Student studying on a laptop

Learn@UW Newsletter, week of December 6

What’s happening?

Honorlock – Preparing for final exams

Honorlock can be a powerful partner in the design and delivery of final exams. With two weeks remaining in the semester, there is plenty of time to consider whether these several Honorlock affordances may bring value to an instructor.

Final Exam Preparation

Post-Exam Resources

HelioCampus AC – Monitoring course evaluations

End-of-semester course evaluations, managed by HelioCampus AC, are currently active and will run through Wednesday, December 11.

KnowledgeBase articles are available to coach instructors and HCAC administrators on how to monitor student response rates. And this resource, from the Student Learning Assessment team, highlights techniques to boost student involvement.

Instructors will be able to access course responses beginning December 27.

Canvas – Faculty Center Grade Prep Tool

Accessed through the Canvas gradebook, the Faculty Center Grade Prep tool facilitates the task of entering the grades of a large number of students into the MyUW Faculty Center.

Learn@UW–‍Madison has recently collaborated with the Office of the Registrar to update and improve the documentation for this tool. If you are, or work with an instructor of a course with more than 50 students, consider examining the tool to determine if there is value to be realized. Any questions should be directed to learnuwsupport@wisc.edu.

Top Hat – Recent enhancements

Top Hat recently announced improvements and development milestones. Refer to the linked resources for more information.

Course Copy Feature – Now available for preview, this feature streamlines course duplication for faculty ahead of its spring semester release. Contact Top Hat Support for assistance.

Interactive OpenStax – Enhanced OpenStax titles with integrated engagement features are now live and available. These will be free of charge for UW–‍Madison students as part of the existing enterprise site-wide agreement. Click here to get started.

Guest Access Update – A new version of Guest Access is under development and is expected to be launched February 2025. Refer to this walk-through video for more information.

Important fall semester dates & deadlines

As we approach the final weeks of the fall semester, the following are some key dates and deadlines taken from multiple campus calendars. Please note dates that Learn@UW–‍Madison support will not be available.

  • Dec 10 – Final grade rosters (FA24) created in Faculty Center
  • Dec 11 – Last day of classes & last day for students to submit HelioCampus AC evaluations
  • Dec 12 – Study day
  • Dec 13 to Dec 19 – Final exams
  • Dec 17 – Deadline to request extended grading exception
  • Dec 22 – Grades due
  • Dec 24 – Learn@UW–‍Madison support unavailable (Christmas Eve)
  • Dec 25 – Learn@UW–‍Madison support unavailable (Christmas)
  • Dec 26 – End of extended grading period
  • Dec 27 – Instructors can access HelioCampus AC results
  • Dec 31 – Learn@UW–‍Madison support unavailable
  • Jan 1 – Learn@UW–‍Madison support unavailable (New Years Day)

Upcoming events

Learning Analytics Community of Practice

Next Friday, December 13, from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm

https://go.wisc.edu/7fjy11 (in MS Teams)

How have you organized your course, or changed course materials, and has it helped or hindered the data you want to access? Bring your stories – the good, the bad, the unexpected results…

We’ll discuss Canvas course structure and organizational practices that lead to better teaching and learning data. We’ll look at four course design approaches, including specific strategies that help capture better data. The recommendations were developed from suggestions gathered during a cross-functional multi-department working session, evidence in literature, and informed by an analysis of course data. Cliff Cunningham will co-facilitate this session with LACE, bringing the Learn@UW perspective and best practices to the conversation. We hope you can join us!

The four recommendations are:

  • Focus on consistent, complete, and clear gradebook practices
  • Focus on descriptive and decipherable naming conventions and labels
  • Be intentional about content organization
  • Mindfully integrate third-party applications and tools

For more information, contact Kari.Jordahl@wisc.edu.

Learn@UW – Training Blitz, January 13 thru 17

Learn@UW–‍Madison team is hosting a week full of training beginning Monday, January 13. All are welcome. No registration is required, and all courses are held within the same Zoom room. (Link found within each event below.)

Canvas Fundamentals

Student Assessment within Canvas

Managing the Canvas Gradebook

Overview of Learn@UW Tools

Preparing Your Canvas Course: A Checklist

Canvas – Things You Might Have Missed

Considerations for Large-enrollment Courses

Canvas Course Readiness Workshop

A drop-in session, to have a member of Learn@UW–‍Madison review your course, and provide feedback on several fundamental design considerations.

  • Friday, January 17, 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

Q&A Sessions

  • Monday, January 13, 11:30 am to 12:30 pm
  • Tuesday, January 14, 11:30 am to 12:30 pm
  • Tuesday, January 14, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm
  • Thursday, January 16, 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm