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Home » The Vermont State Educator – November 2026

The Vermont State Educator – November 2026

November 2026 | Volume 4 | Issue 4 | Previous Issues

Fostering Student Choice and Decision Making

Those who do the work do the learning. If this maxim is true, how can we structure our classrooms so students have the power to make important choices about their learning without creating unnecessary chaos? How can they do more of the work while still relying on us for guidance?

When we give students the opportunity to make decisions about their learning process, they are more likely to form deep connections and practice higher-level thinking skills. According to Deci and Ryan as cited in Stefanou et al. (2004), students need “autonomy, competence, and relatedness…in social contexts” (p. 98) to learn and achieve self-determination. Students must actively construct their learning within intentional, social contexts. Students who feel they have some freedom over their learning are more likely to set “realistic goals, [determine] appropriate actions that accomplish goals, and [assess] progress toward the goals” whereas students who feel powerless to make their own decisions “lack volitional strategies and behaviors” (p. 98).

Impact of choice on autonomy, competence, and relatedness

Autonomy

Autonomy is the need to feel in control of one’s own learning and choices. When students are presented with choices, there can be a shift from feeling controlled to feeling like engaged decision makers. Choice can also be embraced by students if there is the potential to align tasks with personal interests.

Competence

Competence is the need to have mastery over one’s environment and the capability of achieving desired outcomes. By providing choices, students are able to build self-efficacy and their validation becomes more internal, which lessens the importance of external validation.

Relatedness

Relatedness is the psychological need to feel a sense of belonging and connection with others. Choice can yield several benefits from a student perspective, such as the increase in mutual respect associated with a shift away from an autocratic instructor-student dynamic in the classroom; an increase in opportunities for students to share their cultural and personal identities; and indications that their perspectives and individual experiences are valued.

Benefits of offering choices

  • Enhances student engagement and intrinsic motivation.
  • Encourages cooperation through empowerment.
  • Builds responsibility and commitment.
  • Increases alignment with students’ interests.
  • Increases alignment with students’ career plans.
  • Fosters intellectual curiosity and love of lifetime learning.
  • Encourages students to approach assignments as a process of discovery and exploration.
  • Can help prevent disruptive behaviors.

Considerations for offering choices

Because the types of choices we present to students significantly affect their level of motivation, consider how students might contribute to the choices provided in your class. Additional considerations include:

  • Think carefully about the goals of an assignment and how they help students achieve course objectives.
  • Make choices you offer clear and specific.
  • Do not make student decision making difficult by offering too many options.
  • Put an onus on providing thoughtful feedback.
  • Use technology to enhance an assignment (e.g., virtual choice board with links).

Student choice strategies

Choice of Assessment Format (Oral vs Written)

Description of Activity: Students are given the option to complete their summative assessment through either a traditional proctored written exam or a scheduled one-on-one oral examination with the instructor. Both formats cover the same learning objectives and use a mirrored rubric to ensure grading equity.

Benefits to Students: May reduce barriers for students with specific learning needs or testing anxiety. By choosing their “stronger” medium for assessment, students can focus entirely on the content, leading to a more accurate reflection of their knowledge.

Assessment Content Choice

Description of Activity: In a high-stakes or low-stakes assessment, students are provided with a “bank” of questions and are given the autonomy to choose which ones to answer. For example, an exam might require answering two short-answer questions out of four options.

Benefits to Students: May reduce testing anxiety and help build trusting relationships between students and instructors.

Assessment Extra Credit Choice

Description of Activity: Students are given the option to answer an additional question that asks them to apply course concepts in a new way. For example, an exam might include an optional question asking students to apply a key concept to a real-world scenario that is not discussed in class.

Benefits to Students: This gives students a chance to demonstrate deeper understanding and the opt-in structure reduces test anxiety for students who might feel pressure to attempt every question regardless of their preparedness.

Assignment Format Choice

Description of Activity: Students can decide which format (within a range of options) they can use for an assignment that demonstrates their learning. For example, this might include the creation of a podcast, a picture book, a website, or other forms chosen by the student.

Benefits to Students: Students may be more engaged if they are given the choice to demonstrate their learning. Having a choice may allow assignments to integrate more creativity.

Presentation Format Choice

Description of Activity: Students present on the same topic or course content, but choose the format that best fits how they communicate. Presentation should have clear instructor guidelines (e.g., time limits, required connections to course concepts, peer feedback), but students decide how it’s delivered. For example, in an introductory course, students might present on the same theme but choose between a slide deck, a poster, a short video, or an infographic to share their findings.

Benefits to Students: When students can present in a format they feel comfortable with, the focus shifts from managing anxiety to communicating ideas.

Reading Choice

Description of Activity: Instead of assigning a single reading, students choose one option from a short, curated set. All readings are comparable in complexity and connect to the same course concept, so students practice the same skill regardless of their choice. For example, in a sociology course, students might choose an academic article, a first-person narrative, or a news piece on the same topic. Another option is to ask students to recommend readings that meet specific criteria for a particular topic or course module.

Benefits to Students: Students are more likely to engage with a reading when they feel some connection to it. This reduces the experience of reading as a “required” task. For multilingual learners or students with different reading backgrounds, having options lowers the barrier to meaningful participation.

Explaining a Topic

Description of Activity: Students record themselves explaining a core course concept to a specific audience (like a peer, a child, or a grandparent) using a predetermined number of key terms. This activity is highly customizable; instructors can define the list of required terms or let students select the concept they find most challenging. Can be used as a regular assignment, or as extra credit.

Benefits to Students: This activity prompts students to move beyond rote memorization and translate complex academic terms and ideas into their own words. This activity can help students to build communication skills and provides an authentic way for them to demonstrate mastery over the material.

Discussion Post Choice

Description of Activity: Students choose which discussion prompt to respond from a small set of options, all connected to the same course content. For example, students might choose between analyzing a specific reading or responding to a broader application question tied to the same concept. Instructors can customize the prompt set to target different course concepts.

Benefits to Students: Choice can make discussion posts feel more meaningful and increase participation. Responding to peers who chose different prompts also broadens perspectives.

“Happy Hour” Discussion Forum

Description of Activity: Instructors create informal discussion forums centered around pop culture or personal interest topics, and students choose which forum they would like to join. The goal is to build community and encourage interaction in a low-pressure environment. For example, students might choose between forums focused on music, sports, movies, food, and others.

Benefits to Students: Giving students a choice in discussion topics can help build community and connection, especially in online or large courses. In addition, informal spaces can make participation feel lower stakes and help students engage more with peers and increase students’ sense of belonging in the course.

