Sarah Jones, a doctoral student at Michigan State, reminds us in her insightful post that giving more low-stakes assessments has a multitude of benefits for our students. She writes that providing your student with low-stakes testing will "produce large improvements in student final exam scores, help narrow the grade gap between poorly prepped and highly prepped first year college student, and might even result in more positive course reviews." She cites research by Scott Freeman, David Haak, and Mary Pat Wenderoth (Published in the Life Sciences Education edition of The American Society of Cell Biology) who wrote "We found no evidence that points from active-learning exercises inflate grades or reduce the impact of exams on final grades. When we controlled for variation in student ability, failure rates were lower in a moderately structured course design and were dramatically lower in a highly structured course design. This result supports the hypothesis that active-learning exercises can make students more skilled learners and help bridge the gap between poorly prepared students and their better-prepared peers." Some may be worried that their already heavy workload will be further burdened by more assessment. But the use of Canvas can actually reduce the amount of grading you have to do if you set up the quiz or analysis using the LMS. You can also use peer review, a great active learning tool that enhances learning for all students.

UNPACKING RELATIONSHIPS: INSTRUCTION AND STUDENT OUTCOMES
What is the relationship between instruction and student outcomes? We know that for students to persist, complete, and achieve success in college, the learning environment matters. Students need to feel integrated into academic and social culture, but integration is not enough. They must be engaged. The more engaged students are in learning environments, the more likely they are to complete, learn, and be satisfied. Further, student beliefs about their academic ability influence their success in education, and faculty interactions sit at the intersection of reinforcing or debunking student beliefs. Yet, the evidence-based practices that we know impact student outcomes and instruction, while widely documented as effective, are not widely used in practice. Read the full report here.

ANALYTICS JUST ONE OF THE TOP TECH TRENDS
Courses that educators can adapt any time based on student learning data. Hackers empowered by artificial intelligence. Augmented reality used in conjunction with campus maps. All of these technologies are on the horizon in 2017. This past year, higher education saw a boost in the use of technologies like predictive analytics, cloud, and augmented and virtual reality — and research indicates that these trends will only continue to rise. About 41 percent of higher ed IT leaders said their organizations will increase spending on tech in 2017, reports University Business in their trends and predictions report, “Outlook 2017.” You can view some of the analytics that can be used in your courses by attending the professional development session Using Analytics to Respond to Student Needs on Thursday, February 16 at 3:00 pm in the Center for Teaching+Learning Enhancement. Register now.

RUBRICS FOR CANVAS
Many of us are using rubrics in our courses to not only help us offer transparency in our assessment but to really guide a student to success. Now you can create rubrics outside of Canvas and import them into your courses. Here is a brief video explaining how to do it.

CAN LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES HELP
Many students struggle with early college courses—whether developmental courses preparing them for college-level math and English or introductory courses in subjects like biology, psychology and business. Colleges and universities concerned with high failure rates in these courses are exploring how new learning technologies, like courseware that delivers and personalizes instructional content, can help faculty adapt the learning experience to the needs of individual students. So what do we know about these learning technologies? Find out here.

IT'S NOT THE DEBT
There is a lot of talk these days about student debt and the challenges that families face managing this burden. Rightfully so, particularly at a time when too many families are struggling with flat wages and rising costs. But the discussion of a debt crisis often fails to address what I would argue is the greater crisis: the fact that more than half of those who start college fail to finish. Think about it: Tens of millions of people in the US are saddled with student debt and have no degree to help pay it off. They won’t get the substantial return on their investment—graduates with a bachelor’s degree earn about $1 million more in additional income over their lifetime than those with only a high school diploma—and they typically have not developed the adaptive learning skills that will help them prosper in a rapidly changing economy. See what Michael Crow, President of Arizona State says next here.

BEAR BRIEFS
Did you know that students are more likely to view your content pages if it includes a video? Take a look at this.

“It’s estimated most human beings only use 10% of their brains’ capacity,” said Morgan Freeman–playing a well-known neurologist in the film Lucy. See what follows here.

NEW CANVAS CAPABILITY
Canvas, our open online learning management system, recently announced the immediate availability of a new annotation feature in its mobile application. This new functionality allows students to open, annotate, and submit an assignment directly within Canvas. Historically this has been accomplished through a third-party app, which can create an additional expense for our students. Providing one platform where all of these capabilities reside eliminates the need for students to buy additional software and reduces the need for paper, both cost saving actions. The mobile annotation feature allows instructors to spend less time demonstrating procedures for moving and transitioning digital assignments and more time teaching. Digitizing assignments inside Canvas also allows instructors to grade assignments using the Canvas SpeedGrader. Read more here.

