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Cite this guide: Bandy, J. (2015). Peer Review of Teaching. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved [todaysdate] from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/peer-review-of-teaching/.

Introduction

In higher education, peer review stands as the prime means for ensuring that scholarship is of the highest quality, and from it flows consequential assessments that shape careers, disciplines, and entire institutions. While peer review is well established as a means of evaluating research across the disciplines, it is less common in the assessment of teaching. Yet it is no less useful, since it can improve what Ernest Boyer has called the "scholarship of teaching and learning" by enhancing instructional and faculty development, by bolstering the integrity of personnel decisions, and by enabling more intentional and mutually supportive communities of scholar teachers. This guide is intended as an introduction to the basics of peer review, including its purposes, challenges, and common practices. The primary audience for this guide consists of departments, programs, or schools considering implementing peer review, although individual faculty, staff, and students are likely to find what follows interesting, as well.

What Is Peer Review?

Peer review is often identified with peer observations, but it is more broadly a method of assessing a portfolio of information about the teaching of an instructor under review. This portfolio typically includes curricula vitae, student evaluations, self-evaluative statements, peer observations, and other evidence such as syllabi, assignments, student work, and letters solicited from former students. This said, peer observations will figure prominently in what follows.

It is also worth noting a common distinction between two very different forms of peer review: formative and summative. Formative evaluation typically is oriented solely towards the improvement of teaching and is part of instructional mentorship and development. Summative evaluation, in contrast, is that done to inform personnel decisions. To improve the freedom and exploration of individual faculty, formative reviews may be shielded from scrutiny for a period of years until such time that there needs to be accountability to standards of excellence for personnel decisions. At this point in time, summative evaluations are more common since they are tied to decisions related to reappointment, promotion, or tenure (Bernstein et al. 2000). Because the more consequential nature of summative evaluations tends to diminish the formative value of the peer review process, it is important to maintain a clear distinction between these types of evaluation and be transparent with those under review. It is also common to have different faculty involved in each form of assessment - mentor faculty in the formative evaluation and departmental or program administrators, such as chairs, involved in summative evaluations.

Why Peer Review?

Peer review serves many functions in the process of evaluating faculty, courses, or entire programs.

What's good for research is good for teaching. As in peer reviews of research, it is a vital means of receiving expert assessments of one important part of scholarly practice: teaching. As with research, peer review ensures that faculty internalize, in the words of Pat Hutchings, scholarly "habits of mind" by identifying goals, posing questions for inquiry, exploring alternatives, taking appropriate risks, and assessing the outcomes with learned colleagues. When this process of scholarly engagement and deliberate improvement is part of the institutional expectations for teaching, as it is with research, it can function to support a community of scholarship around teaching (Hutchings 1996).

Enables teaching to be a community endeavor. Relatedly, too often in higher education teaching is subject to what Pat Hutchings has called, "pedagogical isolation," but peer review provides opportunities for us to open our teaching up to a community of colleagues who can nurture improvement (Pat Hutchings 1996).

Peer review allows for less exclusive reliance on student evaluations. Student evaluations have become institutionalized in higher education and for the most part provide extremely useful information for the purposes of evaluating faculty, courses, and even entire curricula. However, students may not always be the best evaluators since they often have limited disciplinary training, they can have biases against certain faculty unrelated to teaching effectiveness, and they can be less cognizant of institutional goals or values than faculty. Indeed it is for these reasons that the American Sociological Association, along with other professional societies, have cautioned universities not to overly rely on student evaluations (see here).

Greater faculty experimentation and rigor. Just as importantly, an over-reliance on student evaluations in processes of professional review can cause faculty to become overly concerned about receiving positive student evaluations. In the worst of moments, this can lead faculty to adopt a consumer model of education, shaping our teaching to meet the needs of students over the needs of our disciplines or institutions (Hutchings 1996). This, in turn, results in faculty becoming overly cautious by refusing to challenge student expectations by using conventional teaching methods, by becoming less rigorous in their standards, and at worst, by feeling a need to entertain more than educate. Peer review, when done in formative and summative forms alongside student evaluations, can ensure both faculty and students will have a voice in their evaluation, and that faculty have greater autonomy to innovate and to teach rigorously. This can give faculty the opportunity to focus more intentionally on what helps students learn best, and therefore more directly focus on the quality of their teaching.

Allows for both formative and summative evaluation. When done well, peer review involves both formative and summative evaluations. The inclusion of greater formative evaluation allows for more significant faculty and instructional development by encouraging more critical reflection on teaching and by providing a safer, less risky, and more collegial setting for assessment.

I mproves faculty approaches to teaching. Daniel Bernstein, Jessica Jonson, and Karen Smith (2000), in their examination of peer review processes found they positively impact faculty attitudes and approaches toward teaching. While their study did not reveal a necessary shift in faculty attitudes towards student learning and grading, it did change several important aspects of teaching practice. First, it dramatically impacted in-class practices, particularly the incorporation of more active and collaborative learning, and less reliance on lecturing. Second, it improved faculty willingness to ask students to demonstrate higher order intellectual and critical thinking skills. Third, for some faculty it increased the quality of feedback they gave to their students on assignments, and thus improved student understanding and performance. And lastly, they enjoyed discussing substantive disciplinary and teaching issues with their colleagues, enhancing the scholarly community in their departments and programs. Peer review therefore shows an ability to improve faculty joy in teaching by improving the relations among faculty and students, and among faculty themselves.

How to Select Peer Reviewers

Peer review may take many forms, but usually begins with the selection of peer reviewers drawn most often from within the same department or program as the instructor being reviewed. The reviewers typically are senior faculty, but sometimes junior faculty as well, who have significant expertise in teaching. These faculty may be chosen to undertake all peer teaching reviews for the department or program during a specific period, or they may be selected specifically because they share some expertise with the instructor being reviewed. The person under review also may be granted some choice as to whom one or more of the reviewers may be. The number of the reviewers may vary but usually include at least two and rarely more than four.

In selecting reviewers, one must be mindful of several criteria.

Institutional Experience. It helps if reviewers are highly familiar with the department or program, school, and institutional goals, and particularly the processes of peer review itself and the criteria that form the basis of the assessment.

Integrity. Peer reviews also function best when reviewers have commitments to integrity, fair-mindedness, privacy, and understanding the reasoning behind the teaching choices of the person under review.

Trust. Peer reviewers, especially in formative reviews, work collaboratively with the faculty under review to establish a clear process of evaluation and reporting, therefore peer reviewers who can establish trust are particularly effective.

Mentorship. Those under review are particularly vulnerable and often anxious, therefore reviewers who have grace and tact in the process of assessment, can offer feedback with integrity and support, and who can help advise on strategies for faculty development will be most helpful.

Thorough and Practical. Peer reviewers should be able to provide summary reports that clearly and thoroughly represent all phases of the process, and that make recommendations that are specific and practical (Center for Teaching Effectiveness, University of Texas, Austin).

How to Evaluate?

The peer evaluation itself usually focuses on several aspects of teaching through a process that usually has a series of activities. The following list of peer evaluation activities represents a sequential, reasonably thorough, and maximal model for peer review, but not all are necessary.

Develop Departmental Standards for Teaching. Without a clear set of learning goals for all departmental programs it is difficult to assess teaching with any validity or reliability, and it can leave departments open to biases, inconsistencies, and miscommunications in peer evaluation processes. One of the greatest benefits of peer reviews of teaching is that it provides an occasion for departments and programs, if not entire schools and universities, to be more intentional, specific, and clear about quality teaching and learning, and the various means to achieve it. This may be the work of an entire department or a special teaching committee that researches disciplinary and institutional benchmarks and proposes guidelines for review.

Preliminary Interview. Peer review processes usually begin with a conversation, sometimes framed as an interview, between the peer reviewers and the teacher being reviewed. The prime purpose of this is to provide the teacher in question an understanding of the process of peer review, and to offer them the opportunity to provide their input on the process. The conversation also allows the peer reviewers to begin collecting information about the teaching context, particularly the courses, of the teacher being reviewed. This context helps to provide better understandings of the teacher's goals and teaching choices, and may be divided into several dimensions related to the design of their courses (Fink 2005).