Choice of Case Study

Description of Activity: Students choose a case study related to the course and present it using clear instructor guidelines (e.g., time limits, required connections to course concepts, peer feedback). For example, in an introductory course, students might choose any case study connected to the course and give a short presentation explaining how it relates to a key concept.

Benefits to Students: When students have some choice over the case they choose, they can become more engaged in the assignment and focus on areas of particular interest.

Topic Choice

Description of Activity: Perhaps a common way to integrate choice, this approach allows students to choose a topic related to course content for an assignment. Instructors are encouraged to provide sample topics to guide their students.

Benefits to Students: Being able to select a topic gives students the opportunity to pursue learning in areas in which they are most interested, which can have positive benefits for their engagement.

Choice of Research Topic

Description of Activity: Students are given the autonomy to select a specific topic, theme, or variable from the course material to develop into a formal research question. Rather than responding to a preset prompt, students must identify an area of personal interest or curiosity within the course content and propose their own line of inquiry.

Benefits to Students: May enhance student engagement and encourage students to identify how course material intersects with their personal interests or professional goals. By picking their own topic, students can challenge themselves as needed. They may pick a comfortable, familiar topic so they can focus their cognitive energy on mastering complex research methods, or they may select a less familiar, challenging topic if they already possess strong research skills and want to expand their content knowledge.

Presentation Topic Choice

Description of Activity: Students choose a topic related to the course and present it using clear instructor guidelines (e.g., time limits, required connections to course concepts, peer feedback). For example, in an introductory course, students might choose any real-world issue connected to the course and give a short presentation explaining how it relates to a key concept.

Benefits to Students: When students have some control over their topic, they are often more engaged and confident in their presentations.

Interview-Based Assignment with Student Choice

Description of Activity: Students complete an interview-based project where they choose a topic, identify someone to interview, and decide how to present what they learn (e.g., written piece, podcast, or video). For example, a student might explore a topic of interest, interview a community member or professional, and present their findings as a short video or written report.

Benefits to Students: This assignment connects course concepts to real-world contexts and builds practical skills like communication and planning.

Student-Created Review Tool

Description of Activity: Students choose a topic and create a study tool (such as a study guide, concept map, or graphic organizer), which they later share with the class. For example, students might select a key topic from the course, create a study guide, and contribute it to a shared resource folder for exam preparation.

Benefits to Students: Creating a review tool helps students organize and deepen their understanding.

Choice of GenAI on a Specific Assignment

Description of Activity:  Instructors allow students to have a choice on whether they can use generative AI for an assignment within specific parameters. To better understand their learning process, students may be required to submit all prompts and outputs as well as write a reflection about how they used generative AI for the assignments, how it impacted the quality of their work, any limitations of the technologies, as well as what they learned through the process.

Benefits to Students: Generative artificial intelligence continues to be integrated and utilized within common applications and within jobs. Allowing usage within a course can support students in gaining practical skills for career readiness. Additionally, giving choice allows students who do not want to use GenAI for various reasons to use alternative methods.

Discussion Post: Choice of Response Approach

Description of Activity: Students are given the choice to post a reflection on a course concept in one of multiple ways: a formal, technical explanation, a “simplified” explanation designed for a non-expert audience, or a video response in a panel-style format. This allows students to choose the communication style that best fits their strengths while still requiring a deep understanding of the material.

Benefits to Students: Video provides a multimedia and potentially more engaging format for students to participate in discussion forums and the approach provides an opportunity for students to evaluate the specific topic and decide which communication option will be more impactful for that particular concept. The choice of response approach also provides the flexibility for students to choose an option that fits their comfort level; for example, a student feeling highly confident in a complex topic might find translating it into simpler terms to be more engaging and challenging. In addition, This approach helps to diversify the responses produced, avoiding lots of similar responses. Students see a variety of explanations, increasing their understanding of the concept.

Reflection for Extra Credit

Description of Activity: Students complete a short, optional reflection on their engagement, study habits, and use of course resources. For example, students might reflect on their attendance, study strategies, or which resources they used to prepare for an exam.

Benefits to Students: This activity encourages students to reflect on how they learn and identify strategies that work for them.

Essay Revision with Student Choice

Description of Activity: Students choose how they want to approach an essay revision. They might revise their own work, improve a sample essay, or review a strong model and apply what they learn. A short reflection afterward explains their revision choices. For example, students might choose between revising a previous paper or practicing revision on a sample essay before returning to their own work.

Benefits to Students: This approach emphasizes revision as part of the learning process and can increase confidence and help students engage more thoughtfully with feedback.

Student-Created Quiz Questions

Description of Activity: Students create quiz or exam questions based on course content and provide both the correct answer and an explanation for why the answer is correct. Students also identify where they found the information for the question (e.g., lecture notes, textbook section, or course readings). The instructor reviews the submissions and may include selected student-created questions in a future quiz or exam.

Benefits to Students: Writing quiz questions encourages students to think more deeply about course material and identify what makes a question clear, accurate, and meaningful. Also, knowing that their questions may appear on the actual quiz or exam tends to increase investment and care in the work.

Choice of Role

Description of Activity:  In this collaborative exercise, students are assigned to a group but are allowed to choose their specific role within that group based on their interests or strengths. This is highly customizable; roles can be professional (e.g., “Project Manager”, “Lead Researcher)” or functional (e.g., “Skeptic”, “Synthesizer”, “Scribe”).

Benefits to Students: This activity can help to lower group work anxiety by allowing students to pick a role they are comfortable with, or conversely, it can allow them to challenge themselves by trying something outside of their comfort zone. The use of distinct roles can help to increase accountability and make individual efforts more easily distinguishable; students have a clear, personal responsibility to the group, which helps prevent uneven distribution of workload within the group. In addition, the professional alignment approach may allow students to embody roles that mirror their future career goals, making the activity feel more relevant.

Choice of In-Class Participation Modality

Description of Activity: Instead of requiring students to speak aloud to earn participation credit, instructors provide a “menu” of ways to contribute to class discussion. Students can choose to participate orally, through a live digital platform (e.g., a chat or collaborative doc), or via a post-class written reflection.

