Education Commons^™

Creative Design: Asking “What Is It Like” And “Who Cares?”, Matthew Barclay

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

How do we put creativity into academic courses without getting irrelevant or distracting? Creative design is somewhat of a holy grail in many industries, and this is certainly true in the area of teaching and learning. As designers and consumers of instruction, we seek creativity.

Foster Inclusion By Focusing On Student Names, Brandy Bagar-Fraley

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

“To teach in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our students,” writes bell hooks, “is essential if we are to provide the necessary conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin” (hooks, 1994, p. 13). An inclusive and equitable classroom is a manifestation of that respect and care. Instructors who deliberately cultivate an environment in which all students feel acknowledged and valued can reduce barriers to success and give all students the opportunity to flourish (Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development, 2016; Walton & Cohen, 2007). And there are many small, but significant, alterations …

Start With Equity To Achieve Equality In The Classroom, Meghan Raehll

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

“…the direction in which education starts a man, will determine his future life.” – Plato, The Republic, Book IV.

As educators, we anchor our teaching principles in the values of equality and fairness to ensure the success of our students. Yet, layered atop the grounding ideals of equal opportunity for all students is the rugged reality in which, we too, as educators have emerged from our own specific contexts and carry with us deeply embedded beliefs that may transcend intentional thought. These specific contexts may, further, lead to unconscious stereotypes known as “implicit bias,” and can be detrimental to the …

Teaching Abroad: Ensuring A Good Opportunity Is Really Great!, Garry Mcdaniel

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

With increased globalization, more colleges and universities are establishing faculty exchanges, study abroad programs, collaborative research efforts, and technical assistance programs with counterparts overseas. The result is enhanced faculty development, increased learning for students, added revenue generation, and prestige for the partnering institutions. For faculty, the opportunity to teach abroad can be a fulfilling and career-enhancing experience. However, if faculty are inadequately prepared and supported, valuable time and resources are wasted, student learning is impacted, and the image of the institution and faculty member may suffer. This post examines how faculty and their home institutions can ensure that teaching abroad …

Graduate Assistant Experience At The Institute - An Interview With Amie Tope, Amie Tope

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Amie Tope, 2018 graduate of Franklin University’s Master of Science in Instructional Design & Learning Technology (IDLT) program, recently sat down for an interview with the IDLT program chair, Dr. Yi Yang. Amie not only graduated with a 4.0 GPA and gave a speech at the Winter 2018 Commencement—she also accepted a job offer before she graduated from the program! During this interview, she talks about her experience working as a graduate assistant for the International Institute for Innovative Instruction (the Institute), and offers suggestions for future graduate assistants.

Bridging Learners And Clients: Challenges And Strategies, Xiaopeng Ni

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

As discussed in my previous post, “Clients as an Instructional Resource,” integrating clients into the curriculum is promising and potentially innovative. A client-based course emphasizes a pedagogical orientation to gain real-word experience through meeting the “expressed needs” from the outside of the classroom. Students create impactful work, collaborate with clients, and sense professional culture. During the past several months, by collaborating with other faculty members, I had opportunities to implement some of these ideas in two graduate courses: Marketing Communication Planning and Instructional Design Capstone. The results, based on students’ feedback, are positive and well demonstrate its pedagogical values.

What International Teaching Has Taught Me About Instructional Design, Niccole Hyatt

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

As instructional designers, we rarely get an opportunity to interact with the learners who actually experience what we develop. We typically rely on learner evaluations, input from teaching faculty, or future enrollment numbers as evidence of positive instructional design interventions. However, there are many reasons why learning events succeed or fail. If a course is well designed, but the instructor is not up to par, can we blame the development of the course? What if the designer of a particular course is also the individual who teaches it? Taking it a step (or a flight) further, what if the class …

The Workflow Of Workflow, Jeannie Black

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Have you ever heard the Lewis Carroll quote, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there”? While it is true that not all who wander are lost, you shouldn’t completely forgo solid plans. Where do you start, though? With a cheat sheet, of course!

