Office of Digital Education

Conversations on Online Teaching

To foster a stronger and more innovative discussion of the creative possibilities in digital pedagogy, the College of Engineering and Applied Science offers a series of monthly conversations centered on online teaching. Open to all members of the college, these discussions are both broad and practical. Each opens with a faculty champion presenting on a special topic and then we branch outward.

Send questions and suggestions for future topics to听srirams@colorado.edu.

听

Upcoming Events

Past Events

Skill acquisition using automated feedback from generative AI systems

Description听

Emily Jensen, PhD candidate in computer science
Abstract: Providing automated feedback to learners is rapidly emerging as a key application of generative AI in education and workforce training. Our work looks at using generative AI for tasks that involve learners acquiring skills in 鈥減sychomotor鈥� tasks such as flying drones or operating a robotic arm. In these contexts, learners complete a set of 鈥減ractice tasks鈥� that involve teleoperating these systems through a user interface. Such skills are in high demand across a variety of disciplines including aerospace, construction, defense, and medicine. We demonstrate how generative AI systems can be prompted to provide feedback to learners for such tasks with the prototypical example of landing a drone. We will demonstrate a system that we have built here at CU Boulder that provides feedback for simple desktop-based control tasks and present some preliminary results. We will also discuss how AI-generated feedback can be a useful tool to quickly integrate into existing technical systems.

AI for Course Design

Description听

Kayla Kohake and the Office of Academic Leadership and Innovation (ALI) Learning Design Team
Abstract: The Learning Design Team with the Office of Academic and Learning Innovation (ALI) at the 麻豆视频 has recently released an exploratory course called 鈥淎I for Course Design.鈥� This scaled, online course, which is hosted on Coursera, curates materials about AI and dives into how instructors at CU Boulder are currently integrating generative AI (GAI) into their courses for student activities and/or the development of course materials.听 In this presentation, we share the perspectives, insights, and practices from those who participated in our Coursera course. We will highlight varied approaches to AI-integrated teaching and learning then discuss with participants what the future of education might look like. We encourage attendees to openly share their perspectives on integrating AI into their classrooms and engage in critical discourse about the benefits and challenges of GAI in education.听

Leveraging ChatGPT in Education: Insights and Strategies

Description听

Ivan Portilla, Applied Math
Abstract: Join us for an enlightening talk on "Leveraging ChatGPT in Education: Insights and Strategies"! 麻豆视频 how generative AI is revolutionizing teaching and learning by personalizing education, automating administrative tasks, and supporting students around the clock. We'll dive into the practical applications, share real-life examples, and discuss the challenges and ethical considerations of integrating AI tools like ChatGPT into educational settings. Whether you're an educator, administrator, or just interested in the future of education, this talk will provide valuable insights into the effective and responsible use of AI in classrooms. Don't miss out on learning how to navigate this exciting new frontier!

Broadening Access to Programming through Generative AI

Description听

Danny Dig, Computer Science
Abstract: Many are asking will Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) put programmers out of business? This talk offers a refreshing perspective. We delve into how Generative AI is empowering a new wave of听computing enthusiasts, untrained in traditional software development, to innovate, change, and evolve programs. We first present upcoming features in leading IDEs that harness Generative AI. These features not only aid developers but also cater to computing enthusiasts and helps them by (i) explaining code, bug fixes, summarizing recent changes, (ii) generating documentation, commit messages, name suggestions, etc. However, a top concern remains the trustworthiness of the solutions provided by Generative AI. While many solutions resemble the ones produced by expert developers, LLMs are known to produce 鈥渉allucinations鈥� 鈥� solutions that seem plausible at first, but are deeply flawed. To increase our trust in LLM solutions, we conducted novel research that synergistically merges the creative prowess of LLMs with the safety net of static and dynamic analysis from program transformation systems. The evaluation results show the usefulness of our novel approach, heralding a new era where LLMs become effective AI assistants for both developers and enthusiasts. We hope to inspire you with ideas on how LLMs can help us broaden the field of programming and help you and your work and research go even further.

