CECAS Faculty & Staff Resources for Undergraduate Studies

Tips, Advice, Information, and Q&A for Instructors Teaching in Spring 2021 (from OTEI)

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The following was compiled by the Office of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation (OTEI) following their recent webinar “Energize Spring 2021: Day One & Beyond.”

Slides from Energize Spring 2021: Day One & Beyond

Engaging & Collaborative Activities for Online Courses

To engage students online, we want to have intentional activities planned that will be interactive and fun for students.  Here are a few ideas as well as some resources for further exploration:

  • Build in fun, interactive polls that allow students to interact with an active lecture.  Polls can be more than multiple choice — use a word cloud, rolling text, emojis, etc.  Play around with multiple polling options and use different ones depending on what you want to accomplish.  Many will integrate with Google Slides or PPT.  Some of our favorites are Poll Everywhere, Mentimeter, and Pear Deck.  There are many others out there, so explore and find one that works well for you.  Polls are also an excellent tool for hybrid courses because it’s very easy for the F2F and online students to respond.
  • Get students involved!!
    • Ask students to submit questions about the readings/content prior to class and use those questions throughout your lecture.  You can use them to kick-off break-out room sessions or to kick-off your lecture points, you can use them as written discussion questions, or even pick a few questions to use on a quiz or exam (can be bonus questions too!).
    • Let students give peer presentations (individually or in groups, depending on class size) to introduce new topics each week.  Peer learning is very valuable and a great tool for online courses.
  • Consider gaming options.  There are a number of gaming options for all content areas.  This is another great way to enhance learning and engage students in an online environment.
  • Use collaborative activities to engage students and build an online learning community.  Carefully constructed collaborative work that is scaffolded throughout the course really enhances online learning experiences and engages students’ learning.
  • Use shared tools like Slack, MS Teams, Yellowdig, Discord to engage students throughout the course.  These platforms are more “social media-like” and tend to be an easy way for students to connect and build a learning community.
  • Resources:

Hybrid Tips

Below are few tips and tricks to managing a hybrid learning environment.  Also check out the Instructional Playbook which has a step by step approach to designing and delivering a hybrid course.

  • Be intentional in planning live teaching sessions.  Build in active pauses so that online students have opportunities to ask questions during the lecture.  Use active lecturing techniques.  Consider break-out rooms where in-person and online students are connected so they can build a course learning community.
  • Don’t let in-person students become the “guardian” of the chat.  This takes their attention away from learning.  Find ways to manage the chat and lecture — this is where the intentional pauses will be helpful, you can mind the chat and incorporate the questions/feedback from the online students.
  • Use shared platforms for F2F and Online student engagement: Google Docs, Padlet, etc.
  • Use shared tools like Slack, MS Teams, Yellowdig, Discord to engage students throughout the course.  These platforms are more “social media-like” and tend to be an easy way for students to connect and build a learning community.  This is a great way to connect hybrid course structures.

Zoom Cameras

While we would all love to see smiling faces on Zoom when we are teaching, our recommendation is to not require videos to be turned on.  There are a number of reasons why:

  • Bandwidth — some students just do not have the bandwidth to maintain a solid connection with both audio and video
  • Circumstances — we do not always know the student’s living situation and it’s unfair to ask them to share it

With that being said, if faculty prefer to have videos on then here are some suggestions:

  • Explain to the students why you  would like the videos on but stress it is not required and still optional
    • I enjoy seeing your faces!
    • I like being able to have some semblance of teaching normalcy with live faces and not into a void
    • Encourage them to upload a photo or avatar so you’re not staring into a black box.  Have fun themes for Zoom sessions — wear your favorite color, pajama day, bring your furry friend day, swap your picture for your favorite stuffed animal, etc.
  • It’s OK to ask students who might need to demonstrate an activity or do a presentation to have their video on — however, make sure sure to announce this ahead of time and tell students if they have any concerns to contact you prior to class.  This will allow students who have known issues (maybe bandwidth, etc.) to address them prior to the class.  In other words, students shouldn’t be caught off-guard and required to turn their video on without an opportunity to address concerns with you ahead of time.
  • Some reading on why Zoom cameras should not be required:

Ask Students

One of our best tools to engage students in any learning format is to ask them how they want to engage.  You can do this in a number of ways:

  • Create a short survey at the beginning of class that asks the students the type of learning activities they enjoy.
  • After 2-3 weeks, give students an anonymous survey asking them what is working and what is not.
  • Give students choices on assignments.  For example, if you have a short paper assignment, are there other ways the students could convey the same information?  Maybe a short video, comic strip, infographic, concept map, etc.  When we can give students choice in format for an assignment, they become more motivated and engaged in learning.
  • Connect with your students throughout the semester.  Don’t just check-in after the first couple of weeks.  Ask how they are doing and adjust assignments as needed.  For example, during Election Week, some faculty allowed students to opt-out of an engagement activity that week because they recognized the stress of the election on many of their students.  Or, if you notice in a discussion students seem unengaged, preoccupied, or distracted, stop and check-in.  See what is going on.  Small actions like this demonstrate care and concern and really make a difference in your course learning community.