Applying Project Management Strategies In A Large Curriculum Conversion Project In Higher Education, Joel Gardner, Patrick A. Bennet, Niccole Hyatt, Kevin Stoker

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Higher education is undergoing great changes that require universities to adapt quickly, and making these changes can be difficult. One discipline that can aid in executing change is project management, which has developed a set of clear processes and strategies for completing initiatives quickly and effectively. Several authors have identified project management competencies as key in the practice of instructional design. However, in our experience it can be difficult to operationalize project management, particularly in instructional design projects that are large in scope and require a quick turnaround.

Mind Maps Allow Our Students To Paint A Picture!, Barbara Carder

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

When Fred Barnard said that “a picture is worth a thousand words” back in 1927, odds are that he wasn’t thinking about mind maps in higher education, but his idiom was true then and it remains true today.

Five Challenges For New Online Instructors, Constance Wanstreet

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

A boot camp for new online instructors focused on five challenges related to transitioning to online teaching, building spaces for learning, preparing students for the work of online learning, managing the classroom & assessing learner outcomes.

My Reflections On The Association For Educational Communications And Technology (Aect) 2017 International Convention, Lewis Chongwony

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

From November 6 – 11, 2017, the Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverfront in Jacksonville, Florida was a beehive of activity, as members of the AECT, one of the oldest professional organizations, passionate about uncovering better ways of helping people learn, congregated for the 2017 convention. With close to 400 concurrent sessions, several workshops, and more than 1,000 attendees, the place was beaming and brimming with excitement and an aura of freshness as attendees imbibed from pots of research, best practices, and experiences of speakers and peers both in sessions and during breaks. Looking around, I could easily tell that the 2017 …

Clients As An Instructional Resource, Xiaopeng Ni

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Higher education is under pressure to change from both within and outside (Christensen & Eyring, 2011). One such pressure is from future employers. According to the survey conducted by The Chronicle of Higher Education (Supiano, 2013), most employers significantly value students’ authentic experience over their classroom activities or grades. Authentic learning experience is a direction for teaching and learning innovations. As I discussed in my previous blog post (“Let’s Get Real about Learning”), authentic learning facilitates the transfer of learning and provides students contextual knowledge and skills. Students who learned decontextualized knowledge can answer items on a test but may …

Why Should You Use An Introductions Activity In Every Course?, Erin Wehmeyer

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Introductions and icebreakers are very popular activates but they are also dreaded by participants (and leaders). I recently read a blog, Icebreakers that Rock (www.cultofpedagogy.com), which explains what is wrong with most icebreakers and gives three examples of icebreakers that don’t have the “cheese” factor that tends to make us cringe. Icebreakers can be effective tools to create a sense of team or community in a group. But most icebreakers require some type of physical interaction (e.g., grouping, lines, circles, physical characteristics). How do we make these activities correlate to the online classroom (or meeting)? What’s missing from the online …

Assessment Of And For Student Learning And Success: Who Cares?!, Lewis Chongwony

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

A couple of months ago I came across a Chronicle of Higher Education article titled “Does Assessment Make Colleges Better? Who Knows?” The gist of the article is that virtually nobody, even those in higher education, truly cares about an institution’s assessment in making informed decisions about quality of institutions, for example, when considering a significant choice of which college to send one’s children.

5 Tips For Cultivating Engaged Students, Barbara Carder

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

I have been teaching primarily in the online environment during the past several years, but this trimester I am teaching a face-to-face class. I very much enjoy being in the classroom, even though it does make for a long day. Most of our students are working adults, so I can commiserate with them on what a marathon it is to attend class after working all day!

