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Course Map

•Learning Objectives and Outcomes

•Instructional Alignment

•UFQM for teaching online

•Developing Course Content (presentations, activities, identifying sources, assessments, rubrics, discussion boards)

Syllabus (build in flexibility)

•Course Responsibilities (Calendar, due dates, etc)

•Additional support and resources for students

Course Administration

•Managing TAs

•Calendar

•Submitting Grades

•Weighting Grades

•Setting up Canvas Shell

•GatorEvals

•Building in flexibility (planning for unforeseen circumstances)

•Late work policy

Onboarding and Orienting Students (communication, grades, communication tools, responsibilities, expectations, deadlines, AI policy, building community, Additional support and resources for students, including disabilities resources)

Planning for first day and week of class

•Creating groups of learners, contacting students prior to the start of class, personal interest survey, etc.)

Resources to help you: Instructional Designers, GOCS, COIP, CITT, Disabilities Resources,

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describe what this section will give the people

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Nuts & Bolts (steal some stuff from here)

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Nuts & Bolts (steal some stuff from here)

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-admin tasks

-internet setup

-office setup

-training (change to show it's for HR required trainings)

-submit your textbook adoption

-teaching technologies (change to something about canvas/LMS access)

-important information

-first day of class prep

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welcome to uf...we're glad you're here blah blah

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Accommodations DRC

Course Site Design - Headings, Subheadings, etc.

Ally

PPT

PDF

Sensus Access

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things to do, places to eat, people to see

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List of Units on campus that supports students

1. I would suggest reviewing syllabi statement that lists the official units and their respective links and updating those here.

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Campus Resources for Students – UF Instructor Guide

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Professional Development Resources and Activities (Move to appropriate spot)

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Professional Development Resources and Activities (Move to appropriate spot)

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Passport to Great Teaching Certificates

FYFTA

GOTS

Interface

Podcast

UF Training & Org Development

UFIT Training

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Professional Development Resources and Activities – UF Instructor Guide

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Inclusive Teaching – UF Instructor Guide

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Assume this has changed and need update from e-learning support

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ADDIE

Blooms Taxonomy

Flipped Course

Interactive Design

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Tips

How to Publish Canvas Course

Welcome Message

How to Get Students to Read

Need to add section on syllabi policy around students being able to record in the classroom

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Jennifer Smith and Alexandra Bitton-Bailey

A good syllabus that is thorough, yet concise can help reduce the amount of email that you and your TAs receive. A quality syllabus helps your students find the information they need quickly. The state of Florida requires syllabi for all courses to be posted on a public website a minimum of three days prior to the first day of classes. Each college may choose whether to post on a single site or by the department. The syllabi must be available for three full semesters, with summer counting as one semester.

Syllabus Tips | Student Support | UF Religious Observances Policy | Mobile Devices | Online Teaching

Syllabus Tips

Organize syllabus elements to guide students to the information they need. The practices described below will help to make your document accessible to those who may have visual or mobility disabilities.

1. Use headings and subheadings to lead students to each topic.

This makes it easy for students to refer to the syllabus throughout the semester.

This also supports accessibility requirements.

2. Convert large chunks of text to bullet points.

3. Bold and italicize words for emphasis so that the convention of underlines can be reserved for links.

4. Keep the syllabus as short as you can.

5. Be sure to check with your department/college for specific syllabus requirements.

6. UF Syllabus Policy

How Do You Get Students to Read the Syllabus?

1. Use images to identify key elements

2. Make your syllabus interactive

1. Use the "Course Summary" within the Canvas Syllabus tool to automatically list assignments and deadlines (this feature is mobile-friendly for any time, anywhere access).

1. View an example of a Canvas Course Summary that was created using Design Tools.

2. NOTE: Design Tools is available to all UF faculty and staff within Canvas, however, it is not centrally supported by e-Learning or CITT.

3. If you like this format, please request a consultation with the Center for Teaching Excellence for a template and setup help.

2. Include a link to an accessible PDF or Word version of your syllabus (a Word version is more easily read on a phone).

3. Use a free app such as Adobe Express or Google Sites (UF Google Account required) to create a mobile-friendly "liquid syllabus."

4. Watch Creating a Liquid Syllabus (1:11:19) to learn how to create your own engaging syllabus.

3. Create a short extra credit quiz on the syllabus.

4. Use the syllabus as part of a scavenger hunt game.

5. Consider putting your syllabus into Perusall (if using for other assignments) so that students can collaboratively comment and ask questions within the document.

6. When students have questions that you have already answered in the syllabus, be sure to ask them what was unclear so that you can correct the document.

7. Visit AccessibleSyllabus.com for more ideas to promote student engagement with syllabus content

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Student Support

Be sure to include information about tutoring support that is available to them.

The Teaching Center provides support in Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Writing, and other topics.

The University of Florida Writing Program (UWP) offers face-to-face and online tutoring as well as video resources. The Writing Studio (through the UWP) offers feedback sessions on essays; students can schedule two 30 min appointments weekly, with face-to-face time including business and evening hours, and an online option as well. Students are highly encouraged to make appointments since our times fill up quickly. The tutors here are mostly graduate teaching assistants trained in both humanities and scientific prose.

Include links to these services in your syllabus:
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UF Religious Observances Policy

UF Administrative Memo from Joseph Glover, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs

January 7, 2020

Students and faculty must work together to allow students the opportunity to observe the holy days of his or her faith. A student needs to inform the faculty member of the religious observances of his or her faith that will conflict with class attendance, with tests or examinations, or with other class activities prior to the class or occurrence of that test or activity. The faculty member is then obligated to accommodate that particular student's religious observances. Because our students represent a myriad of cultures and many faiths, the University of Florida is not able to assure that scheduled academic activities do not conflict with the holy days of all religious groups. We, therefore, rely on individual students to make their need for an excused absence known in advance of the scheduled activities.
View the UF Religious Holidays Policy
For University of Florida Students, the following guidelines apply: Students, upon prior notification of their instructors, shall be excused from class or other scheduled academic activity to observe a religious holy day of their faith. Students shall be permitted a reasonable amount of time to make up the material or activities covered in their absence. Students shall not be penalized due to absence from class or other scheduled academic activity because of religious observances.

If a faculty member is informed or is aware that a significant number of students are likely to be absent from class because of a religious observance, the faculty member should not schedule a major exam or other academic event at that time. ​

A student who is to be excused from class for a religious observance is not required to provide a second party certification of the reason for the absence. Furthermore, a student who believes that he or she has been unreasonably denied an education benefit due to religious beliefs or practices may seek redress through the student grievance procedure.

Thank you for your cooperation with this policy.

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Mobile Devices

If you plan to ban the use of smartphones or other devices in your class, be sure to include that information in your syllabus. But before you do that, consider whether devices can be used to enhance student participation. Classroom response systems or "clicker" apps such as iClicker (Free!), Kahoot!, Canvas quizzes (Free!), or Qualtrics surveys (Free!) can be used to gauge student understanding of lecture concepts.

