Thanks to those of you who attended last month's "Rethinking Assessment Strategies in the Age of AI" workshop. The workshop, the 21st in our #LEX Advanced series, helps you to build on the skills you learned in the #LearnEverywhereXULA course and will assist you in designing alternative/authentic assessments that challenge students to apply their knowledge and skills in meaningful ways in this age of AI.
In case you missed last month’s training session or if you attended the training session and want to recap what was covered, a copy of the workshop recording and resources referenced in the workshop are available. You can find the workshop recording and other resources in support of the workshop on the CAT+FD wiki.
Additionally, if you did not get the opportunity to earn a digital badge for participating in the workshop, it's not too late to earn that badge. We have a corresponding “Rethinking Assessment Strategies” module in the #LearnEverywhereXULA (#LEX) course that you can complete to earn a digital badge for this topic. The badge will count towards your #LEX Advanced certification.
This year, the liturgical season of Lent overlaps with the sacred month of Ramadan. In the Christian and Muslim traditions, this is a time of contemplation. Coincidentally this year, they also overlap Xavier's Midterms, which as we know, is a time of deep introspection for many of our students. During this period, remember to take a balanced approach to your own working life, and give yourself some time to interact with colleagues from across the campus. Click on the name of any event below to learn more about it.
This year, the liturgical season of Lent and the sacred month of Ramadan coincide, both calling for reflection, renewal, and intentionality. It is fitting that this also overlaps with Xavier’s Midterms—a time when our students engage in their own forms of deep introspection.
As we guide them through this demanding season, let’s also be mindful of our own well-being. Balance is essential, and taking time to connect with colleagues can be both restorative and inspiring. This month’s calendar of events offer opportunities to reflect, recharge, and engage with our community.
Click on the name of any event below to learn more—I hope to see you there. And don't miss the lunar eclipse this Thursday night!
WEEKLY OPPORTUNITIES
Coffee & Chat, every Monday & Tuesday, 10:00-11:00 Spend some time with members of the CAT+FD staff in our Conference Room for refreshments and conversation.
Quarter of Quiet, every Wednesday, 2:00-2:15 Give yourself 15 minutes of unguided contemplation. Join us in person the Chapel's Meditation Room or in spirit from any location.
MARCH WORKSHOPS & BROWN-BAGS
Xavier Faculty Writing Group, Monday, March 10, 11:00-1:00 Members of the Xavier Faculty Writing Group gather each Monday to enjoy lunch together while putting in some extra time on their writing projects.
Social Hour/PIE-1 Day, Thursday, March 13, 4:00-5:30 Since midterm grades are due on the Pi Day (Friday, March 14) this year, CAT+FD is celebrating PIE-1 Day on Thursday, March 13. Take a break from your grading, and join us in the Mellon Seminar Room for some fellowship and some pie!
Xavier Faculty Writing Group, Monday, March 17, 11:00-1:00 Members of the Xavier Faculty Writing Group gather each Monday to enjoy lunch together while putting in some extra time on their writing projects.
Xavier Faculty Writing Group, Monday, March 24, 11:00-1:00 Members of the Xavier Faculty Writing Group gather each Monday to enjoy lunch together while putting in some extra time on their writing projects.
SERG (Science Education Research Group), Tuesday, March 25, 3:30-4:30 The monthly SERG meetings are informal, multidisciplinary forums for the discussion of pedagogical issues. These meetings are open to all interested faculty. There is no need to register.
Mindful Check-in, Wednesday, March 26, 1:00-1:50 Please join us for an informal and open conversation about your experiences, challenges, questions, and the upcoming April “Take 5" Challenge. Faculty, staff, and students are welcome.
Xavier Faculty Writing Group, Monday, March 31, 11:00-1:00 Members of the Xavier Faculty Writing Group gather each Monday to enjoy lunch together while putting in some extra time on their writing projects.
OUTSIDE OPPORTUNITIES
CAT+FD is not sponsoring or partnering on any of the following events. If you have questions, please contact the event organizers.
NSF – EiR – Secondary Data Institute, May 25-30 (Prairie View A&M): Researchers at HBCUs often face unique challenges concerning research productivity and grantsmanship. This project aims to address these challenges by providing training opportunities and mentoring in the statistical analysis of archived data sources at the University of Michigan’s Inter-University Consortium of Political and Social Research (ICPSR). This project supports a residential summer institute on PVAMU’s main campus near Houston, Texas, focusing on developing skills to analyze and integrate secondary data analysis into research and teaching.
