| Canvas Course Shell Design and Layout |
| Course structure |
- Home page with a welcome message, course overview and an explanation of how to navigate the course
- Use of modules to organize content
- Unused items removed from the Canvas navigation menu
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| Syllabus |
- Easy to find Syllabus
- Printable Syllabus
- Up-to-date links or statements for campus/school/program policies, e.g.
- Academic integrity
- Student complaints
- Title IX
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| Campus resources |
- Technology: support.stedwards.edu
- Minimum Technology Requirements
- Academic Support Services
- Student Disability Services
- Munday Library
- Writing Center
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| Required materials & technologies |
- Required textbooks and other materials
- Required technologies
- How to access/acquire
- Indicate Open Educational Resources (OER) or library materials
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| Contact information |
Contact information for instructor, department and/or program office |
| Student Learning Outcomes |
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| Alignment between content, learning activities, unit/week objectives & course level outcomes |
- Learning activities explain the purpose and connect to learning objectives
- Content aligns with learning objectives
- Course-level outcomes on the welcome page or syllabus
- Unit/week objectives listed and connected to overall course learning outcomes
- Paragraph explaining what students are doing and why that appears on the first page of each module
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| Content |
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| Clear citations, copyright andthe license status for all materials |
- Instructional materials model appropriate style (APA, MLA, etc.) for discipline (encourages academic integrity).
- Course materials and resources include copyright and licensing status, clearly stating any permission to share or reuse.
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| Required vs. optional |
Content & activities clearly indicate required vs. optional. |
| Accessibility |
- Course content, including external tools and sites, is accessible and meets WCAG 2.0 AA guidelines.
- Videos are captioned.
- All images have appropriate Alt text.
- Canvas Accessibility checker finds zero items.
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| No broken links |
Canvas Course Link Validator indicates no broken links. |
| Proofreading |
- Course content has no spelling or grammar errors.
- Pages and Assignments have consistent formatting.
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| Activities and Interaction |
| Student-to-student interaction |
- Assignments and learning activities encourage student-to-student interaction.
- Live sessions via Zoom (for synchronous courses)
- Online discussions
- Group work
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| Participation expectations |
- Attendance/participation policies or criteria for the course, live session, online discussion, etc.
- Rubrics for teamwork, online discussion, etc.
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| Early opportunity for course participation per the university’s Substantive Interaction Policy |
There is an opportunity for course participation (e.g., live session participation, graded assignment) in the first week(s) so non-participating students can be contacted and/or withdrawn from the course. |
| Sets expectations for response & feedback from the instructor |
- Course/syllabus indicates instructor response time for answering questions, responding to emails
- Course/syllabus sets expectations for timely feedback/grading of assignments
- Assignments explain how to find instructor feedback
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| Course Policies |
- AI Use Policy
- Plus/minus grading
- Late work policy
- Participation grade
- Exceptions/options (oops token, drop lowest quiz grade, etc.)
- What to do if you have to miss class (severe illness, work, etc.)
- Any policies around recordings or sharing of course content
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| Clear assignment instructions & due dates |
- Due dates set in Canvas (populates student "To Do" list)
- Clear assignment instructions
- Rubrics or grading criteria
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| Clear live session agendas/topics (synchronous online) |
Any live sessions have an agenda/clear topics/lesson plans. (What’s the reason for this meeting?) |
Communication, Consistency, Clarity, Care in Instruction
(for courses in progress or after completion) |
| Course narrative/learning goals (telling the story of your course) |
When the course is taught, the instructor engages students by explaining a clear purpose of the course and learning activities, and returning to that narrative/purpose throughout the course. |
| Announcements and other course communication |
Announcements and other course communication demonstrate clear communication, consistency, and care. |
| Course learning community |
Instructor creates a learning community with student-student interaction and student-instructor interaction. |
| Effective live Sessions (synchronous online) |
- Effective use of breakout rooms
- Active learning activities, e.g., whiteboard, polling
- How well was the class engaged
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| Timely grading and feedback |
- Instructor responds to students promptly.
- Instructor is caught up with grading or sets clear expectations where grading may take longer.
- Instructor gives students clear, formative feedback.
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| Flexibility, scaffolding, support |
Instructor demonstrates care for students with flexibility, scaffolding of learning, and support. |