Logistical contexts. How many students? Is the course(s) lower division, upper division, a graduate class, etcetera? How frequent and long are the class meetings? Is it a distance-learning course? What are the physical elements of the learning environment?

Goals. How have the learning goals of the course(s) been shaped by the department, college, university, or discipline? Are the courses required or electives? What kinds of intellectual and skill outcomes is the focus of the course(s)?

Characteristics of the learners. What are their ages and other demographic factors that may bear upon teaching? What is their prior experience in the subject? What are their interests and goals? What are their life situations?

Characteristics of the teacher. What expertise does he or she have in the subject areas? What are his or her own assessments of his/her strengths and weaknesses? What models of teaching did he or she encounter as a student? What theoretical or practical orientations ground his or her approach to teaching and learning? What from the teaching and learning scholarship has been influential on his/her teaching? How do these influences take shape in the teaching of the instructor's different courses?

Class Observations. The goal of the class observations is to collect a sample of information about the in-class practices of teaching and learning. They typically include two to four class visits to gain reliable data. If the teacher being reviewed teaches multiple courses, as they often do, the process may involve fewer observations per course (e.g., two).

What to observe? The goal is to create a thorough inventory of instructor and student practices that define the teaching and learning environment. These may vary widely across discipline and teachers, and can be drawn from a broad array of pedagogies, depending on learning goals. This said, there are several categories of instructor and student practices to note during the observation(s).

How to assess teaching practices? In many institutions, inventories of teaching practices are combined with assumptions about what is conducive to student learning. It is important for the peer reviewers and the administrators who guide them to be conscious of what they regard as effective teaching and the appropriate evidence for it before committing to an observation process, lest the peer review gather invalid or unreliable data, and lest the process invite peer biases and unexamined pedagogy into the evaluation. A reasonably representative list of teaching practices, along with more or less explicit value for learning, would include the following:

- Selection of class content worth knowing and appropriate to the course
- Provided appropriate context and background
- Mastery of class content
- Citation of relevant scholarship
- Presented divergent viewpoints

Clear and effective class organization

- Clear statement of learning goals
- Relationship of lesson to course goals, and past and future lessons
- Logical sequence
- Appropriate pace for student understanding
- Summary

Varied methods for engagement, which may include...

- In-class writing
- Analysis of quotes, video, artifacts
- Group discussions
- Student-led discussions
- Debates
- Case studies
- Concept maps
- Book clubs
- Role plays
- Poster sessions
- Think aloud problem solving
- Jigsaws
- Field trips
- Learning logs, journals
- Critical incident questionnaire ( see Brookfield)

- Project voice
- Varied intonation
- Clarity of explanation
- Eye contact
- Listened effectively
- Defined difficult terms, concepts, principles
- Use of examples
- Varied explanations for difficult material
- Used humor appropriately

Teacher-Student Interactions

- Effective questioning
- Warm and welcoming rapport
- Use of student names
- Encouraging of questions
- Encouraging of discussion
- Engaged student attention
- Answered students effectively
- Responsive to student communications
- Pacing appropriate for student level, activity
- Restating questions, comments
- Suggestion of further questions, resources
- Concern for individual student needs
- Emotional awareness of student interests, needs

Appropriateness of instructional materials

- Content that matches course goals
- Content that is rigorous, challenging
- Content that is appropriate to student experience, knowledge
- Adequate preparation required
- Handouts and other materials are thorough and facilitated learning
- Audio/visual materials effective
- Written assignments

- Student interest
- Enthusiasm
- Participation
- Student-to-student interaction

Support of departmental/program/school instructional efforts

- Appropriate content
- Appropriate pedagogy
- Appropriate practice

In-class, formative assessment practices

- Background knowledge probes, muddiest point exercises, defining features matrix and other "classroom assessment techniques" described in greater detail here
- Ungraded in-class writing exercises, such as minute papers
- Discussions
- Questioning

Out-of-class, summative assessment practices

- Class participation
- In-class writing exercises, graded
- Presentations
- Examinations
- Projects

Use of observation forms. To make the process more transparent, reliable, and valid, many departments and programs use observation forms, constructed from items like those listed above, to help peer evaluators track and evaluate teaching and learning practices. These may include nothing more than checklists of activities; they may provide rating scales (e.g., Likert scales) to assist the evaluation; they may have open-ended prompts that provide space for general commentary and analysis; or, they may involve some combination of all three. The most thorough forms guide the observer in what exactly they should observe, and prompt them to provide some synthesis and evaluation of their observations. Several example forms may be found with a broad online search, but here is a useful example from Wayne State University.

Evidence of Student Learning.

End-of-course student work. To more thoroughly assess the effectiveness of instruction, peer reviewers may collect evidence of student learning in the form of examinations, written assignments, and other projects from the course of the teacher under review. Collecting this evidence may be helpful in assessing core competencies expected from the course.

Student work throughout the course. Evidence of student learning may be more thoroughly assessed by collecting examples of student work at various times during a course so as to gain perspective on student growth and development. To do this requires some preparation and lead-time to ensure the teacher under review is sure to collect work from students, and gain their consent for sharing it.

Grades. Student grades also may be used as an indicator of student performance, if they are accompanied by contextual information such as a grade distribution, the criteria used to assign those grades, and samples of student work at A, B, C, D, and failing levels.

Student Evaluations. In addition to reviewing standard end-of-course evaluations, peer reviewers may choose to solicit letters of evaluation from a sample of students, current or alumni, who have had at least one course with the teacher in question, preferably two or more. Requesting these from graduates who have a more mature perspective on the effectiveness and impact of the teacher under review can be especially useful. The request for evaluation letters can be more or less specific in its prompts, but at a minimum typically introduce the importance of the evaluation process for the individual and the institution, and ask for them to assess how effective the teacher was as an instructor, what limitations he or she may have, and what impacts he or she made to their educations.

Engagement with Centers for Teaching. If the person under review has attended consultations, workshops, or other programs offered by a campus center for teaching and learning, the evaluation process may consider this to be part of the analysis.

Advising Activity. Peer evaluators may wish to make note of the advising activities and load of the teacher in question, along with any special service to the teaching mission of the department, school, or institution. This may involve some data collection from students the teacher has advised and peers with whom the teacher has collaborated in their teaching service. For some faculty, this kind of teaching outside typical course structures can be a substantial contribution to the teaching mission of the department.

Professional Publications, Presentations, and Recognitions. Peer reviewers also may wish to collect evidence of the scholarly activities in teaching and learning by the teacher in question, such as professional publications, presentations, or awards for their teaching.

Collaborative Analysis. Together, each of the activities above provides information that can be assembled into an overall picture of the teacher under review. After meetings between the peer evaluators to review the data collected, any missing information can be sought and unresolved questions can be answered. It is then incumbent upon the evaluators to discuss the form and substance of a final assessment and to divide the work of writing it.

Overall Recommendation. Typically the written evaluation includes some clarification of the process, the methods, the data collected, and of course any positive feedback and constructive criticism that is necessary, along with suggested improvements. This will be the substance of a formative or summative assessment by the peer evaluators, one that may be shared with the relevant administrators and the teacher under review, depending on the process adopted. If the evaluation is formative, this may accompany a series of suggested improvements for teaching and a plan for instructional or curricular development that could include ongoing mentorship, the use of professional development resources such as the Center for Teaching, and further peer evaluation. If it is a summative evaluation, the recommendation will be used by departmental and university committees and administrators as the basis for a reappointment, promotion, or tenure decision.

Possible Limitations of Peer Review?

Limitations of Peer Observations. While peer review may be a process that allows for a more rigorous evaluation of a teaching portfolio, it is worth noting that peer observations alone are often insufficient data on which to base an entire teacher's assessment. Peer observations represent merely a snapshot of teaching, and thus must be only one component of a teaching portfolio that is subject to peer evaluation, including student evaluations, evidence of student learning, course materials, and self evaluations, just to name a few.

