Inspire Blog Author: shitia

Problem Solving, Team Conflict and Large Enrollment in Online Courses: Research and Design

Core Education at Oregon State University launched summer 2025 and is designed to deepen how students think about problem-solving in ways that transcend disciplinary-specific approaches. It aims at preparing students to be adaptive, proactive members of society who are ready to take on any challenge, solve any problem, advance in their chosen career and help build a better world (Oregon State University Core Education, 2025). Designing Seeking Solutions Signature Core category courses presents a few challenges, such as the nature of wicked problems, cross-discipline teamwork, and the global impact of wicked problems, to name just a few. In the past eight months, instructional designers at Oregon State University Ecampus have worked intensively to identify design challenges, brainstorm course design approaches, … Problem Solving, Team Conflict and Large Enrollment in Online Courses: Research and Design
by · August 25, 2025

Belonging, Fun and Scaffolding in Introductory College Math Course

MTH 112Z at Oregon State University is designed to prepare students for calculus and related disciplines. This course explores trigonometric functions and their applications as well as the language and measurement of angles, triangles, circles, and vectors. These topics are explored symbolically, numerically, and graphically in real-life applications. MTH 112Z is designated as a Common Course Numbering (CCN) in the state of Oregon, ending with “Z” in the course number. When transferring to an Oregon public college or university, “CCN courses will be accepted as if they were taken at the institution students transfer to (that is, the receiving institution)” (State of Oregon, 2023). An instructor from the math department and Tianhong Shi from Ecampus collaborated in designing a brand-new … Belonging, Fun and Scaffolding in Introductory College Math Course
by · November 25, 2024

Engaged Learning Design for Motivation, Comprehension and Application

Engaged learning design helps students comprehend the learning materials and apply the newly learned knowledge and skills to new contexts. Jessie Moore proposed six key principles for engaged learning, namely: * “Acknowledging and building on students’ prior knowledge and experiences;* Facilitating relationships, including substantive interactions with faculty/staff mentors and peers, and development of diverse networks;* Offering feedback on both students’ work-in-progress and final products;* Framing connections to broader contexts, including practice in real-world applications of students’ developing knowledge and skills;* Fostering reflection on learning and self; and* Promoting integration and transfer of knowledge” (Moore 2021; Moore, 2023). This blog will showcase three course design projects using engaged learning principles to overcome design challenges, including challenging content, lack of student motivation, … Engaged Learning Design for Motivation, Comprehension and Application
by · February 13, 2024

Passion: Find It or Build It?

Are you passionate for what you do? I do. I enjoy, treasure, relish what I do as an instructional designer. But I also realize that not everyone is able to work on something they are passionate about. As an educator, I believe we ought to stir up passion and values in the learners we serve. So, I started searching for ways to motivate, to stir up and help people find their passion. And I found these resources: books and podcast by Todd Henry on passion, and book and podcast by Liz Forkin Bohannon. Todd Henry shared his recipe for finding the power to keep your passion firing for a lifetime by starting with a few simple questions. What is something … Passion: Find It or Build It?
by · November 8, 2022

Asking Good Questions

In Dr. Freeman Hrabowski’s TED Talk “4 Pillars of College Success in Science”, he told the story of Nobel laureate Isidor Isaac Rabi’s mother’s famous question: Did you ask a good question today? Let’s pause for a minute and reflect: What is a good question? What questions do you ask most frequently? What questions do your students or children ask most? Types of Questions Teachers usually encourage students to ask questions. Dr. Peter Liljedahl, author of “Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics” and professor of Mathematics Education at Simon Fraser University in Canada, however, points out that not all questions need and should be answered directly. According to Liljedahl, there are three types of questions and only one type of questions … Asking Good Questions
by · September 6, 2022