Midterm changes based on Donlan et al., 2019 Fearless Teaching Framework
| Fearless Teaching Framework Component | Course/Term | Student Comment | Course Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Climate: “…social, emotional, and physical environment of a learning space” (Donlan et al., 2019) | ED42311 / Spring 2023 | “I am really enjoying the flexibility of this course, especially the flexibility of working ahead of time on discussion posts and assignments” | Reviewed courses to ensure material is available to allow flexibility |
| PSY1001 / Fall 2022 | “More videos could be essential to our learning for those who are visual learners. For example, a quick video lecture of the different areas being covered this week and what is expected of us for the assignment. If an article assignment is assigned, perhaps make a video instructing us where to go find an article, going down each criteria of what is expected. Etc.” | Incorporation of weekly “walkthrough” videos discussed weekly expectations and videos for larger assignments provided additional information for students | |
| PSYC301 / Spring 2022 | “I really like the structure of this class, the only thing that’s really different is having assignments due at 10:00 pm at night to oppose to the more prominent 11:59 pm…” | The instructor wanted students to focus on assignment quality more than the due date, so a 48-h grace period for assignment submissions was instituted | |
| PSYC301 / Spring 2022 | “I find the discussion topics to be very beneficial. I like being able to read what fellow classmates have to say. This helps me connect concepts outside of just the book. The only thing that I find kind of different about the discussion topics is that my role is very different from my classmates. I sometimes wonder if my classes mates are learning from me like I am them. As someone with a sport background I can understand them. But I’m not always sure they understand my role. Due to this I do not get many replies on my feeds. Which can be frustrating because I am not sure if I am making an impact to the class environment.” | The instructor asked students to try to respond to classmates without responses | |
| All education and psychology classes, all terms, all sections in the study | Desire to meet synchronously via Zoom | Implemented synchronous meeting times | |
| Content: “…topics, skills, materials, and organization thereof of that an instructor includes in the class” (Donlan et al., 2019) | ED25111/Spring 2023 | “…great resources I can use for if a student is ever getting bullied and potentially, I could use this lesson plan in real life. Things that stand out from these assignments is that they have all been useful for my future.” | Focus on finding current up to date resources during the second half of the term |
| ED33111/Fall 2022 | “I would have liked to have due dates Sundays at midnight to give quality work without rushing." | Changed due dates to Sundays at 11:59 pm | |
| ED33111/Fall 2022 | “Something I would like to add to this class would be a parent permission form for our class to document our running records.” | Created permission form | |
| ED42311/Spring 2023 | “For this course specifically, I really enjoyed that the assignments were spread out with a good distance in between.” | The instructor completed additional checks of assessment due dates as means of facilitating schedules and encouraging student engagement the content | |
| PSY1001/Fall 2022 | “Something that could be different to help me learn about these would maybe be to add a video explanation on all of those because some people, like myself, learn better by hearing someone talking about concepts.” | The instructor added more concept videos | |
| PSY3100/Fall 2023 | “Perhaps it would be interesting once or twice to understand a diagnosis from a truly different perspective-like the idea behind possession versus dissociative identity disorder.” | The instructor incorporated culture-specific mental health concerns into the course | |
| PSYC301/Spring 2022 | “These assignments [discussion assignments] are not my favorite, but they can be helpful to see the different psychological concepts through other individuals’ eyes. However, one of the reasons that I do not like these assignments is that they are often due on a Tuesday. This would not be a problem if the material were to be opened sooner, instead of only being given 24 h to complete the assignment.” | Addressing this student misperception involved informing this student individually and all students through announcements that new assignment availability occurred on Friday for assignments due the following week | |
| PSYC301/Spring 2023 | “I think that when responding to the discussions, it could be different to not only apply them to the role but have the option or do both to apply some of the concepts to our lives right now.” | The instructor informed the student that this option existed. Several similar examples indicated students needed prompting to find resources currently available in the class | |
| Practice: “… activities that instructors engage to design their courses and lessons…” (Donlan et al., 2019) | ED42311/Spring 2023 | “I have already started to use this information professionally every day.” | Added practical assignments and an interview component as students worked on classroom management strategies |
| PSY1001/Fall 2022 | “…the invitation each week to use a different medium to express your learning shows that other ways of knowing are valuable to the class. I think having more examples of these different ways, or proactively encouraging students to try one or two over the course of the semester would be a way to both normalize other ways of knowing and learning and also decentralize the ‘default’ mode/pattern that students get into due to all the other classes that prioritize that pattern.” | During the second half of the semester, students were asked to submit an assignment in a format other than writing (video, audio, PowerPoint, etc.). The student who made the comment submitted their assignment in writing anyway | |
| PSY3300/Winter 2023 | “I feel like the CAs [concept assignments] could be enhanced by adding more personal reflection.” | This addition occurred for the second half of the semester | |
| PSY3000/Summer 2023 | “I don’t mind the assignments, the only thing that frustrates me about them is having to write “at least” so many sentences. For me, whether I write it in a few sentences, or pages, it doesn’t really matter to me.” | Intended to serve as a plagiarism deterrent, revision of this prompt to “in your own words” occurred | |
| Assessment: “…projects, tests, and assignments…” (Donlan et al., 2019) | ED42311/Spring 2023 | “I am a virtual learner so I like to have examples which could be an idea for each assignment. In one of my classes my professor provided a student’s previous work which I found useful” | Provided more student work examples |
| PSY1001/Fall 2023 | “I truly wouldn’t change anything about these assignments but if I did, it would be just having more examples of what is looking for.” | The addition of more assignment examples occurred for the second half of the semester | |
| PSYC301/Spring 2023 | “I also think that allowing students to develop their own concept assignment through their own questions a couple of times during the semester will also help us reflect what we learned and allow students to analyze information deeper.” | The instructor provided this opportunity, but no students took advantage of it |