HBCU Ai Conference and Training Summit, April 1-3 (Huston-Tillotson University): The HBCU Ai Conference and Training Summit is the first-of-its-kind event, dedicated to reshaping the future of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by empowering Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Scheduled to take place April 1-3, 2025, this transformative summit brings together thought leaders, educators, researchers, and industry professionals to bridge the gap between HBCUs and the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
2025 Notre Dame Inclusive Teaching Academy, June 2–6 (Chicago, IL): The Notre Dame Inclusive Teaching Academy provides robust, intensive training in support of the transformation of faculty teaching. Learn about, reflect on, and apply principles of inclusive pedagogy alongside colleagues from across the country as you redesign course materials and prepare to lead inclusive teaching efforts in your department and on campus.
D2L (the company that owns Brightspace) uses Continuous Delivery to update our Brightspace system. The Continuous Delivery model gives us regular monthly updates allowing for incremental and easily integrated changes with no downtime required for our Brightspace system.
Our Continuous Delivery update occurs on the 4th Thursday of each month. D2L provides release notes to help users stay up-to-date with the changes.
Here are some of the updates in the February 2025/20.25.02 release that were added to our system this month:
This release updates the Accessibility Checker icon in Brightspace Editor to improve user recognition and understanding.
The updated Accessibility Checker icon is now a human figure within a circle, replacing the eye symbol with a check mark for better clarity.
The previous Accessibility Checker icon of an eye and checkmark.
2) Email – Validation required when using the Copy external mail on all sent messages option
Users must validate their external email addresses whenever they use the Copy external mail on all sent messages option. This option is selected in either Email Settings or the Account Settings > Email tab.
Users can configure the Copy external mail on all sent messages option in the Account Settings > Email tab.
Once you have an external email address configured, the text of the option changes to Send a copy of each outgoing message to [external email].
Users can also configure the Copy external mail on all sent messages option in Email Settings. The text in this location also changes to Send a copy of each outgoing message to [external email].
Once users save their changes, the system sends a validation email message to the external email address. Users click the link in the email to validate the setting and email address. Unverified email addresses display a Not Verified - Click to Resend Verification Email status next to the Send a copy of each outgoing message to [external email] option. Users can resend validation emails, but the system does not copy messages to the external email address until it verifies the address. If users change their external email address, they must repeat the validation process.
Unverified emails are indicated with the Not Verified - Click to Resend Verification Email status. Users can click that status to resend the verification email.
Previously, Copy external mail on all sent messages did not require validation of external email. Any users who have previously configured Copy external mail on all sent messages do not require validation unless their external email address is altered.
Note:
An external email is considered any email outside of Brightspace, regardless of whether it is within your institution's domain or not.
Once you have an external email address configured, the text of the option changes to Send a copy of each outgoing message to [external email].
Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.
Turnitin is a plagiarism detection tool that is integrated into our Brightspace system. Turnitin checks student work for potential plagiarism and allows instructors to provide electronic feedback to students through markup, proofing, and rubrics tools.
Instructors typically create an Assignment submission folder with Turnitin enabled. When students submit their assignments they are checked for potential plagiarism. However, there may be situations where an instructor needs to submit a paper to be checked by Turnitin.
The Quick Submit feature allows instructors to submit papers and receive Similarity Reports without creating an Assignment in their course. This is ideal for instructors who would like to use Turnitin to spot check submissions and have these papers in electronic format. Quick Submit SHOULD NOT be used if the instructor desires to have students submit their own papers or plans on using PeerMark (peer review assignment tool) or GradeMark (make comments on and assess student papers). Instructors should create an Assignment and enable Turnitin for the assignment instead.
Follow these steps to do it.
To use Quick Submit to submit a paper:
Log in to your Turnitin account natively through www.turnitin.com.
Activate Quick Submit by clicking on User Info from the top of the instructor homepage.
On the preferences page, select yes from the activate Quick Submit drop-down menu. The Quick Submit tab will appear on the instructor homepage, making the Quick Submit inbox available for use.
To start the upload process, click on the Submit button in the Quick Submit inbox and follow the instructions.
Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.
#LearnEverywhereXULA (#LEX) is our award winning Brightspace course that is organized around the eight General Standards for Higher Education set forth in the Quality Matters Higher Education Rubric Sixth Edition. The information, activities, and assignments in the #LEX course aids faculty in developing high quality, well-designed, objective-driven courses on Brightspace for Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) students.
When faculty complete the #LEX course, they have the opportunity to expand their horizons even more through #LEX Advanced certification. With the certification, faculty learn about using design and automation features available in Brightspace to apply better pedagogical practices within their courses by making them more user-friendly, accessible, and efficient.
#LEX Advanced takes a deeper dive into tools like Rubrics, Release Conditions, Intelligent Agents, HTML Templates, Awards & Badges, and more. #LEX Advanced certification also includes topics such as accessibility, academic integrity, rethinking assessment strategies in the age of AI, securing online testing environment, online discussions, group work, and video lectures.
A #LEX Advanced badge can be earned for participation in a #LEX Advanced workshop OR for completing its corresponding module in the #LEX course.
Our #LEX Advanced certification has five levels. Faculty can move up a certification level with every fourth #LEX Advanced badge they earn. Complete four modules to earn the #LEX Advanced Level 1 certification. Complete eight modules to earn the #LEX Advanced Level 2 certification. Complete twelve modules to earn the #LEX Advanced Level 3 certification. Complete sixteen modules to earn the #LEX Advanced Level 4 certification. Complete twenty modules to earn the #LEX Advanced Level 5 certification.
Faculty can view the badges they've earned by clicking on Activities in the NavBar and then click on Awards within the #LearnEverywhereXULA course.
Are you interested in becoming #LEX Advanced certified? Attend one of our upcoming #LEX Advanced workshops to start earning your badges. Alternatively, you can earn badges by completing modules in the #LearnEverywhereXULA course.
NOTE: Faculty who are not enrolled in the #LearnEverywhereXULA course can request enrollment using this enrollment request form.
#LEX Advanced Certifications
Congratulations to those faculty who have earned #LEX Advanced Certification!
Turnitin Feedback Studio is a program that checks student work for potential plagiarism and allows instructors to provide electronic feedback to students through markup, proofing, and rubrics tools.
Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.
Use the Assignments tool to help you set and manage deadlines, unclutter your inbox, and save trees!
The Assignments tool is an efficient way to manage and collect your student's individual and group assignments digitally. You can use the Assignments tool to create and edit assignments, see users’ submission times, view submissions on the Evaluate Submission page, associate assignments to rubrics, and return submissions to learners with their grades and your feedback.
For assignments that included file submissions, you can download the submissions to your computer for review offline.
This blog post answers frequently asked questions about creating an assignment using the Assignments tool.
When you create an Assignment with the new Assignment Creation Experience, the default when you enter points in the “Grade Out Of” field is that the “In Grade Book” option will be automatically selected.
The “In Grade Book” option will automatically create a grade item (column) in the Grade Book. The grade item is created with the same name as the Assignment.
Example showing the “In Grade Book” option when points are entered.
If you setup your Grade Book before creating the Assignment and you already have a grade item (column) for the Assignment in your Grade Book, you would associate the Assignment to the grade item by using the "Edit or Link to Existing" option and then navigate to the grade item in your Grade Book that you want to associate the Assignment with.
Example showing the “Edit or Link to Existing” option in the drop-down list.
Example showing the option to “Link to an existing grade item” with the grade item selected.
If you DO NOT want the system to create a column for the Assignment in your Grade Book, then you should select the "Not in Grade Book" option.
Example showing the “Not in Grade Book” option in the drop-down list.
The drop-down menu also allows you to reset the Assignment to ungraded, if necessary.
NOTE: Even though the new Assignment Creation Experience can automatically create a grade item (column) in your Grade Book, we still suggest you setup your Grade Book first and when you create your Assignments then choose the option to “Edit or Link to Existing” grade item in your Grade Book and navigate to the grade item that you want to associate the Assignment with.
Choosing to automatically create grade items in your Grade Book may present a problem when viewing your Grade Book from the Enter Grades tab. If you find the extra wide column headings that are created because of a long assignment name to be problematic, then you can edit the grade items and enter a shorter name for them. You can edit the grade items one at a time or edit them in bulk.
Example showing a grade item being edited to enter a short name for it.
You can edit grade items in bulk from the Manage Grades tab. First, select the grade items you want to edit and then click Bulk Edit.
Example showing grade items being selected for a bulk edit.
Example showing short names entered for grade items on the bulk edit items and categories page.
You will see the short names when you view your Grade Book from the Enter Grades tab.
Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.
OK, OK, after being here for 25 years I'm not actually new. I got a new job title, though! Doesn't that count for something? Well, to be honest, even the title isn't new. It became official four years ago last month. But for very complicated reasons, I never got around to announcing it... until now.
