Faculty Tips: Bringing Course Content to Life With Simulations

Students giving high five

Simulations are a great way for students to develop their problem solving, critical thinking, and communication skills. The benefits of simulations have been identified by multiple studies. For example, in their work, Nilson (2016), argues that “simulations and games can bring the course material to life and emotionally engage an entire class as few other … Read more

Faculty Tips: Creating Meaningful and Culturally Relevant Assignments and Assessments

student with notebook

“By being purposeful and thoughtful from the beginning, you can ensure that your assignments will not only serve as effective assessment methods, but also engage and delight your students” -Boyd, 2020 Meaningful assignments and assessments provide vital feedback to learners on their performance and instructors on their teaching (Nilson, 2016; Boyd 2020). If an instructor … Read more

“Grades should be a mirror,” not a carrot and a stick. -Feldman

Feldman, Joe. 2019. Grading for Equity: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How It Can Transform Schools and Curriculum. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin. It is rare that a text fundamentally shakes the ground upon which your pedagogy stands. Grading for Equity accomplished this task and facilitated a reconstruction from the ashes. In this essential text, … Read more

“Space is itself historical.” –Richard White

Percent foreign born in US 1920

Digital history has shaped spatial and data visualization in exciting new ways. According to Richard White, “Visualization and spatial history are not about producing illustrations or maps to communicate things that you have discovered by other means. It is a means of doing research; it generates questions that might otherwise go unasked, it reveals historical … Read more

The Digital Historian

Digital history has begun to revolutionize the way in which historians conduct research, collaborate, and publish. Democratizing access to this process of reading, writing, and rewriting, as noted by Burdick et al expands the conversation exponentially and provides for the opportunity to further innovate. According to Mark Sample, “the ‘builders’ will build and the ‘thinkers’ … Read more

Hello World Update

I am currently taking a course titled HST591:Digital history with Dr. MacFadyen in the history M.A. program at Arizona State University. According to the syllabus, digital history is defined as the “use of computers, digital media, and other tools for historical practice, presentation, analysis, and research.” In addition to my background as a political scientist, I hope to … Read more

Roles in the Online Classroom

Navigating the online environment can be quite a challenge, and at times isolating. Reflecting upon our roles in the online environment, both as learners and instructors, can help guide behavior and interaction toward a successful exchange. Below I very briefly reflect upon my understanding of the key roles and functions of both students and instructors … Read more

Common Misconceptions of Online Learning

In order to promote student success, instructors must provide the opportunity for learners to become familiar with the method of instruction. In traditional face-to-face courses new college students often take a couple weeks to adjust to the mode of instruction and learning environment. In order to help students in this transition, instructors provide an introductory … Read more

Theories of Learning for Instructional Design in the Online Classroom

It is important that instructional design be informed by sound educational theory. Online courses are no exception. Online learning courses must uphold the same academic standards as their face-to-face counterparts, and yet, they embody distinct learning environments. Below I outline several dominant theories of teaching and learning and investigate their application for the online environment. … Read more