emotions. Even if you do not teach a course directly related to current events, you may find that your students are discussing these issues with each other and want you to acknowledge what is happening and its impact on them and their communities. Whatever the outcome of this election, it will be on everyone’s minds, so preparing ourselves and our students for any moments of conflict and emotional intensity that may arise is helpful. 


The CAT has created a collection of election resources to assist you in planning for election day and the days following. Also available to you is the CAT Tip Video Series, Teaching in Tumultuous Times, which was created to provide concrete steps and strategies for preparing ourselves and our students for challenging conversations and hot moments. These include:

Begin the semester by setting the tone for your classroom. Dana walks you through some suggestions for doing just this.

Linda offers suggestions to help us think about how we might prepare ourselves for challenging conversations in the classroom by using the Hopes, Fears and Agreements activity to build community and set guidelines for interactions within our courses.

Knowing your triggers and what to do about them is important and so is building a community of support for yourself. Jeff outlines shat happens when we feel triggered and some things you might consider doing to work learn to recognize and handle those triggers.

Elizabeth summarizes and represents three ways one might slow things down when a conversation begins to get heated.

We all know that hot moments can happen in the classroom. In this video, Stephanie offers some tips for how to manage them and how to get your class back on track.

While we recommend taking a little time to review the resources above, we’ve also created a quick-start guide to managing hot moments: The Five Rs: Remind, Reflect, Regroup, Recess, Refer. Please take a moment to review these ideas. A few moments of preparation can make a difference in your class. As part of that preparation, make sure to have the Dean of Students Post-Election Resources webpage handy to provide resources to students who may need them.

Remember too that self-care is important at this time. We encourage you to find a community of people you can go to for support and perspective, as these events can impact your own well-being. The CAT will be hosting Drop-In Water Cooler sessions to provide space for open discussion and community with CAT consultants and your colleagues on the following dates (no registration required):

  • Thursday, November 7: 11:00-12:30 (Zoom
  • Friday, November 8 12:30-1:30 (TECH 107)
  • Monday, November 11: 11:00am-1:00pm (TECH 107)

As always, we invite you to connect with us at the CAT, where we are here to support you in person and online through 1-1 consults, open lab hours, and workshops.

As always, we invite you to connect with us at the the CAT, where we are here to support you in person and online through 1-1 consults, open lab hours, and workshops.

Beyond Jamboard: Top Collaborative Whiteboard Alternatives for Teaching

By Jonah Chambers

Whether you’re a current Jamboard user or looking to integrate new tools into your teaching, collaborative online whiteboards offer students a shared virtual space for brainstorming ideas, visualizing concepts, and engaging in group work. As Google plans to retire its popular Jamboard service on December 31, 2024, here are some excellent replacement whiteboarding tools to consider.

Zoom Whiteboard

For a Temple-supported option, Zoom Whiteboard stands out as an excellent choice. Although it can be used within Zoom meetings, Whiteboard can also be created and shared outside of meetings for use during in-person classes or for students to do work asynchronously. 

Zoom Whiteboard mirrors many essential features of Jamboard, such as posting digital Post-It notes for brainstorming and gathering quick feedback. Participants can also comment on each other’s posts and draw connecting lines between elements, which is ideal for diagramming and visualizing complex concepts. For group work, educators can create multiple pages, providing dedicated workspaces for each team. Another significant advantage of Zoom Whiteboard is the ability for creators to lock their content, preventing accidental deletions—an enhancement over Jamboard’s limitations.

If you’re interested in having your students use AI, Zoom has integrated its AI Companion tools directly into Whiteboard, allowing educators and students to generate content as a jumping-off point for further engagement or discussion. Its combination of features makes Zoom Whiteboard a robust tool for fostering engagement and creativity whether you are teaching in person, online, or asynchronously.