Benefits to Students: This approach can help to remove barriers for introverted students, students with social anxiety, and multilingual learners. Offering multiple modalities for engaging may help the instructor create a trusting, comfortable environment where all students can express their ideas without the pressure of immediate verbal performance. Choice in participation also directly enhances a student’s sense of belonging. As Fleming (2023) notes, when students feel empowered to engage in a way that matches their strengths, they feel more seen and valued, which is a primary driver of academic success and retention. In addition, students can learn to evaluate which medium allows them to express a specific idea most impactfully, which is helpful in building their metacognitive communication skills.

Independent vs. Partner Work

Description of Activity: For a specific assignment or in-class exercise, students decide whether they want to complete the work independently or collaborate with a partner. This choice allows students to select the social environment that best supports their focus and productivity for that specific task.

Benefits to Students: Choice in this area can help a student build confidence as they reflect on their own learning needs (Flores et al., 2022) and identify the environment that would benefit their learning most in a specific activity; e.g., hearing their classmates’ differing perspectives versus decreasing their social stressors by working independently.

Choice of Partner

Description of Activity: Students are given the autonomy to select their own partner(s) for a specific project or in-class activity.

Benefits to Students: Choice of partner provides an opportunity for students to self-organize based on existing rapport, shared schedules, or complementary skill sets (e.g. “big picture” thinker vs. “detail-oriented” organizer). For many students, especially those with social anxiety or those from marginalized backgrounds, the ability to work with a trusted peer may help reduce social anxiety, allowing them to put more cognitive energy to the actual task rather than navigating social friction.

Experimental Design Choice

Description of Activity:   Instead of following a manual of pre-defined lab steps, student teams are given a hypothesis or simply a research problem (customizable) and must collaboratively choose the design of the experiment to test it. The team is responsible for deciding which variables to control, which tools to use, and how to structure their data collection.

Benefits to Students: Engaging in the critical thinking process can allow students to truly apply and learn the experimental design process. Through this process, students must evaluate different approaches, anticipate potential errors, and justify their choices. This “productive struggle” can help solidify their understanding of how scientific knowledge is constructed.

Co-Created Course Guidelines

Description of Activity: Students co-create course guidelines for discussions or other aspects of the course.

Benefits to Students: When students co-create course guidelines, they may feel more involved and part of the classroom community.

Drop the Lowest Grade

Description of Activity: The instructor can drop the lowest grade for a series of assignments. Typically, this might be implemented when there are multiple homework assignments or quizzes all weighted similarly, but not for a singular major assignment. This provides students the option to drop an assignment if they have circumstances come up where they are unable to complete it.

Benefits to Students: Students may have a variety of reasons why they are not able to perform well on a given assignment given competing academic and personal obligations.

Choice-Based Grading

Description of Activity: Also known as choice-based assessment, this is a system of grading that gives students choice. For example, students might choose from a menu of assignments that count towards their final grade for the course, or students might choose the final weights of course assessments.

Benefits to Students: It supports self-regulated learning and has been shown to positively impact student performance (Cook, 2011; Rideout, 2018) and can increase students’ sense of agency, self-efficacy, and motivation (Pope et al., 2025). In addition, students may have higher satisfaction with the design of the course by giving them a sense of autonomy about their grades.

Self-Grading or Hybrid-Grading Choice

Description of Activity: Students assess their own learning using a rubric or grading criteria provided by the instructor. In a hybrid model, both evaluations are weighed together. For example, after submitting a project or assignment, students might score their work using the rubric and provide a justification for each score before the instructor reviews and finalizes the grade.

Benefits to Students: Asking students to evaluate their own work builds metacognitive awareness. Students who engage seriously with a self-assessment often develop a clearer understanding of what excellent work looks like, which can improve future work. The hybrid model gives students a sense of agency in the grading process without removing the instructor’s role.

Skip the Final Exam or Project

Description of Activity: If students achieve a certain level of mastery of the learning outcomes from the course, instructors can give them a chance to skip the final exam or final project.

Benefits to Students: Students able to meet the learning outcomes early for a course can focus their efforts on other academic or co-curricular work. Students who need more time to learn the material or could benefit from additional course assignments still could complete the final or final project.

Flexible Attendance

Description of Activity: Students are given the choice to miss a limited number of class sessions without any reduction of their participation grade.

Benefits to Students: Class attendance has been shown to be strongly associated with student achievement (Credé et al., 2010). Such evidence provides a rationale as to why attendance might be considered within a participation grade for a course. Simultaneously, allowing some flexibility with regards to attendance can allow students to navigate their workload and personal circumstances.

Delayed Assignment Submission with Reduction

Description of Activity: Students can submit assignments on time or after the deadline with a reduction (e.g., 15 or 25% of grade) with no questions asked.

Benefits to Students: Sometimes students have a variety of factors that impact their ability to turn in assignments on time. While simultaneously teaching the importance of deadlines, this guideline also allows students to have a second chance.

Flexible Assignment Deadlines Without Penalty

Description of Activity: Instructors build in grace for assignment deadlines. One option is offering students two deadlines; a standard deadline and an extension deadline a few days to a week later. Students choose which works best for them, with no explanation needed.

Benefits to Students: Students may have a variety of reasons for requesting assignment extensions, both personal and academic. Students have reported less stress, being able to manage personal circumstances better, and better course achievement with extensions (Ruesch & Sarvary, 2022). Further, flexible deadlines have been found to support students in completing their programs (Patton, 2000), and students report that they help them with time management and self-regulated learning (Hills & Peackock, 2022).

Assignment Redo

Description of Activity: Students are given the opportunity to redo an assignment within specific parameters. For example, if they score below a certain grade, they can improve their grade by a particular percentage (e.g., 10%, 15%, or 25%) by redoing the assignment for a higher grade. Students are also given a timeframe for submission that does not result in them turning in all course assignments at the end of the semester and still being able to keep up with the course flow.

Benefits to Students: Being able to redo assignments gives students a second opportunity to demonstrate their learning. Assignment redos can be particularly useful for students to give them more time to demonstrate their learning after feedback (Tila & Levy, 2020).

Choice of GenAI Usage in Course

Description of Activity: Instructors allow students to have a choice on whether they can use generative AI (GenAI) for an assignment within specific parameters. To better understand and support their learning process, students may be required to submit all prompts and outputs as well as write a reflection about how they used generative AI for the assignments, how it impacted the quality of their work, any limitations of the technologies, as well as what they learned through the process.

Benefits to Students: Allowing structured usage of GenAI within a course can support students in gaining practical skills for career readiness. Additionally, giving choice allows students who do not want to use GenAI for various reasons to use alternative methods.

