Published October 4, 2023
As I walk around campus, I hear random student chatter regarding Brightspace, some is good and some not so good. I intentionally asked students their thoughts, for example, when buying raffle tickets at the UB football game. I asked the students selling the tickets how Brightspace is going. The response from this group of 3 was altogether positive. One was a graduate student and he felt Brightspace overall is more organized. The other 2 students said they like the LMS but are first year students and really don’t have anything to compare it to.
Overall, the Brightspace roll-out is viewed as successful. It is new for all of us, faculty, staff and students. I am hearing faculty are being honest and understanding about the struggles with setting up their course, or when assignments are not showing up the way they expected and the gradebook! Whoa! A whole ‘nother story, in some cases (please note, CATT is here to help). Faculty realize navigating the new LMS is a two-way street regarding the learning curve, for themselves and the students. There is a sense of being compassionate and understanding from the students if they struggle with uploading assignments or not finding material etc. Remember faculty, students are navigating and adjusting to multiple courses in Brightspace, which could have very different organizational set-ups, while we are only having to navigate our own course.
Course Navigation
Begin to evaluate the organization of your Brightspace course. How do you perceive students will navigate, find the information you want them to access, how do they submit assignments, where are their grades and feedback? Another item to consider is - how many clicks does it take for the student to get to where you want them to go? Is there a way to simplify the process? Course organization can help with this. Use modules to house the same type of material or have direct links within Brightspace to guide the students. It’s ok to take some time at the beginning of class to remind students where content and materials are in your course.
Instructional Practices
Some of the comments I am hearing related to Brightspace functional uses, but some also had to do with instructional practices. Among some of the comments were, “…all he does is read off the PowerPoints, that class is so tough”, “…the quizzes are always way harder than the tests” and “…he’s always yelling at us.” Not sure what this last statement means - but is there really yelling? Or is a professor projecting their voice to be heard? I have had students think I was yelling when I was projecting my voice for all students to hear.
Student Feedback Matters
The above comments had me wondering about bridging the gap between functional uses of Brightspace and instructional practices together to create the best possible learning environment, both in class and out, for students. Where do we start? One way to get a temperature reading of our class regarding content, organization, etc. is to create surveys to understand our students’ perspectives. It’s normal to get caught up in our own perspective of how the class is going, but what do our students think?Overall, students say the learning environment is supportive and engaging. Many instructors do a great job providing relevant information to students through engaging activities. However, judging by some of the student comments above, in some cases, the learning environment is hostile at times and disengaging. How can we, as instructors, improve on this?
Engaging students is key to keeping them interested in the course content. Large classes prove to be a challenge but there are strategies to help all class sizes. Brightspace tools include surveys (as mentioned above) - this can help students to be heard or help with planning activities. Discussion posts can be a great way to get the students engaged about a topic and interact with fellow classmates. The Groups tool in Brightspace has multiple functionalities to enhance engagement both during and after instruction. Single-user groups can be created for one–on–one journal entries between the instructor and an individual student. Journal entries are a great way for project updates or check in progress and a tool to provide individual feedback. Additionally, groups can be created with multiple students for differentiated discussion posts and of course for group work on projects and/or assignments. There are many choices to assign groups.
It is good to listen to the students and get their feedback. It isn’t always easy to hear the negative comments, but it is important. It is always nice to hear the positive. We are not going to hear the good, the bad or the ugly unless we ask. Use this information as a way to self-evaluate what is working and just as important, what is not working in your course, not only for you but your students, too!
Take a moment to consider ways that improvements can enhance student learning. Make it a great semester! Remember, CATT is here to help with both Brightspace support and pedagogy support.