Keep in mind that Two-Factor authentication is required for access to university systems such as e-Learning (Canvas). If you will be using e-Learning, remember to allow smartphone use for authentication. Visit the UFIT Two-Factor information page.

NOTE: Make sure you are using Kahoot! in compliance with FERPA.
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Online Teaching

When teaching online, it is important to communicate how students will engage with you and the course material. This information doesn't necessarily need to be in the syllabus, but it does need to be somewhere students can find it easily. Don't assume that students know how an online course works!

Items to Communicate:

How you will deliver lectures (asynchronous, synchronous via Zoom, both, etc.)

How your students will engage with the course content (assignments, discussion, etc.)

How you will assess whether students have achieved course learning goals and objectives (quizzes, exams, assignments, etc.)

How students will communicate with you (virtual office hours, open Canvas discussion, Canvas Inbox, etc.)

Provide details about technologies you will be using, including VPN and proctoring

Spell out your expectations for interaction or netiquette (edit these guidelines to meet your needs)

IMPORTANT! Publish Your Canvas Course

It starts the semester off poorly if students are unable to access their course materials on the first day of classes. Students may feel anxious about participating in an online course to begin with, those feelings can be magnified by delays and lack of communication.

To do so, complete the following steps:

1. In your Canvas shell, select "Settings"

2. Under the "Course Details" tab, set the start date and time (e.g., May 10, 2021, 8:00 am)

3. Select the box next to "Restrict students from viewing this course before start date"

4. Select "Update Course Details" at the bottom of the page when done

5. Go back to the home page, and select "Publish" under Course Status at the upper right

This allows students to view your course on the Start date and time you set. This also allows you to provide early access to the course. Some students greatly appreciate the opportunity to review course materials before the start of classes. However, they may send you questions right away, so don't publish the course before the start of classes if you aren't available to answer questions.

Welcome Message

The sooner you start communicating with the students in your class, the better! Set up a Canvas Announcement that will be sent out as soon as your course is published. If you do this in advance, there will be one less thing to worry about during the hectic first week!

1. Select "Announcements" from the left navigation

2. Click the "+ Announcement" button in the upper right

3. Enter your "Topic Title" at the top of the screen

4. Enter your welcome message in the text box

Link directly to course elements, such as the syllabus

Adapt the sample message (below) to meet your needs.

5. Post to "All Sections"

6. You can schedule the announcement to be delivered automatically on the first day of class

Select "Delay posting" and schedule the announcement to post as soon after your course is set to publish as possible. (Be sure to select "a.m.")

Set the remaining options

7. Important: Save your Announcement

Hello Everyone!

I will be your instructor for [Course name]. The class will begin at 8:00 a.m. on May 11, but I'd like to give you some information to help you get a head start. Please view my syllabus <link to syllabus>. Please go ahead and purchase the required texts as you will need them right away.

[textbook and other resource information here, including required technologies]

Follow these directions to log into the course.

Go to <link to your Canvas course>

Use your Gatorlink username and password to log in.

View the materials and complete the [first activity] located [page, assignment, discussion]

Don't delay logging into the course as you have assignments that will be due soon!

If you have trouble logging into the e-Learning system, contact the HelpDesk: helpdesk@ufl.edu or call (352) 392-4357. (352-392-HELP)

I look forward to an interesting semester with you!

Sincerely,

[Instructor Name]

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Before Classes Begin

First Day

Disability Accommodations

FAQ Discussion Boards

Email

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Guidelines for Good Lectures

PPT

Student Recording of Lectures

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Assignment Expectations

Communication Plan

Communication Tools

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Communicate with Your Students – UF Instructor Guide

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Small Group Discussions (move to teaching and learning)

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Small Group Discussions (move to teaching and learning)

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Discussion Complements Lecture

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Small Group Discussions – UF Instructor Guide

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Engage Your Students (Move to Teaching and Learning)

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Engage Your Students (Move to Teaching and Learning)

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1. Make your expectations of student performance clear and consistent. Be organized.

2. Provide them with methods and means to engage – and support their learning of them.

3. Assess them frequently to keep their attention.

4. Give them real problems to solve.

5. Provide opportunity for them to engage with each other.

6. Ask them to teach their peers.

7. Most Importantly: Demonstrate your own engagement.

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Engage Your Students – UF Instructor Guide

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Assessment basics

Rubric design

Writing quiz and test items (Reliability & validity of items)

Test statistics and analysis

Longitudinal assessment of student learning

Concensus-based approaches

Navigating the UF assessment system

Visit A Practical Guide to Assessment

Definitely needs updating

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How can assessment benefit students?

What is useful assessment?

Online Assessment

Assessment as a learning tool

Recall practice

Assessment as evaluation

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What is Active learning?

Does it work?

How does it work in an online course?

Reinforce learning

Collaborative learning

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Active Learning Online – UF Instructor Guide

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What is collaborative learning?

Teamwork

Activities that focus on students as learners

Activities that introduce course content

Orient students towards collaborative learning

Forming Groups

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Collaborative Learning – UF Instructor Guide

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Delphi Method

Example of Student Instructions

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Group Problem-Solving Online – UF Instructor Guide

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What are Escape box puzzles?

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Jennifer Smith and Micah Jenkins

What are "Escape Boxes?" | Puzzles | Equipment | Prototype | Production | Escape Box Activity

What are "Escape Boxes?"

Modeled on the popular escape room puzzles, boxes containing puzzles and locked secrets can be an engaging way to combine teamwork and scavenger hunt activities. Stacey Curtis, Pharm.D. and Angelina Vascimini, a 4th-year student at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy presented this idea at the 2019 Interface Conference. This article describes the design, logistics, and tips for setting up your own escape box activity.

Escape puzzles can be used to:

Hold students accountable for doing the reading.

Practice analysis and problem-solving skills.

Foster teamwork.

Provide a fun break!

View Rachel Slivon's presentation: Create an Escape Room with Your Syllabus Content (35:00) starting at 35 minutes into the video (chapter 2).

Considerations

Items to consider when planning your escape box:

Time. It took about 80 hours of work to research ideas for ciphers, plan and create 6 clues for 5 boxes. (Use the ciphers described here to save some time!)

Thought. Give yourself at least a week to think about clues that will support your learning goals (This isn't as easy as you might think!)

Boxes. Consider box size and storage availability as you will most likely want to re-use your boxes.

Boxes/Pouches for Locked Secrets. With some crafty creativity, you can use inexpensive pencil pouches and boxes to contain your clues. These have the advantage of being space-efficient, and some have clear plastic windows for hints. (See the end of this chapter for details.)

Locks. You'll need small programmable locks. Inexpensive 3-digit locks can be found on Amazon.com. (NOTE: Unfortunately, these cannot be purchased through Amazon.com with a University of Florida purchasing card.)

Quantity. Teams of 5 - 6 with 5 - 6 locked secrets work well. This makes it possible for each participant to work on a clue. Savvy teams will divide and conquer. You'll need a box with your chosen number of secrets for each team.

Iterate. We strongly recommend trying your puzzles out with a test group. Be prepared to make revisions. See the prototype tips at the end of this chapter.

Digital. We used a mix of digital and physical clues. It is possible to create a fully online escape activity. Visit the next chapter to see how we did this. There are more suggestions on the Engaging and Effective Teaching Blog.

Planning

Determine the amount of time you would like participants to spend on the activity as this will dictate the difficulty level of the clues. Six Lower-level knowledge or scavenger hunt clues can be solved in approximately 20 minutes by a team of 5. Higher-level application or problem-solving clues will take more time. Keep in mind that the puzzles should be challenging, but not to the point of frustration.

Use post-it notes, a large piece of paper, or a digital diagramming tool to plan out how the players will get to the numerical code that will unlock the secret. You can provide more than one path, and you can include a clue to a different puzzle along with the secret.

Distractors

After you have planned out your puzzles, add a few items that will be distractors. These can be just about any object, booklet, or set of cards that looks like it might be something, but in reality, is not. Conference swag is ideal for this purpose. We found that we needed very few of these.
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Puzzles

Use a variety of ciphers to encrypt clues or lock codes. It is a good idea to use icons or stickers to designate the clues, ciphers, and locked secrets that go together. Clearly mark the clues that will be found on the Internet. TheNounProject is a great place to get free icons that represent just about everything. (A low educational subscription price will save you time in citing the icon source.) Avoid relying on color alone to tie clues together as this could disadvantage colorblind players.

Booklet with Cutouts

A booklet or pamphlet can be combined with a piece of paper with holes cut in it to reveal a lock combination. You'll need enough copies of the booklet so that you can include one in each box. Find a page that has enough numbers on it to provide a code. Pages with numbered lists work well.

Scan the identified page and print it out. Stack the printed page on a blank piece of paper and use a paper punch (if the holes are close enough to the edge) to make holes on the correct numbers. If the numbers are in the middle of the page, use an X-acto knife to cut the holes.

Crossword Puzzle

A crossword puzzle can be created pretty quickly using an online puzzle generator such as this Online Instant Puzzle Maker. These tools allow you to enter your own clues and answers.

In order to re-use the crosswords, we printed them on card stock, laminated them and provided fine point dry erase markers. Our players found the clues to be much more difficult than we had expected, so we had to revise them for a couple of iterations.

Disk Cipher

A disk or wheel decoder with letters and numbers can be used to provide a lock code. A Google search will provide many printable versions that you can choose from, such as this Secret Decoder Wheel from DabblesandBabbles.com.

Print the wheels out on card stock paper, cut them out, and fasten together in the center. It is a good idea to include an icon and color code to help the players match the wheel decoder to the correct puzzle.

Fill in the Blank

Fill in the blank questions are easy to use in escape boxes. You can re-purpose questions from old assignments by rewriting them as fill in the blank questions with very specific answers. Limit the possible responses by providing squares, one for each letter of the answer. Highlight certain squares to indicate that the content inside of it is a part of the unlock code.

Google Form

Use Google Forms to create a short answer or multiple choice question. Create a quiz using Google Forms. Provide the unlock code as the feedback players receive when they have answered the question correctly. For another twist, use a QR code to lead players to the Google Form.

To set up your form, go to your Google Drive account and select "Create new" from the left menu. If you do not commonly use Google Forms, you'll need to select "More" from the bottom of the menu.

Choose "Settings" from the upper right menu

Select "Quizzes"

Move the slider that says "Make this a quiz"

Choose "Release grade immediately after submission"

Below "Respondents can see" check the boxes allowing them to see:

Missed questions (let players know they got the question wrong)

Correct answers (enter the unlock code here)

Invisible Ink

Purchase invisible ink pens and blacklight flashlights (available through Amazon.com). Write your message using the pen and include the flashlight in the escape box. If you want to make it more challenging, add words or images in regular ink to disguise the invisible message.

Pictographs or Rebus

Create a puzzle using pictures or icons ( TheNounProject is a good source). Images from course content can help to reinforce concepts.

Process Cards

Write each of the steps that comprise a process on a card. Add the combination lock numbers to the bottoms of three of the cards so that they will reveal the code when placed in the correct order (example: nitrogen cycle).

Red Reveal

When you layer yellow, magenta, and red text on top of each other, you can hide a message written with cyan ink. When you place a piece of clear red plastic on top, it filters out the red and yellow so that you only see the cyan message. I adjusted the transparency of the layers of type in order to hide the message effectively. This took a bit of trial and error as I had to test print each version. A Photoshop file you can use to create your own message is available from Clean Energy Wiki.

Web Scavenger Hunt

Identify a web resource that contains numbers. Chapter or module numbers work well. Provide clues that guide players to the resource and then help them determine the correct code.

Scytale Cipher

Buy a cylindrical mailing tube and cut it into smaller cylinders. We found that the cardboard tubes from toilet paper and paper towel rolls also worked well, but were not as sturdy. Wrap a long strip of paper around the tube and write the secret message horizontally across the strip along with other random symbols and letters. When the strip of paper is unwrapped, the symbols and letters on it should be nonsensical. When the strip is wrapped around the cylinder, the coded secret message will be revealed.

I found that participants had a difficult time wrapping the paper around the cylinder, and some participants wrapped the paper in the wrong direction. We remedied this by adding velcro tabs to the strip and the cylinder, along with an arrow to indicate the direction in which the strip should be wrapped.
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Equipment

Pencil Pouches

In order to reduce cost and storage space, we used inexpensive pencil pouches ($1.35) and boxes ($.99) purchased from OfficeDepot.

The pencil pouch zippers have a hole that allows a small luggage lock to go through it. A loop of nylon cord was pulled through the pouch seam with a crochet hook and hand-sewn into place (a stapler would also work). Each end of the cord was knotted, and the ends melted with a match or candle.

These inexpensive plastic pencil boxes have overlapping tabs. We drilled holes that lined up to allow a lock to be threaded through.

Big Box Lock

You'll need to devise a way to lock the large box containing the smaller pouches, boxes, and clues. We laid pieces of duct tape on top of each other (sticky sides together) and then wrapped those around the box like a present. A piece of plastic (cut from a plastic folder) with a hole punched in it was layered between the duct tape on the lower strip. The plastic passed through the upper duct tape and then the lock went through the hole in the plastic. There's probably a better way to do this. Please share if you figure something out!
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Prototype

Once you have planned out your clues and ciphers, create a rough prototype. Don't spend a lot of time making it "pretty." As you put the clues together, keep in mind that players may not necessarily solve the clue in the most obvious way. For example, if you are using the tube wrap, they might wrap the paper strip in the wrong direction. You may need to provide a hint, such as an arrow to indicate the correct direction.

