Dana Bui

@theeddesigner.bsky.social

833 Followers 134 Following

Educational Designer in the Higher Ed sector. SFHEA. Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Mental Health First Aid. Empathy and reflexivity. She/her living on unceded Bunurong lands. 🩷💜💙

Novak Djokovic in an AI-generated image of himself giving a large novelty cheque to a crying man. Except that the cheque is made out to Novak.
Eliciting the student voice and, more importantly, enacting their feedback supports student agency and helps them to feel included and respected in the learning process.
Be human. Just like in a live lecture, it’s natural to make mistakes and clarify information as you go along.
You want to draw students’ attention to the weaknesses and biases of AI and engage their critical thinking skills.
norms are defined by so many aspects: our culture, our age, or gender, our ethnicity, our use of technology, and our abilities. Basically every element that makes us human has an impact on what we consider a ‘norm’ or not.
Choose educational images that are more representative of the actual humans around you.
Teaching skills: Building rapport and facilitating engagement. explore practical approaches for forming groups, managing silence, and giving impactful feedback that fosters connection and deeper learning.
Let students know they have been heard and the changes you have made as a result of their feedback.
Unlocking professional skills with the Six Thinking Hats method. This technique encourages students to approach problems from multiple perspectives, leads to more comprehensive and creative solutions, and stimulates thought from diverse perspectives. 
Efficient rubric creation: AI generated rubrics and rewriting tips
AI-generated branching scenarios: Brainstorm, refine, and design reflection & discussion. Ideate and design AI generated branching scenarios
Students are more likely to be engaged and motivated when they see the relevance of their work to their own lives and communities.
Unless you prompt for feedback that guides your writing in a unique, innovative and nuanced way, the feedback will often direct you to use the same tepid language that AI uses and the same bog-standard structure.
Demystifying learning outcomes: What they are and how to write them. What are learning outcomes, and why do they matter? https://wp.me/peKPOF-eh
How to improve group work processes for equitable, engaging, and productive student collaboration. Establish and support group work. Co-create a group contract. Break the task down into smaller parts. Incorporate self and peer assessment into the task.
Authenticity, diversity, and sustainability: Good practice for online learning imagery. careful selection of visuals, attention to authentic representation, and consideration of sustainability. A man scrolls through text and images on a tablet.
Virtual class expectation: If they’re looking at the screen, they are paying attention.Reality: We have no way of monitoring what the active window on their screen is, all we can see is the view from the camera. So seeing a student watching their screen diligently will not be a true indicator that our students are paying attention.
Rubric language. The grade scale descriptors should describe the actual student performance required at that level. Try to describe in detail what the criteria look like in practice. Avoid using generic adjectives that describe quality, like ‘good’, ‘outstanding’ and ‘poor’, as each person has a different interpretation of these words. Words like ‘systematic’, ‘succinct’, and ‘oversimplified’ are more descriptive and have a clearer shared meaning.
We need contextually appropriate practice that explores the nuance of AI and how it interacts with education.
Create or curate? As with any non-academic source, the content of the podcasts themselves could be rigorous and balanced, or it could be baseless. In any case, both of these are effective for use in your course content, the former being used for understanding and the latter could be used to prompt discussion and critical thinking.
Designing assessments that support student mental health: practical approaches for educators. This guide explores the power of workload management, scaffolded tasks, and compassionate policy application to foster resilience and self-awareness
To foster a culture of respect and inclusion, have students co-develop a group contract that establishes rules and guidelines for communication and participation.
Diagnostic questions. This is also a good chance to get some quick feedback on student expectations. This can provide valuable insights into their motivations and learning needs. To assess their background knowledge you could develop a short quiz on the fundamentals of the unit, as long as it’s not too difficult as it could be off-putting for students.
The top of an oat milk carton with a barely readable best before date that is white text on bright yellow background.
Offer more than one model: At least two should be included: something achievable and something more exemplary. If the cohort is high-achieving, then a credit and distinction. If there are students who may struggle, then a pass mark and either a distinction or credit. Carefully consider offering a high distinction submission. This would be appreciated by the motivated learners but could create anxiety for others.
