Faculty Read Me First! (Summer 2024) [Do NOT Publish] (TECH-1010_Ahmed Alsharif) | Janel Mitchell/Daina Romney

Why we are including this example

This is a page for courses with multiple faculty who teach it. When a course is refreshed this page can be included to walk faculty through all of the updates and changes.

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Welcome Faculty

This is your orientation to our recently refreshed TECH 1010 course.

Take some time to familiarize yourself with the course and provide feedback.

If you have any questions or need assistance reach out to us:

Ahmed Alsharif via Teams or Ahmed.Alsharif@uvu.edu
Janel Mitchell via Teams or Jmitchell@uvu.edu

Items changed since Spring 2024

Tech Tips combined and reduced to 2 assignments
Removed Tech Tip - File sharing since we don't ask students to collaborate
Removed "What grade do you want? assignment
Reduced to Orientation + 12 modules to better fit within ALL semesters
- Modules 1 and 3 have been combined for the NEW Module 1
- Module 2 is now Optional Module 13
2 required and 1 choice assignment per module
Rubrics reviewed and made more consistent between similar assignment types
Point breakdown per module
- Required assignment - 20 points
- Quiz - 30 points
- Choice assignment -15 points
F2F Faculty please see "In Class Activities" in the files of this course
- If you download this entire folder the files open much more quickly on your own device

Due Dates

As per Susan Thackeray's recent email and in response to the one-year temporary policy on due dates we are to avoid weekend and holiday due dates beginning summer 2024. The summer 2024 course has Tuesday and Friday due dates.

Import to Your Course

Import your ODS_TECH-1010_OL-CERT_2023 course into your own section BEFORE making any changes.

Be vigilant in checking which course your are updating so accidental changes are not made to the ODS_TECH-1010_OL-CERT_2023 course.

Regular and Substantive Interactions (RSI)

RSI is a federal regulation applicable to this course and all other online courses. If RSI is a new term to you here is some additional information:

In addition to grading and providing substantive feedback on assignments faculty must also initiate other interactions regularly over the term such as:

Office Hours
Announcements
Individual outreach
etc.

Block vs. Semester Sections

Semester and Block class are to cover ALL the course material. This course will be refreshed each semester with the semester dates. If you are teaching a block course, you will need to adjust those dates with two modules per week to fit the condensed schedule.

Announcements

Set the delivery dates to Wednesdays at 12:01 a.m. on all the provided regular reoccurring module announcements
Set appropriate dates (a week ahead) for the 2 "Last Day to Drop" announcements
Create your own "Welcome to Class" announcement.
Feel free to add other announcements or adjust the provided announcements to your own personality and teaching style.

Syllabus

Instructor Contact Information

Add your name and link to your instructor information page.
Choose your preferred communication method, with Canvas Inbox as a standard option.
Adjust this section to match your communication style and availability for student inquiries.

How This Course Works

Course Mode / Attendance:

There is a section included for each modality.
- Delete the sections that do not apply to your course modality
A Course Schedule is provided with assignments listed per module
- Add more detail such as meeting dates/times if you are meeting synchronously to facilitate student planning and participation
Clearly define the requirements for in-person attendance.
- Explain how online and in-person components interconnect and enhance the overall learning experience.

Instructor Information Page

If you had an existing Instructor Information page it has been imported into this course and updated with the new template.
- These are located in the "pages" menu of the course.
- Add your page to the orientation module just below the "Couse Schedule".
Review your page and make any necessary updates
- Be sure to check your directory and other links are functional
Ensure your name is in the page title so it does not get overwritten or lost (i.e. Instructor Janel Mitchell).
If you change your picture, please file the .jpg or .png file in the "images" folder.
- Ensure your name is included in the filename.
If you need to create an instructor page, duplicate the "Instructor Information [Duplicate BEFORE using - Add Your Name to the Copy]" page and leave the original template for someone else.
If you need help with your instructor information page, reach out to Janel Mitchell through a Teams message or at jmitchell@uvu.edu.

Textbook and Course Materials

Students are not required to purchase a textbook. The course material is integrated into Canvas using H5P, offering an expandable reading view for ease of access.

Course Logistic

The "Course Orientation" module assignments purposely have NO "until dates" to allow for students adding late to catch up.

Students are able to complete through Module 2 without restriction. If assignments marked "required to release full course materials" from the Course Orientation are not completed students will be locked out of Module 3 forward until these are addressed.

Hybrid Cafeteria Style

In this course, we adopt a hybrid cafeteria-style method, allowing students the freedom to select assignments. This approach encourages exploration of all course modules through required assignments, including quizzes related to the textbook content. Students have the liberty to choose additional assignments for each module.

Advise students to prioritize required assignments before exploring additional choice assignments (more than 1 choice assignments).

Curriculum Development

The course has been updated with additional Physics and science elements, aligning with a STEM-focused approach and now features more complex and thought-provoking assignments, including STEM tasks, online simulations, and virtual labs.

AI tools are integrated into the course assignments, emphasizing their value in the learning process. Guidelines on the appropriate use of AI in coursework are provided in the syllabus.

Grading

See the "Grading" section of the Syllabus for the grade breakdown and points needed per grade.

Assessments

- 1000-point Grading System
  - Minimizes confusion and aligns points with percentages
- Assessments
  - Two required assignments per module
    - Module quizzes (multiple choice, unlimited attempt, open book, and highest score is recorded)
    - Module assignment
  - One choice assignments per module
    - Students select 1 of 5 choices to complete
    - Choice assignments consist of
      - Discussions (due on Thursdays with follow-up comments by Sunday)
      - Learning Journals
      - Variety of other assignments
  - Two Major Exams
    - Midterm (covers modules 1-6) and Final (covers modules 7-12)
    - Multiple choice questions
    - Single attempt and timed
    - Based on module quizzes

Student Grade View

This has been added to the syllabus AND you may want to advise students as well to uncheck the box in their grades view for accurate grade tracking.

This: Not this:

Delphinium

The use of Delphinium gaming skin in Canvas is optional.

Delphinium is set up as a default in this course since it is easier to deactivate it than to activate it for those of us who want to use it.

Steps to setting up Delphinium

Follows these steps to authorize and set up your Delphinium:

After importing your course, select "Delphinium" and authorize. Use the recommended copy as below and press "Next".
- If it takes more than 3-5 minutes, reload the page.
Select "Skip manual matching step" and wait...
- Do NOT attempt to change any settings such as semester dates in the interim Delphinium screens--just wait
If you see this screen after you authorize Delphinium, you can just ignore it and select OK.

Deactivate Delphinium

If you would prefer NOT to use Delphinium follow these steps:

Go to the "Settings" menu on the left navigation
Select the "Navigation" tab and drag Delphinium down below the visible menu items
Drag "Grades" into the visible menu items
Scroll to the bottom of the page and select "Save"
Next while still in "Settings" go to "Course Details" tab and scroll down to the "Grading Scheme"
Uncheck the box near the "Enable course grading scheme"
Finally remove the sections from the syllabus that refer to Delphinium and populate Grades in the navigation menu.