Conference Presentations

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Critical Review: The Effect of Synchronous Instructor Presence on Student Learning

In this session, we will discuss the outcome of a critical review of the literature on the effects of synchronous instructor presence on student learning, in the post-secondary online learning environment. Specifically, we were interested in empirical studies on courses with activities that included a structured instructional presence as an integral part of the course design, published from 2010 to 2022. Findings from this critical review highlight the current state of the existing literature, especially a lack of a clear description of the research methods and data analyses.

Critical Thinking in the Online Human Anatomy and Physiology Class

Implementing critical thinking to courses helps students become more efficient in their studying and develop skills, abilities, and values crucial to success in everyday life. 
The instructor has a chance to foster deeper, more substantive thinking by engaging students in activities.  This session will share the techniques implemented in my classes and free resources pages.  Attendees can use the techniques and resources to design exciting new activities for their students.

Ctrl+Engage: Practical and Fun Strategies to Spark Student Engagement in Synchronous Online Classes

Do you struggle with student engagement in your online synchronous classes? Do you wish your online class could use more active learning techniques, but you do not know where to start? During this session, simple, practical strategies will be shared that can be used to foster student engagement in synchronous online classes (and asynchronous too). The presenter has taught online large classes synchronously and asynchronously for more than a decade, and will share the class-tested strategies she uses to energize online classes.

Cultivating, Recognizing, and Disseminating Exemplary Online Instruction

This session will share ways in which the California State University system has developed a mature and robust QM-based-program for assessing and recognizing blended-online courses, as well as a repository of objectives-indexed exemplars for adoption by other faculty or for modeling by instructional support staff. Resulting resources will be shared with participants via open access. Discussion of how best to implement and accomplish these campus-system outcomes will be encouraged and facilitated and participants will certainly have much to offer.

Culture and Diversity Matter

In this presentation, we identify cultural aspects that affect course design, we discuss best design practices based on our experience relative to issues of gender, diversity, and inclusion, and we debate some of the pitfalls during the course design process that can arise due to cultural misconceptions.

Curriculum Mapping: Program Outcomes, Course Learning Outcomes, Alignment, and Assessment

In a continually shifting climate of higher education, academic drift is a common and often potentially insidious challenge. Without program faculty (or university administration) even noticing, the focus of activities, assessments, and even courses applied to an academic degree program can gradually shift away from the intended outcomes.

Curriculum Mapping: Program Outcomes, Course Learning Outcomes, Alignment, and Assessment

In a continually shifting climate of higher education, academic drift is a common and often potentially insidious challenge. Without program faculty (or university administration) even noticing, the focus of activities, assessments, and even courses applied to an academic degree program can gradually shift away from the intended outcomes.

Data-Driven Insights into LMS Template Effectiveness: A Quality Matters and D2L Study

This presentation highlights the role of LMS templates in promoting student success by focusing on research-backed benefits. We will share data from a survey of 306 respondents, showing how templates can enhance student engagement, self-efficacy, and motivation. Additionally, we will explore how templates impact faculty, making online teaching more efficient. The survey data also reveals insights into institutional practices around templates, quality standards, and the flexibility to modify templates