听

Ethical issues in generative AI

Complementing traditional teaching methods with generative AI

Description听

In this session, we听explored how to:

Formulate effective prompts using AI for different purposes (e.g., generating discussion, guiding problem-solving, stimulating creative thinking)
Use context and formatting cues to guide AI responses
Work with Generative AI in a way that complements and enhances traditional teaching methods, rather than replacing them.

Co-Authoring with Generative AI

Description听

Diane Sieber, Associate Professor, Herbst Program
I鈥檝e developed guides and exercises for students to learn to write more productively and at higher quality by co-authoring with generative AI.听 Results so far鈥揳fter 3 semesters of iteration鈥搃ndicate that generative AI can 鈥渓evel the playing field鈥� for students who arrive at CU Boulder with writing deficits or less extensive writing backgrounds: both dialogic co-authoring with AI and use of generative AIs as shame-free/face-saving writing coaches lift up students to functional writing levels and lay a foundation for developing advanced writing proficiency. These approaches help faculty to address student writing challenges more effectively and with less time investment. Our course materials also address the ethics of generative AI use, as well the ethics of genAI training and data sourcing.

Download Diane's writing prompts

Increasing Efficiency Through AI Integrations

Description听

Bobby Hodgkinson, Teaching Assistant Professor, Smead Aerospace
In our recent projects, we've focused on increased efficiency through AI integrations, including the use of a sentiment analysis tool for Aerospace lab course peer evaluations, which integrates with Canvas for efficient document handling and uses ChatGPT to paraphrase lower scores with constructive feedback. We've also introduced a lab report grading assist tool that employs ChatGPT to match specific sections with grading rubric criteria and are in the early stages of creating a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) assistant tool to guide faculty in making course materials more DEI-friendly. My aim is to lead a discussion on the role of AI in personalized education, exploring the concept of an "AI tutor" for tailoring learning experiences, and using AI to increase the efficiency of the grading process to give students more meaningful feedback in a shorter amount of time.

Gradescope:听Online and AI-assisted Grading Tools

Future of Online Learning

Description听

听William Kuskin, Associate Dean for Digital Education
The New York Times label 2012 鈥淭he Year of the MOOC,鈥� Thomas Friedman of the New York Times announced 鈥淲elcome the college education revolution.鈥澨� It was not until 2019, however, that the real revolution in digital learning came to every classroom, not as a great disruption, but as a collateral effect of quarantine. William Kuskin will explore the development of the MS-EE as following out the promises of the initial, failed, revolution, and lead a discussion of how we might imagine a greater use of digital education overall.

Does performance based admissions measure up? The proof is in the graduates.

Description听

Abby Rose,听Program Manager for the Office of Engineering Digital Education
Erica Reid,听Program & Marketing Manager for the听Department of Electrical, Computer & Energy Engineering
Kaitlyn Rye,听Graduate Advisor, MS-DS
If you can do the work鈥揳nd prove it鈥搚ou鈥檙e admitted! That is the motto of CU Boulder鈥檚 MEEM, MSDS, and MSEE on Coursera programs. No application, no transcripts, no letters of recommendation, nothing. This system of Performance Based Admissions (PBA), by which students can elect to take a for-credit course without going through an admissions process and gain admission to the degree program if they achieve and maintain a grade level, has consequences for how we consider online learning overall. Representatives from the Office of Digital Engineering, the Data Science Program, and the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering will share Boulder鈥檚 performance-based admissions experience and results from 3 years of admissions and graduations. In this session, presenters will share Boulder鈥檚 pure performance-based admissions experience and showcase learning behaviors and teaching practices that lead to student success.

Engineering Management on Coursera

Description听

Christy Bozic, EMP Faculty Director
Ron Duren, Teaching Assistant Professor
Jessica Leeker, Stephen M. Dunn Professor of Engineering Management and Entrepreneurship
Michael Readey, EMP Associate Faculty Director
The Engineering Management Program launched its first degree on the Coursera platform, the ME-EM, on Monday, August 23, with an initial set of three courses and 214 students. Profs. Bozic, Duren, Leeker, and Readey will discuss their work in creating these early courses, as well as their goals for the degree program overall.

After the Future of Education: Where do we go next?

