Tag: instructional design

Two Perspectives on ChatGPT

By Cynthia Rutz, Director of Faculty Development, CITAL This past winter there was a veritable explosion of news stories about ChatGPT, a technology that lets users put in prompts to generate text that reads like it was written by a...
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What Faculty Learning Communities Can Do for You

By Cynthia Rutz, Director of Faculty Development, CITAL Some of your faculty colleagues have been meeting regularly this year to explore a teaching topic that interests them and then making positive changes in their classrooms. That is what our Faculty...
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Saving Your Students Money By Using OERs

By Cynthia Rutz, Director of Faculty Development, CITAL Jon Bull decided to make using open educational resources (OERs) a priority for his work at VU in order to help with student retention. That is why Jon instituted the OER Development...
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What to Do for the Last Week of Class

By Cynthia Rutz, Director of Faculty Development, CITAL Does your last week of class look like every other week of the semester?  If so, you may be missing a chance for a memorable finale that will fix the semester’s learning...
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VU Faculty Test-drive Simple Syllabus

By Cynthia Rutz, Director, Valparaiso Institute for Teaching and Learning (CITAL) This summer several VU faculty piloted Simple Syllabus, a new tool that ensures students can, with a single click, get to the most important parts of your syllabus. In...
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Helping All Your Students with Universal Design for Learning

By Cynthia Rutz, Director, Valparaiso Institute for Teaching and Learning (CITAL)  Many of our students are struggling right now. Some are hampered by two years of lockdown and missed learning. Others have learning disabilities, whether diagnosed or not.  How can...
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The Green Campus and Eco-Pedagogy

By Cynthia Rutz, Director, Valparaiso Institute for Teaching and Learning (CITAL)   Would you like to see VU become more sustainable? Then read on to learn about some green initiatives on campus. Alberto López Martín (WLC), VU’s first Faculty Development...
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Beyond Exams: Other Ways to Measure Student Learning

By Cynthia Rutz, Director of Faculty Development, CITAL Do you ever wonder whether your tests, exams, and assignments are really developing the skills you want your students to learn?  What would you like them to retain five minutes after your...
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Getting Students to Read for Class by Using Perusall

By Cynthia Rutz, Director of Faculty Development, CITAL   Like many of you, I have struggled to get my students to read for class.  I have tried daily reading quizzes, group presentations, even assigning questions for each reading. But nothing...
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Using Student Groups Effectively

By Cynthia Rutz, Director of Faculty Development, CITAL Putting students in groups during class improves engagement, retention of knowledge, and deep learning according to several studies (see list of further resources at the end of this article). Students learn better...
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