Give clear instructions. Clear instructions help students understand what is expected of them, increase student engagement, and reduce anxiety and insecurity. Often we forget to write direct instructions, and instead, we ask the students questions. If the activity is complex, break it down into simple, manageable steps, providing clear instructions for each step.
Quizzes and in-class polling. Comprehension-checking activities can be beneficial in two ways: they can help the students consolidate their knowledge and revise less familiar content, and they can also help educators gain an understanding of the areas that need further explanation or consolidation.
Consider your audio quality. Having AirPods or a headphone/mic setup brings the mic closer to your mouth, which makes the audio clearer and easier to understand. It also brings the audio directly into your ears, which can be helpful if you’re trying to communicate with students who have poor-quality microphones.
Focus on the learning outcomes. When creating activities, focus on the learning outcomes and the verbs associated with them. This should be the priority, and the tool selection should be a secondary thought. Students should be provided opportunities to achieve the learning outcomes before they are formally assessed.
Create a reading guide. Reading guides are worksheets with open-ended questions that encourage the students to engage deeper with the text. Questions should be open-ended, reflective, or allow students to apply the ideas to a new context. The focus should not be on the ‘correct’ answer, but on thinking further about the ideas raised.
Debono’s six thinking hats. Within the role play, students must try to speak only from that hat’s perspective. This activity allows students to explore and understand various perspectives, practice problem-solving skills, and develop effective communication and collaboration abilities.
Concept mapping: Interpretation of connections and relationships can vary among individuals, potentially leading to differing map structures and content. This is not a constraint, but an important moment to draw on when unpacking the process with students. When the groups present, have students note down any differences in the way other groups connected the ideas.
Rubric language: The grade scale descriptors should describe the actual student performance required at that level. Try to describe in detail what the criteria look like in practice. Avoid using generic adjectives that describe quality, like ‘good’, ‘outstanding’ and ‘poor’, as each person has a different interpretation of these words. Words like ‘systematic’, ‘succinct’, and ‘oversimplified’ are more descriptive and have a clearer shared meaning.
Schedule send: If you receive emails on a Friday, and the issue is not urgent, schedule the response to be sent at 5pm. This way you won’t be engaging in back-and-forth replies on a Friday, when you are likely trying to get through a backlog of work before the weekend. If the person responds to the email, it will be there for you to respond to on Monday.
Co-create a group contract. To foster a culture of respect and inclusion, have students co-develop a group contract that establishes rules and guidelines for communication and participation. This formalises the expectations and outlines how everyone will work together to complete the task.
Catering to the new norm. Sometimes we need to conform to norms for inclusion, like integrating closed captioning in all our videos. With the right technologies, this is incredibly easy to do and in fact, many students who don’t require closed captioning begin using it because it’s a valuable practice for everyone. This creates a new norm.
Write the feedback: Clearly define the consequences and benefits of each choice in the feedback. What are the implications of this choice? How does it impact the outcome? This is where it’s best to avoid language like ‘correct’ and ‘incorrect’, as you want the student to reflect on the implications, not select the ‘right’ answer.
Think-pair -share: Give students a few minutes to reflect individually, allowing them space to gather their thoughts. This step is essential for students to form ideas and process information on their own. In active learning, the emphasis is often on speaking, but there should be equal importance placed on giving space for students to process ideas.
Ensure your assessment task is clear and aligned with your learning outcomes. If the alignment is off within the task, the alignment will be off in the rubrics. Focus on the learning outcomes, and ensure the assessment task directly and explicitly achieves each learning outcome it is aligned to.
Make critical thinking visible. If there’s decision-making involved, is there scope to add a rationale behind the choice made and the resources or references that helped them make that choice? Provide a component of the assessment that requires learners to defend and justify their choices.
Total money saved: $988. Sugar calories avoided: 31,603. Number of Alcohol Free days: 304. Days of improved sleep: 300.