Miro

For educators seeking a more feature-rich experience, Miro presents a compelling alternative. While Temple does not provide support or licenses for this platform, educators can apply for a free Education Plan. Miro offers a wide array of functionalities, including the ability to post digital sticky notes, draw connections, mind map, embed images and videos, and create detailed diagrams, flowcharts, and wireframes.

One standout feature of Miro is its Frames tool, allowing users to organize boards into sections designated for different groups or different activities such as voting or brainstorming. The Presentation mode provides a structured approach for reviewing the fruits of group work or the outcomes of an activity with the entire class at the conclusion of a session.

Miro makes collaboration easy since students do not need individual accounts to participate. Educators can simply generate a link that allows anyone to interact with the board, similar to Google’s sharing features. For those who have previously used Jamboard, Miro also allows for the importation of existing Jamboard projects, ensuring that valuable work is preserved.

Padlet

Unlike the free-form environments of Jamboard, Zoom Whiteboard, or Miro, which can sometimes feel overwhelming due to their open layout, Padlet offers preset board layouts to help you effectively organize student contributions. For example, during a class debate where you ask students to offer supporting evidence or reasoning on a position, you can create distinct columns on the board for each position and ask students to contribute their ideas (using post it notes, audio, video, images and documents) in clearly defined sections. This structured method makes Padlet particularly valuable for facilitated discussions and activities that involve categorization.

While Temple does not support or hold a license with Padlet, free accounts enable users to create up to three Padlets. Once you’ve completed an activity, you can easily export these Padlets as images, allowing you to clear the board and recycle it for future classes or activities.

While the retirement of Jamboard is disappointing, we’re excited to share these alternatives that, in many cases, provide even more robust features and functionality. If you’d like to dive deeper into any of these tools or discuss how to integrate whiteboarding solutions into your teaching, feel free to schedule a one-on-one consultation or stop by one of our EdTech Labs.

 

Jonah Chambers works at Temple University’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching as Senior Educational Technology Specialist.

Strategies for Engaging in Discussions During Election Season

by DaVonti’ DeAngelo Haynes, PhD and Linda Hasunuma, PhD

Every four years, the presidential election season presents a unique opportunity for instructors to engage students in deep, meaningful, and transformative discussions about politics in our country and the world. However, the tensions and polarization that come with these elections can also create challenges in our classrooms, whatever the modality. This semester, it is highly likely that political topics and discussions will be part of your classroom environment, whether directly or indirectly related to the course content. To assist with navigating these instances effectively, instructors must employ strategies that foster critical thinking, encourage deep listening, and promote understanding across diverse perspectives. This blog post will provide you with practical tools and strategies for engaging students in these discussions during the election season.

As instructors at a diverse campus such as Temple University, we have a responsibility to cultivate informed and engaged students. Integrating election-related content into your course provides an opportunity for students to develop the skills necessary to be informed leaders and participate thoughtfully in civic life. However, teaching during an election season also requires sensitivity to the diverse backgrounds and perspectives that our students bring with them. Political discussions can quickly become contentious, and faculty must be prepared to manage these “hot moments” while maintaining a respectful and inclusive learning environment for everyone. Faculty must create a safe environment where all students feel comfortable sharing their views, while also ensuring that discussions remain respectful and focused on learning.

We encourage all instructors to think about how this election cycle and the results in November may impact your students emotionally and psychologically; they may have strong feelings, beliefs, attitudes, and reactions to course content and discussions. Acknowledging important current events and topics can help. 

Below are some helpful strategies for engaging in discussions about the election:

  • Set rules for course dialogue. In a structured dialogue, students are reminded to refrain from speaking without interrupting others and to focus their responses on the issue at hand and critiquing ideas rather than their peers. By creating guidelines together, students feel they have more of a stake in maintaining a respectful learning space.
  • Use discussion boards to have students think critically and reflect about their own values, lived experiences, and social responsibility. These activities not only engage students in higher-order thinking but also encourage them to contribute to the broader political discourse.
  • Ensure, don’t assume that your students have a foundational understanding of elections, such as the structure of the government, the electoral process, and current policy issues/topics.
  • Remind students about the importance of analyzing and understanding the different platforms of candidates and parties, comparing their policy proposals and considering their potential impact on them and other populations and communities. You may need to remind your students to focus on the policies and issues rather than solely focusing on the candidate. 
  • Bring current events into your discussions. Encourage students to introduce current events they’ve read about related to the election that connect to course materials or weekly topics.

