Midweek Mentor Blog

How Can I Add Choice to My Course to Give Students Autonomy and Motivate Deep Learning?

3/15/2023

How Can I Add Choice to My Course to Give Students Autonomy and Motivate Deep Learning? Author: Jennifer Albat Last week’s March 15 Midweek Mentor highlighted a video discussing how learners can be given more choices to create autonomy and motivate deep learning....

How Can I Create a Meaningful Service-Learning Project for my Online Class?

3/8/2023

How Can I Create a Meaningful Service-Learning Project for my Online Class? Authors: Angela Beyer, Jodie Nehrt, Matt Schmitz – IDLT Stephanie Delaney describes service learning as " a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful communication skills w...

How Can Online Instructors Better Manage Their Workload?

9/27/2022

How Can Online Instructors Better Manage Their Workload? September 27, 2022 By Hannah Flatt (IDLT) At the September 21 Midweek Mentor session, Dr. Brian Udermann, the Director of Online Education at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, presented strategies...

How Do Mini-Lectures Improve Student Engagement?

9/12/2022

By Jennifer Albat and Sarah Laux (Instructional Design & Learning Technologies) At the September 7 Midweek Mentor session, Dr. Christy Price, a professor of psychology at Dalton State College, presented 10 tips for making mini-lectures to improve student engagement: 1. Lectu...

What Three Things Should I Do Each Week to Engage Online Students?

4/6/2022

By Hannah Flatt At the March 30, 2022, Midweek Mentor Session, Dr. Jean Mandernach, Executive Director of the Center for Innovation in Research and Teaching at Grand Canyon University, presented strategies for student engagement in online courses. She emphasized that s...

How Can I Guage Online Learning Through Engaging Activities and Assignments

2/23/2022

By: Angela Beyer & Pamela Williams Jeremy Caplan, the Director of the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at The City University of New York, shared his experience with engaging activities and assignments designed to measure student learning in the online learning e...

How Can I Get Students to Engage with Course Content Before Class?

1/26/2022

How Can I Get Students to Engage with Course Content Before Class? During this Midweek Mentor Dr. Sarah Lover and Dr. Tom Saleska from Concordia University Wisconsin, discussed the importance of engaging the students before they come to class to increase learning. ...

How Can I Implement UDL in the Next 20 Minutes?

11/10/2021

By: Jennifer Albat & Sarah Laux, IDLT Last week’s mid-week mentor session featured Thomas Tobin, a teaching, learning, and technology specialist with the Center for Teaching, Learning, & Mentoring at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and an expert on Universal Desig...

How Can I Help Students Who are Struggling with Online Learning?

10/20/2021

After more than a year of transitions and fluctuation in course modalities as we follow the path determined by a pandemic, the concern for students who struggle with online learning has become a more obvious challenge for many faculty who weren’t previously part of the...

How to Zoom All Day and Still Have a Life

10/6/2021

By: Nicole Klein When you are done with a full day of teaching and meeting on Zoom, are you ready to bounce out of your chair, cook dinner, work on a hobby, and connect with your people and pets? Yeah, me neither. Videoconferencing such as Zoom fatigues us in a way th...

How Do I Create Questions that Stimulate Engaging Conversations in Online Discussion Boards?

9/29/2021

By Hannah Flatt At the September 22, 2021, Midweek Mentor session, Dr. Jean Mandernach, Executive Director of the Center for Innovation in Research and Teaching at Grand Canyon University, presented strategies for building community in online classes through discussio...

What are Five Methods to Help Students Become More Effective Learners?

9/8/2021

By Melodie Rowbotham, PhD, RN, CNE Faculty Development Fellow At the Midweek Mentor on September 8, we watch a presentation by Dr. Maryellen Wiemer who is the editor of The Teaching Professor. Her five suggestions are as follows. Help students to develop metaco...

What are Five Methods to Help Students Become More Effective Learners?