ENGAGEMENT IN THE ELEARNING ENVIRONMENTS

Learning is about personal relationships. Deep learning doesn’t happen through reading or rote memorization online any more than in the physical world. It is the experiences and meaningful conversations (or maybe human interactions) within a course that enable students to critically reflect, and deepen their learning. All too often, online students feel isolated, which can decrease motivation and increase attrition. When learning occurs entirely through computer-mediated instruction, professors often overlook simple steps like asking participants to introduce themselves. Details like asking your students to create a video introduction to a class can have a powerful impact. Video-based introductions can help develop a community of learners more quickly than simply posting text on a discussion board. Students who are in courses with introductory videos have been shown to actively participate in online discussions very early in the course. And research shows that learners who are more engaged and have higher levels of interaction, have higher success rates. Read more here.

THE FEEDBACK IS FOR YOU
The classroom is a non-stop hub of feedback: test grades, assignment scores, paper comments, peer review, individual conferences, nonverbal cues, and more. Feedback is essential for student learning. Still, students’ ability to process and use feedback varies widely. We have some students who eagerly accept feedback or carefully apply rough draft comments, while many others dread or dismiss their professors’ notes or reject exam grades as “unfair.” Although feedback is integral to our classrooms and work spaces, we often forget to teach students how to manage it. Two Harvard law professors, Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen, argue that identifying different kinds of feedback is a good place to start. Continue reading here.

CUMULATIVE EXAMS HELP LEARNING RETENTION Now is a great time to begin revising your final exam. If you are like me, your finals are cumulative and that means it is time to remind our students (again) that the material they learned at the beginning of the semester will be needed again soon. Dr. Maryellen Weimer tells us, "The evidence that students retain content longer and can apply it better when exams and finals are cumulative is compelling. When I pointed to the evidence in a recent workshop, a faculty member responded, “But I can’t use cumulative exams. My students would revolt.” Students don’t like cumulative exams for the very reason we should be using them: they force regular, repeated encounters with the content. And it’s those multiple interactions with the material that move learning from memorization to understanding." You can read more here.

SAVE THE DATES
There are some exciting faculty development opportunities planned for November. First up is the The Millennial Learner: Greatest Generation or Generation Me? workshop being held at 9:30 AM in room 100 at BRCC-Frazier. Registration is now open. The Canvas Series continues on November 19 with Creating Reports Using Gradebook. That workshop starts at 1:00 PM in 311 Magnolia Building at BRCC-Mid City. You can register here. Our final event in November occurs on Friday the 20th beginning at 2:00 PM. Copyrighted Materials: How to Analyze Any Copyright Question in Five Steps will be facilitated by Ms. Peggy Hoon, J.D., Director of Copyright Policy and Education for the LSU Libraries.  Ms. Hoon serves as a campus-wide copyright resource for LSU faculty, staff, and students, providing education, information, and assistance for both the lawful use of copyrighted materials as well as the responsible management of authors’ rights in their works. This event is co-sponsored by the BRCC Magnolia Library and the Teaching+Learning Center. You can register here.

BEING A GOOD TEACHER
At this point in the semester, Dr. Maryellen Weimer reminds us that caring for our students is very important for their success and their drive to complete their studies towards a degree or certificate. She writes, "Good teachers care about their students. We all know that, but sometimes over the course of a long semester, it’s easy to forget just how important it is to show our students we care about them. I was reminded of this importance by two recent studies, which I read and highlighted for the December issue of The Teaching Professor newsletter. In terms of research design, the studies couldn’t have been more different. In terms of results, they both came to the same conclusion. The interactions students have with their teachers and the kind of relationships that teachers establish with students profoundly affect students’ learning experiences. And it’s a finding that’s been established in study after study." Continue reading

NEW LEADERSHIP AT BRCC
The upcoming fall semester is shaping up to be something special now that we have new leadership in place. Dr. Dennis Michaelis joined us in late July and will serve as acting chancellor until the end of August when he becomes interim chancellor. Dr. Joann Linville will be interim vice chancellor for academic affairs beginning August 17. Both bring a wealth of experience, much of it at the community college level. Moving forward with the plans for Our Louisiana 2020 remains a priority for BRCC as we continue to realize the benefits of our recent merger. Things are looking up!