| Fearless Teaching Framework Component | Course/Term | Student Comment | Course Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Climate: “…social, emotional, and physical environment of a learning space” ( | ED42311 / Spring 2023 | “I am really enjoying the flexibility of this course, especially the flexibility of working ahead of time on discussion posts and assignments” | Reviewed courses to ensure material is available to allow flexibility |
| PSY1001 / Fall 2022 | “More videos could be essential to our learning for those who are visual learners. For example, a quick video lecture of the different areas being covered this week and what is expected of us for the assignment. If an article assignment is assigned, perhaps make a video instructing us where to go find an article, going down each criteria of what is expected. Etc.” | Incorporation of weekly “walkthrough” videos discussed weekly expectations and videos for larger assignments provided additional information for students | |
| PSYC301 / Spring 2022 | “I really like the structure of this class, the only thing that’s really different is having assignments due at 10:00 pm at night to oppose to the more prominent 11:59 pm…” | The instructor wanted students to focus on assignment quality more than the due date, so a 48-h grace period for assignment submissions was instituted | |
| PSYC301 / Spring 2022 | “I find the discussion topics to be very beneficial. I like being able to read what fellow classmates have to say. This helps me connect concepts outside of just the book. The only thing that I find kind of different about the discussion topics is that my role is very different from my classmates. I sometimes wonder if my classes mates are learning from me like I am them. As someone with a sport background I can understand them. But I’m not always sure they understand my role. Due to this I do not get many replies on my feeds. Which can be frustrating because I am not sure if I am making an impact to the class environment.” | The instructor asked students to try to respond to classmates without responses | |
| All education and psychology classes, all terms, all sections in the study | Desire to meet synchronously via Zoom | Implemented synchronous meeting times | |
| Content: “…topics, skills, materials, and organization thereof of that an instructor includes in the class” ( | ED25111/Spring 2023 | “…great resources I can use for if a student is ever getting bullied and potentially, I could use this lesson plan in real life. Things that stand out from these assignments is that they have all been useful for my future.” | Focus on finding current up to date resources during the second half of the term |
| ED33111/Fall 2022 | “I would have liked to have due dates Sundays at midnight to give quality work without rushing." | Changed due dates to Sundays at 11:59 pm | |
| ED33111/Fall 2022 | “Something I would like to add to this class would be a parent permission form for our class to document our running records.” | Created permission form | |
| ED42311/Spring 2023 | “For this course specifically, I really enjoyed that the assignments were spread out with a good distance in between.” | The instructor completed additional checks of assessment due dates as means of facilitating schedules and encouraging student engagement the content | |
| PSY1001/Fall 2022 | “Something that could be different to help me learn about these would maybe be to add a video explanation on all of those because some people, like myself, learn better by hearing someone talking about concepts.” | The instructor added more concept videos | |
| PSY3100/Fall 2023 | “Perhaps it would be interesting once or twice to understand a diagnosis from a truly different perspective-like the idea behind possession versus dissociative identity disorder.” | The instructor incorporated culture-specific mental health concerns into the course | |
| PSYC301/Spring 2022 | “These assignments [discussion assignments] are not my favorite, but they can be helpful to see the different psychological concepts through other individuals’ eyes. However, one of the reasons that I do not like these assignments is that they are often due on a Tuesday. This would not be a problem if the material were to be opened sooner, instead of only being given 24 h to complete the assignment.” | Addressing this student misperception involved informing this student individually and all students through announcements that new assignment availability occurred on Friday for assignments due the following week | |
| PSYC301/Spring 2023 | “I think that when responding to the discussions, it could be different to not only apply them to the role but have the option or do both to apply some of the concepts to our lives right now.” | The instructor informed the student that this option existed. Several similar examples indicated students needed prompting to find resources currently available in the class | |
| Practice: “… activities that instructors engage to design their courses and lessons…” ( | ED42311/Spring 2023 | “I have already started to use this information professionally every day.” | Added practical assignments and an interview component as students worked on classroom management strategies |
| PSY1001/Fall 2022 | “…the invitation each week to use a different medium to express your learning shows that other ways of knowing are valuable to the class. I think having more examples of these different ways, or proactively encouraging students to try one or two over the course of the semester would be a way to both normalize other ways of knowing and learning and also decentralize the ‘default’ mode/pattern that students get into due to all the other classes that prioritize that pattern.” | During the second half of the semester, students were asked to submit an assignment in a format other than writing (video, audio, PowerPoint, etc.). The student who made the comment submitted their assignment in writing anyway | |
| PSY3300/Winter 2023 | “I feel like the CAs [concept assignments] could be enhanced by adding more personal reflection.” | This addition occurred for the second half of the semester | |
| PSY3000/Summer 2023 | “I don’t mind the assignments, the only thing that frustrates me about them is having to write “at least” so many sentences. For me, whether I write it in a few sentences, or pages, it doesn’t really matter to me.” | Intended to serve as a plagiarism deterrent, revision of this prompt to “in your own words” occurred | |
| Assessment: “…projects, tests, and assignments…” ( | ED42311/Spring 2023 | “I am a virtual learner so I like to have examples which could be an idea for each assignment. In one of my classes my professor provided a student’s previous work which I found useful” | Provided more student work examples |
| PSY1001/Fall 2023 | “I truly wouldn’t change anything about these assignments but if I did, it would be just having more examples of what is looking for.” | The addition of more assignment examples occurred for the second half of the semester | |
| PSYC301/Spring 2023 | “I also think that allowing students to develop their own concept assignment through their own questions a couple of times during the semester will also help us reflect what we learned and allow students to analyze information deeper.” | The instructor provided this opportunity, but no students took advantage of it |
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