9/8/2020

By Melodie Rowbotham, PhD, RN, CNE Faculty Development Fellow At the Midweek Mentor on September 8, we watch a presentation by Dr. Maryellen Wiemer who is the editor of The Teaching Professor. Her five suggestions are as follows. Help students to develop metaco...

How Can I Guide Online Learning by Engaging with Students?

2/17/2020

By Angie Beyer and Clay Williams At the February 12 Midweek Mentor Session, Flower Darby, Senior Instructional Designer, Northern Arizona University shared her thoughts on engaging students in the online learning classroom. Some of the tips she provided...

Can the Flipped Classroom Method of Teaching Influence Students' Self-Efficacy?

2/3/2020

By Dr. Chaya Gopalan, PhD, FAPS Self-efficacy is the belief in one’s ability to succeed in a specific situation or accomplish a specific task (Bandura, 1977). Students with high self-efficacy have higher motivation to learn and, therefore, are able to reach highe...

Which Level of Students are Best Suited for Flipped Teaching

12/11/2019

By Dr. Chaya Gopalan The flipped classroom (FC) is a student-centered teaching method that is embraced by educators in recent years for several reasons. According to Bergmann and Sams (2012), FC accommodates students’ busy schedules, helps struggling students, and allo...

Questions? Read the Syllabus

10/30/2019

By Jodie Nehrt (IDLT), Niki Glick (ITS) At the October 23 Midweek Mentor Session, Wren Mills, Assistant Director for the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning at Western Kentucky University, shared her experiences and recommendations for creating a quality syllabus for...

Five Tips for Incorporating Student-Created Videos in Your Classroom

10/4/2019

By Emily Keener (IDLT) At the Sept. 25 Midweek Mentor session, we heard from Oliver Dreon, Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Academic Excellence at Millersville University of Pennsylvania, about using student-created videos to assess learning and build class...

Using Microactivities in Your Classes

9/11/2019

By Dr. Lynn Bartels (Psychology) Our last Midweek Mentor video focused on microactivities which are short activities you can use to break up class and get students engaged with the material. Microactivities provide an opportunity to assess student learning. The p...

How Can I Plan - or Revise - My Courses More Efficiently?

4/30/2019

By Jennifer Albat (Instructional Design and Learning Technologies) Faculty are always looking for ways to save time. In last week’s Midweek Mentor (MWM) session, we discussed this topic as it relates to planning or revising courses. Dr. Lolita Paff of Penn State Berks...

Creating Transparent Assignments

2/20/2019

By Dr. Lynn Bartels (Psychology) Do your students express frustration when working on your assignments? Do they say things like “I didn’t know what you were looking for” or “I had no idea how to even get started?” If so, th...

How to Motivate Students to Come Prepared for Class?

1/21/2019

By Dr. Chaya Gopalan The flipped classroom is a teaching method where the first exposure to the subject occurs in an individual learning space and time and the application of content is practiced in an interactive guided group space. Freeing up class time by shifting traditi...

Creating Highly Effective Educational Videos

11/28/2018

By Niki Glick, Jodie Nehrt, and Tori Reany In last week’s Midweek Mentor What are the Secrets to Making Highly Effective Education Videos, we discussed designing and recording more engaging videos with a focus on images and audio rather than bulleted lists and paragra...

How Do I Establish an Engaging Atmosphere in my Online Classroom?

10/22/2018

By Emily K. Keener (Instructional Design and Learning Technologies) Watch for These Online Engagement Crushers In last week’s MidWeek Mentor session on creating engaging online classrooms, Deidre Price explained how to keep online classrooms warm and welcomin...

How do I design innovative assignments to foster learning in the online classroom?

9/18/2018

By Jennifer Albat (Instructional Design and Learning Technologies) Last week’s Midweek Mentor session featured a video called “How do I design innovative assignments to foster learning in the online classroom?” by Dr. B. Jean Mandernach, Executive Direction...