Description听

Randall Fullington, Executive Director for Academic and Learning Innovation
Jenny Lane, Assistant Director of Program Development
Scott Millspaugh, Assistant Director of Learning Experience Design
The Office of Academic and Learning Innovation is the campus鈥� central facilitator for at-scale for-credit and non-credit programs and courses. ALI collaborates with faculty and staff to grow CU Boulder into the vanguard of online education, while also inspiring the campus to rethink on-campus and hybrid learning experiences. Randall Fullington, Scott Millspaugh, and Jenny Lane will conclude the semester鈥檚 seminars by partnering with us to think about the future of higher education at CU Boulder.

Symposia

听

Online Pedagogy Winter Symposium

The College of Engineering and Applied Science's Remote and Online Lecture Best Practices Training Working Group hosted a听symposium devoted to thinking through the lessons of fall 2020. The symposium consisted of presentations by Interim Dean Keith Molenaar, Associate Dean Rhonda Hoenigman听and numerous faculty members听followed by breakout groups.

2021 Summer Teaching Symposium: Back to the Future

The fall 2021 semester promises a return to normal 鈥� but what will "normal" really look like? During this symposium, faculty came together to discuss how we continue to build a system of respect, trust, community, engagement and resilience in a place that looks familiar but is radically different in many ways.

What's Your Plan? A Symposium on Education for Fall 2020

The symposium featured a series of roundtable discussions, offering a space for conversation around core themes to help faculty members get to their plans, one that they craft based on their needs.

Symposium faculty portraits

Key Takeaways

Teaching Conversations

A series of cross-college teaching discussions.听

听

The HP Method

Hanspeter Schaub听

Professor HP Schaub shares his experience building an asynchronous course from the recorded videos of his on-campus lectures. This method introduces a classroom feeling into video content while radically reducing the prep time necessary to create an online course.

Programming Assignments and Assessments

Tim Scherr听

Professor Scherr teaches the FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) Design for Embedded Systems Specialization for ECEE鈥檚 Master of Science on the Coursera platform. He shares his design and implementation of automated programming assignments and assessments for this course, which is critical to scaled learning.

Creating Video Content in the Lightboard Studio

Juliet Gopinath听

Professor Juliet Gopinath has created the Active Optical Devices course sequence for the Master of Science in Electrical Engineering on Coursera using the ECEE鈥檚 lightboard studio. Professor Gopinath explores how the lightboard studio works, and how it facilitated her teaching.

Exploring Peer-Based Grading

Bobby Schnabel听

Professor and External Chair for the Department of Computer Science Bobby Schnabel helped lead the creation of the Master of Science in Data Science on the Coursera platform and created a course on ethical issues in data science for both online and on-campus learning. Bobby shares the attributes and challenges of the peer grading elements in his Coursera course and then facilitate a discussion about peer grading.

Screencasting Magic

Charles Raymond Nuttelman听

Charles Nuttelman has created the most popular University of Colorado online courses on the Cousera platform - Excel/VBA for Creative Problem Solving. Join Proffessor Nuttelman for a discussion of how he builds effective courses with stunning speed and amazing quality.

Resources:听

听

Resources:听Center for Teaching and Learning Inclusivity page

Instructional Talks:听Discussion Series on Innovative Online and听Remote Teaching

听

Teaching Talks

A discussion series exploring听best practices for distance and online teaching. Each seminar, hosted by听Professor William Kuskin, features a CU Engineering guest giving a short presentation on a concept, followed by an open discussion.

听

Tech Talks

One hour of instructional design support with William Kuskin and听Donna Hall.

听

Resources:听听 |听听听 |听听听 |听听听 |听听

Canvas Community Course

The college is now offering a Community Course on Canvas to guide instructors through the program and provide basic, intermediate, and advanced cartridges, or pre-formatted templates, to give instructors an advantage in building their own Canvas courses. The Community Course will be refined over time in response to faculty feedback. Questions may be directed to听william.kuskin@colorado.edu.

To access the course:

Use the听听to request your Canvas course(s). Note: it is recommended you use Chrome to submit your request.
Everyone should have a sandbox course. Check your unpublished course list to see if you have one. If you do not have one and would like a sandbox course where you can practice and experiment, submit the听.
听to get access to the templates, tutorials, and other resources. Note: it is recommended you use Chrome to enroll.

麻豆视频

Search

Other ways to search: