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Greetings!
Whether inside or outside of the classroom, instructors are using Canvas to build scholarly communities, create safe environments for questions and feedback, and manage assignments and grading efficiently and consistently. We hope you are inspired by their approaches!
In this special edition of the Canvas Chronicle, we share how faculty use some of Canvas’ features and tools in their courses. Please contact us at canvas@princeton.edu if you'd like to learn more.
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Take attendance and check comprehension with iClicker Cloud
“I use iClicker in my class for attendance and to check student understanding. In every class, I ask one or two multiple-choice questions to determine if students understand the concepts presented. Since this is to gauge their understanding, I don’t penalize them for incorrect answers.
Discussing the student responses in relation to the questions assists in strengthening student understanding. While the questions asked during class are not as complex or challenging as the questions on the problem sets or exams, they provide a good stepping stone for future assignments.”
Kelly Noonan, Economics
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Invite different viewpoints and anonymous feedback with Mentimeter
“I used Mentimeter to create my lecture slides for my large (270+) introduction to moral philosophy class in the fall, and I am using it again this semester to create the lecture slides for my smaller (20+) environmental ethics class.
Since my classes often involve thought experiments, I can easily ask students about their intuitions about these thought experiments using Mentimeter. This is far better than a clicker system for large classes. And even in the smaller class, it is valuable, because this allows students to respond without being influenced by their peers and without fear of judgment.
It is also great because students can submit written feedback in addition to multiple-choice polls, which further enriches the student experience and makes them involved. I have had many students tell me they quite like my use of Mentimeter, both for keeping them engaged and testing their understanding. In addition to thought experiments, I often ask students quick comprehension questions through Mentimeter.”
Adam Lerner, Philosophy
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Encourage collaborative reading with Hypothesis
“I use Hypothesis to engage students with the text in advance and to have a better sense of the themes we will address during the readings’ discussion. It helps to identify passages that we wish to spend more time on, to structure the class, and prepare additional material in advance.
The annotation tool allows students who are generally reluctant to contribute orally in class to be engaged in the reading. The simple fact of reading aloud their comments and explaining them helps to set aside any apprehension of speaking in front of the class. In that way, I find Hypothesis a great tool of inclusion. By encouraging threaded discussions, it forces students to engage with their classmates’ reflections.
As an advice for other instructors, I would recommend requiring each student to post at least one comment on Hypothesis for every reading. Like that, we are sure that no one comes to class without having read and engaged with the texts. The tool also allows you to see when the comment was posted, which can help to identify students who tend to procrastinate and help them plan their workload in a more efficient fashion.”
Basile Baudez, Art and Archaeology
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Respond to questions with Ed Discussion
“I found Ed Discussion useful. In the large applied mathematics class that I teach (>100 students), Ed served as a discussion tool and question and answer tool for students, in a format everyone can see. This was particularly helpful for giving hints and advice about the weekly homework and topics related to the assignments. The latex-like interface helped with typing easy-to-read mathematics formulae.
The teaching staff took turns monitoring Ed Discussion and answering questions. In this way, we were able to provide feedback on the same day a question was asked, if not actually within an hour of the question being asked. I could check in occasionally, and if I thought an answer was unclear, I could easily add further remarks.
Students get to see the questions other students are asking. In particular, for homework, they can all see the hints other students are getting based on the questions submitted to Ed Discussion.”
Howard Stone, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
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Use Canvas as a one-stop assignment shop
“Canvas provides a one-stop platform to create and administer writing assignments. My students submit their work and do peer reviews on Canvas. Not having to email back and forth to share Word attachments saves precious time. Rubrics are super easy to create and manage, and we know that readily available rubrics improve transparency and help students understand our expectations for any given assignment.
Grading is also greatly simplified. The Canvas Speedgrader has fantastic features: it lets the instructor see their progress in terms of how many assignments remain to be graded, keep track of the average grade, and, most importantly, offer feedback in a very organic way. I like to share specific questions or remarks by commenting directly on my student's papers, and I reserve the Comment feature in the assignment tool for a general appreciation of the strengths and weaknesses of the work being assessed.
I also make extensive use of the Discussion tool. Discussions allow students to share their work not only with me but also with their peers. This has great pedagogical value because it enables students to learn from one another and continue the conversation outside of the classroom. Discussions can also be graded if that’s what the assignment calls for: it’s really the perfect combination of horizontal learning and instructor feedback.”
Mariana Bono, Spanish and Portuguese
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Streamline and improve grading transparency with Gradescope
“Using Gradescope last fall revolutionized the exam grading process for MOL 345 (135 students). Whether the exams were in person or online, Gradescope made grading faster, more consistent, and more transparent.
During the semester, students took two exams in person. The hardest part was scanning the exams; once we got used to the procedure, it proved reasonably efficient. Next, we graded the exams online.
When we suddenly needed to move the final exam online, we used Gradescope’s online assignment feature. This allowed students to take the exam without printing it out or scanning it afterward, and we could grade them as before.
Overall, Gradescope was easy to learn, efficient to use, and well-integrated with Canvas. Like the colleague who first told us about it, we would never consider going back to the old way of grading.”
Frederick Hughson, Molecular Biology
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