Bias. Surely, all methods of teaching evaluation risk biases of one form or another. One common criticism of peer review processes is that they may invite some bias if they involve limited or unprofessional approaches to information collection and analysis. This may occur because of several reasons. Personal relationships between reviewers and those being reviewed can create either hyper- or hypo-critical approaches to evaluation. Standards of excellence or their application can be highly subjective and individual teaching styles may vary widely, therefore evaluations can be contentious if standards are not defined in advance through rigorous research and open, collaborative processes. Power relations in departments or programs also can unduly influence open and thorough evaluation. Other factors may cause peer evaluator bias as well. Therefore, to avoid the worst cases of bias, peer review must be established via processes that guarantee the greatest rigor, openness, and transparency.

Collegiality Issues. Under the best of circumstances, peer review can shape a dialogue about teaching that fosters a teaching community among educators and can lead to more growth-oriented forms of professional development. However, when it is implemented in less collaborative and more adversarial forms, or when it involves unavoidable consequences such as promotion or job security, anxieties and frustrations can be triggered for both reviewers and those being reviewed. Therefore peer review must adhere to the highest standards of transparency, integrity, and care for the sake of those under review.

Time and Effort. Possibly the most common critique of peer review processes, and the reason they are not more commonly used in the academy, is that they require significant time and effort. Departmental and campus administrators must define the process, establish standards, train and prepare reviewers, perform peer observations, review portfolios, draft assessments, and have multiple dialogues with those under review. Each step requires preparation if it is to be fair, transparent, and professional. Any shortcut may compromise the rigor, care, or goals of the evaluation. However, there are several shortcuts each with potential costs.

Rely on the expertise of senior colleagues, administrators, and the Center for Teaching. There are typically those on campus that my have sufficient knowledge to assist in defining departmental learning or teaching goals, in determining what data to include in a teaching portfolio, in training peer observers, in drafting assessments, etcetera. These sources of expertise may be helpful in streamlining the process with little cost to its integrity, as long as their suggestions may be tailored to the needs of the department or program in question.

Use predefined standards for teaching and learning. Rather than spend significant time adjudicating which learning and teaching goals are appropriate, department or program leaders may decide to use existing language in university or departmental missions, course catalogs, accreditation reports, other constituting documents, or the operating principles of the Center for Teaching. This may grant some efficiency with limited costs to the integrity of the peer review process. However, vague and imprecise learning goals that sometimes characterize constitutional documents (e.g., "critical thinking") may be of little help in benchmarking a specific set of courses or teaching strategies. Likewise, departments and programs may have particular teaching challenges that broad standards may not take into consideration. Both difficulties can leave departments or programs open to unclear standards, unfair or inconsistent judgments, and miscommunications.

Collect data judiciously. One of the more time consuming tasks of peer review is combing through all facets of a teaching portfolio, particularly if it includes samples of student work. To save time, some peer review processes rely largely upon peer observation, in addition to student evaluations of teaching, and do not collect teaching portfolios or examples of student work. Others collect only limited samples of student work, such as grade distributions and examples of student work at A, B, C and D levels to evaluate an instructor's assessment and grading strategies. Other data collection short cuts may be possible as well. However, more limited data may allow fewer contextual interpretations of a teaching career, and peer observations alone are merely in-class snapshots of instructional performance, not a more encompassing perspective on all phases of teaching. These may lead a department or program to make less informed and fair judgments.

Use templates for written peer evaluation reports. Final written reports need not be highly expansive analyses, but may represent more of a thorough check list with brief sections of commentary on challenges and successes that become points of discussion between peer reviewers and the instructor under review. This form or report can save valuable time, but it also may provide limited feedback to the instructor under review, possibly affording him or her less useful guidance on where to improve his or her teaching.

Only summative evaluation. A department or program may limit peer evaluation to only summative and not formative assessments of teaching. This would limit opportunities for faculty development, hinder data collection, create more tensions between reviewers and those being evaluated, and thwart the formation of collegial cultures that improve teaching for entire departments and programs. However, many departments and programs have used this shortcut to conduct peer review.

Concluding Thoughts

Peer review of teaching, when done well, has many benefits in fostering teaching excellence, creating collegial communities of scholar teachers, and more fair and transparent cultures of professional development. By contrast the challenges of peer review, while not insignificant, are small by comparison. Peer review of teaching, as in research, enhances the integrity and innovation of teaching and is a practice whose institutionalization is long overdue.

Bibliography

Bernstein, Daniel J. 2008. "Peer Review and Evaluation of the Intellectual Work of Teaching." Change. March/April.

Bernstein, Daniel J., Jessica Jonson, and Karen Smith. 2000. "An Examination of the Implementation of Peer Review of Teaching." New Directions for Teaching and Learning. 83: 73-86

Bernstein, Daniel., A.N. Burnett, A. Goodburn and P Savory. 2006. Making Teaching and Learning Visible: Course Portfolios and the Peer Review of Teaching. Anker.

Center for Teaching Effectiveness. "Preparing for Peer Observation: A Guidebook." University of Texas, Austin.

Chism, Nancy V. 2007. Peer Review of Teaching: A Sourcebook. 2nd Edition. Anker.

Glassick, C. M. T. Huber, and G. Maeroff. 1997. Scholarship Assessed: Evaluation of the Professoriate. Jossey-Bass.

Hutchings, Pat. 1995. From Idea to Prototype: The Peer Review of Teaching. Stylus

Hutchings, Pat. 1996. "The Peer Collaboration and Review of Teaching." ACLS Occasional Paper No 33.

Hutchings, Pat. 1996. Making Teaching Community Property: A Menu for Peer Collaboration and Peer Review. Stylus

Hutchings, Pat. 1998. The Course Portfolio. Stylus

Perlman, Baron and Lee I. McCann. 1998. "Peer Review of Teaching: An Overview." Office of Teaching Resources in Psychology and Department of Psychology, Georgia Southern University.

Seldin, P. 1997. The Teaching Portfolio. 2nd Edition. Anker.

Seldin, P. 1999. Changing Practices in Evaluating Teaching: A Practical Guide to Improved Faculty Performance and Promotion/Tenure Decisions. Jossey-Bass.

Shulman, Lee S. 2004. Teaching as Community Property: Essays on Higher Education. Jossey-Bass.

This teaching guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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by Joe Bandy Print Version Cite this guide: Bandy, J. (2015). Peer Review of Teaching. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved [todaysdate] from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/peer-review-of-teaching/. Introduction What is Peer Review Why Peer Review How to Select Peer Reviewers How to Evaluate Possible Limitations of Peer Review Bibliography In higher education, peer review stands as the...

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Many people who are new to eLearning want to know how to create a storyboard. Should they use a professional tool? Should they create a template from scratch? What should they put into the template? In response to these types of questions, I interviewed myself about this topic. I have no idea what I might say.

Coach: What is an eLearning storyboard?
Connie: Generally, a storyboard for eLearning is a document that specifies the visual elements, text elements, audio elements, interactions and branching (where the system or user will go next) of every screen in an online course. Many people also add the learning objectives to the storyboard.

Coach: At what point in the ISD process would one start to storyboard?
Connie: Storyboarding is typically part of the Development Phase. Start after you've done Analysis and Design. In the rapid development approach, however, you may start to storyboard as you are designing.

Coach: Is storyboarding important?
Connie: Yes! If you are part of a development team, the storyboard specifies what the graphic designer will create, what the illustrator will draw, what the narrator will say and the interactions that the programmer will produce. The storyboard is usually reviewed by the subject matter expert and your client. It's the central document of eLearning development.

Coach: Before we get into the specifics, is there just one way to create a storyboard?
Connie: I knew you were going to ask that. Yes, there is only one way to create a storyboard and if you do it any other way, you are putting yourself at risk with the law.

Coach: How do you go about creating a storyboard?
Connie: I prefer a visual approach to storyboarding, so I'll describe this type of format. Some prefer storyboarding in all text, which may be quicker but may not be as informative. Off the top of my head, I can think of four main ways to go about creating a visual storyboard.

1. Create a template in Word (in landscape mode) and let each page represent one screen.

2. Create a template in PowerPoint and let each slide represent one screen.

3. Create a template in a commercial storyboarding application. There are many of these.

4. For the rapid development approach, begin writing the course directly in the authoring tool, such as Storyline, Captivate, Articulate Presenter, iSpring Presenter or any of the other hundred tools. In some tools, you can write the script and other notes in the Notes section below the slide. This integrates storyboarding with actual development.

Coach: What do you put into the storyboard template?
Connie: Create an area for the storyboard title. Then create the following labeled boxes or regions in your template: 1) a box to represent the screen number in your numbering scheme, 2) a box to represent the screen itself, meaning the visual components of the course, 3) an area for the on-screen text (this can be combined with #2, 4) an area for the audio, 5) an area for the interactions and 6) an area to describe branching. Some people add an area for miscellaneous notes, learning objectives and also for reviewer comments. Here is a selection of storyboards you can download and modify to fit your needs.

Coach: Then how do you fill in the template?
Connie: Fill in the template as follows:

Title Area: Add the unit, module, lesson or topic name.

Screen Number Area: Enter a unique identifier for each screen. Something like "m1l2s3" for module 1, lesson 2, screen3.

Visual Area: Describe in words, sketch or show the visual, such as the graphic, video clip, etc. You can include the text that will be on the screen or make another area for text.

Audio Area: Write out the script, the name of a music file and the sound effects that will play on each screen. If you want to be really cool, use the acronym SFX for sound effects.

Interaction Area: Describe the interactions that occur on each screen. Take advantage of the medium and provide lots of activities. Specifying these can be tricky and it often helps to write it out in the logic of programming. For example, "If button 1 is clicked, go to screen m1l24" or "If choice 1 is dragged to correct target, display this response."

Branching Area: Define all the system branching that might occur. Branching differs from interactions, as it refers to navigating the whole system. There are standard navigation events, such as Next and Back, as well as more complex branching, such as what happens as a result of a user interaction. For example, you will need to define what happens when a user fails a self-check, clicks on a hyperlinked term or opts to retake a test.

Coach: Why does a storyboard seem to shrink as you fill it in?
Connie: An essential talent for storyboarding one page per screen is squeezing in everything you need. What we really need is a three dimensional storyboard space. Scientists are working on that as we speak.

Here is one storyboard template. The first page of this doc is the template and the second page shows a serious example. It's saved in a (.doc) format. Or you can get a whole selection of different types of storyboards at my Storyboard Depot.

Get the latest articles, resources and freebies once a month plus my free eBook, Writing for Instructional Design.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Many people who are new to eLearning want to know how to create a storyboard. Should they use a professional tool? Should they create a template from scratch? What should they put into the template? In response to these types of questions, I interviewed myself about this topic.

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Problem-Based Learning | Center for Teaching Innovation

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Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-centered approach in which students learn about a subject by working in groups to solve an open-ended problem. This problem is what drives the motivation and the learning.

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This discussion technique gives students the opportunity to respond to questions in written form before engaging in meaningful conversation with other students. Asking students to write and discuss ideas with a partner before sharing with the larger group builds confidence, encourages greater participation, and results in more thoughtful discussions.

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ThingLink: Create unique experiences with interactive images, videos & 360° media

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Easily create interactive and immersive visual experiences for online communication and learning. Start a free trial!

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Mind Mapping Online - Bubbl.us - Brainstorming Made Simple!

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Mind map and brainstorm online with Bubbl.us! Create colorful mind maps to print or share with others. Millions of people are using Bubbl.us worldwide to generate ideas, map out processes and create presentations.

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Vocaroo is a quick and easy way to share voice messages over the interwebs.

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How to Make a Mind Map with Mind Mapping Software

Once you have learned what a mind map is, it's time to get started!

This page will describe how to make a mind map and follow best practices in doing so. We will assume that you will be using a mind mapping software tool as opposed to pen and paper.

6 Easy Steps to Make a Mind Map

Learn how to use mind mapping in Business and Education.

Benefits when Creating Mind Maps with Software:

Mind Mapping Software Tips

Do you want to get started making mind maps? There are several mind mapping software programs on the market, so how do you choose? Which platform do you pick and which program is the best? Before you select your preferred mind mapping software it is important to understand your needs, objectives and costs/benefits. Here are a few software tips that you might find useful.

Free Mind Mapping Software

There are many free mind mapping tools, such as FreeMind, that are a good option if you want to make basic mind maps. There are also some subscription-based online mind mapping tools which allow users to store maps on the internet for sharing and collaboration. Working online may prove a little cumbersome because it is dependent on your internet connection and some features, shortcuts and habits will be different from traditional desktop software. However, online mind mapping software makes it easy for an educational institution to provide remote access to students.

Storing mind maps containing confidential or sensitive information online could cause some security issues that conflict with company policies, GDPR compliance and educational regulations for storing student data. Please beware that some cloud solutions lure you in with free basic versions but charge on a monthly basis for the advanced features you may need.

There are many iPad, mobile and Tablet PC solutions available but they are yet to reach the standard of desktop applications when it comes to creating the basic mind map. As far as overviewing the map, small screen size is a problem even for average sized maps - which is basically the whole point! It will take some time and practice to master typing and capturing information on a small screen.

Commercial Mind Mapping Software

If you are planning to use mind mapping in a corporate environment, as a productivity tool, it is important to consider what the program allows you do with the mind map once you've created it. For example, can you convert your mind map into an outline in MS Word? Professional desktop applications typically integrate with MS Office which enables you to continue working with your ideas in other documents without re-entering data. You should always test the MS Office integration properly before selecting your tool. There is a big discrepancy in quality among the mind mapping software available on the market.

Does the software offer several layouts, such as Top-Down, Left-Right, Fishbone, Timeline, Outline, Gantt charts, etc.? How complex and useful is each view? Can you transfer information between each view without losing information?

Many mind mapping software users rely on mind maps to plan projects at different levels, from simple "to-do lists", work breakdown structures or complete Gantt charts. Professional mind mapping software tools such as MindView allow you to add task information to the map and contain a built-in Gantt chart view.

Here is a useful check list when evaluating mind mapping software:

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How To Make A Mind Map | MindMapping.com

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Learn how to make a mind map and discover the benefits of mind mapping. Featuring tips, tricks, and tools for better productivity and brainstorming.

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How to Write a Case Study in Nursing

Do you need help with your reflective case study in nursing? Are you wondering what sections you should include into your forensic nursing case study?
Nursing school can be a real challenge with difficult classes such as pharmacology and anatomy, a large amount of reading, and daunting written assignments. Nursing students are often assigned to write case study reports and nursing care plans as a part of their professional training. If you are struggling with your nursing papers and need advice on how to write a nursing case study report, read our easy writing guide.

A nursing case study should present an in-depth analysis of a real life incident or a specific situation. It is a practical way to illustrate theory and content using a real or simulated life situation or even both. In other words, it's a nursing care plan written in a form of a formal essay. That's why you should write it using the nursing process as a method to organize your thoughts.

When writing this paper, you should keep in mind 5 steps of a nursing process:

1. Make an assessment of the patient

2. Make a list of nursing diagnoses of the patient

3. Define goals of care and specify nursing interventions

4. Describe how you will start the care plan

5. Specify how to determine if the goals of the nursing care plan and the outcomes have been met

A well-written case study report in nursing requires good planning and consideration. In the planning stage, you should determine a focus and format of your case study and write some objectives or outcomes that show what can be learned from this report.

A nursing case study report usually contains several sections that can be organized into three categories:

The patient status

The nursing assessment of the patient

Current care plan and possible recommendations

The patient status
The patient status section should provide information about demographic data (age, race), medical history, and current diagnosis and treatment. You can describe the patient's family and social history and explain the reasons why he/she sought medical attention and what the subsequent diagnosis was. Then, you should discuss the disease process and define causes, describe symptoms and observations, and explain how the current treatment can affect the nursing care.

1. The nursing assessment

When discussing the patient's nursing assessment, you should describe nursing diagnoses. You should describe vital signs and test results and provide information on nursing observations. You should be specific and explain why you identified a particular diagnosis. These nursing diagnoses will help you determine the nursing care plan.

2. The current care plan and your recommendations for improvement

In this section, you should describe details of the nursing care plan, including the measurable goals and interventions. You should explain how the nursing care plan can improve the patient's quality of life. You should also evaluate the current care plan and provide your recommendations on how it can be improved. You recommendations should be based on the patient's diagnosis, its current status, and prognosis. You should support your recommendations with relevant authoritative sources and cite them using the proper style according to the style guidelines. Here you should take into account your instructor's requirements. When you finish writing your nursing case study report, you should proofread it, check punctuation, and fix grammar and spelling errors. You should add references list if there are any.