References

Cook, A. (2001). Assessing the use of flexible assessment. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 26(6), 539–549. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602930120093878

Credé, M., Roch, S. G., & Kieszczynka, U. M. (2010). Class attendance in college: A meta-analytic review of the relationship of class attendance with grades and student characteristics. Review of Educational Research, 80(2), 272-295.

Fleming, E. C. (2023). UDL for inclusive teaching: Offering choice to increase belonging through technology. Journal of Teaching and Learning with Technology, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.14434/jotlt.v12i1.36327 

Flores, M., Kehoe, M., & Thompson, C. (2022). Assessment choice and student voice with UDL. The AHEAD Journal, 15. https://www.ahead.ie/journal/Assessment-Choice-and-Student-Voice-with-UDL 

Hills, M., & K. Peacock. (2022). Replacing power with flexible structure: Implementing flexible deadlines to improve student learning experiences. Teaching and Learning Inquiry 10. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.10.26

Patton, M. A. (2000). The importance of being flexible with assignment deadlines. Higher Education in Europe, 25(3), 417-423.

Pope, L., Anacker, A. M., Burg, M. B., Dion, L., Plouffe, R. B., Vivanco, L. A., … & Parker, H. B. (2025). Impact of Choice-Based Assessment on Undergraduate Student Engagement, Stress Level, and Self-Efficacy. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 36(2).

Rideout, C. A. (2018). Students’ choices and achievement in large undergraduate classes using a novel flexible assessment approach. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 43(1), 68–78. https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2017.1294144

Ruesch, J. M., & Sarvary, M. A. (2024). Structure and flexibility: systemic and explicit assignment extensions foster an inclusive learning environment. Frontiers in Education, 9, 1324506. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1324506

Stefanou, C. R., Perencevich, K. C., DiCintio, M., & Turner, J. C. (2004). Supporting Autonomy in the Classroom: Ways Teachers Encourage Decision Making and Ownership. Educational Psychologist, 39(2), 97–110.

Tila, D., & Levy, D. (2020). Revising online assignments and the impact on student performance at a community college. Community College Journal of Research and Practice

Citations

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International

Portions of the text are adapted from an original article licensed by Portland State University under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License by the Center for Teaching & Learning Innovation (CTLI, Vermont State University).

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International

Portions of the text are adapted from an original article licensed by Rutgers University under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License by the Center for Teaching & Learning Innovation (CTLI, Vermont State University).

VTSU professor, Leslie Hills

Leslie Hills

VTSU Professor, Department Chair of Health Professions, and Dental Hygiene Program Co-Coordinator

Please tell us a little bit about your background and what brought you to VTSU.

I’ve been teaching dental hygiene for over 30 years, and I still enjoy it. I was teaching full-time at UVM when the dental hygiene program closed in 2004. The program transitioned to Vermont Technical College, and now Vermont State University. It’s been quite a journey, and I’ve been lucky to work with some great people along the way.

These days, I’m a Professor, Department Chair of Health Professions, and Dental Hygiene Program Co-Coordinator. My roles have changed over the years, but the best part is still working with students. I love seeing how much they grow from the beginning of the program to graduation, especially when they start to realize what they’re capable of.

Are there any specific strategies you use to increase or maintain student motivation?

I try to make what we’re teaching feel relevant. When students can connect something from class to a patient they’ll be treating, it tends to click. I share examples from clinical practice and talk about why the details matter.

I also try to remember how much our students have on their plates. The program is demanding, and sometimes they need encouragement as much as they need instruction. I set high expectations, but I want students to feel comfortable asking questions and making mistakes while they’re learning. And a little humor helps. Sometimes pointing out how far they’ve already come is enough to keep them going.

What important lessons have you learned from VTSU students that have shaped you as a teacher?

Our students have taught me that there’s no one way to reach everyone. Something that makes perfect sense to one student might need a completely different explanation for another. I’ve learned to listen more, be flexible, and not assume that my first approach is always the best one.

I’ve also gained a lot of respect for what students manage outside of school. Many are working, raising families, or dealing with challenges we may never know about. Seeing their determination has made me more patient and more aware of how important a little understanding can be. I still learn things from my students every year.

Were there any professional development opportunities offered over the past year that you found to be particularly beneficial?

A highlight for me was attending the American Dental Education Association (ADEA) meeting in Minneapolis in June. I always enjoy talking with other dental educators, hearing what they’re trying in their programs, and coming home with a few ideas of my own.

A big part of this year has been spent writing our program’s self-study in preparation for the Commission on Dental Accreditation (CODA) site visit in mid-November. Professor Heather Blair, our Dental Hygiene Program Co-Coordinator, and I have worked closely together on it, with invaluable help from Professors Judy Schmidt and Ryan Pepper, our full-time faculty. It’s been a huge amount of work, but it’s also made us take a good, honest look at our program—what’s working well and what we can improve. I’m really grateful for the team we have.

I’ve also been part of the Watermark Program Review and Continuous Improvement Process (PreCIP) pilot. That’s given me another chance to think about how we assess student learning and use what we find to make changes. Between all of these experiences, I’ve had plenty to learn this year! 

Is there any advice you would share with first-year instructors based on your own experiences in previous years?

I’d say don’t expect yourself to have it all figured out right away. I’ve been teaching a long time, and I still walk out of some classes thinking, ‘Well, I’ll do that differently next time.’ That’s part of teaching.

Get to know your students, be clear about your expectations, and let them see that you’re a real person. You can be supportive and still hold them accountable. And don’t be afraid to ask your colleagues for help. Some of the best things I’ve learned about teaching have come from conversations with other faculty.

Most of all, try to enjoy it. There will be stressful days, but there are also those moments when something finally clicks for a student, or when a graduate comes back to tell you how they’re doing. Those moments really do make it worth it.

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Teaching Effectiveness Certificate

The Teaching Effectiveness Certificate Program is a voluntary professional development opportunity that provides recognition to instructors invested in growing their teaching practice. The certificate program provides a structure to engage in developing teaching effectiveness through implementation, self-reflection, and growth, grounded in the evidence-based teaching practices of the Teaching Effectiveness Framework (TEF).

Each year, the CTLI will offer a “depth” approach for a single domain. For 2026-27, the Teaching Effectiveness Certificate will be offered in the Student Motivation domain. Instructors will have opportunities to earn Domain Experience Units (DEUs) by:

  1. Participating in a professional development experience.
  2. Implementing a teaching change based on what they learned.
  3. Evaluating and reflecting on the impact of that change.
  4. Submitting a summary of the learning, efforts, and impact on student learning for approval; submissions will be evaluated against the Rubric for Post Implementation Reflection.