CONVOCATION WEEK OPPORTUNITIES
Speaking of the new semester, we will be offering a few opportunities to jump into faculty development before classes gets started. Please plan to join us on Wednesday, August 19 at 8:30 am in the Louisiana Building's boardroom. You will hear about the professional development opportunities for the semester provided by the Teaching+Learning Center as well as a session on your Canvas requirements provided by the eLearning Program. We will close with a session on an overview of the academic support available through the Academic Learning Center. The session will be a quick two hours with an opportunity for questions and answers. If you are a new faculty member and have not received an invitation to the New Faculty Orientation to be held on Monday, August 17 from 1:00-5:00 pm, please contact me now (pourciaut@mybrcc.edu). We will host a session on faculty development for all of our wonderful adjunct faculty on Monday, August 17 at 5:30 pm in the Louisiana Building's boardroom. This will be followed by a Canvas for Adjunct Faculty session at 6:30 pm in the same space. All eLearning faculty are required for a meeting on Wednesday, August 19 at 3:30 pm in the Teaching+Learning Center (311 Magnolia Bldg.). All of these events will be held on the Mid City Campus. Finally, if you are a veteran faculty who is looking to mentor the next generation of great instructors, please consider signing up to serve as a mentor for the 2015-16 academic year. You can do this by sending an email to me (pourciaut@mybrcc.edu) now. You will receive credit that can be used for college service. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me or Academic Support Specialist Barbara Linder, eLearning Program Manager Susan Nealy, or Academic Learning Center Director Jeanne Stacy.

CANVAS CONTINUES TO IMPRESS
Over the summer session, we have implemented Canvas, our new learning management system (LMS). The smaller numbers proved beneficial as we were able to work out many of the kinks that could have caused serious disruption in what is typically our largest semester, namely fall. If you are looking to more fully understand how Canvas works with other software programs, you will want to attend eLearning Partner Integration Day on Wednesday, August 12. The day begins with check-in at 8:30 am while the programming begins at 9:00 am. Upon checking in, you will have a number of options as sessions will be running concurrently most of the day. The sessions set so far include ProctorU, Respondus lock down browser, TurnItIn, and Smartthinking. We will also have representatives from textbooks publishers Cengage, McGraw Hill, and Pearson. Each session will last between 30 and 45 minutes. Lunch is provided for the first 50 registrants. All sessions will be held in the Cypress Building on the Mid City Campus and the day concludes at 3:00 pm. You can register here. eLearning Program Manager Susan Nealy can answer your questions at nealys@mybrcc.edu. 

PROJECT CANVAS NEXT STEPS
The excitement is building for the College's transition to new LMS Canvas. Two members of the BRCC Implementation Team, eLearning Program Manager Susan Nealy and LMS Administrator Lenora White, are attending a two day train-the-trainer session now. In addition, we have developed our training plans to accommodate  you as we move for full integration beginning in the summer semester. You can register for various sessions now. The face-to-face sessions will be held on various dates and times (including evening sessions) in the Teaching+Learning Center (311 Magnolia Bldg.) on the Mid City Campus. We will also have sessions at the Acadian Campus (location TBD). Project Canvas: A Transition Primer is session 1 and will provide an overview of the tool and discussion of a course blueprint in a one hour format. Registrants are asked to bring a copy of their course syllabus. Project Canvas: The Basics is session 2 and will cover the various Canvas functions in a hands-on two hour format. Project Canvas: Superusers is session 3 (a three hour format) and will be targeted at the eLearning faculty (online and hybrid) and anyone else who wants to fully integrate this technology tool into their course. A self-paced option is also being offered by Canvas. Please check your email for an invitation to enroll in this course on Monday, March 30 (checking your junk folder is encouraged as the email may end up there). This optional training consists of six modules including a quiz at the conclusion of each module. Credit can be earned for completing this course with at least a 70% score on all six modules. Send questions or comments to any of the BRCC Implementation Team including Susan, Lenora, Chief Information Officer Ron Solomon, or Dean of Innovative Learning and Academic Support Todd Pourciau.