Maintaining Academic Rigor in the Classroom

9/14/2018

By Gary R. Hicks (Professor, Mass Communications) Maintaining academic rigor in the classroom is an issue that is – or at least should be – on the minds of university instructors from the beginning of their careers to well after their days at the academy are ove...

Engaging Videos for Teaching

7/18/2018

By Suman Mishra (Associate Professor, Mass Communications) We are living in an era where an enormous amount of high quality videos is being produced and consumed. Most of our “digital native” students are watching videos on a daily basis through social media or o...

Engaging Generation C

4/2/2018

By Niki Glick (Instructional Design and Learning Technologies) We’ve all heard of the Millennial generation, but have you heard of “Generation C”? Unlike most cohorts, Generation C is not an age-based demographic. It’s actually anyone who is constant...

Strategies for Online Engagement: A Conversation with Dr. Melissa Thomeczek

3/22/2018

By Matt Schmitz Thank you to everyone who attended last week's MidWeek Mentor session "What Three Things Should I Do Each Week to Engage Online Students?" Dr. Melissa Thomeczek, faculty in the School of Education, Health, and Human Behavior's Educational Leadership departmen...

Asking Students for Feedback

2/22/2018

By Jennifer Albat (Instructional Design and Learning Technologies) How’s It Going? No, that’s not a question for you. Is that a question you ever ask your students? Are they finding assignment instructions to be clear enough? Are the course materials aligned with...

Student Preparation for Flipped Classroom

1/30/2018

By Jennifer Albat (Instructional Design and Learning Technologies) How’s It Going? No, that’s not a question for you. Is that a question you ever ask your students? Are they finding assignment instructions to be clear enough? Are the course materials aligned with...

How to Get Started with Community Engagement

11/27/2017

By Michelle Catalano (Department of Philosophy) “What was your favorite assignment in college?” The presenter asked this question to a group of higher education professionals at a session called “Awakening learning through community engagement activi...

Providing Meaningful Feedback

11/1/2017

By Tori Reany (Instructional Design and Learning Technologies) Do you ever feel like your students are not taking your advice? Do you get frustrated at all the hours you put into grading just to have students seemingly ignore your comments? Perhaps students a...

Online Discussions - Interview with Dr. Wrobbel

10/17/2017

By Emily Keener (Instructional Design and Learning Technologies) Last week’s Midweek Mentor topic was on effective questioning strategies for online discussions. Dr. Jean Mandernach of the Center for Innovation in Research and Teaching at Grand Canyon University sugges...

Adding Interactivity to Your Online Content

9/21/2017

By Jennifer Albat and Wayne Nelson (Instructional Design and Learning Technologies) Interactivity is an important aspect of the learning process for online students. There are many ways to assure effective learning interactions, including online discussions, intermittent che...

Engaging Students in the Diverse Classroom

8/22/2017

By Sonia Zamanou-Erickson (Applied Communication Studies) Student engagement is an important contributor to motivation and learning in the classroom. Students who are engaged are more curious, attentive, interested, and passionate about what they are learning and they ultima...

Tips for Making Online Course Material Accessible

4/12/2017

By Emily Keener (Instructional Design and Learning Technologies) At last week's faculty development workshop on online course accessibility, we covered several formatting issues with online content that could pose an accessibility issue for students. We also talked about som...

Reduce Student Apathy and Increase Motivation

3/15/2017

By Tori Reany (Instructional Design and Learning Technologies) We've all been there. You are in the front of the class teaching the day's lesson when you look out and see a student sleeping in the back row, someone working on assignments from another course, or a student pre...

Making Online Groups More Effective

11/3/2016

By Emily Keener Group work is messy, especially in the online classroom where project details need to be impeccable and students need to be self-motivated. Yet, each semester, brave SIUE faculty design collaborative projects across a variety of disciplines, including music,...

Creating An Inclusive Classroom

10/26/2016

By Jessica Harris and Bryan Jack During the 2015-2016 academic year various groups at SIUE took part in conversations around issues of diversity on our campus. At smaller meetings between students and senior level administrators, as well during campus-wide conferences sponso...

