It's week 3 of fall term! |
As your course settles into a rhythm, this is a good time to check in on students’ experiences and plan a few adjustments. This week, you’ll find ideas for midterm feedback, practical accessibility steps, and opportunities to explore teaching tools and learn with colleagues.
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What could you learn from a midterm check-in? |
You don’t have to wait until the end of the term to find out how students are experiencing your course. Collecting feedback midterm gives you time to make adjustments while students can still benefit. Plan now for a check-in during Week 4 or 5!
Start with a few focused questions: What is helping you learn? What is getting in the way? What could you—and I—change to improve your experience? Review the responses, look for themes, and tell students what you’ll change or why some things will stay the same.
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OAI offers facilitated midterm feedback! |
We can visit your class to guide an anonymous student feedback survey, then share a summary of what students said. Choose from our sample questions or work with us to tailor them to your course. If you’d like, we can also talk through the feedback together and consider what to try next.
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Meet the PSU staff member connecting classrooms to communities |
What could “Let knowledge serve the city” look like in your course? Harold McNaron, part of our team at OAI, helps faculty connect classroom learning with local communities so students can apply course concepts and draw on their own experiences.
Meet the artist and jazz enthusiast—and get his advice for trying community-engaged learning.
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As you return the first assignments, check what students can see on their Canvas Grades page. Make sure they can find the grades and feedback you intend to share so they can track their progress and use your feedback on their next assignment.
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Preparing for a quiz or exam? If a student needs extra time, check both the time limit and the quiz’s availability window. Our guide explains how to make sure the quiz’s closing time doesn’t cut their extension short.
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If your discussions ask students to post first and respond to classmates later, Canvas can display a deadline for each step. Our Discussion Checkpoints guide shows how to set separate dates and point values within one graded discussion.
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What’s new in teaching technology this fall? |
Thursday, Oct. 15, 10:00–11:00 a.m. | Online
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What tools could help your students participate, connect, and learn more deeply?
Join OAI’s Technology Test Kitchen to explore new Canvas features, Hypothesis, Panorama, Gemini Notebook, audio description in MediaSpace, and Google Sites.
Each tool will be demonstrated three times in breakout rooms. Visit one, two, or three demonstrations, or move among rooms to get a taste of what’s available and decide what might fit your teaching.
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Digital accessibility: Your Next Steps |
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Take PSU's Instructional
Digital Accessibility Training |
PSU's Instructional Digital Accessibility Training is a self-paced Canvas course with practical examples, templates, and checklists to help you make your courses accessible. Faculty training is part of your department’s accessibility plan, and this course is the place to start—working through manageable steps as you update your materials term by term.
Where: Online in Canvas; enroll with your PSU account.
Time: 60 minutes.
What’s included: Accessible documents, slides, spreadsheets, PDFs, audio and video, syllabi, and Canvas courses—plus student perspectives and universal design for learning.
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Do your videos explain what students need to see? |
Help students access important visual information in your course videos |
Audio descriptions explain important visual information that isn’t already conveyed through narration—such as a demonstration, diagram, or on-screen text.
MediaSpace now includes an audio description feature. Our guide explains what audio descriptions are and how to add them to your videos.
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Give students a shared starting point for AI in their courses |
Students may encounter different expectations for AI use across courses and assignments. The Student AI Literacy Canvas module offers a starting point for understanding generative AI and discussing its role in academic work.
You can adapt the module to your course and pair it with your own expectations for an assignment or activity. Use it to help students ask questions and develop shared language for conversations about AI.
To find the module, open Canvas Commons, filter for Portland State University, and search for “AI chatbot.”
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Wednesday, Oct. 21, 12:30–1:30 p.m.
Richard & Maurine Neuberger Center, Room 123
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What do emerging findings about AI and work mean for the choices faculty make in their courses? Join Jennifer Lerner of EAB to examine research on how jobs are changing and discuss what it may tell us about pedagogy and curriculum. Share questions and perspectives across disciplines, consider a range of approaches, and explore resources for faculty interested in experimenting.
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Talking Community-Engaged Learning: A Faculty Discussion Group
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Wednesday, Oct. 14, 12:45–1:45 p.m.
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| PSU's Community Partner Breakfast
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Thursday, Oct. 22, 9:00–11:00 a.m.
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| Reading Community-Engaged Learning |
Wednesday, Oct. 28, 1:30–2:45 p.m.
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You’re receiving this newsletter because you teach at Portland State University. The Office of Academic Innovation is PSU’s teaching and learning center, offering support for your courses, teaching practices, and learning technologies.
Have a teaching question? Contact us or visit us in Vanport 560.
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The Office of Academic Innovation
Portland State University
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