Why Would You Need Case Study Books for Nursing?

Everybody knows that there is a gap between the content knowledge and practical skills that allow to apply it clinically. A good option is to read nursing case studies written by experienced nurse educators who understand how complex the nursing practice is and how challenging the learning process is. These books provide students with possible nursing scenarios that are common in different practical settings.

A case study for a nursing care plan is a written record that you can use as a guide to caring for patients that you can follow in your nursing practice. A well-written case study for nursing will guide in what to expect as a prognosis, what questions to ask, how to care for the patient, and more. All cases are usually presented in a truly realistic manner and can help students understand the realities of modern nursing practice. Nursing case studies promote critical thinking and can be also used for group discussions.

Writing a nursing case study is a challenging task because it requires strong analytical and clinical reasoning skills that are crucial for making clinical judgments that every nurse has to make on a daily basis. If you feel that you lack knowledge and cannot cope with your written assignment in nursing on your own, you can hire a professional writer on our custom paper writing service. Our writers have necessary skills and experience to provide you with perfect model nursing case study reports that will help you get high grades.

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How to Write a Nursing Case Study Report - your-writers.net | Blog

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Do you need help with your reflective case study in nursing? Are you wondering what sections you should include into your forensic nursing case study? Nursing school can be a real challenge with difficult classes such as pharmacology and anatomy, a large amount of reading, and daunting written assignments.

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Concept mapping is a great way to build upon previous knowledge by connecting new information back to it. This post explores the uses of concept mapping and provides tools for creating concept maps on the computer.

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Abstract

Objective: To introduce the process of journal writing to promote reflection and discuss the techniques and strategies to implement journal writing in an athletic training education curriculum.

Background: Journal writing can facilitate reflection and allow students to express feelings regarding their educational experiences. The format of this writing can vary depending on the students' needs and the instructor's goals.

Description: Aspects of journal writing assignments are discussed, including different points to take into account before assigning the journals. Lastly, various factors to contemplate are presented when providing feedback to the students regarding their written entries.

Clinical Advantages: Journal writing assignments can benefit students by enhancing reflection, facilitating critical thought, expressing feelings, and writing focused arguments. Journal writing can be adapted into a student's clinical course to assist with bridging the gap between classroom and clinical knowledge. In addition, journals can assist athletic training students with exploring different options for handling daily experiences.

Keywords: reflection, pedagogy, education

PROCESS OF REFLECTION

Once a student has knowledge and becomes proficient at a skill (ie, evaluating an ankle injury), that student possesses knowing-in-action. Knowing-in-action refers to the "know-how" a practitioner reveals while performing an action. Simply put, the practitioner shows competency, or that he or she knows how to perform an orthopaedic assessment, by displaying the appropriate actions. Knowing-in-action assists a student except when a familiar routine produces an unexpected result. Take an example of a senior-level student who has performed various patellofemoral examinations but, during a recent evaluation, had inconclusive results. A student in this situation can become very frustrated. When students come across a new situation such as this, it would be beneficial for them to reflect-on-action, or reflect on that experience after it has happened. Unfortunately, more often than not, no time is designated for students to engage in the activity of reflection. Athletic training educational programs are encouraged to not only foster knowledge in students but also to cultivate reflection to enable our students to learn from past experiences.

An expert practitioner experiments on the spot with previous data or engages in what is called reflection-in-action. Reflection-in-action occurs when an individual reshapes what he or she is doing while doing it. Students, who do not possess an array of previous experiences from which to draw, are not able to reflect-in-action as can skilled practitioners. We hope that as they progress through their education, students will learn to practice, enhance, and learn to habitually use their reflection-in-action skills. Although many strategies exist to facilitate reflection, one teaching method that has been extensively used is journal writing. The examples of the reflective processes cited above refer to Schon, but interested readers can also consult Powell and Mezirow for additional processes.

No true definitions of journal writing exist due to the vast number of ways journal writing can be used. In the literature, journal writing is described and explained in many different ways. For the purposes of this article, journal writing refers to any writing that students perform during either a clinical or classroom experience that challenges them to reflect on past situations, as well as consider how they might perform differently should similar situations arise in the future. The goal of any journal writing assignment should guide the written content for the student. For example, a student could reflect on the challenges of designing and administering a rehabilitation program as part of a rehabilitation course. Students can also return to their struggles with matters such as professionalism during any aspect of their clinical experiences. Both assignments encourage the student to reflect on an experience, whether that experience be from classroom content or their clinical experiences.

Journal writing has been used with nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and teacher certification students. The journal writing topics for this teaching method can range from reflecting on daily clinical experiences (eg, assessments and rehabilitations performed) to summaries of weekly clinical experiences. Widely used, journal writing has been recognized as a method designed to enhance reflection, facilitate critical thought, express feelings in writing about problems encountered during clinical experiences, and practice writing summaries, objectives, and focused arguments. Because of these benefits, educational writing in a clinical journal is a common assignment in nursing programs. However, information for the athletic training educator in various teaching methods, including journal writing, is lacking.

JOURNAL WRITING RESEARCH

Most of the research involving journal writing has been qualitative in nature, with the journal entries analyzed for trends. Davies found that in the process of journal writing, students moved from being passive to active learners during their clinical debriefing sessions. Students would come to debriefing sessions with problems or clinical issues partially solved and look to the debriefing sessions for further input and validation. This type of paradigm shift was also reported by Sedlack, who found that journal writing aided in placing responsibility with the student for active engagement and self-directed learning. In addition, the students' self-confidence increased because the journals enabled them to identify their own lack of motivation.

Recently, Williams and Wessel used reflective journals with physical therapy students studying chronic musculoskeletal conditions to obtain feedback regarding their learning. Students moved through a "fix-it" mentality to a more client-centered disability focus. Over the course of the 8 weeks, interactions with patients changed students' attitudes and increased students' knowledge about chronic disease.

In another qualitative study, Ritchie reported that after completing 7 weeks of weekly journal entries, physical therapy students were provided with many opportunities for both the student and faculty member to give feedback, ask questions, and offer ideas for further reflection. In addition, bonds of trust were formed, not only between the student and faculty member, but among the students themselves as they learned to begin to trust themselves and the decisions they made. Last, students valued being able to ask the faculty member questions and receive validation without exposing their own perceived weaknesses to their peers. Ibarreta and McLeod also found this need for feedback. Nursing students using journals wanted more feedback and direction from the instructor to gain more confidence regarding decisions made during their practicum.

Wong et al used dialogue and journal writing to assess a system for test coding the level of any reflection. Each student wrote a reflective paper after developing a teaching plan and then carried out that teaching plan at the clinical assignment. A coding scheme was developed to analyze the reflective papers. Students were categorized as nonreflectors, reflectors, or critical reflectors. Of the 45 students in the study, 34 demonstrated reflection and were able to relate their experiences and turn them into new learning opportunities.

In a similar study, during 2 semesters, each student engaged in dialogue 5 times and wrote 4 journal entries in addition to a reflective paper. (Not described were the specific data analysis methods and the specific breakdown of nonreflectors, reflectors, and critical reflectors.) Students moved from a more narrative or descriptive writing style (nonreflector) to expressing frustration and offering solutions to problems (critical reflector). It was felt that journal writing and dialogue were essential to student learning.

JOURNAL WRITING PROCESS

Holmes stated that by recording and describing experiences, feelings, and thoughts, students are able to recreate their experiences for additional exploration. A student who had a difficult encounter with a student-athlete could write in the journal about the situation and think about what happened. He or she could describe why decisions were made and actions taken, along with feelings and future thoughts and directions. As educators, we must push our students to reflect more deeply. Pushing students to continuously ask themselves why a decision was made or why they feel the way they do about a topic or situation will cause them to look deeper for answers. Why did they perform a certain special test? Why was ultrasound used in the treatment of that injury, and how will that ultrasound affect the inflammation process? What changes could be made to this patient's treatment or future encounters with a specific injury? Davies stated that journal writing provides students with an opportunity to return to their experiences in an attempt to develop new perspectives that can guide future clinical actions. For example, a student, after performing a knee examination and discussing it with the Approved Clinical Instructor, could later write about the entire experience. What would he or she do differently? What did he or she learn? Writing encourages and provides an opportunity for students to reflect on an experience, connect, and think critically about ideas or situations.