Interfaith Philadelphia recommends a technique for engaging in dialogue on contentious issues which assigns roles to groups of 4 participants. One person is the storyteller or speaker and speaks for 2-3 minutes uninterrupted while the other three serve as listeners. Listeners may take notes and are assigned specific tasks: one listens for facts; another listens for feelings; and the third listens for values. After the speaker is finished, each listener shares what they heard with respect to facts, feelings, and values and then the whole group reflects on what they learned from the activity together. By explaining to students that the goal is not to find a solution or settle a debate but to listen for deeper understanding can help generate greater empathy for another’s perspective and lived experience, and strengthen our connection to one another.

Even with thought and care, contentious moments may still arise, however, and these moments can be challenging for students and you as the instructor, but they also have the potential to provide valuable opportunities for learning. In these instances, instructors should acknowledge the emotional intensity of the discussion then use techniques such as pausing the discussion to allow for reflection or reframing and redirecting the discussion to focus on the underlying issues and topics at hand. After these moments, we recommend providing your students with additional resources and readings to dive deeper into the issues. 

We also recognize, this election season may not only challenge our students, but also you! Please don’t feel as if you need to be a political expert or have the “perfect” responses to student questions and concerns related to the election or current events. In the coming weeks the Center for the Advancement of Teaching (CAT) and other university offices such as IDEAL will be posting additional tips and resources for teaching during the election and hosting workshops for faculty/instructors to attend. We hope you will join us at one of our workshops listed below or schedule a consultation with one of our educational developers if you seek further support and community around these teaching concerns during election season.

Center for the Advancement of Teaching’s 2024 Election Resource Guide

Temple Votes: An Informational Session (co-sponsored with Temple Votes) Wednesday, September 18, 3:00 – 4:00 PM, Online via Zoom | Details & Registration

Can We Really Talk? The Role of the Media on Class Discussions Involving Race, Religion, and Politics (co-sponsored with IDEAL) Wednesday, September 25, 3:00 – 4:30 PM, TECH 109 | Details & Registration

“The Psychological Drivers of Misinformation Belief and its Resistance to Correction,” A Light Reading Group on Why Misinformation Sticks and What To Do About It Tuesday, October 1, 2:00 – 3:00 PM, Online via Zoom | Details & Registration

Supporting Belonging and Student Mental Well-Being in the Classroom Wednesday, October 2, 3:00 – 4:00 PM, Online via Zoom | Details & Registration

Can We Really Talk? Political Polarization, the Presidential Election, and Preparing for Challenging Discussions (co-sponsored with IDEAL) Wednesday, October 23, 3:00 – 4:30 PM, TECH 109 | Details & Registration

DaVonti’ DeAngelo Haynes, PhD, MS, MSW is Assistant Professor at Temple University’s School of Social Work and Program Director for the Masters of Social Work degree.  

Linda Hasunuma, PhD serves as Associate Director of Inclusion Initiatives at Temple’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching.

Community and Connection at the CAT

by Stephanie Fiore, PhD

One of my favorite parts about the start of the new semester is seeing students, their families, and faculty colleagues return for fall classes. The energy on campus changes from summer sleepiness to the sparkle of a new semester. The feeling of promise is palpable and the sense of anticipation almost physical. I draw strength from this yearly renewal, even as I (like you) enter one of the busiest times of the year because the community is again brought back together and connections are reforged (or perhaps newly forged). I truly enjoy connecting with the new faculty and teaching assistants at New Faculty Orientation and TA Orientation. And I feel a deep joy at seeing our faculty friends as they return to our workshops or when I run into them on campus. There is something powerful about a handshake, hug, or bright smile upon seeing someone you haven’t seen in a while. 