Think Small: Explore Microlearning

10/3/2016

By Wayne Nelson and Tori Reany In today's fast-paced world, students are exposed to many competing demands on their time and attention. Even when sitting in classrooms, their concentration wanders. Outside of the classroom, they are inundated with information coming from a v...

Mindset Matters

9/23/2016

By Lynn Bartels What are Fixed vs. Growth Mindsets? Have you ever been frustrated by a student who told you I'm just not good at that?" For example, students may say "I'm not a math person." This kind of thinking about one's abilities is called a fixed mindset and it can cri...

Preventing Cheating

9/8/2016

By Matthew Schmitz A question instructional designers are often asked by faculty members is "How can I prevent cheating?"" There are a number of long, drawn-out answers but the truth can be found in this simple statement: Reducing opportunities for cheating involves more wor...

First Day of Class Activities

8/15/2016

By Lynn Bartels There is a lot of pressure to get your class off to a good start on the first day. You may have heard that students' impressions of you during the first few minutes on the first day are highly correlated with their course evaluations at the end of the semeste...

Online experiential learning: Engaging students through real and virtual activities

6/2/2016

By Wayne A. Nelson, Ed. D. Wayne A. Nelson, Ed. D. University Fellow for Online Learning and Coordinator of Excellence in Undergraduate Education Experiential learning happens when students are engaged in direct experiences and focused reflections within real-world settings...

Grading Time-Savers

4/20/2016

By Lynn Bartels As we approach the end of the semester, I feel like a grading machine. I have stacks of research papers, theses, and project reports to grade and I'll have final exams coming in soon too. Grading is hard and sometimes mind-numbing work. Here are a few grading...

Blog on Assessment: Strategies, Best Practices, and Alternate Forms

3/17/2016

By IDLT Let's Talk About Assessment Assessments are a foundational component of the teaching and learning processes. One of the goals of education is to increase knowledge and assessments allow instructors to gauge the success of learning resources and activities or determin...

Communicating with Culturally Diverse Learners

2/23/2016

By Mary Konya Weishaar and Phil Weishaar Communicating with Culturally Diverse Learners Mary Konya Weishaar (Executive Director of International Affairs) and Phil Weishaar (Associate Professor of Special Education) International Landscape - SIUE (fall, 2015): 3% of student...

Disrupting the Discussion Board

2/10/2016

By Mary Konya Weishaar and Phil Weishaar Communicating with Culturally Diverse Learners Mary Konya Weishaar (Executive Director of International Affairs) and Phil Weishaar (Associate Professor of Special Education) International Landscape - SIUE (fall, 2015): 3% of students...

Discussion Board Prompts

1/27/2016

By Lynn Bartels Next week's Midweek Mentor video is Beyond the Discussion Board: How Can I Engage Online Students. Discussion boards are frequently used in online or technology-enhanced courses. Before we discuss alternatives to discussion boards, let’s thi...

Writing Tips for the New Year

1/13/2016

By Sharon James McGee As academics, we often think of the "new year" as the beginning of the academic year, but January is also a good time to start new, productive habits. I find that many faculty, particularly at a teaching-first institution like SIUE, find it difficult to...

Rethinking Classroom Lectures

12/21/2015

By Wayne Nelson and Jayme Swanke In this time of austerity and uncertainty regarding budgets for higher education, consider this option: remove all podiums and lecterns from classrooms and sell them to offset the budget shortfall. This isn’t just my idea. Chris Buddle...

Blog on Better Assessments Through Blackboard

10/7/2015

By Jennifer Albat (IDLT) So you’ve decided to take the plunge and let your students take their quizzes or exams through Blackboard. Congratulations, and welcome to the dark side (cue the wicked laughing). I kid of course. You’re concerned about students sitting s...

Are You Ready for Online?