TASK SWITCHING HURTS DEEP LEARNING
Are you finding it harder than ever to attract and keep your student's attention during class? Have you noticed that your students are more easily distracted than in the past? Attention Deficit Trait (ADT) may be the culprit. First introduced by Dr. Edward Hallowell as a very real but under-recognized neurological phenomenon, the core symptoms are distractability, inner frenzy, and impatience. ADT sufferers have trouble staying organized, setting priorities, managing time, and staying focused. We have continued to research the effects of ADT and have uncovered interventions that have produced positive results in the classroom. This topic was previously discussed in an Academic Minute podcast by McGill University's Julio Martinez-Trujillo post that highlighted the idea of switching in the brain (what many have described as multi-tasking). The research begins with the assumption that you cannot change something if you are unaware of its existence. In this case, many students are unaware that forcing their brain to switch very quickly between many tasks is actually "training" this behavior. Obviously this type of habit is not conducive to deep learning that is required for complex tasks in a college setting. Dr. Joe Kraus contends that we are creating and encouraging a culture of distraction mostly linked to the plethora of technology available to everyone. This phenomena illustrates that teaching is a complex process that requires its practitioners to continuously learn and practice and the Teaching+Learning Center is here to help on that front.

BRAIN REACTS TO NEGATIVITY
Dr. Naomi Eisenberger argues that the brain reacts to social pain much as we react to physical pain. She lists five social rewards and threats that are deeply important to the brain: autonomy, certainty, fairness, relatedness, and status. It explains why people receive feedback in a negative way because it is an attack on a person's status. This aligns with research by Dr. Barbara Gross Davis that grades are a sigh of approval or disapproval and can be taken very personally. She says, "If you devise clear guidelines from which to assess performance, you will find the grading process more efficient, and the essential function of grades–communicating the student's level of knowledge–will be easier. Further, if you grade carefully and consistently, you can reduce the number of students who complain and ask you to defend a grade."

BECOMING A POWERFUL TEACHER
Rob Jenkins, who writes for The Chronicle of Higher Education, wrote a provocative article recently focusing on what he feels are the four properties powerful teachers need to have or develop. He begins the article noting that we are in a teaching renaissance period where a "renewed interest and commitment to the subject [has occurred] across academe. He writes, "As a faculty member for almost 30 years, I have been inspired and motivated by all of the online chatter. Those experiences have led me to conclude that, when we boil down all the metrics, we’re left with four qualities that all powerful teachers possess. I’m not just talking about adequate, effective, or even good teachers. I’m talking about the ones who most move us, who have made the most difference in our lives, and whom we most wish to emulate. Perhaps we can’t all be that kind of teacher, but I suspect many of us at least aspire to be. So what makes those teachers so great?" Read more here.

THE VIDEO EXPLOSION
Casey Fabris posted a blog article focused on the prevalence of the use of videos in our classrooms. Fabris quotes a new study that found that 68 percent of students watch videos in class, and 79 percent watch them on their own time, outside of class, to assist in their learning. Perhaps not surprisingly, the study found that students do not like videos with speakers who are monotonous, appear nervous, or do not make eye contact with the camera. Videos with animations, real-world examples, and new material were well received. The ideal length of a video ranged from five to 20 minutes. Most students, according to the study, go to YouTube to look for educational videos. They also use Google and frequent course websites. Very few students rely on the library for such materials, with only 32 percent of respondents saying they had searched for videos on their library’s website.

PROJECT CANVAS STARTS
As you know, we will begin using the Canvas LMS during the summer term at the College. Several of you are participating in the eLearning faculty certification spring institute which is being delivered using Canvas. We will be offering several informational sessions about Canvas at our campuses and sites in the coming weeks. Those will be followed by more hands-on sessions designed to help you build your courses. You can start acclimating yourself with the new LMS in a few ways. The first is by using Canvas to build your course content. The second is to join Canvas Community 2.0 which is being offered as a sneak peek now. The Canvas Community is home to all the resources that Instructure provides to help Canvas users succeed (the Canvas Guides, Video Tutorials, Sample Courses, etc.) Users can find answers to questions about Canvas through these resources and from one another in the community forums.The Canvas Community 2.0 will also be a place where Canvas users can connect and interact with Instructure and with each other to discuss and share best practices, ideas for new Canvas features, and even coalesce into community groups of practice and interest including institutions, geographies, roles (e.g. teachers, instructional designers) and other common interests (e.g. all business schools, schools with unique needs).