Helpful Steps as you Course Prep

Rooting for Success

From our Mesa Online Faculty Mentors (OFMs)

Kim Lacher and Kelly Spoon, our Online Faculty Mentors, reached out at the start of the semester with a handy to-do list for your last minute course prep steps. Here are the helpful tips she sent out at the start of Fall2021. Here is their list from their Beyond Online newsletter. Links to an external site.

Prep for Start-of-Semester

Our MOST team created this Canvas Course Prep Bingo which is another great list of steps for you as you prep for the semester. 

District has provided this Pre-Semester Checklist with links to the corresponding how-to resources for getting your courses ready on Canvas.  Download SDCCD_ Pre-Semester Checklist

  1. Check that CLOs are on Your Syllabus! - Ensure CLOs on Syllabi - Previously, Mesa received a shortened 18-month accreditation due to missing Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) in some syllabi. CLOs are measurable goals that define expected student achievements for each course, crucial for guiding learning and demonstrating educational effectiveness to ACCJC. Confirm you have the correct CLOs, listed on your syllabus, to support student success and institutional accountability. If unsure about your CLOs, contact your outcomes coordinator or department chair.
  2. Create a Student Survey - Including a student survey in your welcome module is a great way to learn more about each of your students and how they’re feeling about the upcoming semester.  You can create a Canvas Quiz for your survey or use something like Google Forms (see example below). You’re welcome to use this sample; just be sure to make a copy of it before you do. Make a Copy: Sample Google Form student survey Links to an external site.
  3. Links to an external site.Consider including a statement about AI in your syllabus. Sample Syllabus with AI blurbs
  4. Add a Syllabus Quiz to Canvas - Rather than spend the first day reviewing the syllabus, post your syllabus to Canvas and have students take a quick Canvas quiz on the most important points. Turning your syllabus from a static document to a formative assessment is a great way to ensure students engage with it.
  5. Publish your Canvas Course! - Just a quick reminder that you need to press that “Publish” button to make your course visible to students. And if you want students to have access before Monday when classes start, do in and edit your start date in the Course Settings.
  6. Send a Welcome Email - Send a message to your students to let them know about supplies, how to attend class, etc. If you want to find sdccd and non-sdccd emails, they are both available in MySDCCD. Here’s a guide for accessing both: Viewing Student Contact Information Links to an external site. In your email, consider including a short blurb about OnRamp to Online, a student-led and MOST-created course preparing students for online learning success like this one: “Are you new to online learning? Enroll in Mesa’s OnRamp to Online where we're preparing students for online learning success by clicking on this Self-Enrollment link,“