In fact, it is that sense of community and connection that underpins everything we do at the CAT because it is only through discussions and brainstorming with our colleagues that we come to more elegant or more creative strategies for teaching our students (those new bright pennies that just arrived perhaps, or the ones who have already been with us) so that they all succeed. In fact, very busy faculty who put aside time to engage with what we offer at the CAT often comment that the time invested at the CAT re-energized them and made them feel supported by a community of colleagues. So while we all have responsibilities that get in the way of making time for connection and community, I encourage you to find at least one opportunity to join us for a workshop, drop into our spaces to work, or just sit in our lounge with a colleague and enjoy a chat and a coffee. 

This semester promises to be filled with opportunities for collaboration, connection and growth. The Center for the Advancement of Teaching is here to support you with a range of resources and programs designed to enhance your teaching practices, enrich the learning experience for your students, and increase your joy in teaching. We invite you to check out our in-person and virtual workshop offerings for the semester, where you will have the opportunity to broaden your teaching skills in conversation with colleagues from across the university. If you need assistance with Canvas, Zoom, or any other educational technology tools, please drop into one of our faculty workspaces, where our expert staffers are available (no appointment needed). For extended conversations about your teaching, both our pedagogy and educational technology experts are available for one-on-one consultations.

As higher education continues to evolve its response to the challenges and opportunities afforded by generative AI tools, the CAT continues to support you in this endeavor. Now might be a good time to review our Faculty Guide to AI, our blog series on the topic, as well as our AI syllabus advice and our guidance on AI notetakers in Zoom sessions. We’ll continue to update these offerings as well as provide AI-related workshops throughout the semester. The other major challenge of the semester is the upcoming elections. We will be rolling out a series of advice and programming aimed at how to handle hot moments and difficult conversations in your classroom. Please consider checking out our 2024 election resource guide and/or signing up for one of our Can We Really Talk? series of events.

We are committed to fostering an environment where faculty feel they have a community they can connect with at the CAT. So come find us, join us, call us, email us….we are here for you!

Regards,

Stephanie

    Stephanie Laggini Fiore, PhD is Associate Vice Provost & Senior Director of Temple’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching.

    Set for the Semester: Essential CAT Resources for Fall Teaching

    As you ready yourself and your courses for the start of the fall semester, we offer this resource round-up to help get you rolling.

    Preparing Your Syllabus

    The Fall 2024 Syllabus Guidance has been posted and includes sections on generative AI and the recording and distribution of recordings of class sessions. 

    Using Canvas

    Drop into one of our upcoming workshops on teaching with Canvas. If you’re new to Canvas, take our self-paced Ready, Set, Canvas course to get you up to speed. 

    Getting Ready for the Election

    Plan ahead by creating discussion guidelines and preparing for hot moments in the classroom with our Election Resource Guide.

    Teaching and Learning with Generative A.I.

    Visit our Faculty Guide to AI webpage.

    This EDvice Exchange blog post rounds up past posts on teaching and generative AI. Sample syllabus statements outlining ideas for your policy on generative AI can be found here

    CAT Services

    The Center for the Advancement of Teaching (CAT) offers an array of services and resources that are tailored to your teaching. Whether you teach in person or online, undergraduate or graduate students, small classes or large lectures, we are here to support your instructional needs. As you begin the 2024-2025 academic year, know that the CAT is here to help.