Any instructor who earns ten DEUs in the 2026-27 academic year will receive the Student Motivation Teaching Effectiveness Certificate.

Learn more on the Teaching Effectiveness Certificate webpage.

Teaching Squares

About Teaching Squares

A teaching square is a group of four instructors who agree to observe each other during a semester, using an agreed upon set of observation norms. It is designed to be a non-evaluative, supportive, and growth-based process. Participants set at least one personal teaching goal and then observe others before reflecting on their own practice.

Benefits of Joining a Teaching Square

In addition to reflecting on their own teaching practices, participants benefit from making connections with colleagues, sharing ideas, reigniting their passion for teaching, and having time set aside to discuss best instructional practices with supportive peers.

Teaching Square participants have the opportunity to earn Domain Experience Units (DEUs), which contribute toward earning a Teaching Effectiveness Certificate in the domain selected for that academic year.

How to Learn More and Sign Up

Learn more about the group process and how to sign up on the Teaching Squares Program webpage.

Staying in the Loop Workshop Series logo

Staying in the Loop Series

The CTLI and several campus partners are collaborating to deliver a series of 9 information sessions for faculty in the Fall 2026 semester.

While you are welcome to attend all 6 of the remaining sessions, we also invite faculty to come to some of the sessions based on interest in the topic or schedule availability. These are all 45-minute, Monday lunchtime sessions (from 12:15pm-1pm EST).

  • November 2: Office of Culture and Institutional Excellence
  • November 9: ROAD to Success
  • November 16: Multilingual Student Services

Sign up now for all sessions that interest you!

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Academic Support and Educational Opportunity Programs

As a Complete College America (CCA) Accelerator institution, we have an opportunity to share professional development programming offered by their organization. Below is an upcoming workshop series that may be of interest to members of the VTSU faculty.

Syllabus to Skill: A Fast-Track Lab for Embedding Micro-Credentials Virtual Workshop

Syllabus to Skill is a two-hour working session where faculty embed an industry-recognized micro-credential directly into an existing course. This is not a lecture or planning meeting — participants arrive with a syllabus and leave with a revised version ready to launch. Led by Dr. Jennifer T. Edwards, Professor and Former University Administrator, the two-hour working session provides a step-by-step framework faculty can reuse across courses and departments.

AUDIENCE

Faculty, Department Chairs, and Curriculum Designers

GOALS

Select a micro-credential that fits the course’s learning outcomes • Identify the specific assignment that serves as the basis for earning the credential • Leave with a repeatable process for embedding micro-credentials in other courses.

DELIVERABLES

Each participant leaves with a complete Foundation Kit:

  • Revised syllabus with a micro-credential embedded
  • Making Courses Career-Ready Worksheet
  • Student-facing talking points and LMS announcement template
  • Academic and Career Maps for Majors
  • Plug-and-Play Micro-Credentials Map
  • Micro-Credentials Menu and free credential options by college

HOW THE TWO HOURS WORK

  • The Why – Career data and credential options that make the case for your discipline
  • The Work – Select a credential, identify the right assignment to anchor it, and revise your syllabus
  • The Map – See how credentials fit into a full degree pathway, plus Q&A

WORKSHOP DATES

Sign up for one of the below sessions.

  • Nov 10, 2026 from 1:00-3:00PM (CDT)
  • Dec 16, 2026 from 1:00-3:00pm (CDT)
Building Anti-Racist Educators with the words peer engagement, inquiry, discussion, change, and accountability.

Building Anti-Racist Educators: Reading & Inquiry Series

This Reading and Inquiry Series provides a monthly set of tools for learning, introspection and having conversations about issues of racism in our university, classrooms and communities. We hope that through regular reflection and conversation, you can get better at recognizing and resisting your biases and the impact they have on your students and colleagues.

Meetings Dates & Times

The group will meet for 60 minutes once per month when classes are in session, beginning in September. A survey will be sent to all those who express interest to identify a day of week and time that works for the majority.

How to Sign Up

To receive a calendar invitation, Zoom link, and access to the group’s Canvas space, please fill out the Vermont State Colleges Building Anti-Racist Educators Sign-Up Form.

Logo for the Online Learning Consortium.

Online Learning Consortium

All VTSU faculty who are involved with, or who would like to learn more about online or hybrid learning are invited to take advantage of the VTSU Membership with the Online Learning Consortium.

What is the Online Learning Consortium (OLC)? 

OLC is a vibrant community dedicated to advancing quality online, blended, and digital learning in higher education. Founded in 1999 as the Sloan Consortium, OLC has been at the forefront of online education for over two decades. It brings together diverse professionals, including faculty, administrators, and instructional designers, offering extensive resources, original research, and professional development opportunities. OLC also provides quality standards tools to help institutions and faculty enhance their online programs. 

How do VTSU faculty access the VTSU institutional membership?

Go to My Online Learning Consortium and click on “Create an Account.” Please use your @vermontstate.edu or @vsc.edu email address as your username, which will create the affiliation with the institutional membership. OLC has several newsletter groups you can opt-in to when creating your profile. If you choose to only opt-in to one newsletter, choose OLC Today. This newsletter covers noteworthy content as well as updates across OLC. This newsletter is sent every Tuesday.

What are the free benefits and opportunities for faculty?

All OLC webinars are free with institutional membership. These tend to last one-hour. In addition to upcoming webinars, many recent ones are available through the “on demand” option.

The peer-reviewed journal Online Learning is published quarterly and is dedicated to the development and dissemination of new knowledge at the intersection of pedagogy, emerging technology, policy, and practice in online environments

What additional professional development opportunities exist through OLC?

OLC’s highly regarded Online Teaching Certificate Program is discounted for institutional members. Leading from the conceptual to the implementation of online learning best practices, the Certificate is offered as a sequence of one foundation course, followed by elective courses and creation or revision of an online course under the guidance of a mentor. At the end of this program, participants will be prepared to design and develop a complete online or blended course based on current research and best practices.

OLC offers discounted workshops geared to faculty on a range of topics from artificial intelligence to trauma-informed pedagogy.

OLC sponsors two annual conferences: Innovate (spring) and Accelerate (fall). Innovate focuses on driving innovation in the realm of online, digital, and blended learning while Accelerate shares research and best practice related to these topics.

Upcoming Workshops

Note: All upcoming events can be viewed on the CTLI Events calendar. See below for the next 10 sessions.