Cognitive Load Theory: Helping Students' Learning Systems Function More Efficiently, Jesse Fuhrman

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Cognitive load is the amount of working memory being used, like the RAM in your computer, only for the human brain. When memory usage on your computer is high, the system starts to slow down; it doesn’t function as efficiently. The same thing happens with learning. When the cognitive load is high, learning is less efficient

Caring For Lawns And University Courses: Fixing Common Problems With Deliberate Treatments For Good Growth, Matthew Barclay

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

It is springtime and that means lawns are growing. What do you do to help your lawn along in the spring? Many people just start mowing. They also rely on spring rains for water. A lawn might look okay for a while with just this treatment. However, a minimalist approach does not usually result in a green, healthy lawn for the whole season. While mowing and watering are necessary, leaving out additional intervention puts a lawn at risk for various weeds and other problems. Grass needs added nutrients, aeration, grub prevention, mowing with a proper blade, water in correct amounts …

Begging The Question: Strategies To Increase Student Performance, Roberta Niche

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

If you’re an instructional designer or an instructor, you undoubtedly know a lot about questions. You know that simple yes-no questions are often a dead end and that open-ended questions generally make for more interesting discussions. You know that students typically aren’t given enough think time; teachers’ average wait time is less than one second before they pick someone to answer or answer the question themselves.

9 Tips For Planning To Teach Online, Barbara Carder

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Whether you are teaching in the classroom or online,planning is a key component to your success. But teaching online can present some unique challenges and opportunities, and good planning is critical to a successful learning environment for your students. I’ve been teaching in the online environment for 15 years and really enjoy the flexibility it provides. I enjoy meeting folks from near and far, interacting with them, and helping to guide their educational efforts.

Preparing Future Instructional Design Leaders Through An Applied Doctoral Program: The Dps In Instructional Design Leadership, Yi Yang

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Over the past decade, the demand for professional practitioner-oriented doctoral education has grown rapidly. Groups ranging from the Carnegie Foundation to the Higher Learning Commission say that universities should offer professional practice doctorates to better serve the needs of educators seeking career growth. As a result, the number of these programs has skyrocketed to nearly 500 around the world

Improve Your Doctoral-Level Teaching With Post-Doctoral Seminars, Barbara Fennema

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

The Franklin University International Institute for Innovative Instruction and the office of Teaching Effectiveness has developed a series of courses for faculty members who will participate in the new doctoral courses being offered at Franklin University.

Five Steps To A Successful Class Start!, Barbara Carder

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

A good start is critical to a successful class. Modeling active learning right from the start will show students that they are in an interactive environment and will be expected to actively participate in the learning process

Coping With The Complexity Of Learning Analysis, Xiaopeng Ni

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Educators have a lot of data at their disposal: student grades, demographics, communications, course surveys, and learning analytics. And while all this information can seem overwhelming at times, careful instructional analysis can yield great results

How To Create Awesome Powerpoint Presentations, Barbara Carder

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Everyone who is asked to give a presentation must then ask themselves whether they should use a program to enhance their presentation. The presentation program that we are all probably most familiar with is Microsoft PowerPoint. The next time you are preparing a presentation that puts you behind the podium or up on a stage, first consider whether a presentation program should be used. Remember, PowerPoint is a visual tool that should enhance the topic of your presentation – not be the main focus of the presentation

Tips For Writing Measurable Learning Outcomes, Rob Wood

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

“Upon completion of this unit, the learner will appreciate the significance of…” something, something. Or, the learner will “be able to demonstrate an understanding” of something or other. I cringe inside when I see supposed learning outcomes similar to these because they are not measurable. That is, there is no observable performance that adequately captures what a learner would actually do to “appreciate” or “understand.”

Teaching And Learning: A Philosophy Of Education, Barbara Fennema

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Recently I designed a course for the teaching effectiveness area of Franklin University’s International Institute for Innovative Instruction. The course is for all new instructors at Franklin, helping them to “learn the ropes” before they begin teaching their first course at Franklin.

Use Class Activities To Create A Climate For Active Learning!, Barbara Carder

The International Institute for Innovative Instruction Blog

Activities can be conducted on the first day of class (or first session in an online class) that will engage students and promote active learning. The activities can be used to model the desired behavior and encourage students to recognize their responsibility in a successful learning environment. For example, an activity in which every student speaks sends the message that they will be expected to participate in class discussions.