Inspire Blog

Students as Content Creators through Non-Disposable Assignments (NDAs)

NDAs and Open Pedagogy One of the principles upheld by the open pedagogy movement is that the role of the learner must be active and the tasks that they engage in must be meaningful. These are not new ideas by any stretch, but as we move toward a more open pedagogical environment, it becomes necessary to examine the types of assignments that we create and assign. How do these tasks contribute to efforts to democratize education and increase learner autonomy, engagement, and freedom? What makes an assignment open? To answer these questions, this post will explore the relationship between open pedagogy and open assignments.  While interest in the topic of open pedagogy has steadily gained steam in the roughly 50 … Students as Content Creators through Non-Disposable Assignments (NDAs)
by · June 27, 2022

How Should I Work with Your Words?

Bringing Critical Language Awareness to Instructional Texts and to How You Evaluate Student Writing Instructional designers spend a lot of time working with words – they’re the raw materials that instructors share with us in the development of their online courses – but it’s often unclear what liberties we should take with instructors’ writing, and, on a related note, how we should coach instructors to assess their students’ writing. If inclusivity and equity are central values in course design, how might that be reflected in the seemingly mundane act of copyediting instructional texts or in setting up an instructor’s rubric to include “standard” grammar as a criterion? When the instructional designer copy edits the instructor’s words, or the instructor assesses … How Should I Work with Your Words?
by · June 20, 2022

A White Paper Series Provides Actionable Insights in Course Design

By Naomi R. Aguiar & Tianhong Shi For eight straight years, OSU’s online bachelor’s programs have been ranked in the top 10 in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. How do we achieve that? One way is through collaboration between faculty and online learning design experts. Ecampus instructional designers support and partner with faculty to ensure that evidence-based research is applied in the courses we develop.  Another way is through research conducted by our very own faculty at OSU. In the Research Unit at Ecampus, faculty can receive funding to conduct research in online teaching and learning through the Research Fellows Program. In this program, funded faculty members conduct original research with students and instructors over the course … A White Paper Series Provides Actionable Insights in Course Design
by · June 16, 2022

Project-based Learning (Part 2) – Mindful Design

Ashlee M. C. Foster, MSEd | Instructional Design Specialist | Oregon State University Ecampus Whether a pedagogical approach is affirmed by research and/or practical evidence intentional design and effective deployment of pedagogical strategies are essential. We will begin with an exploration of evidence-based design components, which build upon the characteristics of Project-based Learning (PjBL), as discussed in Project-based Learning (Part 1) – Architecture for Authenticity. Getting Started Begin with the end in mind. Take a moment to establish the outcomes, goals, and real-world connections that will underpin the project. Consider using the following elements as your guide.   Identify the Course Learning Outcomes (CLO) students should be able to demonstrate upon successful completion of the course Identify the intended project outcomes … Project-based Learning (Part 2) – Mindful Design
by · June 13, 2022

Assessment Design Considerations for Ungrading

Over the last couple of terms, I joined a series of reading sessions with instructional design colleagues to read Alfie Khon and Susan Blum’s book Ungrading. Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead) and discuss the practices and implications of this approach to reconceptualize assessment design and the place of grading. This two-part blog aims to capture the takeaways from those discussions including the main concepts, approaches, types of activities, implications, and challenges of adopting ungrading practices. This first part of the blog covers a brief overview of the concept of ungrading, its major benefits, and design considerations; and the second blog will include a summary of the types of ungrading practices and challenges to implementation ––all … Assessment Design Considerations for Ungrading
by · June 6, 2022