Members

Invitees: Alex Axelsson; Lindy Foster; Brian Lindsley; Mike Bailey; Tamara Mitchell; Stefanie Buck; Tabitha Pitzer; Robin Pappas; Jane Nichols; Jon Dorbolo; David Goodrum; Tasha Biesinger; Raffaele De Amicis; Rene Reitsma; Katherine McAlvage; Michael Jefferis, Nargas Oskui; Kara Witzke

Attendees: Lindy Foster; Robin Pappas; Tasha Biesinger; Michael Jefferis; Weiwei Zhang; Lynn Greenough

Minutes/Notes

Annual report of Learn@OregonState advisory committee activities (Oct. 2017 – Sept. 2018) has been posted

Proposal to change colors for Canvas Rubrics and Outcomes

  • Default colors in Canvas rubrics and in the Learning Mastery Gradebook have two issues:
    • Faculty have voiced concerns about the default Green/Yellow/Orange/Red coloring applied to rubrics (summer 2018) especially since many rubric ratings less than a perfect score result in an orange or red color, which signal risk or warning to students
    • Colors are not optimally accessible
  • The Learn@OregonState task force recommends a two-color palette for rubrics and for the Learning Mastery Gradebook (green for exceeds and mastery, and orange for near, below and well below mastery)
  • Robin Pappas noted Learning Analytics subgroups (for faculty, advisors and students) who are developing a common language/terminology, and may be interested in the work that led to this proposal
  • Learn@OregonState advisory committee approval required to move forward; if approved, the colors will be applied in Production Canvas in time for winter term 2019
  • Canvas team will report feedback from faculty, students and the Learning Analytics task force to the LOS advisory committee, and adjust accordingly
  • Canvas Outcomes are not currently being used by programs for accreditation; they are somewhat complex to manage. But interest is growing, and Ecampus is piloting.
  • No objections to applying the proposed color scheme were noted.

Piazza integration

The Piazza Q and A tool is widely used by Computer Science courses. Enabling the integration for those courses provides some efficiencies for instructors

  • Discussion platform is free to use
  • Instructors can already integrate in their individual Canvas course sites (or the platform can be standalone – users create an account and log in)
  • It’s primarily used as a forum for students to raise questions, and for other students to build responses to the questions, wiki-style. Instructor can mark answer as “good,” lending validity to the answer as a resources. Students can also rate responses. Piazza has a niche appeal because it doesn’t provide a way to grade posts.
  • The vendor generates revenue by having students actively opt in to Piazza Careers, which large tech firms use to recruit from
  • Approx. 35 OSU instructors already use Piazza, mostly Computer Science. An integration for Computer Science courses would make it a bit easier for instructors, and a bit more seamless for students. However, no OSU instructors have lobbied yet for the Canvas integration.
  • Data security review not yet complete; Lynn will report back
  • Committee asked if other institutions are using the integration; what is their experience? Lynn to follow up.
  • Would discussion activity be limited to enrolled students if Piazza is not integrated with Canvas – or could the instructor invite anyone with an account? Lynn followed up with the Piazza rep to get the details.

Gradescope update

  • Integration was completed in Canvas on 10/24/2018
  • Math instructors have offered Q and A sessions and webinars to increase adoption
  • Computer Science faculty are interested in feature that allows auto-grading of coding assignments, and also to check for plagiarism