Dialogue Between Instructor and Student

As stated previously, journal writing provides a one-on-one dialogue between the instructor and student. Wong et al suggested that instructors and students are partners in the promotion of reflective learning. This dialogue, facilitated by the instructor, should be designed to challenge the student to reflect on his or her experiences. A student who has accomplished a goal or had a positive rehabilitation experience with a patient is allowed to share that information. In addition, this dialogue can also assist with conflicts in a confidential manner. For example, a student could reflect in the written journal about a difficult situation with a coach. Upon reading the journal, the instructor may provide feedback and ask questions, which will ideally push the student to think about future decisions if again faced with a similar situation.

Not only does this one-on-one dialogue assist in challenging the student, but also students valued the feedback to validate their thoughts on new endeavors. Because students are unfamiliar with dealing with coaches, let alone being involved in professional conflict, they may be limited in what they perceive as actions and solutions. This unfamiliar problem can leave students feeling that they have no control or power in the situation.

Although students may experience cognitive dissonance when engaging in a written dialogue about a challenging experience they had, the discourse can facilitate different ways of thinking and empower students to handle themselves differently after reflection in the future. Through one-on-one dialogue, students are empowered to not just leave future encounters and experiences to fate. Instead students, after reflection, have thought about their actions and how they would handle themselves or the situation differently in the future, which is reflection-for-action. Reflection should be encouraged and enhanced through one-on-one dialogue via the journal writing process. The journal writing process, however, should be well planned and have explicit student expectations.

EXPECTATIONS AND PLANNING

Before assigning journal writing, the instructor must convey to the students all expectations with regard to completing and grading the journals. presents many questions that should be asked when contemplating whether to assign journal writing. These questions will provide focus to enable the student to concentrate on the writing and not feel insecure about how the instructor will grade the journal. As stated by Kobert, every effort should be made to ensure that the journal writing is seen as nonthreatening and satisfying. Identifying expectations before starting the first journal will prevent some confusion. It is also imperative for the instructor to consider many facets of the journaling process. The following section discusses factors to consider when planning for the use of journals, including setting student expectations, identifying appropriate topics, journal utilization strategies, and grading systems.

Table 1

Journal Utilization Techniques

Depending on the method of use (daily, weekly writing) and the journal's purpose (to enhance critical thinking, promote reflection, etc), the way in which journal writing is used can take many different forms. presents general topics followed by subtopics for possible student assignments in the classroom or clinical education setting. These topics can vary depending on the level of student, classroom content, location and type of clinical experience, and deficiencies or needs of the student. Topics may be decided solely by the instructor or through more egalitarian methods with the students' input. Burnard stated that one democratic method of determining topics for journal writing is to discuss this with the class. Preassigned or spontaneous topics could also be used. The advantage of preassigned topics is that the student is aware of the topic and can be thinking about it before writing. On the other hand, some students may have certain spontaneous experiences during their clinical education about which they wish to write. It is important for instructors to experiment with students and classes to determine which methods encourage reflection in students. Some classes as a whole may elect to use journal writing with the spontaneous method.

Table 2

Spontaneous topics and experiences can include incidents that interest or concern students during their clinical placements. Unfortunately, due to uncontrollable factors, some students may find this method less challenging than preassigned topics and want to change the method of their journal writing. Journal writing should be viewed as experimental and as a work in progress or a process by which students learn to reflect and, we hope, move from reflection-in-action to reflection-for-action. Simply, the goal is for students to evaluate their actions and reflect on how they could handle the situation differently in the future. Instructors should be ready to adapt the journal writing experience to enhance assignment goals, whether they are reflection, learning, etc.

Journal writing can be time consuming for the student, so one way to show that this writing is valued is to allot some classroom time for the students to write. Hahnemann reported using journal writing for 10 to 15 minutes of each class. Students were asked to write about what they expected to learn from class that day, as well as what had been learned from previous classes. Although allocating 10 to 15 minutes of class time for this purpose may not be feasible in a 50-minute class period, this method could be adapted to 2 to 3 minutes every class period or whatever fits the instructor's schedule.

Brown and Sorrell assigned students to write in their journals during class about difficult concepts or summarize a discussion or argue for or against a treatment. Physical therapy students were assigned to write about at least one learning event that occurred in their clinical placement. Burnard, who assigned weekly writings under 6 headings from which students could choose, also used this type of weekly writing. Pinkstaff asked nursing students enrolled in a public health class to write in their journals on individual topics related to class each week. Qualitative analysis revealed that the students not only improved in the creativity of their writing but the quality of their essay writing skills.

When completing some journal assignments, students should be allowed to write using a freeform style. Although this seems nontraditional, it is important to remember that if the focus is on the thought process, then grammar and punctuation should not be a part of the evaluation of the journal. If the focus of the journal is to reflect, then the journal should be a forum where students can write and not worry about punctuation, grammar, and spelling. As stated by Hahnemann, journals are a means by which students should be allowed to experiment and test their wings. Focusing too much attention on grammar and punctuation may lead a student to misinterpret the purpose of the journal writing activity. Instead, the attention should be on the content of what is written and not how it is written. Additional information on grading and feedback is discussed later.

Journal Content and Format

Burnard felt that no guidelines should be given regarding the amount that is written under each heading or journal topic, because it was felt this would be overstructuring; however, students were encouraged to provide regular journal entries for each given topic. Instead of a student's writing about a given topic one time over the course of a week, the student could be encouraged to write after each clinical experience or several times during that week. Brown and Sorrell felt that the maximum length for assignments, such as summaries or critiques, should be 1 to 2 pages. Each instructor must decide what is appropriate for his or her purpose, and students must realize that content is more important than word count. Instructors should also realize that motivation is a factor in journal writing. Paterson pointed out that students are not always interested in all aspects of their clinical experiences, so instructors should not expect all journals to be of the same quality. Some weeks, the student might only meet the basic requirements, whereas in other weeks, the student may write profusely. Different clinical experiences provide more education and invoke more passion than others. The instructor has to decide, based on the goals and objectives of the assignment as well as the clinical experience during a given time frame, the quality and length of journal writing.

Students should also be given instructions as to how and when to turn in and pick up their journal entries. Specific guidelines should be in place that will enable the student to properly submit and collect the journal entries. For example, one guideline may be to have the students collect their journals every Monday by 12:00 pm and to submit them every Friday by 12:00 pm. Another would be to have them submitted during one class period and, after grading, handed back to the students during the next class period. Lastly, other questions must be considered, such as where and how to submit the journal entries (eg, mail box versus e-mail).

JOURNAL GRADING

Jackson and Pinkstaff stated that the single most important factor in the successful use of journaling is allowing the journal to be a safe space for free expression. How can a student be graded for writing about feelings and reactions to specific issues and topics? How do we know he or she is really trying to reflect? Although they should be graded for their thoughts and feelings, it is important the students be informed as to how the journals will fit into their grades. What percentage of their grade will be affected by their journal writing? How will they be graded? Brown and Sorrell suggested a method of grading by which if the student achieves all the goals for the journal, then he or she earns an A or passes that portion of the class the journal fulfills. Hahnemann and Williams et al weighted the journals as 10% of a grade in a course. Hahnemann stated this was done because they felt it would motivate the students to write thoroughly and with meaning. Tryssenaar reported weighting the journals as 20% of the final grade. However the instructor chooses to integrate journal writing into a course, unless the journals have an effect on the grades, students will put very little effort into their writing. Adding a grade to the journals puts value to them and establishes their importance. Although 10% to 20% of a grade has been reported in the literature, it is up to the individual instructor to weight the journals accordingly or in some way to ensure that students feel the journal writing assignments matter and are of significant value. These journals can be a commitment for the student as well as the instructor, but they can potentially provide valuable insight and reflection. The strength of journal entries is related to the students' motivation to engage and participate in their own learning processes. If a student is motivated and active in learning, the process will be seen as an investment instead of time consuming. Wong et al found that willingness, commitment, and open mindedness were attributes that were conducive to reflective learning.

