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• 1 2020-07-28T14:23:44-07:00 Creating Adaptable Assessments, Assignments, and Activities 66 plain 2020-09-04T08:49:51-07:00 Now more than ever we need to be adaptable in our course design. To achieve this, we can think about the ways in which we approach assessment, assignments, and activities, incorporating as much flexibility as possible. As you read through this content, keep your purpose and learning outcomes in the forefront of your mind.
  
  How can you use your purpose and outcomes to design assessments, assignments, and activities for your course?
  

  
  Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

  Incorporating UDL into your online teaching can help you move toward a more engaged, equitable, and accessible classroom. It is not a panacea for challenges that arise in online learning; however, it does offer a framework for reducing barriers and maximizing learning for all learners.
  

  Reflect on the Qualities of an Adaptive Course and Course Components.

  1. What seems actionable?
  2. What are you already doing?
  3. What do you want to learn more about?
  4. How can you create a more level playing field for your students?
  5. What are the concepts students routinely misunderstand?
  Next, look at a current assignment or assessment, or think about one you’re designing. Use the matrix to create an assignment that is both transparent and universally designed.
   

  	Engagement: optimize relevance and authenticity, discuss learning goals, offer opportunities for reflection	Representation: clarify what students need to know, provide background information, offer alternatives for presentation of this information	Action & Expression: vary methods for responding to assignment; support student goals and project management, allow students to use multiple tools for constructing their work
  Purpose	What is the purpose of this activity? What are students expected to demonstrate? How does this connect to their personal life?
  Task		What is the first step to take on an assignment? What are the remaining tasks? How can students get themselves unstuck? How can students complete tasks to get the most out of them?
  Criteria for success			What does “good” work look like in your class? For this assignment? How will you communicate this to students?

   

  Activity and Assignment Examples

  • Strategies for Active Learning while Physically Distancing
  • TILT Examples and Resources

  Further Reading

  • ADA Compliance for Course Design
  • Universal Design Learning Guidelines
• 1 2020-07-28T14:22:19-07:00 Creating Learning Outcomes 24 plain 2020-09-02T10:01:01-07:00 Learning outcomes should be aligned to, or reflect, the Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions. Learning outcomes will be written in a way that operationalizes the understandings in order for the outcomes to be assessable during the course.
  
  Dee Fink proposes six dimensions of learning in his Taxonomy of Significant Learning (p. 11).
  
  
  Learning outcomes can be constructed to reflect these dimensions as you build a more socially conscious course.
  
  To create your social impact outcomes, reflect on the dimensions of learning and the questions above. You can have a learning outcome that addresses all dimensions, or just a few. Then, use the following formula to create an outcome that relates to the dimensions you want to highlight in your course.
   

  Students will be able to +	Action VERB +	knowledge, skill, or behavior you want students to learn.
  Students will be able to +
  Students will be able to +
  Students will be able to +

  Further Reading

  • Going beyond Bloom’s for learning outcomes and objectives. BYU Center for Teaching and Learning.
  • See Bloom’s Taxonomy for levels of learning and associated verbs.
  • Jeremy Branzetti, Michael A. Gisondi, Laura R. Hopson & Linda Regan (2019). Aiming Beyond Competent: The Application of the Taxonomy of Significant Learning to Medical Education. Teaching and Learning in Medicine, 31:4, 466-478, DOI: 10.1080/10401334.2018.1561368