Ask colleagues, students, family members, or graduate assistants to be your testers for a test run. Time them and take notes as they go through the puzzles. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! We guarantee that you will find at least one thing that completely frustrates your testers. We conducted two rounds of testing before we used the boxes in a workshop.

Use the feedback from the prototype to revise your puzzles. Depending upon how much revision was necessary, you may want to do another test. If only minor revisions were necessary, you can go ahead and create the boxes. Even with the testing, our players found the clues to be much more difficult than we had expected.
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Production

If you will be setting up more than 2 or 3 boxes, it is likely to be worthwhile to use digital tools to create clues that can be printed out. If your boxes will be used multiple times with the same clues, consider printing on card stock. If you have clues that participants will write on, such as fill in the blank or crossword puzzles, they can be laminated to support reuse. You'll need to provide fine point dry erase markers to use with those clues.
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Escape Box Activity

When it is time for the escape box activity, set a box on each table. Provide any rules orally, in a handout, or on a PowerPoint (or all three). Spice up the activity by providing prizes to the group that finishes first (determine how you will handle a tie). Once each group has a box and you have answered any questions, you can signal the start.

Keep track of the time so that you can make adjustments if the players take more or less time than you had planned. Float around the room and offer hints to groups if they get stuck on a clue. Make note of these sticking points so that you can either revise the box or the preparation assignments.

There you have it! An engaging and fun team activity that can support learning goals. Please share any new puzzle types that you create.
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Jennifer Smith and Micah Jenkins What are "Escape Boxes?" | Puzzles | Equipment | Prototype | Production | Escape Box Activity Modeled on the popular escape room puzzles, boxes containing puzzles and locked secrets can be an engaging way to combine teamwork and scavenger hunt activities. Stacey Curtis, Pharm.D.

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Overview

Canvas Setup

Request your Course

Canvas Module blocking/pacing/structure/course map/course design (showcase Elevate module, CITT/COIP have example module setups that instructors can pull into their courses

Canvas Navigation (what all appears on the left side navigation)

File and naming conventions (syllabus titles, titles of all resources, handouts, PPTs, etc)

Canvas course open/close dates - how to publish

Course Design Fundamentals/Quality Course Design (GOCS), UDL, Working with your Instructional Design, CITT/COIP/ID Units.

Rubric for Exemplary Online Teaching Awards to showcase the standard instructors should use.

Communication (Move to Own Chapter on Instructor Presence)

Adapt Course Materials for Online (Remove)

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New to Online Teaching? – UF Instructor Guide

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Establishing Your Voice (inserting personality, humanizing your course)

Online Office Hours

Providing Feedback (link to Feedback section - online rubrics, etc.)

Communication Expectations (24-48 hour turnaround, adding that to your syllabus) - using New Analytics to send group messages on particular assignments, Announcements and frequency)

Ice breakers/Getting to Know students/peers

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How to setup the Assignment section under the module structure and embed in the module links

Group Work

Collaboration Tools

Perusall

Game Based Learning

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New Quizzes

Setting up Tests (time, multiple versions, answer key, test banks, etc).

Adjusting deadlines (accommodation from DRC or for missing original date, etc.)

Rubrics

Group Work/Assignments

Using Feedback Tool and Speed Grader

Missed Work Guidelines

Canvas New Analytics

UF myLA - my learning analytics

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Academic Integrity Principles and Practices

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Academic Integrity Principles and Practices

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Fundamentals

Honor Code and Dean of Students Office Resources

Honorlock

ProctorU

AI Syllabi Statements

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Video Fundamentals

Don't Overproduce

Use Landscape not Portrait

Video Chunking (short 5-15 minute segments)

PlayPosit

Perusall

Closed Captioning

Fewer words on PPT or Background slides

Mediasite Recording/Analytics

Video Services

Lightning Board

Benefits of Video

Maximize Your Student Connection (redo or delete)

Virtual Field Trips

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Jennifer Smith and Alexandra Bitton-Bailey

You probably already show some professional video to help students better envision certain aspects of your discipline. Is it worth the time and effort that it will take to create your own videos? Generally, the answer to that question will depend upon the needs of your students and the course objectives.

Benefits of Video | Maximize Your Student Connection | Virtual Field Trips | References

Benefits of Video

First of all, video can help students to remember key concepts. Just as with a face-to-face lecture, telling a story or relating to your personal experience can help to make information memorable.

Second, videos can help humanize your course. They record your body language and make it possible for you to share your passion for the subject matter. This is important. Because if you're not excited about the course, you can't expect your students to be. This is particularly useful in online courses where students can feel isolated. And finally, video can give your course "personality."

Often, videos are used in online courses to communicate information as you would through a live lecture in class. In fact, because you can bring in graphics and diagrams, it may be easier to explain a difficult concept. Video can be an engaging way to pose a problem to your students. Through the magic of video, you can bring the experience of an expert in the field to your class more easily than to the physical classroom.

Students like videos because they are convenient. They can watch them on their smartphone while they wait for the bus or stand in line. They are also an efficient use of time because the students can speed up the video or skip through the parts they already understand. Students can also go back and review concepts over and over. Finally, you can link to the videos right in assignment instructions for easy access when the students need it.

Just to recap, videos will benefit your students in the following ways:

1. Enhanced Retention: Videos help students remember key concepts. Just like in a face-to-face lecture, storytelling or personal anecdotes can make information more memorable.

2. Humanizing the Course: Videos capture your body language and allow you to share your passion for the subject matter. This human touch is crucial, especially in online courses where students may feel isolated. It also adds "personality" to your course.

3. Engaging Explanation: Videos are useful for explaining complex concepts. You can incorporate graphics, diagrams, and visual aids to enhance understanding.

4. Expert Insights: Through video, you can bring the expertise of field professionals directly to your class, even in an online setting.

5. Convenience and Flexibility: Students appreciate the convenience of watching videos on their smartphones while waiting for the bus or during downtime. They can speed up or skip through sections they already understand and revisit concepts as needed.

Maximize Your Student Connection

To get the biggest bang for your efforts, your video should help you "connect" with your students. This is easier in some disciplines than others. Typically, sharing a personal story is a good way to do this. Humor is another good way to pull students into your topic. Regardless of what you do, be enthusiastic. It is your energy and passion that will keep students watching.

Michael Wesch points out the difference between "connection" and "performance" in his video, "Super Simple Videos: 5 Tips & 5 Reasons to Get On Camera."

Occasionally an instructors will ask if it is really important for them to actually appear in the video. The answer to that is generally yes. Video can be a good way to humanize your course and give it "personality." If there's no "person" in your presentation it's more difficult to communicate the excitement and enthusiasm that you have for the topic. Remember that your facial expressions and gestures are part of your communication.

Many students simply prefer to see the presenter. In fact, Professor Dan McFarland at Stanford did A/B testing with Coursera to determine whether seeing the instructor's face was conducive or non-conducive to student learning. The students who did not have the instructor's face complained so bitterly that they had to stop the test and allow all the students to see the instructor.