When I introduce myself as a "Creative Generalist" in a professional context, I always feel compelled to add that, yes, that's my official job title. In part, that's because it was a long time coming. It took years of advocacy to get my job title changed. But mainly it's because I relish the title itself, and what it means. I feel it's just about the perfect descriptor for who I am and what I do.
The Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Faculty Development invites you to join us for a regular silent meeting. We'll meet each Wednesday afternoon throughout the 2024-2025 academic year. Drop in when you can.
What to expect?
As the Meditation Room of the Chapel is located directly beneath the bell tower, we are using the bells in our timer. They chime quarterly, so our period of silence begins at 2:00 and ends at 2:15.
But I've never done this before!
You needn't have any experience with meditating; just stop by and give it a try. There's no commitment and no pressure.
Why meditate?
Meditation has numerous well-documented benefits, including stress management, improved emotional balance, increased focus and awareness and increased responsiveness to student needs.
All welcome
This is open for everyone in the Xavier community, for people of any faith or no faith.
Date: all school year (whenever classes are in session)
Time: 2 - 2:15 PM
Location: Meditation Room, St. Katharine Drexel Chapel
Would you like to send your students email (e.g., welcome to the course, reminder about something important, congratulations for a job well done, give them a nudge when they might need to work harder) -- without having to do a lot of extra work to make it happen? The Brightspace Intelligent Agents tool can help automate this process for you.
Intelligent Agents allow instructors to delegate some of the course communication and notification tasks to the system, based on specific triggering activities in the course. Intelligent Agents can be used to both recognize student achievement and warn of potential problems. For example, you can use Intelligent Agents to:
Check for users that have not logged into the course
Check for users that have not logged in within a specific number of days
Notify users with grades below a certain level
Congratulate users with grades above a certain level
Check for users that view a specific content topic
The automatic notifications that are generated when specified course performance criteria are met can be sent to instructors, advisors, and/or students.
ICYMI: Updates were made to the Intelligent Agent Create Agent page to facilitate additional scheduling options and frequency options to allow for improved flexibility. Changes to the Create Agent page include:
Two new agent frequency options:
One-Time Run allows instructors to choose a single date and time to run.
Hourly allows instructors to choose a date and time to run between. If no dates are chosen, the Hourly agent runs every hour with the first time being "now" (that is once the agent is saved and enabled).
The existing Daily, Weekly, Monthly and Annually options all now have a Scheduled Time option that users complete to determine what time that the agent will run on the dates scheduled for the agent to run.
The Intelligent Agent (IA) scheduling page with the Hourly option and IA will run every 8 hours for a specified period.
Repetitive emails may lose their effectiveness, so use Intelligent Agents sparingly. Consider using Intelligent Agents when there isn't a better way of communicating. Ask yourself,
Would an announcement work better?
Would a personally crafted email work better?
Would a discussion board posting work better?
If the answer is no, then consider using an Intelligent Agent!
Follow these steps to do it.
To create an Intelligent Agent:
On a course NavBar, click Course Admin.
Click Intelligent Agents.
On the Agent List page, click New Agent.
On the New Agent page, enter a name.
Enter a description into the Description field.
If you want to assign a category to the agent, select an option from the Category drop-down menu or create a new category by clicking the Add Category link.
If you want the agent to be active, select the Agent is enabled check box.
Expand Scheduling, and under Frequency schedule how frequently agent criteria is evaluated. Choose a frequency option from the dropdown menu and complete the schedule dates and repetition options as needed.
Expand Criteria, and under Role in Classlist do one of the following:
If you want the Intelligent Agent to be applicable to all roles in the Classlist, select the All users visible in the Classlist check box.
If you want the Intelligent Agent to be applicable to select roles, select the Users with specific roles check box and select the respective roles.
Select your criteria (login activity, course activity, or attach Release Conditions).
Under Actions > Repetition, select how often you want the agent to take action.
If you want the agent to send an email when the set criteria are satisfied, expand Actions, and under Send an Email, select the Send an email when the criteria are satisfied check box and enter your email details and relevant attachments.
Click Save and Close.
NOTE: You can perform a practice run or a manual run of an Intelligent Agent at any time in a course.
Note: Are you doing something innovative in Brightspace or perhaps you've discovered a handy tip? Share how you are using Brightspace in your teaching and learning in The Orange Room.
Image credit: Image by TheDigitalArtist from Pixabay
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