Analyzing Direct Evidence

What are Direct Measures of Student Learning?

Direct measures encompass work produced by students that is tangible, visible, and measurable. Typically, direct measures demonstrate students’ learning related to knowledge and skills. Examples of direct measures of student learning include:

  • Capstone projects and student portfolios evaluated using a rubric
  • Research projects evaluated using a rubric
  • Major papers evaluated using a rubric
  • Juried performance evaluations
  • Internship supervisor ratings of student performance
  • Comprehensive examinations
  • Pre- and post-test measures
  • Proficiency exams
  • Performance in licensure exams
  • National or standardized exam scores

Direct measures of student learning may occur in a class (such as projects, papers, performances, exams), or they may result from an applied learning experience (such as an internship), or they may be an activity students engage in through an outside organization (such as a licensure exam).

Analysis Methods

There are both quantitative and qualitative methods for analyzing the direct evidence that is collected. Some programs may choose a combination of both methods when engaging in program assessment, depending on the types of evidence of student learning being evaluated.

Quantitative Methods

Analytic Rubrics:

An analytic rubric is the most commonly used and recommended method for analyzing direct evidence. An analytic rubric has categories and levels, with descriptive text for each component. Analytic rubrics developed from a Program Learning Outcome can be applied to artifacts of student learning from a variety of courses and a variety of assignments. For instance, if you expect to introduce a particular Program Learning Outcome in an introductory course, when you apply the rubric to student artifacts of learning from that course, you’d expect the rubric to reflect student learning in the “novice” and “developing” areas. When you apply that same rubric to an Intermediate-level class, if you notice that students haven’t moved beyond ”developing” into “proficient,” (perhaps the analysis shows an insignificant change from the introductory course), then you have found an area to make some changes. Or when you apply that same rubric to a Capstone where students are demonstrating mastery of that Program Learning Outcome, you find student learning reflects the “proficient” and “accomplished” areas, which is a validation of their growth. Analytic rubrics can be applied to a variety of artifacts of student work, including papers, projects, presentations, juried performances, portfolios, and more. Analytic rubrics can be applied to work produced by individual students, with the data aggregated and analyzed as a whole looking at frequencies, trends, and patterns.

Analytic rubrics (example, below) are the gold standard for quantitative assessment of direct measures. Sometimes an analytic rubric can be developed for two functions: grading and assessment. When this occurs, it is considered an “embedded assessment.” It is most common, however, for grading rubrics and assessment rubrics to be distinct, because grading is often tailored to the assignment with a different focus than program assessment.

A table rubric evaluating writing skills with columns for Accomplished, Proficient, Developing, and Novice levels.
Some language in this rubric was taken from the Written Communication VALUE Rubric from AAC&U.
Exam Result Analysis:

Completion scores are sometimes the only data programs have from certification/licensure/national exams. With evidence that one or more program outcomes are mapped to the exam, overall scores for completion can be one measure of student mastery of program learning outcomes. Comparisons can sometimes be made to peer institutions.

Accuracy scores can be used if students have taken an exam and questions are coded against the program outcomes or components of a program outcome. Evaluating the frequency of students who provided an accurate response on relevant questions compared with those who didn’t can be a quantitative approach to analyzing direct evidence. Not all questions will necessarily tie to Program Outcomes, so it is important to isolate the relevant questions.

Item analysis is also used with an exam, with questions mapped to outcomes. The questions may also be tagged by level of complexity (for instance, using Bloom’s taxonomy – remember, understand, apply, analyze, evaluate, create). Statistical analysis of student success with questions can reveal opportunities for greater emphasis in the curriculum. Not all questions will necessarily tie to Program Outcomes, so it is important to isolate the relevant questions.

Qualitative Methods

Qualitative Rubrics & Summaries

A qualitative rubric lists outcomes with a brief description of the highest level of performance for each outcomes with no ratings. Reviewers then comment on the student’s performance against the standard. While the individual rubrics can be returned to students as feedback, to be used for program assessment, the reviewer then creates an overall summary and analysis of the comments provided to students in the class, along with any observations or conclusions the instructor is drawing from them.

Coded Document Review & Themes

Documents created by students (such as projects or portfolios) can be coded, using pre-set or inductively generated lists of recurring themes. Software such as NVivo facilitates this process. However, tagging documents in Word (with comments) and tracking details in Excel is also acceptable. Analyzing the whole set of data is important to identify patterns and broader categories. Analysis should be captured in descriptive summaries by the reviewer(s). Be careful when interpreting counts of comments, as frequency may not equate to importance. Tables can be used to show connections between themes within categories.

Strengths & Weaknesses Trait Analyses

Trait analysis is another approach to analyzing student work. The reviewer makes a list of traits, for each student, as strengths and weaknesses related to a program learning outcome. The list is then analyzed for successes and opportunities related to student achievement of that outcome. The trait lists and conclusions are submitted as assessment data.

Observation Notes & Summaries

For an outcome related to students working with others (such as teamwork or client interactions), observation notes may be the most effective approach to gathering assessment data. A reviewer (often the instructor) deliberately and systematically observes each student or student group, taking detailed notes about behaviors, attitudes, and evidence of applied knowledge. A summary and analysis of these observations noting apparent successes or concerns is written and submitted as assessment data.

AI for Multilingual Students

Dr. Mary Dinh, Associate Director of VTSU Multilingual Student Services

As I was writing this update for the Center for Teaching & Learning Innovation, a multilingual learner came to my office and told me that her assignment had been reported for a suspected academic integrity violation.

“I did it! All by myself! I just used Grammarly to check my grammar.”

“Did you keep all your drafts and the editing history for this assignment?” I asked.

“Luckily, I did! Still, my anxiety in the class became overwhelming because the professor did not trust me.”

I asked which tool her professor had used to check her work for AI use. She told me that her professor had used Google. I explored Google’s AI Mode as a way of assessing authorship and found that its responses were inconsistent. When I submitted her flagged, two-page short-answer assignment, the response indicated that it was human-written. I also tried several commercially available AI detectors, including Pangram, Turnitin or GPTZero, and received differing results. These inconsistent results illustrated the risks of relying on automated judgments. This experience echoes the concerns raised by Giray et al. (2026): AI writing detectors infer authorship from patterns in a text, yet those patterns cannot reliably establish who wrote it or how it was produced. Their judgments may also vary depending on the genre, context, and linguistic characteristics of the writing. Faculty therefore need to exercise particular care when interpreting detector results and communicate clearly about whether and how these tools will be used to review students’ work.

