“Ask a Teacher” Advice Column

Q: What are best practices for structuring a course on Canvas?

A: As the entire campus transitions officially to Canvas in Fall 2023, many faculty members are in the middle of deciding how to structure a course on Canvas.  Academic Technology is offering workshops as well as 1:1 appointments that may be helpful to you. Find more information on the Canvas support and training page.

One option is to structure your course so each week or each class meeting is one module on Canvas. Because the layout of Canvas is a bit different than iLearn, you may also want to consider making a course landing page to personalize the way that students first interact with your course. This Academic Technology page provides more details.

This will be a learning process for all of us as we transition to Canvas.  Hopefully we can all utilize the resources available to us through Academic Technology as well as learn from our colleagues as we navigate the new system.

Q: I would like to invite my class to an optional field trip that required pre-registration and pre-payment for a discounted student rate. For me to offer the opportunity, I would have to either pay for admission myself and ask for reimbursement from the students, or ask the students to pay me first and then hand out the tickets.

A: Field trips are often a wonderful way of augmenting in-class instruction. It is important that faculty members are aware that the California State University System and San Francisco State have formal policies and procedures regulating field trips. It would be helpful for faculty to consult the CSU policy at the following online site:   Viewing Field Trip Policy and Procedures (policystat.com). Specifically, Executive Orders 1051 and 1062 are relevant. Faculty should always keep their department chairs in the loop and consult with them on matters related to funding fieldtrips. It is a good idea for faculty to discuss such matters with the Office of Risk Management, headed by Michael Beatty, to check on matters of the financial aspects of field trips in terms of having a teacher pay for the fieldtrip and then seek reimbursement from students, etc. Given the liability aspects connected to field trips and off campus excursions as part of a class, it is always best to exercise great caution and consult the appropriate policies and individuals before making arrangement for field trips.

Q: I am wondering about how other teachers make time for course revisions or new course development. Like many, I make small, incremental changes each semester. But a couple of my classes are due for a BIG refresh. However, I can’t seem to find the necessary time within existing teaching/prep, service, and research commitments. Can this be done?

A: We applaud your desire to update your course materials!  While this can seem like a daunting task, it might be helpful to focus on what your overall goal is in revamping your course. For example, is your goal to change the overall course organization? The switch from iLearn to Canvas might be the perfect time to build things out differently in the new learning platform. Is your goal to infuse more JEDI principles into your course?  You might want to start with some of the resources through CEETL.

Once you have an overall focus in mind, blocking out some protected time on your calendar to focus on the course refresh each week might be helpful, so that the time doesn’t get cut short by your other required commitments. While we all desire to have everything organized at the start of the term, sometimes reality is that we start the term with the overall course structure, and then continue building out the materials week-by-week. Another option might be to use the class you are currently teaching with its current structure, and then starting planning now to refresh the course for the next time you teach it. For example, after each class meeting this term, keep a running document where you record some reflections about how you would like to change that for the next time you teach that course. Then when you go to set up the course in a future term, you will have a handy document to guide you in efficiently designing the new course. Good luck!

Q: How do faculty members deal with problem students and are there any strategies on how to handle such situations?

A: This is a great question, and it is most timely. Many faculty have noticed an uptick in problematic student behavior during the last few years and “post” pandemic. The best way of thinking about handling problematic student behavior is to approach resolutions progressively. The first thing to do is to call the student aside and privately address the behavior in a “no shame, no blame” manner. It is best to share with the student what you are observing in her/him/them and to ask whether the student is aware of what they are doing and the potential negative impact it is having on others and on the general, overall teaching and learning experience of the class. It is then appropriate to request that the student express themself in a more appropriate way.  Then, give the student a chance to remedy the behavior. If the behavior continues and/or if the faculty member feels unsafe or at a loss for what to do next it would be prudent to contact the department chair and discuss the matter. The student can be given an additional warning, and if there is no change in behavior, the faculty member and chair can meet with the student to elevate the matter. If the situation is still not getting resolved, the faculty member and chair can involve the associate dean of the College, and perhaps even a consult with the Office of Student Conduct might be warranted. Most of the time, once the faculty member initially reaches out to a student the problematic behavior improves if not stops altogether. It is also important that throughout the resolution process that the faculty member document the situation as best as possible should more formal remedies be initiated.

Q: How much choice in assignments do you give students?

A: This question is heartening and it reveals that its author is open to student-centered learning. Most teachers continue to hold onto the belief that they control all aspects of a course and that students should not play a role in determining the curriculum or have input into student assignments. Some philosophers of education from the progressive education camp have long believed that having students involved in determining their own assignments creates more buy-in and fosters intrinsic value of learning. It puts students in a more active role in their educational process.

Regarding how much choice students should be afforded in choosing their assignments, there is no formula for this. The other important point is that having students choose or develop their assignments is not an either/or proposition; for example, either students develop them or teachers do. Students can develop or choose their own assignments and teachers can facilitate revising, fine-tuning these assignments to be maximally meaningful and fit the anticipated outcomes of the class. The benefit of having students involved in creating/developing/choosing assignments is that the assignments are likely to be meaningful to students and relevant to their lives thereby enhancing the learning process.

Q: How do you determine the appropriate level of student workload?

A: There is no formula or ideal way of determining student workload. However, it is always best to think about quality over quantity. When considering reading schedules and student assignments, be attentive to the fact that most students—particularly first-generation, low-income and/or students of color—have multiple priorities and must often work to support themselves and their loved ones. If the maxim is still true that students should be devoting three hours of outside work for every one hour spent in class, then that is a good way of gauging how much work should be assigned. Remember, quality is much more important than quantity.