JOURNAL FEEDBACK

After writing their first journal entry, students should receive feedback before writing the next entry. One of the most challenging tasks with journal writing is evaluating the student's written work. Judgment and criticism are withheld. Instead, the attempt to write on the student's part is more important than the success of the attempt. Brown and Sorrell agreed to provide 1 to 2 comments about the overall journal. The thought of not providing numerous comments is echoed by Holmes, who stated that when the focus of feedback is detailed, the students lose their sense of purpose and meaning in the writing. Students will shift their focus from constructing a sense of what they are trying to say into worrying about grammar and sentence structure. provides some sample follow-up questions that can be used to challenge and encourage students to think and reflect. In addition, as stated by Paterson, a balance must be maintained between giving too many comments and nudging the student into new ways of thinking. Correcting misinformation written by the student is encouraged, but no criticism or judgment should be made of the student's feelings. Annotations might pertain to future questions and comments to expand on in the next journal entry, but the instructor needs to try to avoid excessive grammar and spelling corrections.

Table 3

As stated by Riley-Doucet and Wilson, one of the limitations of this type of assignment is the student who procrastinates and doesn't take responsibility for coursework. When a student exhibits this type of behavior, it should be recognized by the instructor and discussed with the student. The student should be given the benefit of the doubt as to the procrastination, and the instructor can approach the student from the perspective that the student is lacking knowledge about reflection and journal writing. Riley-Doucet and Wilson recommended pairing this student with a peer who is comfortable with the journal writing. If this is not possible, another recommendation is to establish small short-term goals for upcoming journal writings, such as considering specific questions when writing the journal. These short-term goals and guiding questions can assist the student in the reflective process.

Examples of questions include the following:

How would I have done this differently?

Why did I choose to perform the skill the way I did?

What was my reasoning in handling that situation that way?

Journal writing is a process, and students may not put much effort into their writing in the beginning. For some students, it will be easy to express their feelings and frustrations. Other students may struggle. Instructors should take into account individual personalities when providing feedback. In addition, the students need to be reminded that the journal writing is a process that takes time. It may take weeks or longer for a student to feel comfortable and trust the instructor. Feedback is a vital aspect in nurturing reflection over time, as the journal writing progresses over weeks and possibly years.

TRUST

As stated by Kobert, one drawback to journal writing is what makes it so valuable. Students may be reluctant or unable to explore and share intimacies of their own lived experiences with others. They may be more concerned with writing what they think the instructor wants to hear than writing about what is true to them. Writing about issues and feelings puts the student in a very vulnerable position. To promote reflection, he or she must express weakness and insecurity to grow. Students must feel comfortable exposing this vulnerability. Holmes noted the significant responsibility of both the student and instructor to accept differing views while searching for understanding and meaning. Part of encouraging this truthful writing is not only through the previously mentioned feedback procedures but also by maintaining confidentiality to encourage truthfulness. If students are familiar with the instructor and know him or her to be nonjudgmental, they will, more than likely, be more willing to self-disclose in their journal writing. However, if the instructor is new to the students, they will need evidence that the instructor will remain true to his or her word before disclosing too much in a journal entry. Such trust takes time to develop, but if journal writing is seen as a work in progress, this is all part of the journey.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Additional research needs to be conducted investigating journal writing. Much of the journal writing literature in the allied health field ranges from specific articles about grading and assisting with common problems or pitfalls to general guidelines for using journal writing. Although this information is useful and often written by professionals speaking from years of experience, more qualitative and quantitative research is needed. Specific research questions include the following:

How does journal writing affect the learning of material?

Does the type of feedback given to the student affect what is written in journal writing?

How do students learn to reflect on their experiences?

What variables affect the trust level between the instructor and student to enhance truthful writing?

Does maturity affect journal writing and reflection?

CONCLUSIONS

The purpose of this article was to provide an introduction to the process of journal writing to promote reflection. Our students, on a daily basis, encounter experiences that can teach them to reflect during their future practice of athletic training, and we owe it to our students to facilitate their reflection. Course preparation is short in relation to career practice; therefore, as educators, we hope to instill reflective qualities that mature and grow.

Many methods of assigning and grading journal writing were presented in this article. As with any teaching method, there is no right or wrong way to approach journal writing. As the students grow in self-confidence and gain trust in the instructor, they begin to reflect and write about their real concerns. This leads to obtaining valuable feedback to empower our future certified athletic trainers to overcome those real-life concerns. Reflection is the goal, as everyone is rewarded-the student, the patient, the coach, and the instructor. Reflection enables the student to do a better job as a certified athletic trainer. Isn't our real goal to enable all of our students to give thought to their actions and perform with the utmost skill, knowledge, and confidence that they have done their jobs in the best possible manner?

REFERENCES

Leaver-Dunn D, Harrelson GL, Martin M, Wyatt T. Critical thinking predisposition among undergraduate athletic training students. J Athl Train. 2002;37:S-147-S-151. (4 suppl) [[PMC free article] [PubMed] Google Scholar]

Schon DA. Educating the Reflective Practitioner. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Inc; 1987.

Perry WG. Forms of Ethical and Intellectual Development in the College Years: A Scheme. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Inc; 1999.

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Journal Writing as a Teaching Technique to Promote Reflection

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Objective: To introduce the process of journal writing to promote reflection and discuss the techniques and strategies to implement journal writing in an athletic training education curriculum. Background: Journal writing can facilitate reflection and allow students to express feelings regarding their educational experiences.

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Role-Playing Overview

In Role-Playing, a student assumes the perspective of a participating character in a scenario designed to create greater understanding of a topic, surrounding issues, and human interaction.

Although student input may be sought, the instructor stages the role playing exercise, identifying the topic, characters, issues motivating interaction, and purpose. Before the play begins, students should research the topic, study their roles, and have a preliminary knowledge of the context and meaning of the situation presented. The playing out of the scenario can be relatively unstructured, allowing students to express the perspectives they represent, and how they impact or are impacted by the situation. Role-play is followed by small group or class discussion to guide and consolidate learning.

Role-play has wide ranging educational applications, from the professions to the humanities, on any topic calling for understanding of diverse perspectives and attitudes. Today, online role playing scenarios and virtual learning environments are possible and potentially available.

See Also

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In Role-Playing, a student assumes the perspective of a participating character in a scenario designed to create greater understanding of a topic, surrounding issues, and human interaction. Although student input may be sought, the instructor stages the role playing exercise, identifying the topic, characters, issues motivating interaction, and purpose.

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Easily create beautiful interactive video lessons for your students you can integrate right into your LMS. Track students' progress with hassle-free analytics as you flip your classroom!

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Video Conferencing | Online Meetings Platform | BlueJeans

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BlueJeans provides interoperable cloud-based video conferencing services. Easily and securely hold live online meetings, webinars, and video calls.

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Use this technique to show you what students are thinking and what they have learned at the end of a lesson. Before students leave (for recess, lunch, the end of the day, their next class, or are transitioning to another subject area), they have to hand you a "ticket" filled out with an answer to a question, a solution to a problem, or a response to what they've learned.

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SpeakPipe allows your podcast listeners to send you voice messages (voicemail) right from a browser without any phone calls.

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Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

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With a few clicks on Flip PDF Pro, you can convert PDF to media embedded eBook easily and quickly. Your book readers don't need to carry your book everywhere, or scroll up and down to read page to page, just a couple of clicks could do anything as they want.

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6. 5.Add HTML Title in Float template which can be clicked to visit webpage online.

7. 6.Add Image or Flash logo to insert before Book Title in Float template.

8. 7.Define book proportions, margin size, shadow manually.

9. 8.Replace existing icons on toolbar by editing Icon Flash file.

10. 9.Add new icons into toolbar with calling new actions.

11. 10.Set background color and image.

12. 11.Insert background music either for continuous play (loop) or for a set duration.

13. 12.Set eBook reading from right to left (for Right-to-Left languages such as Arabic).

14. 13.Choose hard cover for eBooks.

15. 14.Set fonts for Flash and Bookmark panel.

16. 15.Export edited bookmarks as Text file to import and use later.