The authors also discuss the harm that can occur when AI detectors are used to substantiate a disproportion of suspicions placed on multilingual students. Drawing on research including Liang et al. (2023), they explain that predictable vocabulary and simpler grammatical structures can cause authentic second-language writing to be misclassified as AI-generated. Students may consequently receive a contradictory message: improve your writing, but avoid making it look too polished or predictable. Furthermore, a false accusation may require any student, not only a multilingual learner, to spend substantial time defending work they actually wrote. Even when cleared, students may experience anxiety, humiliation, and reduced confidence in their instructors or institution.

This incident, although fortunately resolved, illustrates the value of an explicit AI policy in the syllabus over unspoken assumptions about acceptable use. The situation might have unfolded differently if the professor had clearly addressed both the ways multilingual students may use AI and the course’s AI policy in their assessment expectations. Making these expectations explicit in the syllabus gives students opportunities to ask questions and understand the boundaries: Can AI serve as a language tutor, an editing tool, an English grammar checker tool, or an information-gathering resource? Is it prohibited at particular stages, or at every stage of brainstorming and drafting, of a take-home writing assignment?

Indeed, research has documented the varied ways multilingual students use AI for language support. In our study, Nguyen et al. (2025), we found that multilingual students used AI to organize ideas, explore alternative expressions, improve linguistic accuracy, and adapt their writing to particular genres and audiences. They also selected tools to combine writing with images, audio, and video in projects connected to their future careers. These practices illustrate how AI can help multilingual students express subject-matter knowledge in English while navigating unfamiliar vocabulary, phrasing, and rhetorical conventions. The image below summarizes these strategies. Used thoughtfully, AI may provide immediate, individualized support between tutoring sessions, complementing the work of instructors and tutors.

Table 1
How Students Use AI in Career ESL Writing

How students used AI
What this involved

Developing and organizing ideas

Using AI-generated outlines as starting points, then adapting them to their teaching context and personal voice.

Evaluating structure and coherence

Asking AI to examine draft organization and how clearly ideas connected.

Improving language

Reviewing suggestions for vocabulary, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and sentence construction.

Comparing alternative expressions

Exploring different phrasings and considering whether they sounded clear, natural, formal, or casual.

Learning genre conventions

Comparing AI suggestions with the structure and purpose of the required text and with teacher-provided models.

Experimenting with prompts

Revising questions and instructions to obtain more relevant help with explaining teaching responsibilities and professional goals.

Creating multimodal projects

Combining text, images, layout, video, and voiceovers using tools such as ChatGPT, Grammarly, Canva, Invideo, and Murf.ia.

Checking and personalizing outputs

Revising suggestions to reflect their own understanding and seeking feedback from teachers and peers.

Note. This table summarizes strategies reported in Nguyen et al. (2025); it is not a reproduction of a table from the article.

Nguyen, L. T. H., Dinh, H., Dao, T. B. N., & Tran, N. G. (2025). Teachers’ perceptions and students’ strategies in using AI-mediated informal digital learning for career ESL writing. Education Sciences, 15(10), Article 1414. https://doi.org/10.3390/eduscci15101414

With the table above, I hope to share some understanding about how multilingual students may use AI at different stages of learning to help faculty develop more specific policies. A professor can identify the stages at which students must work independently to demonstrate their own reasoning, writing skills, or ability to express ideas in English language. Specifically, policies should specify whether students may use tools to correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation, suggest word choices, or make more substantial revisions or translations. At other stages, the professor may permit clearly defined forms of assistance that support the assignment’s learning goals.

Maphoto et al. (2026) also recommend combining early conversations with students, alongside with early drafts, revision logs, reflective commentaries, and brief oral explanations to understand their writing processes. Clear expectations about permitted AI assistance and disclosure are essential. Faculty should also explain whether they use AI detectors, which specific AI detectors, and how they interpret the results.

In the case described above, one possibility was that the student had used Grammarly’s AI-powered rewriting features beyond basic grammar correction. Such features can substantially reshape phrasing, which may exceed an instructor’s permitted level of assistance. However, a detector result alone cannot establish which features a student used or the extent of that use. Reviewing the student’s drafts and editing history, alongside a conversation about her process, provides a more meaningful basis for understanding what happened. This distinction reinforces the need to explain what “using Grammarly” means within a particular course, rather than assuming that students and faculty share the same understanding.

To help faculty members facilitate such conversations about AI use with multilingual students, I established the following statements on our internal homepage:

“Multilingual Student Services does not grant blanket permission to use AI or translation tools. Students must follow each instructor’s directions based on the purpose of the assignment. Unless explicitly permitted, students may not use AI to generate ideas, paraphrase sources, rewrite sentences, or translate complete assignments. Approved tools may be used only for limited language support, such as checking individual words, spelling, punctuation, or basic grammar.

Students should retain their original drafts, document revisions through Track Changes or version history, and disclose the tools used when requested. Tutors and ESL specialists may guide students through revisions but may not compose, substantially rewrite, or translate graded work on their behalf. The course instructor has final authority over all permitted tools and forms of assistance.”

If you have questions or inquiries regarding a specific case of a multilingual student’s use of AI, please contact me at Mary.Dinh@VermontState.edu. I am so happy to assist you! On Oct 27, 2026, I am invited to co-present about AI policy for multilingual learners at VTSU at NAFSA 2026 Region XI Conference with Dr. Lisa Koryushkina from Williams college (Williamstown, MA) on the topic of “AI, Academic Writing, and International Students: Emerging Practices and Expectations,” so I welcome any personal sharings and inputs if you have from your class.

References

Giray, L., Roe, J., & Diesta Espiritu, J. (2026). AI writing detectors are ineffective, unreliable and harmful. English Teaching: Practice & Critique, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1108/ETPC-07-2025-0155

Maphoto, K. B., Giray, L., & Sevnarayan, K. (2026). Automated integrity or automated injustice? Turnitin’s AI detection in multilingual writing contexts. Assessing Writing, 69, Article 101086.

Nguyen, L. T. H., Dinh, H., Dao, T. B. N., & Tran, N. G. (2025). Teachers’ perceptions and students’ strategies in using AI-mediated informal digital learning for career ESL writing. Education Sciences, 15(10), Article 1414. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15101414

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VSCS Libraries

Virtual Display

Election day is around the corner (November 3). Check out our 2026 Midterm Elections Topic Guide for any last-minute voting resources. 

