Reading Time: < 1 minute Dr. Robert McDole and Jared Pyles have a conversation with Dr. Thomas Mach, the Vice President for Academics and a professor of history at Cedarville University. Dr. Mach—who received his PhD from the University of Akron—talks about motivating students to understand the importance of the content of a course. Check out this episode to hear how he removes ambiguity while caring for his students. Podcast links Show notes Dr. Mach runs study sessions with his students which have a direct correlation to his philosophy of education. He wants to remove ambiguity and help students understand what is important as well as pique their interest in…
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Canvas Update: Instructors Can Upload Files to Assignments for Students
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canvas has recently added a feature to allow instructors to upload files to assignments for students. To use this feature, you need to start in the gradebook. Click on the student’s cell for the assignment you want to upload, then click the arrow. Canvas will slide out a panel from the right side of your screen. Click the “Submit for Student” link. Drag and drop or use the file picker to add the assignment file(s), then click “submit.” If you upload multiple files, they will be added as one submission. The file is now available to be graded in SpeedGrader! Any files uploaded using this method…
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Transform Your Teaching: Servant Teaching with Professor Jim Leightenheimer
Reading Time: 2 minutes Dr. Robert McDole and Jared Pyles have a conversation with Jim Leightenheimer—“Mr. L”—who challenges faculty to build relationships with students outside of the classroom. Check out the episode to hear about the importance of mentoring relationships with students and preparing them for life after academics. Podcast links Show notes “If we work marble, it will perish; if we work upon brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples, they will crumble into dust; but if we work upon immortal minds and instill into them just principles, we are then engraving upon tablets which no time will efface, but will brighten and brighten to all eternity.”…
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Transform Your Teaching: Servant Teaching with Dr. Tom Hutchison
Reading Time: 2 minutes In this episode, Dr. Rob McDole and Jared chat with Dr. Tom Hutchison. Dr. Hutchison – who received his PhD in Education from Marquette University and currently teaches in the School of Biblical and Theological Studies at Cedarville University – talks about servant teaching and preparing students for their careers and lives. Check out this episode to hear their conversation keeping instruction student-centered. Podcast links Show notes Dr. Hutchison identified four variables in teaching: teacher, student, content, and context. Our understanding and reflection of each of those can help strengthen our teaching and make us better servant teachers. According to Dr. Hutchison, servant teaching is not necessarily…
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Dr. Seth Hamman: Top Ten Reasons to Consider Offering your Course Online
Reading Time: 3 minutes I have always been a little skeptical of online courses. I have never taken an online course and have never taught one either. But as I’ve seen them grow in popularity, especially among dual enrollment and homeschool students, I started to reconsider: maybe they do have an important role to play in the higher education ecosystem? I decided to suspend judgement and spend 3 days with the Center for Teaching and Learning in early January to learn more about online learning and how one of my favorite courses to teach, CY-1000 Introduction to Cybersecurity, could be taught online. By the end of those 3 days my…
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Transform Your Teaching: Servant Teaching with Dr. Quentin Schultze, Part 3
Reading Time: < 1 minute In this episode, Dr. Rob McDole and Jared Pyles conclude their interview with Dr. Quentin Schultze. Dr. Schultze—who has written several books, including one on servant teaching—talks about recording yourself teaching. Check out this episode to hear their conversation about how those recordings will benefit both you and your students. Podcast links Show notes There is always room for improvement in our teaching. Being reflective about how we teach is an excellent way of finding areas for improving our instruction. Recording—video, audio, or both—our teaching can be an opportunity to reflect on our teaching and make adjustments. You’ll usually see the major flaws right away,…
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Transform Your Teaching: Servant Teaching with Dr. Quentin Schultze, Part 2
Reading Time: 2 minutes In this episode, Dr. Rob McDole and Jared Pyles continue their interview with Dr. Quentin Schultze. Dr. Schultze—who has written several books, including one on servant teaching—talks about cheating and how to discourage cheating. They also touch on the topic of using ChatGPT effectively in a course. Check out the episode to hear their conversation about the relationship between respect and cheating. Podcast links Show notes Many students will cheat without realizing that they are cheating. They could be citing sources incorrectly or asking a student about a test they just took. Other students will cheat intentionally, doing things like acquiring completed assignments. The truth is…
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Canvas Updates: Rich Content Editor
Reading Time: 2 minutes It’s been a bit since we last wrote about Canvas updates, but some cool things have been happening. Canvas is always working on tweaking or adding things (you can keep up with them in the Canvas Release Notes!), but today we’re focusing on what’s changed in the Rich Content Editor (RCE) over the past few months. Access to detailed word/character count statistics The RCE displays word count at the bottom of the editor, but it’s expanded that functionality a bit. Now when you click on that word count, Canvas will pop a window and show you detailed word and character count. Dragging-and-dropping/pasting of content Previously, to…