9/9/2015

By Matt Schmitz While online learning continuing to increase and permeate all levels of education, some faculty and students are still reluctant to teach or learn in the medium. Often their concern is based on lack of comfort with various forms of technology but their appreh...

Blog on Better Assessments Through Blackboard

9/2/2015

By Emily Keener The MidWeek Mentor session for September 2 is about how we can help students succeed in an online course. Take a look at this survey that highlights the benefits and challenges of flipping the classroom, which often means taking some portion of a face-to-face...

Teaching Unprepared Students

4/15/2015

By Bryan Duckham Some students come to SIUE less prepared for the rigors of college and/or are at-risk for significant failure or struggle. For many of these students, high expectations and high support can buttress their weaknesses and help them build skills. While not ever...

Top 5 Lessons I’ve Learned from Teaching Online Classes

3/25/2015

By Sarah VanSlette Many professors at SIUE are starting to wonder whether online teaching is right for them. I began asking myself that question about 7 years ago, and now I know, after years of creating and revising online courses at 3 different universities, that teaching...

Student Multitasking in Class—What to do about it?

3/18/2015

By Lynn Bartels If any topic is guaranteed to get faculty riled up, it’s the topic of student multitasking in class. During many classes, students are distracted by their phones and/or laptops. Student multitasking in class is a common occurrence. In a study of M...

How to Make Lectures More Participatory

2/25/2015

By Cathy Santanello Incorporating a variety of techniques to get students to participate may enhance discussion. Let’s face it - we feel energized after a great lecture/discussion in our classes, right? The following is Twenty Ways to Make a Lecture More Participatory...

Student Multitasking in Class - What to do about it?

2/25/2015

By Jennifer Albat If you’re into finding the latest and greatest free technology to enhance your students’ learning experiences then you are in the right place. These tools help you flip your classroom, create PowerPoint presentations that are more engaging, and...

Innovative Pedagogies for 2015

1/28/2015

By Wayne Nelson Is your teaching working the way you want it to? The landscape of higher education currently features many changes in how and where learning happens. This is occurring for various reasons, including budget pressures as well as student preparation, preferences...

Creating Writing Habits for the New Year

1/1/2015

By Sharon McGee As academics, we often think of the “new year” as the beginning of the academic year, but January is also a good time to start new, productive habits. I find that many faculty, particularly at a teaching-first institution like SIUE, find it diffic...

Tips to Revive a Class Discussion

11/12/2014

By Lynn Bartels Discussion can be an effective teaching strategy. A lively exchange amongst students on the class topic can help students formulate their ideas about the material, learn to share their ideas with others, and respond to others’ ideas. Class discussion ca...

Turnitin and iThenticate

10/29/2014

By Matthew Schmitz Plagiarism is a problem that affects students and faculty. The infographic in this blog (click to enlarge) lists the forms of plagiarism frequently identified in research writing, indicating the commonness and seriousness of each kind. In an effort to prev...

Can Multiple Choice Tests Measure Higher-level Thinking?

10/15/2014

By Lynn Bartels Multiple choice questions are used widely in higher education particularly for large classes where it would be difficult to grade a large number of constructed response tests (e.g., short answer, essays). Despite their widespread use, multiple choice tests ar...

Online Testing: Pros and Cons

9/30/2014

By Wayne Nelson Hanging around in the SIUE equivalent of the “teachers’ lounge” over the years (every department has one), I’ve overheard many comments about testing that have included things like: “Well, we have to give tests to make sure our...

Too Much Text on Those Slides

9/16/2014

By Lynn Bartels The use of PowerPoint or other types of presentation programs is a mainstay of college teaching today. Walk down the halls and look in the classrooms and you will see faculty talking along with a slide show. Last week, we had one of the largest groups registe...

Introducing the ITS IDLT Center

9/3/2014

By Matthew Schmitz Beginning this semester, the format for the MidWeek Mentor series will alter slightly; instead of only offering videos followed by a facilitated conversation, the new format will include blogs, often written as accompaniments to the topics discussed in the...