CIDI Newsletter, October 2022
October 2022 Newsletter
5 Tips for Accurate Grades Midterm
Midterm is a good time for students to have an up-to-date sense of how they are performing in their courses. To make sure the grades they see are accurate, we recommend checking five things in the Canvas gradebook:
- Make sure the points possible are set correctly for all assignments.
- Delete unused assignments and make sure total points add up correctly.
- Be sure everybody gets a score for every assignment--even if that means a 0 for a missed assignment. Canvas only counts graded assignments in the total score it shows students.
- Make sure all grades are posted for graded assignments. Students will see a total score that reflects only the grades that have been posted.
- Set up your course letter-grade scheme in the course settings so that students can see their letter grade.
Tips for Midterm Surveys
An informal midterm survey can be a good way to assess how students are feeling about the class and their learning. It can be made available for credit, no credit, or extra credit. The best delivery options are the Canvas Classic Quiz interface (as a graded or ungraded survey) or a survey tool like Qualtrics. Stick to a small number of questions and allow some open-ended responses. Ask about what aspects of the course are working well for students and what aspects they are struggling with. You can also ask for recommendations for course improvement and give the student a chance to reflect on how they could improve their own learning. For tips and resources, including a downloadable survey with questions to choose from, see the midsemester feedback tutorial on teach.usu.edu.
Tutoring Available for Online Students
Did you know that USU licenses 24/7 tutoring for online students through tutor.com? You can make it available to your students in your Canvas course by going to your Canvas course settings, then to the navigation tab, and then enabling Tutor.com: 24/7 Online Tutoring. Learn more at USU Online's tutoring page.
Support for Online Course Peer Reviews
The USU Online office encourages faculty peer review of online courses. USU Online will pay $100 to a department for each completed evaluation of a qualifying online course. See USU Online's peer-review information page for more details.
Security Reminder: Log Out of Classroom Computers
A recent campus security audit found that instructors sometimes forget to sign out of their accounts on classroom computers. This opens the possibility for students to gain unauthorized teacher access to Canvas courses. Be sure to sign out of the computer before you leave the classroom.
Technology Updates
- Social Annotation Tool Search: A request for proposals is currently open for a social annotation tool. If you are interested in participating in a review of candidates, please send an email indicating your interest to cidi@usu.edu.
- Service Preferences: CIDI periodically conducts a review of courses for accessibility and other usability issues that may impact the student experience. We seek permission to implement fixes and also allow instructors to provide permission up front for certain types of fixes. To let us know what your service preferences are, go to your user account menu in Canvas and choose the Service Preferences link.
Contact CIDI
For on-demand support with teaching technologies, contact CIDI at cidi@usu.edu, via chat, or at 435.797.9506. Schedule an appointment with an instructional designer to get help making your courses more engaging, usable, and accessible.