Here are some specific strategies:

1. Personal Stories: Sharing personal stories related to the topic can create a connection. Students relate better when they see the human side of their instructors.

2. Humor: Injecting humor can engage students and make the content more enjoyable. Be authentic and let your enthusiasm shine through.

3. Appear in Videos: Being visible in your videos is important. It humanizes your course and conveys your excitement. Remember that your facial expressions and gestures play a role in communication.

4. Student Preference: A/B testing has shown that students prefer seeing the instructor's face. Professor Dan McFarland's experiment on Coursera revealed that students who didn't see the instructor's face complained, emphasizing the importance of instructor presence.

Virtual Field Trips

You can take a cellphone anywhere, so teaching no longer needs to be confined to a classroom location. For example, Dr. Wendell Porter was able to walk his class through the energy usage in a grocery store. This would have been tough to set up as a field trip, but very effective as a video.

The Center for Instructional Technology and Training provides location video services for UF Registrar courses.

References

Ohio State University, (2024). Best Practices for Recording Instructional Videos. Teaching and Learning Center.

Hibbert, M. (2014). What makes an online instructional video compelling? Educause Review.

Kizilcec, R. F., Bailenson, J. N., & Gomez, C. J. (2015). The instructor's face in video instruction: Evidence from two large-scale field studies. Journal of Educational Psychology, 107(3), 724-739. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/edu0000013

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Jennifer Smith and Alexandra Bitton-Bailey You probably already show some professional video to help students better envision certain aspects of your discipline. Is it worth the time and effort that it will take to create your own videos? Generally, the answer to that question will depend upon the needs of your students and the course objectives.

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Independence and Autonomy

Interaction and Communication

Equivalency

Community of Inquiry

Transactional Distance

Intent not to go into detail on research, but how these would be applied in practice in the online learning environment

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Students collaborate on presentation (Canvas Discussion, Perusall, etc. can be moved to Creating Community)

Delivering quizzes and other assessments (Honorlock, ProctorU, Academic Integrity needs to be its own chapter)

Video lectures (Move to Video Lecture Recording)

Zoom (Same Here)

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Online Teaching Tips – UF Instructor Guide

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Creating Community with Zoom Settings (REMOVE CHAPTER)

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Creating Community with Zoom Settings (REMOVE CHAPTER)

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Netiquette

Create a profile and have students do it too

Build a safe zoom class community

Accessibility and inclusivity

Using Zoom to make learning magic

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Alexandra Bitton-Bailey

Netiquette Create a Profile & Have Your Students Do It Too! | Build a Safe Zoom Class Community | Accessibility and Inclusivity | Using Zoom to Make Learning Magic

Create a Profile & Have Your Students Do It Too!

Post a picture and edit your personal reaction setting (to mirror you)

Select a screen size (preferably 16:9 like most PowerPoints)

Add a virtual background

Manage your settings when entering a room. I prefer to mute and hide my camera when I first enter a room. It gives me a few moments to set myself up

Be cautious when screen mirroring (especially if your background has words)

There is also a handy feature to help touch up appearance this can help with poor lighting and camera quality

Build a Safe Zoom Class Community

A strong sense of community will enhance your online class and contribute to student success. Taking measures to make sure your class is free from disruption and intrusion can help! Here are a few ways to achieve these goals:

In the UF Zoom web portal check your advanced meeting settings. You can learn more about your profile and basic meeting settings in the Zoom Learning Center In "meeting details" select the meeting options that will best fit your class format:

Allow joining before the host.

Allow screen sharing.

Allow or limit chat.

Allow or limit annotations.

Allow recording.

o Use theSpotlight feature which allows you to record only the presenter,

o Ensure privacy and security, by installing the latest Zoom Client, and

o Follow the security recommendations provided on the Keep Zoom Secure page

Prior to Class

Before class starts, use the waiting room feature to prevent Zoom bombing, but be strategic. For instance, you can add an image or logo and a description. Make the image either something representative of your course or you and make the description a curiosity-inspiring question so students are thinking and solving problems as they wait to be admitted to the class. You can also collect classroom data from Zoom such as attendance, poll, quiz, and survey data, recordings and transcripts. The Zoom Learning Center offers "Collecting Classroom Data" to help you identify useful information and retrieve it.

During Class

Encourage camera use but do not require it. Often students prefer to turn off the camera in the large class but turn it on in breakout rooms. Keep in mind that students may have connectivity issues that prevent them from using the camera. They may also have a device that does not allow for virtual backgrounds and they may not wish to show their personal space. You might also suggest they create or use a Zoom avatar. You can learn more about Zoom audio and video basics in the Zoom Learning Center including information about backgrounds and filters.

Coach and model online netiquette. For some netiquette guidelines, you can use in your course check out the teach.ufl.edu website. Use this Netiquette Guide as a starting point to clarify your course policies regarding expected student behavior.

Creating Community Engaging Students

Zoom can help to create memorable learning experiences through some of the interactive features. Polls, Quizzes, Whiteboards, and Breakout rooms can help you:

Use the focus mode to minimize distractions and keep students on track,

Annotate on a shared screen to add clarity and involve your students,

Use breakout rooms to connect students in small groups,

Poll students to gauge engagement, understand your audience, create a sense of community,

Quiz students to assess understanding, and

Brainstorm, plan, collaborate on whiteboards (learn to use whiteboards)

To learn more about how to use Zoom effectively, visit the Educator Guide to using Zoom in the classroom or the 21 Features to Enhance you Zoom Workplace Experience.

Accessibility and Inclusivity

Consider accessibility when presenting and recording. Become a conscientious host by making accessibility a priority in every meeting or webinar you can learn more in the Zoom Learning Center where you can sign up for " Accessibility Features for Zoom Hosts". You can enable closed captions, which allows your notetaker to transcribe what's being said in real-time. You can also enable Automatic Live Transcription, but keep in mind that it should be used for accessibility, not for accommodation.

Recording your lectures can also help create a useful resource for your students. Recordings can be shared and even edited to create an accessible learning tool for students. The Zoom AI companion can also help you create a summary of your chats as well as other useful tools to help with efficiency. You can sign up for Getting started with AI Companion in the Zoom Learning Center.

Remember that students access the Zoom interface from different kinds of devices, including mobile phones, tablets, and laptops, so your verbal descriptions should account for those differences.

For more information on using Zoom visit other chapters in the UF Instructor Guide. Topics covered include:

1. How to Pre-Load Students into Breakouts

2. Can Students Use Zoom?

3. Recurring Zoom meetings

4. Does Zoom Have Polling Options?

5. How can I enable raise hand and other non-verbal features?

6. How do I play a video in Zoom?

7. What do I do if students are muted in the Breakout Rooms?

8. How do I see my students?

Using Zoom to Make Learning Magic

Join us as we share how-tos and best practices for teaching in Zoom. Learn strategies for using Zoom features like breakout rooms and polls that can help to engage students in active learning and connect with each other.

Alexandra Bitton-Bailey: Using Zoom to Make Learning Magic (37:46)

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Convert Face to Face Activities to Remote (REMOVE THIS CHAPTER)

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Convert Face to Face Activities to Remote (REMOVE THIS CHAPTER)

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1. Identify what you expect students to get out of the assignment or activity

2. List the steps you have students follow in the face-to-face course

3. Determine how you can get the same result with the available online tools

4. Add any additional steps that will be needed online

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Convert Face-to-Face Activities to Remote – UF Instructor Guide

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Synchronous vs Asynchronous Class Sessions (REMOVE CHAPTER)

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Synchronous vs Asynchronous Class Sessions (REMOVE CHAPTER)

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Challenges

Good practice

Video Production Services (already talked about in previous chapter)

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Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Class Sessions – UF Instructor Guide

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Meeting time

Good practice

Activity Ideas

Grading

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Synchronous Discussions – UF Instructor Guide

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Asynchronous Discussions (RENAME to "Thinking Beyond the Discussion Board"

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Asynchronous Discussions (RENAME to "Thinking Beyond the Discussion Board"

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Overview

Netiquette

Perusall

Google Docs

Online discussions (Remove)

Preparation (Remove)

What is a good prompt? (Remove)

Good practices (Remove)

Logistics (Remove)

Challenges (Remove)

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Asynchronous Discussions – UF Instructor Guide

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Digital Laboratory Activities (REMOVE) - potential area for Harfe or guest writer

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Digital Laboratory Activities (REMOVE) - potential area for Harfe or guest writer

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Considerations

Online Simulations

Lab Simulation resources

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Digital Laboratory Activities – UF Instructor Guide

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Experiential Learning Activities (Move to Teaching and Learning)

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Experiential Learning Activities (Move to Teaching and Learning)

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What is experiential learning?

Examples

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Experiential Learning Activities – UF Instructor Guide

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Should I use that tool?

Rubric for eLearning Tool Evaluation

Implementation models

Tech tool suggestions

Interactive Assessment (Poll Everywhere, Kahoot, Canva, Adobe Spark)

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How can I learn to use Canvas?

Communicate with your students

Course Content

Canvas time savers

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Canvas is UF's Learning Management System (LMS). It can be an efficient way to make course material and grades available to your students. It has features that can help you, whether you just want to house a few files or to teach a fully online course.

Request your Canvas course shell through the e-Learning Course Request form. Do this as early as you can (it can sit until you are able to work on it). Once you have your shell, set the course start date and time. This is VERY IMPORTANT! It starts your class off poorly if students can't get to your course.

In your Canvas shell, select "Settings"

Under the Course Details tab, set the Start date and time (e.g., May 11, 2020, 8:00 am)
Select the box next to "Restrict students from viewing this course before start date"

Select "Update Course Details" at the bottom of the page

Go back to the home page, and select "Publish" under Course Status

NOTE: Many students appreciate being able to log into their course BEFORE classes begin. This helps students to get a head start on course work and to reduce anxiety. If you are willing to open up the class a bit early, send your students an announcement to this effect. However, students may start emailing you with questions right away, so don't open the class early if you are not able to respond.

Face-to-face and synchronous online workshops on how to use Canvas are available through UFIT Training.

Canvas Guides provide step-by-step instructions for all things Canvas.

LinkedIn Learning provides short video tutorials on how to use Canvas

Access LinkedIn Learning through the e-Learning home page

Use your Gatorlink credentials to access the LinkedIn Library at no cost

The LinkedIn Library is available to students too!

Announcements

Use Canvas Announcements to send out general messages to your class. It is a good idea to provide a 0-points assignment that guides your students to set up their Canvas notifications. Otherwise, they may not receive your messages.

How do I set my Canvas notification preferences as a student?

Consider setting up "automated" messages before the semester starts these can include:

Weekly assignment reminders

Highlight assignment elements where students typically run into trouble

Link to additional resources that can support struggling or high achieving students

You can organize your automated announcements using the "Delayed Announcement Modifier" in the Multi-Tool (see below for details)

Setting up some automated messages before the semester starts gives you one less thing to worry about. Don't forget to set your own notification preferences so that you don't miss any student questions.

Chat

Chat is a synchronous text communication tool. Some instructors find that it works well for virtual office hours. Enable it within your course by going into "Settings" and dragging it up to the navigation items visible to students.

Be sure to let students know how to access the chat

Let them know when your office hours will be

Click on the "Chat" link in your navigation

The chat window can be open on your computer while you do other work

Inbox (email)

Tell students to set up their notification preferences so that their Canvas emails will show up in the UF email account. Students can also go to their Canvas inbox to check for messages. Be sure to let your students know how you will communicate with them.

You should set up your own notifications so that student messages sent to you via the Canvas Inbox will go directly to your UF email account. While you're at it, this is a good time to upload a photo of yourself. Why? A friendly, smiling picture of you can help students to feel more comfortable about reaching out to ask questions.

Discussions

The Canvas discussion forum can be a good place for students to ask general course and content questions. This will allow students to respond to each others' questions and for you to provide FAQs.

The general questions or FAQ discussion forum should be checked daily. If students don't receive a response to a query, then they are likely to resort to emailing you individually. A quick response can help you to answer questions that more than one student may have and help to reduce your emails.

There are two main ways to provide content to students. The "Modules" tool can be used with either method to further guide student progress through the course activities.

Files

The Canvas files tool can make documents available to students. It is important to organize them so that students know what they should be looking at when. You can group materials into folders by week (or whatever organization schema you prefer) and then number them with the order in which they should be viewed. This method of organization works best if your course content consists of static files. If you have multimedia, links to content outside of your course, and explanations to provide, the Pages tool generally works best.

If you want students to access the files folder, you will need to make them visible to students within the left-hand navigation. How to do this:

1. Choose "Settings" from the left navigation

2. Select "Navigation" from the top menu

3. Drag "Files" from the list of tools at the bottom (these are hidden) to the top list of items

4. Click the "Save" button at the bottom of the page

Pages

The Pages tool allows you to create webpages with links to course materials as well as to provide text instructions or other information. Your Canvas pages can be as simple or detailed as necessary. Use headings and subheadings to divide content and maintain accessibility.

Modules

The Modules tool allows you to guide students through the course materials in an organized fashion. Create a module for each week (or whatever organizational unit you prefer) and then add pages, files, discussions, assignments and quizzes in the order they should be accessed. You can move things between modules and reordered them easily using the drag and drop interface.

You can also control student access to content based upon completion of assignments or specifying a quiz score. If you wish to use quiz score as a trigger, be sure to allow students multiple re-takes.

Canvas has features that can save time for both you and your students.

