Category Archives: Curriculum

TMM 6: Interactive Lessons w/ Google Slides

April 12, 2021

This week’s TMM episode does not include a video, but rather a step-by-step presentation on using Google Slides to make your lesson content more engaging. 

Link to Google Slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1c86o_RITR5HCCHJsbbJTR4WOaPbLUJUch8_D5BxaV50/preview 

Please add your own ideas for lesson presentation on the Open Space doc.

Referenced In These Slides: 

Creating A Google Slides Room:

  1. Choose a background. Use the image search feature in Google slides, or upload your own image. Remember: You can’t add alt text to backgrounds, so don’t include anything pertinent to the lesson!
  2. Add transparent images. Use the term “transparent” or “png” in your searches to find images without backgrounds/borders, or use remove.bg.
  3. Insert hyperlinks. You’ve ideally decided on lesson material *before* this step. Now add necessary links to your “room.” Tip: For easier clicking, insert a transparent shape (& transparent border) over the area you want students to click, then embed your hyperlink on the shape.
  4. Launch the room! Click “Share,” change the parameters to “anyone with the link can view,” copy the URL, then replace the word “view” or “edit” with “preview” in the URL. This will automatically open the slide in presentation mode, making it more engaging.

Using Google Forms:

  1. Create a theme: Make a regular form more exciting by giving it a theme. Add images (with descriptions) and text that will support the narrative you create.
  2. Use sections: Use chunking by splitting the form into different sections
  3. Collect responses: You can download responses as a spreadsheet, or just read through them on the form itself. 

TMM 4: Retrieval Practice (the Testing Effect)

March 22, 2021

You prepare a great lesson and class goes well, but the following week the students seem to have forgotten all that they learned. What’s happening? Perhaps they’re missing the opportunity to practice retrieving information.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj0XReikuvY

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj0XReikuvY 

Please add your own ideas for retrieval practice to the Open Space doc.

Items Referenced in This Video: 

  • Song: “Sonnymoon for Two” by Sonny Rollins
  • Book: Small Teaching by James Lang
    • The Brian Rogerson study mentioned in the video is found in Ch. 1 of this book
    • There is a follow-up book called Small Teaching Online co-authored with Flower Darby. Also worth reading. 
  • Ideas: 
    • If you use Blackboard learning modules, add ungraded questions at the beginning, middle, or end of a module. 
    • Your “training” should match the end goal – if your course ends with a short answer-based exam, multiple choice questions will not be effective conditioning for the end goal. 
    • Prioritize time for review at the end of each class meeting and again at the beginning of the next session (if you teach asynchronously, work this into lesson content posted online). 
    • If you hide Easter eggs in your course, consider using Google forms to create a retrieval practice exercise for students to “find” an egg. 
    • Online quiz games: Kahoot! (better for synchronous, real-time quiz games) or Quizizz (good for asynchronous quiz games). 

Questions to reflect on:

Which story in the video resonated with you? 

With that story in mind, how can you incorporate retrieval practice into your teaching? 

TMM 5: Chunking/Video Presentation

April 5, 2021

“Chunking” is a term coined by psychologist George Miller to describe our short-term memory’s ability to hold and process information. This video provides an introduction.

Video: https://youtu.be/jQQVTBVgO6s

Please add your own ideas for chunking and/or video presentation to the Open Space doc.

Referenced in This Video: 

  • Miller, G. A. (1994). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review, 101(2), 343–352. 
  • Studies suggest our short-term memory can hold an average of four chunks of information at once. 
    • Rouder, J. N., Morey, R. D., Cowan, N., Zwilling, C. E., Morey, C. C., & Pratte, M. S. (2008). An assessment of fixed-capacity models of visual working memory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(16), 5975-5979.

Ideas for video presentations: 

  • Include a rundown of topics at the start of the video
    • Add timestamps in the video description if possible
  • In addition to chunking your topics, consider chunking the video itself: 
    • Add digital transitions if you know how (if you have a Mac, iMovie makes this easy)
    • Break up the lecture-nature of the video with:
      • Stretch breaks
      • Hidden information
      • Scene changes
      • Moments where your face is not on screen
      • Audio/visual surprises/disruptions (change volume level or appearance, add a dramatic pause, emphasize words, task challenges, Easter eggs, etc.) 
  • Use hand gestures and facial expressions to make the visual aspect of your video more engaging
  • Shorter is better – if you have to make a long video, add disruptions.
  • Remember, you don’t need to fill all your class time with a video. Consider Open Educational Resources (pre-existing videos, podcasts, etc.), reflection questions, task challenges, discussion, etc. 

TMM 2: Course Navigation

March 28, 2021

In this video, consider the roadmap you’ve provided for your students. Are there clear descriptions of each sidebar tab, and a layout of what students need to do for their weekly routine? 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYKDqbD4bkM

Video: https://youtu.be/UYKDqbD4bkM 

 

Please add your own ideas for providing clear course navigation in the Open Space doc.

Ideas Mentioned in Video: 

  • Pin a “Quick Start Guide” in an easy-to-access place that students visit often (such as the course landing page). 
  • Students may get overwhelmed when presented with too much information at once. Use the “Adaptive Release” feature on Blackboard so that not all information is available up front. 
  • If you use Google Docs for your syllabus, use a black highlighter to cover information that isn’t relevant this early in the semester. This allows students who do like to know everything up front to check what’s coming by highlighting over it, while those who are overwhelmed by too much information don’t need to access it yet. 
  • Think of your course like you would if you wanted someone to bake muffins or travel to a destination. What information do they need? 

Quick Start Guide ideas: 

The screenshot below is from a template I created for professors.
***I realize a screenshot is not fully accessible; if anyone reading this would like access to the entire Blackboard course template, email me at Carolyn.Stallard@guttman.cuny.edu***

Another example: Here is one version I’ve used for my courses. I also use a sort of delayed “quick start” video that I post after students have a handle on how the course functions, as a reminder. I send this video out at the end of Week 3, after all information on the syllabus has been un-blackened. Take this with a grain of salt, since my courses are set up in a kind of atypical manner.