Policy Q&A

Below are some of the policy questions and answers from the session, including some follow-up answers:

  • Any suggestions for outdoor and in person co-ordination with technology?…it’s been a challenge to get wi-fi for zoom in outdoor location!
  • What can we do to help students that have poor Internet access?   This would be for online courses.
  • For connectivity issues, put in a CCIT help ticket and see what they can do.  We are not sure about on-campus wifi (doesn’t hurt to ask).  CCIT has been very helpful getting students “hotspots” to help them.  Also see, https://ccit.clemson.edu/working-remotely/
  • If the student emails me and says that he/she wants to skip one class as he/she is afraid of getting COVID-19, is this OK?
  • You can determine how you will respond and being flexible during a pandemic is recommended!  Students may have anxiety.  However, if you see a trend, you can address this with a student.  According to the university, students in class are “expected” to be in class.
  • Will the university set the attendance schedule for students in hybrid classes, similar to Fall, or can it be set by the instructors for Spring 2021?
  • You and students have access to a schedule app through the “my.clemson” app.  Just click on “Covid-19 and search for either students or employees.  Under employees, you will find a faculty scheduler app which already has your students loaded for the day they should attend a hybrid class.
  • Would students in a hybrid class be penalized for attending on Zoom on a day when they are supposed to be in the classroom?
  • Are Student Affairs staff / dean automatically notified when students fill out a notice of absence (NOA)?
  • While this is at the instructor’s discretion, we would not recommend penalizing them — especially if they were in Zoom and active and engaged.  We are in a pandemic still, patience, flexibility, and grace are key!
  • From a faculty member: “I have had students share after zoom class, their mental /emotional struggles and with giving them grace have engaged more and appreciated the opportunity!”  We agree. How to file a CARE report for concerns around students: https://www.clemson.edu/studentaffairs/advocacy-success/care-network/
  • Per our associate dean, Dr. Appling: “It is not automatic. They are reviewed by OAS and if they are in certain categories (death of a parent, mental health, hospitalization, etc.) they get a CARE case. If it is COVID-related, the student is sent resource information, and if the student responds with needs, then a CARE case is opened to track the follow-up. If the student NOA mentions quarantine/isolation and additional needs, there is a CARE case opened to track follow-up as well.” For other reasons of absence, especially if it is not clear what is happening, faculty should send in a CARE report.
  • If we’re already teaching an all online class and we get accommodation emails for students to participate fully online, what further action (if any) do we need to take?
  • We would not think you would need to do anything further.  Likely, this is going to all of their courses. Just touch base with the student to make sure they know the course is fully online.
  • If the student does not cover their nose (with a mask), can the instructor ask the student to wear the mask properly?
  • Faculty have guidance from the university to handle improper mask-wearing or failure to wear a mask.  We have posted deans’ class regulations letters for your reference on this page.
  • The undergraduate student government met at the end of last semester to address several behaviors of their peers.  There is a new addition in Section V A. 12, Failure to Comply with Health and Safety Directive: https://www.clemson.edu/studentaffairs/student-handbook/code-of-conduct/student_code_of_conduct.pdf
  • Are there example syllabi with all the up-to-date COVID-19 policies that we may use as a template?
  • We have several resources on syllabi.  On our Clemson Teaching page, there are instructions for accessing the Campus Syllabus on Canvas and this is updated to include information from the undergraduate dean (we don’t think we missed anything but it doesn’t hurt to double-check!).  You can import into Canvas from the Commons page (search “OTEI” and Clemson).
  • I am teaching a traditional class.  Can you suggest how I would take attendance as we will not able to use papers?
  • Great question!  One faculty member suggested using a seating chart—this is a quick and visually easy for you.  However, students need to file into class using a particular protocol (front to back), so you could also use a polling app to take attendance.  Since you should have Zoom recording class (just in case), you can use the chat feature in Zoom as well.

For any other questions, you have several ways to reach out to us! You can email a staff person directly, email OTEI@clemson.edu and we will answer, or fill out a “services” request for consultation on the website: https://www.clemson.edu/otei/services-final.html

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