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Where can I find support for course design and redesign?

  • Dec. 01, 2022

I have to design or redesign a course and don’t know where to start or what changes to make. It always seems to take so long. Where do I even begin?

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Why should my assessments align with my course learning objectives?

  • Nov. 10, 2022

Assessing student learning is the second step in backward design. Dear Aggie's guest columnist, Chadrhyn Pedraza, builds on her previous post about learning objectives by discussing the importance of aligning assessments with your course learning objectives.

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Why do I need learning objectives?

  • Oct. 27, 2022

Learning objectives may feel like one thing too many when developing your course. However, they can be really useful to both you and your students. Our Dear Aggie guest columnist, Chadrhyn Pedraza, offers some great information about learning objectives in this week’s column.

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How do I choose a course delivery format?

  • Oct. 13, 2022

There are so many course delivery formats (e.g., flipped, blended, hybrid). Dear Aggie describes some of these, and why they may (or may not) be right for you and your students.

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How do I encourage and monitor attendance?

  • Sep. 29, 2022

Dear Aggie suggests useful Canvas tools to help busy instructors with taking and grading student attendance when necessary.

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How can I keep track of student information in Canvas?

  • Sep. 15, 2022

Do you struggle to keep track of information about your students? The Canvas gradebook "Notes" feature is a great way to handle this. Here are a few Aggie tips for taking advantage of this Canvas tool.

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What is the difference between DAS accommodations and OIE supports?

  • Sep. 01, 2022

The office of Disability Access Services (DAS) and the Office of Institutional Equity (OIE) both work to support students. You may receive requests for accommodations or supports from both offices. Dear Aggie shares a brief overview of both the DAS accommodations and the OIE supports.

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How do I interpret all these NMSU acronyms?

  • Aug. 18, 2022

Like many institutions, NMSU uses a lot of acronyms. Dear Aggie helps demystify some of these, and offers some links to some of our great resources.

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How do I determine the date of last attendance/participation?

  • May. 05, 2022

Instructors are required to report the date of last attendance for students who earn a non-passing grade. The actual requirement is to report the last date of meaningful participation. Dear Aggie explains how to use built-in Canvas tools to help you do this.

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Why do I need a Canvas development shell?

  • Apr. 21, 2022

You may not have a development shell yet, but you may discover that you actually want one. A Canvas development shell (often referred to as a “sandbox”) is a Canvas course shell that is never available to students. There are (at least) four reasons that you may want to have a development shell. Read on!

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How can I streamline my grading feedback?

  • Apr. 07, 2022

Do you find yourself giving common feedback and wishing that there was a “rubber stamp” feature in SpeedGrader? Look no further! The comment library is a great way to generate and then draw from a library of grading/feedback comments in Canvas.

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Are you drowning in grading?

  • Mar. 24, 2022

Quality assessment involves more than merely assigning points to student work in Canvas. Get practical tips on staying sane while still giving students the kind of meaningful instructor feedback that boosts their learning outcomes.

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What are your pandemic silver linings?

  • Mar. 17, 2022

What things (practices, lessons learned, approaches) will you be keeping from our “COVID” semesters? What have we learned since March 2020 that will improve our teaching and learning into the future? Read on for some of Dear Aggie’s silver linings

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