Featured Database of the Month

The Historical New York Times database provides access to New York Times articles dating back to 1851, including coverage of local and regional politics, world events, arts, and culture. It includes scanned images of the articles, so you see them in their original context, including article images and even historical advertisements. 

The Historical New York Times is a great resource if you need primary sources for a research project or want to see the historical coverage of an important event or topic. Give it a try today! 

You can find the Historical New York Times database by clicking on either Primary Sources or Newspapers in the More Source Types list under the search box on the homepage (or by searching for it on the Individual Databases tab of the search).

Need Help?

Contact the VSCS Libraries. Let us know how we can help! 

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Academic Support

Social Belonging for College Students

The Retention Tactical Team recently received approval to pilot an exciting new student success initiative at VTSU this spring. Social Belonging for College Students is a free, research-based intervention designed to strengthen students’ sense of belonging, academic engagement, and retention. The program helps students understand that challenges experienced during the transition to college are common, temporary, and manageable. Research has demonstrated positive impacts on student engagement, academic performance, and retention, particularly among students who may experience greater barriers to belonging.

Learn more about the initiative online and review the brochure for a helpful introduction to the program.

The intervention takes approximately 20 minutes to complete, and our goal is to have students who are new to VTSU participate early in their first semester. We are exploring opportunities to partner with faculty teaching CNX1 courses this spring to incorporate the intervention during the first day or week of class. We hope to make implementation as straightforward as possible for faculty while providing students with a meaningful opportunity to reflect on their transition to VTSU and their place within our university community.

Faculty teaching CNX1 this spring are eligible for a stipend through Title III and are encouraged to reach out to jennifer.jones@vermontstate.edu or 802-468-1315 to discuss the intervention.

An abstract red sun with teal mountains about the phrase "ROAD TO SUCCESS" and the Vermont State University logo.

The Rural Opportunity and Development (ROAD) to Success Program

Program Update

Hello Friends and Colleagues ~

I wanted to share some exciting news about a change in eligibility for the ROAD to Success program. I recently was informed that our eligibility no longer needs to require that students graduated from a rural Vermont high school as long as they attend a rural Vermont campus. Here is what this means:

  • No matter where a student attended high school (in-state and out-of-state, rural or not) if they are enrolled as students at Lyndon, Johnson, Castleton or Randolph (our rural campuses) as full-time students in a Bachelor’s degree program, they are now eligible, PLUS;
  • If they attend online and live in a rural Vermont community (anywhere EXCEPT Essex, Burlington, South Burlington, Williston, Winooski or Milton or outside of Vermont), they are now eligible, PLUS;
  • If they attend Williston and live in a rural community and travel to campus (this includes Colchester/St. Mike’s campus, but excludes those other non-rural communities listed above and those commuting from outside of Vermont), they are now eligible!

Over the past 3 years, ROAD to Success funds have supported our students by:

  • Paying $119K+ to students for unpaid internships, student teaching, research and professional development
  • Helping 76 students with borrowed laptops, iPads, internet costs
  • Upgrading 2 classrooms (Lyndon and Randolph) and 1 lecture hall (Johnson) with tech upgrades
  • Funding Tutor.com online 24/7 tutoring program
  • Participating in the work to increase Career Pathways from CCV to VTSU (as of 10/21/26 there are 51 Pathways)
  • Supporting creation of online courses and certificates, including Navigating Ethical Scholarship at VTSU
  • Sponsorship numerous rural community discussions that now include post-secondary education
  • And providing a consistent Student Success Advisor, Sawyer Judkins, over VTSU undergraduate years

Please, if a student comes to you and is looking to borrow a laptop or iPad or needs funding for an internship, research, student teaching or professional development, please send them to the ROAD to Success webpage to review our information and apply to the program! They are also welcome to email Beth Walsh at beth.walsh@vermontstate.edu for additional information.

Please let us know if you have questions and share this information with others in your department.

Thank you,

Beth Walsh – Project Director
Bill Lucci – Assistant Director
Sawyer Judkins – ROAD Student Success Advisor

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The McNair Scholars Program

Recruitment

The McNair Scholars Program is recruiting a new cohort of scholars! We are a federally funded TRIO program that provides eligible students with access to paid summer research internships and help with applying to graduate school.

We pay faculty members a stipend of $1700 for mentoring McNair Scholars on their research projects during the summer. 

Please forward the names of students you think would be a great fit for the program, as well as any questions you may have, to Director, Dr. Debbie Warnock at debbiewarnock@vermontstate.edu.

Eligibility Requirements
  • Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident 
  • Be a VTSU undergraduate on the Castleton campus with sophomore or junior standing (or a senior who is willing to delay graduation until August)
  • Have at least one summer remaining before graduation 
  • Have a cumulative GPA of 2.75 or higher 
  • Intend to pursue graduate school after graduation 
  • Be a low-income student AND a first-generation college student (neither parent/guardian has earned a Bachelor’s degree or higher)
Vermont State Colleges System logo.

The VSC IT Learning Technologies Team

For support with your instructional and classroom technology needs, please visit the VSC Learning Technologies SharePoint site.

Review the Learning Spaces section of the site to connect with VSC classroom technology staff, troubleshoot and report technical issues, and find equipment overviews, detailed technical guides, responses to frequently asked questions, classroom maintenance schedules, information about upcoming enhancements, and the types of support available across our campuses.

Access the Academic Applications section of the site for timely content and resources for Canvas, Zoom, Lumina (YuJa), Panorama, ReadSpeaker, Respondus, and other VSC educational tools. Site visitors that need additional 1:1 assistance can learn how to connect with team members, including Senior Instructional Technology Specialist Sean Dailey who hosts drop-in Zoom sessions throughout the year.

ReadSpeaker in Canvas: Dropdown Answers and Math

New guidance on the Academic Applications SharePoint page explains how students can use ReadSpeaker to hear dropdown answers and math expressions in Canvas:

  • Dropdown answers: Before starting a quiz, open the ReadSpeaker player, select Settings, and turn on Form Reading to hear dropdown answer options.
  • Math expressions: Right-click an equation in Canvas, select Math Settings > Math Renderer > HTML-CSS, then use ReadSpeaker to confirm it reads correctly. Students must repeat this setting after clearing browser data or switching browsers or devices. If an equation still isn’t read, it may not have been created with Canvas’s built-in math editor.

Please share the ReadSpeaker guidance on the Academic Applications SharePoint page with students who use text-to-speech.

For help from the VSC IT Learning Technologies Team, please submit a ServiceDesk ticket.