The Calendar tool will automatically display any assignment deadlines that you create in Canvas AND it will update the dates automatically when you copy the course to a new term. Be sure to double check these to ensure they are correct. Incorrect due dates are a big source of frustration for both teachers and students.

Multi-Tool: Set/Adjust Due Dates and Times

Consider using the "Multi-Tool" to help you quickly set deadlines across all of your assignments.

To do this, go to Settings > Navigation and drag the multi tool up from the hidden items to the course navigation (students won't see it).

Be sure to click Save.

Then click on the Multi-Tool in the left menu and choose Due Date Modifier

Multi-Tool: Delayed Announcement Modifier

Once you have enabled the Multi-Tool in your Canvas course (see above), you can use the "Delayed Announcement Modifier" to organize announcements for the semester. Faculty often worry about "spamming" their students. The truth is, students actually appreciate meaningful communications from their teachers. As long as you give them useful information, you are doing fine!

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Canvas – Getting Started – UF Instructor Guide

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Setup

Security Settings

Captioning and Auto Transcription

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Jennifer Smith and Micah Jenkins

What are "Escape Boxes?" | Puzzles | Equipment | Prototype | Production | Escape Box Activity

What are "Escape Boxes?"

Modeled on the popular escape room puzzles, boxes containing puzzles and locked secrets can be an engaging way to combine teamwork and scavenger hunt activities. Stacey Curtis, Pharm.D. and Angelina Vascimini, a 4th-year student at the University of Florida College of Pharmacy presented this idea at the 2019 Interface Conference. This article describes the design, logistics, and tips for setting up your own escape box activity.

Escape puzzles can be used to:

Hold students accountable for doing the reading.

Practice analysis and problem-solving skills.

Foster teamwork.

Provide a fun break!

View Rachel Slivon's presentation: Create an Escape Room with Your Syllabus Content (35:00) starting at 35 minutes into the video (chapter 2).

Considerations

Items to consider when planning your escape box:

Time. It took about 80 hours of work to research ideas for ciphers, plan and create 6 clues for 5 boxes. (Use the ciphers described here to save some time!)

Thought. Give yourself at least a week to think about clues that will support your learning goals (This isn't as easy as you might think!)

Boxes. Consider box size and storage availability as you will most likely want to re-use your boxes.

Boxes/Pouches for Locked Secrets. With some crafty creativity, you can use inexpensive pencil pouches and boxes to contain your clues. These have the advantage of being space-efficient, and some have clear plastic windows for hints. (See the end of this chapter for details.)

Locks. You'll need small programmable locks. Inexpensive 3-digit locks can be found on Amazon.com. (NOTE: Unfortunately, these cannot be purchased through Amazon.com with a University of Florida purchasing card.)

Quantity. Teams of 5 - 6 with 5 - 6 locked secrets work well. This makes it possible for each participant to work on a clue. Savvy teams will divide and conquer. You'll need a box with your chosen number of secrets for each team.

Iterate. We strongly recommend trying your puzzles out with a test group. Be prepared to make revisions. See the prototype tips at the end of this chapter.

Digital. We used a mix of digital and physical clues. It is possible to create a fully online escape activity. Visit the next chapter to see how we did this. There are more suggestions on the Engaging and Effective Teaching Blog.

Planning

Determine the amount of time you would like participants to spend on the activity as this will dictate the difficulty level of the clues. Six Lower-level knowledge or scavenger hunt clues can be solved in approximately 20 minutes by a team of 5. Higher-level application or problem-solving clues will take more time. Keep in mind that the puzzles should be challenging, but not to the point of frustration.

Use post-it notes, a large piece of paper, or a digital diagramming tool to plan out how the players will get to the numerical code that will unlock the secret. You can provide more than one path, and you can include a clue to a different puzzle along with the secret.

Distractors

After you have planned out your puzzles, add a few items that will be distractors. These can be just about any object, booklet, or set of cards that looks like it might be something, but in reality, is not. Conference swag is ideal for this purpose. We found that we needed very few of these.
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Puzzles

Use a variety of ciphers to encrypt clues or lock codes. It is a good idea to use icons or stickers to designate the clues, ciphers, and locked secrets that go together. Clearly mark the clues that will be found on the Internet. TheNounProject is a great place to get free icons that represent just about everything. (A low educational subscription price will save you time in citing the icon source.) Avoid relying on color alone to tie clues together as this could disadvantage colorblind players.

Booklet with Cutouts

A booklet or pamphlet can be combined with a piece of paper with holes cut in it to reveal a lock combination. You'll need enough copies of the booklet so that you can include one in each box. Find a page that has enough numbers on it to provide a code. Pages with numbered lists work well.

Scan the identified page and print it out. Stack the printed page on a blank piece of paper and use a paper punch (if the holes are close enough to the edge) to make holes on the correct numbers. If the numbers are in the middle of the page, use an X-acto knife to cut the holes.

Crossword Puzzle

A crossword puzzle can be created pretty quickly using an online puzzle generator such as this Online Instant Puzzle Maker. These tools allow you to enter your own clues and answers.

In order to re-use the crosswords, we printed them on card stock, laminated them and provided fine point dry erase markers. Our players found the clues to be much more difficult than we had expected, so we had to revise them for a couple of iterations.

Disk Cipher

A disk or wheel decoder with letters and numbers can be used to provide a lock code. A Google search will provide many printable versions that you can choose from, such as this Secret Decoder Wheel from DabblesandBabbles.com.

Print the wheels out on card stock paper, cut them out, and fasten together in the center. It is a good idea to include an icon and color code to help the players match the wheel decoder to the correct puzzle.

Fill in the Blank

Fill in the blank questions are easy to use in escape boxes. You can re-purpose questions from old assignments by rewriting them as fill in the blank questions with very specific answers. Limit the possible responses by providing squares, one for each letter of the answer. Highlight certain squares to indicate that the content inside of it is a part of the unlock code.

Google Form

Use Google Forms to create a short answer or multiple choice question. Create a quiz using Google Forms. Provide the unlock code as the feedback players receive when they have answered the question correctly. For another twist, use a QR code to lead players to the Google Form.

To set up your form, go to your Google Drive account and select "Create new" from the left menu. If you do not commonly use Google Forms, you'll need to select "More" from the bottom of the menu.

Choose "Settings" from the upper right menu

Select "Quizzes"

Move the slider that says "Make this a quiz"

Choose "Release grade immediately after submission"

Below "Respondents can see" check the boxes allowing them to see:

Missed questions (let players know they got the question wrong)

Correct answers (enter the unlock code here)

Invisible Ink

Purchase invisible ink pens and blacklight flashlights (available through Amazon.com). Write your message using the pen and include the flashlight in the escape box. If you want to make it more challenging, add words or images in regular ink to disguise the invisible message.

Pictographs or Rebus

Create a puzzle using pictures or icons ( TheNounProject is a good source). Images from course content can help to reinforce concepts.