    CAT Technology Labs and Workspaces

    Visit us at the following locations for:

    • Drop-in expert assistance with your teaching and educational technology questions (no appointment necessary)
    • Quiet workspaces
    • Access to computers, scanners, and printers
    • Comfortable lounge area with complimentary coffee for informal discussions with colleagues

    Main Campus CAT: TECH Center (Bell Building), Suite 112

    Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:30am-5:00pm

    Health Sciences Campus CAT: Student Faculty Center, Room 200

    Hours: Monday through Friday: 8:30am-5:00pm 

    Ambler Campus CAT: Ambler Learning Center, Room 301

    Hours: Monday through Thursday: 8:30am-10:00pm; Friday: 8:30am-5:00pm

    Note: This self-service lab and workspace is for faculty use only. No CAT consultants are on site.

    Virtual Drop-in EdTech Lab: available online via Zoom. The virtual lab is staffed by our Educational Technology Specialists during our regular business hours. Visit our Educational Technology Labs and Workspaces page for access. 

    Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:30am-5:00pm.

    For more information about our locations, see our website

    Room Reservations

    The CAT offers meeting spaces for faculty and staff at our Main Campus location. Visit CATbooking to reserve time in one of the following spaces:

    • Room 107: Breakout Room (Capacity: 12)
    • Room 110A: Collaboration Room (Capacity: 5)
    • Room 112G: Consult Room (Capacity: 2)

    One-on-One Consultation Appointments

    If you would like uninterrupted, dedicated time with a CAT pedagogy or educational technology specialist, please visit CATbooking to schedule a one-hour in-person or virtual consultation. When making an appointment with a consultant, you will have the option to choose an in-person meeting at the Main Campus CAT or Health Sciences Campus CAT, or a virtual (Zoom) meeting. Within the locations, appointment times are categorized by consultation topics offered at the CAT. If the hours available in the booking system are not feasible for you, please email cat@temple.edu to arrange an alternate time. 

    Teaching Observations

    Whether you are implementing a new teaching strategy, trying to solve a teaching challenge, or simply would like to check in with a colleague in order to reflect on your teaching, the CAT offers a variety of services. 

    • Classroom Observations: Set up an observation of your in-person or virtual class
    • Mid-semester Instructional Diagnosis: A CAT specialist visits your class to gain student consensus on their learning experience, and deliver that feedback to you 
    • Course Design: Work with a pedagogy specialist to design a course using evidence-based principles for delivering significant learning opportunities to your students.
    • Curriculum Mapping and Program Assessment: Get assistance designing and assessing a programmatic curriculum that will provide a pathway for student achievement of your program’s goals. 

    Please visit our Consultations and Observations web page for more information.

    Get in touch with us!

    We’re here to help! If you need anything as you begin your semester, please email us at cat@temple.edu or call our main campus office at 215-204-8761.

    Get Ready for Fall! A Course Design Round-Up

    By Jeff Rients

    Can you believe it is August again?!? If you are anything like me, then you already feel behind in prepping for the fall semester. But the CAT is here to help! We’ve got a wide variety of resources to help you start the new semester off right. 

    If you are building a new course or substantially revising one, our Course Design blog series may be of assistance. Design Your Course for Significant Learning! provides a big picture overview of the design process, while Context Matters: Considering Situational Factors in Course Design can help you think about the specific challenges and key details in your course. (The big situational factor we’re all facing right now is generative artificial intelligence.) Our post Learning Goals: Dream Big! provides a framework for formulating learning goals that motivate students for success, while Aligning Assessments with Goals connects those goals with how you will assess and provide feedback. The post The Heart of the Course: Learning Activities! reviews the importance of providing students with the appropriate content and opportunities for practice before you assess them. And finally, Houston, We Have Liftoff! Successfully Implementing Your Course Design helps you put it all together.

    Finally, if you want to do some thinking about alternative assessment plans, try our post A Brief Introduction to Ungrading.

    You don’t have to design or redesign your course by yourself! You can make an appointment for a one-on-one consultation or visit any of our Ed Tech labs for drop-in assistance. Please join us for any of the many workshops the CAT is offering this fall. And if you need any other support in your mission teaching our wonderful Temple students, just let us know!