Author: Cheri Madewell

Mind Over Monsters: An Interview with Author Sarah Rose Cavanagh on Compassionate Challenge

March 27, 2024 by Sarah Rose Cavanagh, Cheri Madewell

Read an interview with Sarah Rose Cavanagh, keynote speaker at the 2024 Teaching and Technology Summit. Researcher and author Sarah Rose Cavanagh opened the Ball State March 21-22 Teaching and Technology Summit with “Hope in a Time of Monsters: Supporting Student and Faculty Mental Health with Compassionate Challenge.” In the following post, Cheri Madewell, director of […]

Read More
Dispel Your Hidden Curriculum with Transparent Assignment Design

February 7, 2024 by Cheri Madewell

Identify easy ways to incorporate Transparent Assignment Design in your course. Thinking back on my first online courses I developed in Blackboard over a decade ago, the assignment instructions and other context that I provided were fairly minimal. I didn’t recognize that my learners needed more. I was primarily focused on the content. As a […]

Read More
Ideas to Spark Your Next Course Development

December 20, 2023 by Eva Grouling Snider, Cheri Madewell

Explore the greatest hits of 2023 on the Teaching Innovation Blog and discover something to help spark your next course development project. As the year winds down and you begin preparing your courses for next semester, what are you hoping to change? In the spirit of “small teaching,” we encourage you to consider making one […]

Read More
Engage Your Learners’ Curiosity with a Course Podcast

December 6, 2023 by Cheri Madewell

Spark your students’ curiosity and sustain their interest in the course with a podcast made by you. Your students are probably listening to podcasts. A recent (2022) Pew Research Center survey found that two-thirds of Americans ages 18 to 29 listened to a podcast in the past 12 months. How might you tap into your […]

Read More
A Non-Gamer’s Guide to Gamification Learning

June 28, 2023 by Cheri Madewell

Explore how a gamification for learning experience in one online course fostered empathy and communication skills. I’m not a gamer, but I have always been curious and intrigued by the possibilities of gamification for learning or games-based learning. In this blog, I share what a gamification for learning experience taught me about the power of […]

Read More
Six Tangible Ways to Support First-Generation Students

March 22, 2023 by Cheri Madewell

Help first-generation and other students unfamiliar with higher education navigate the business of being a student with transparent course materials, agency, and guided learning through your course design. As a first-generation college student, neither of my parents (or their parents) attended college. The small and private, four-year liberal arts college I attended may as well […]

Read More
Is a Quality Matters+ Course Review Right for You?

November 16, 2022 by Cheri Madewell

Discover the best path for an online course review through Quality Matters+ at Ball State. Revising or creating a new course is a laborious process. While higher education institutions around the globe transitioned to emergency remote teaching in 2020, building an effective online course for our learners requires strategic planning and thoughtful user experience design. […]

Read More