Process Cards

Write each of the steps that comprise a process on a card. Add the combination lock numbers to the bottoms of three of the cards so that they will reveal the code when placed in the correct order (example: nitrogen cycle).

Red Reveal

When you layer yellow, magenta, and red text on top of each other, you can hide a message written with cyan ink. When you place a piece of clear red plastic on top, it filters out the red and yellow so that you only see the cyan message. I adjusted the transparency of the layers of type in order to hide the message effectively. This took a bit of trial and error as I had to test print each version. A Photoshop file you can use to create your own message is available from Clean Energy Wiki.

Web Scavenger Hunt

Identify a web resource that contains numbers. Chapter or module numbers work well. Provide clues that guide players to the resource and then help them determine the correct code.

Scytale Cipher

Buy a cylindrical mailing tube and cut it into smaller cylinders. We found that the cardboard tubes from toilet paper and paper towel rolls also worked well, but were not as sturdy. Wrap a long strip of paper around the tube and write the secret message horizontally across the strip along with other random symbols and letters. When the strip of paper is unwrapped, the symbols and letters on it should be nonsensical. When the strip is wrapped around the cylinder, the coded secret message will be revealed.

I found that participants had a difficult time wrapping the paper around the cylinder, and some participants wrapped the paper in the wrong direction. We remedied this by adding velcro tabs to the strip and the cylinder, along with an arrow to indicate the direction in which the strip should be wrapped.
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Equipment

Pencil Pouches

In order to reduce cost and storage space, we used inexpensive pencil pouches ($1.35) and boxes ($.99) purchased from OfficeDepot.

The pencil pouch zippers have a hole that allows a small luggage lock to go through it. A loop of nylon cord was pulled through the pouch seam with a crochet hook and hand-sewn into place (a stapler would also work). Each end of the cord was knotted, and the ends melted with a match or candle.

These inexpensive plastic pencil boxes have overlapping tabs. We drilled holes that lined up to allow a lock to be threaded through.

Big Box Lock

You'll need to devise a way to lock the large box containing the smaller pouches, boxes, and clues. We laid pieces of duct tape on top of each other (sticky sides together) and then wrapped those around the box like a present. A piece of plastic (cut from a plastic folder) with a hole punched in it was layered between the duct tape on the lower strip. The plastic passed through the upper duct tape and then the lock went through the hole in the plastic. There's probably a better way to do this. Please share if you figure something out!
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Prototype

Once you have planned out your clues and ciphers, create a rough prototype. Don't spend a lot of time making it "pretty." As you put the clues together, keep in mind that players may not necessarily solve the clue in the most obvious way. For example, if you are using the tube wrap, they might wrap the paper strip in the wrong direction. You may need to provide a hint, such as an arrow to indicate the correct direction.

Ask colleagues, students, family members, or graduate assistants to be your testers for a test run. Time them and take notes as they go through the puzzles. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! We guarantee that you will find at least one thing that completely frustrates your testers. We conducted two rounds of testing before we used the boxes in a workshop.

Use the feedback from the prototype to revise your puzzles. Depending upon how much revision was necessary, you may want to do another test. If only minor revisions were necessary, you can go ahead and create the boxes. Even with the testing, our players found the clues to be much more difficult than we had expected.
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Production

If you will be setting up more than 2 or 3 boxes, it is likely to be worthwhile to use digital tools to create clues that can be printed out. If your boxes will be used multiple times with the same clues, consider printing on card stock. If you have clues that participants will write on, such as fill in the blank or crossword puzzles, they can be laminated to support reuse. You'll need to provide fine point dry erase markers to use with those clues.
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Escape Box Activity

When it is time for the escape box activity, set a box on each table. Provide any rules orally, in a handout, or on a PowerPoint (or all three). Spice up the activity by providing prizes to the group that finishes first (determine how you will handle a tie). Once each group has a box and you have answered any questions, you can signal the start.

Keep track of the time so that you can make adjustments if the players take more or less time than you had planned. Float around the room and offer hints to groups if they get stuck on a clue. Make note of these sticking points so that you can either revise the box or the preparation assignments.

There you have it! An engaging and fun team activity that can support learning goals. Please share any new puzzle types that you create.
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Jennifer Smith and Micah Jenkins What are "Escape Boxes?" | Puzzles | Equipment | Prototype | Production | Escape Box Activity Modeled on the popular escape room puzzles, boxes containing puzzles and locked secrets can be an engaging way to combine teamwork and scavenger hunt activities. Stacey Curtis, Pharm.D.

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Linking to UFIT's and E-Learning Support

iClicker

Perusall

Navigator

Microsoft 365

VoiceThread

Inkscape

Google Suite

Playposit

and many more

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What is Perusall?

How do I use Perusall?

What else can Perusall do?

Is Perusall effective?

Where can I get help with Perusall?

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Perusall – Annotated Reading – UF Instructor Guide

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Short Guide to Pressbooks

How to use Pressbooks

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Digital Presentation Tips (PPT, Google Slides)

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Digital Presentation Tips (PPT, Google Slides)

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Present one idea per slide

Spend around 1 minute on each slide when presenting

Use effective slide headings

Include only essential points

Provide citations

Provide relevant images

Reduce cognitive overload

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Digital Presentation Tips (e.g., PowerPoint, Google Slides) – UF Instructor Guide

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Student Reminders

Assigning Incomplete Grades

Submitting Grades

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For Faculty

For Students

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Learners' Characteristics (or Understanding Your Students)

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Learners' Characteristics (or Understanding Your Students)

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Student motivation (or Student Engagement)

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Student motivation (or Student Engagement)

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Active Learning (or Instructional Strategies)

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Active Learning (or Instructional Strategies)

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Beyond Classroom (Preparing Your Students for Career)

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Beyond Classroom (Preparing Your Students for Career)

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Mastery quizzes

Higher-order Multiple Choice

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Preparing students

Process

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Measuring student learning

reflecting on student learning

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What can rubrics do for you?

Rubrics in Canvas

Sample rubrics

Rubric template

Sample rubric Visual storytelling project

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Formative Assessments

Definition and Purpose

Examples (e.g., quizzes, in-class activities, peer reviews, Mid-semester tests)

Benefits and Challenges

Summative Assessments

Definition and Purpose

Examples (e.g., final exams, projects, presentations)

Benefits and Challenges

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Faculty Tenure & Promotion

Professional Development Next Steps

Benefits & Retirement

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Supporting Students

UF Graduate School

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General Counsel

UF Compliance & Ethics

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Research & Grants

Curriculum & Assessment

Center for Teaching Excellence

George A. Smathers Libraries

IRB Training

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UF Information Technology

teaching technologies (UF apps and other resources like it) - outlook

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University Gallery Artwork

Parking & Transportation

getting around campus

UF alerts

U police

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Purpose and Goals of Teaching

Understanding the Learning Process

Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment

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Online Discussions

Face-to-Face Discussions

Creating Quality Prompts

Facilitating Engaging Discussions