17. 16.Set Page Number Box to show at top or bottom in Float, set start page number.

1. Provide Multiple Control Tools

2. 1.Edit pages with shapes, text, links, images, videos, flash or sound files.

3. 2.Add Button on pages to open link page, call Javascript action, play Flash/Video in pop-up Window.

4. 3.Add page, delete page, re-order and sort page in Page Edit window.

5. 4.Export projects added in Page Editor, like links, swf, movies to import and use later.

6. 5.Define the language for your published page-flipping eBook, multi-language switchable.

7. 6.Add password to protect your page-flipping eBook.

8. 7.Add Google Analytics Support.

9. 8.Add watermark image or SWF to show on print out pages.

10. 9.Add Help config to manually define content with using Image or SWF.

11. 10.Add Minime Style to show page-flipping eBooks without toolbar.

12. 11.Set permissions for downloading, printing, social sharing, Home, About button and more.

13. 12.Edit bookmark manually and set bookmark panel to show on left or right side.

14. 13.Export and save settings for future uses.

15. 14.Save and Load your project.

II. Page-flipping multiple PDF eBook features

With the page-flipping ebook you have created, your book readers will be able to:

1. 1. Show flip effect on the page corner at the very beginning.

2. 2. Drag the corner to flip a page.

3. 3. Click page shadows to flip a page.

4. 4. Follow the scrolling tips and listen to the audio you recorded for assistant.

5. 5. Single/Double Page view.

6. 6. View with pre-loading needed pages to open quickly, do not need to wait all pages loaded.

7. 7. Use button to control page, such as Previous, Next, First, Last etc.

8. 8. Adjust buttons on toolbar automatically based on container size.

9. 9. View flipbook automatically or repeatedly.

10. 10. View page-flipping ebook full screen.

11. 11. Use thumbnail to navigate.

12. 12. Search whole eBook.

13. 13. Print out the whole ebook or a range of pages directly (support to clip area on pages and then print).

14. 14. Download the uploaded page-flipping eBook from web site directly.

15. 15. Double-click to zoom in or zoom out.

16. 16. Zoom in/ out both pages.

17. 17. Share eBook url via email.

18. 18. Open or close page-turning sound.

19. 19. Open to a certain page in Browser by adding a suffix like this: ?pageIndex=4.

20. 20. View output page-flipping eBook on iPad, iPhone and Android devices (slide single pages mode supported).

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Page Flip eBook: read books on computer or mobile easily and directly

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With a few clicks on Flip PDF Pro, you can convert PDF to media embedded eBook easily and quickly. Your book readers don't need to carry your book everywhere, or scroll up and down to read page to page, just a couple of clicks could do anything as they want.

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Modernize workflows with Zoom's trusted collaboration tools: including video meetings, team chat, VoIP phone, webinars, whiteboard, contact center, and events.

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The most sophisticated online survey platform on the planet.

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Get started with Qualtrics today

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The most sophisticated online survey platform on the planet. Request Demo Over 11,000 brands and 99 of the top 100 business schools use Qualtrics Best-in-class analysis and reporting With more distribution channels than anyone else, there's no one Qualtrics can't reach Email surveys SMS surveys Panel Management Mobile and website Social QR Codes® MR Receipt surveys Offline surveys Loved by analysts.

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Free Infographic Maker: 11 Million Users Create Stunning Infographics for FRee

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Design professional infographics in minutes with Piktochart’s free infographic maker and top-rated templates trusted by over 11 million users worldwide. Try it now!

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Syllabus Writing

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Overview

A syllabus is both a document about the course content, goals, and elements and a guide for students to the kind of teaching and learning they can expect in your class. This resource can help you create a well-structured syllabus that also invites students to take responsibility for their own learning.

How to Use this Resource

Below you will find a list of possible elements for your syllabus. We also provide examples from actual Stanford syllabi that illustrate the many ways in which these categories can be played out. As you will notice from the examples, how a syllabus addresses the various course elements varies greatly, not only among disciplines but also among instructors. The clearer and the more explicit your syllabus is, the easier it will be for your students to understand what the course is about and what is expected of them.

We have organized this syllabus template document as a series of questions that will guide you as you create your course. The questions are not meant as a "to-do list." Rather, they are intended to serve as pointers and signposts as you develop your own syllabus. Use our Syllabus Template to create your own syllabus.

Syllabus Elements

More Information

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A syllabus is both a document about the course content, goals, and elements and a guide for students to the kind of teaching and learning they can expect in your class. This resource can help you create a well-structured syllabus that also invites students to take responsibility for their own learning.

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Clinical Skills: Skills for Nursing     

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Clinical Skills: Skills for Nursing     

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Clinical Skills for Nursing | Elsevier Evolve

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This assembly of videos, interactive learning tools, and in-depth explanations will impart a total understanding of how to effectively perform each skill.

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Bloom's Taxonomy of Measurable Verbs       

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Bloom's Taxonomy of Measurable Verbs       

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nursing Flashcards and Study Sets | Quizlet

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Learn nursing with free interactive flashcards. Choose from 500 different sets of nursing flashcards on Quizlet.

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Our screen capture tools help you easily create, edit and communicate with videos and images. Simple and intuitive tools to share your ideas.

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How can ScreenPal help you?

I need to capture videos and images.

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What our community is saying

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ScreenPal's user-friendly interface and seamless integration into our existing teaching methods made it an obvious choice. From day one, it was clear that ScreenPal was not just another tech tool; it was a catalyst for active learning and collaboration.

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We use ScreenPal internally to create and manage all of the videos we share with educators. ScreenPal makes it easy to create videos with a consistent, branded look and feel, and then to share all of those videos from a central repository.

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Join millions of people communicating through video.

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At ScreenPal, we don't believe that video recording and editing should be difficult, or cost a fortune. Our simple and intuitive tools help you get the job done easily.

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Open Canvas

Create, organize, and move freely on an open canvas. Create seamless presentations without the restrictions of linear slides.

Ready-made asset libraries

Choose from millions of images, stickers, GIFs, and icons from Unsplash and Giphy.

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Presentations and videos with engaging visuals for hybrid teams | Prezi Present

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Welcome to Prezi, the presentation software that uses motion, zoom, and spatial relationships to bring your ideas to life and make you a great presenter.

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Create beautiful text and web polls, surveys and open-ended questions easily

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Swift Polling is the easiest way to collect live responses in any venue. Create interactive presentations for your conference, meeting, event, concert, or classroom with real-time polling via a text poll or online access. Trusted by fortune 100 companies. Swift is very easy-to-use and free.

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Kahoot! | Learning games | Make learning awesome!

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Kahoot! is a game-based learning platform that brings engagement and fun to 1+ billion players every year at school, at work, and at home.

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Review student understanding at the class, individual student, or question-level.

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Host interactive online meetings | Poll Everywhere

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For Remote or In-Person Classrooms

Factile is a free learning platform that lets teachers create engaging jeopardy-style quiz games for the remote or in-person classroom

Assess students' understanding of new topics or review the latest concepts using our simple, user-friendly gameboard template. Create and share your games with students, or search our database of already-created games. Use Factile with Google Classroom to easily assign games and flashcards to your class.
Play Demo Game

Four Team Review Games
Play in classroom or remote with Buzzer Mode

Two Individual Study Games
Self-paced learning in classroom or remote

Buzzer Mode

Buzzer Mode

Turn phones, tablets or computers into buzzer buttons for an engaging multi-player gameshow experience

"Factile is fun and exciting. Students enjoy the competition, the team-building, the camaradarie, the positive reinforcement, or all of the above. The standard, free version is very workable and click-driven, although I am sure the premium version contains greater functionality that may appeal to some folks. Your students will enjoy it as much as you enjoy watching them learn"

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See more reviews

Are you looking to make your Factile game even more engaging? Let students BUZZ IN via their laptops, phones or tablets! Remote or In-Classroom.

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Add Images, Videos and Equations

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For Remote or In-Person Classrooms

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Classroom Jeopardy Review Game | Buzzer Mode | Factile

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Create your own Jeopardy template online without PowerPoint, or browse the pre-made templates to play Jeopardy-style classroom games or quizzes in minutes.