Dimensions of Difference Course Review
This review encourages instructors to consider how the intellectual substance and design of their courses may or may not contribute to students’ understanding of difference and its impact on their […]
Teaching Practices & Course Design to Enable Every Student to Thrive
This page offers teaching practices and strategies for course design that open the classroom to a wide range of different students to best help everyone in the course learn. Creating […]
Teaching that Enables Every Student to Thrive
The full range of students at Penn is a tremendous asset for teaching and learning, whether in the classroom, lab, or mentorship. Teaching that enables every student to thrive to […]
Guidelines on Collaboration
Collaboration on homework, take-home projects and in labs is an extremely gray area for many students. What is acceptable collaboration in one class is often labeled cheating in another. Although the […]
Creating & Proctoring Exams
This page includes resources for designing and proctoring exams that promote academic integrity. While students have a responsibility to ensure their own academic integrity, instructors can reduce students’ temptation to […]
Essays & Research Papers
Designing essays and research assignments that make plagiarism difficult often allow students to do better work and engage more with their projects. Creating assignments that encourage integrity Show students the […]
Promoting Academic Integrity
While students are ultimately responsible for maintaining academic integrity, instructors can also create an atmosphere in class that encourages students to be honest by removing incentives to cheat and valuing […]
Faculty Advice on Penn’s Academic Integrity Policies
Penn’s Code of Academic Integrity is fairly flexible and gives professors a great deal of leeway in dealing with infractions of the Code of Academic Integrity. As a result, professors […]
Responding to and Reporting Academic Integrity Violations
This page includes considerations for responding to potential academic integrity violations. In addition to the resources collected here, the Center for Community Standards & Accountability (CSA) is available to consult […]
FAQ about Penn’s Integrity Policy
This page compiles answers to common questions from faculty regarding the code of academic integrity and reporting violations to the Center for Community Standards & Accountability (CSA). CETLI also […]
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is central to Penn’s educational mission and the institution has set out definitions and standards to guide students and faculty in its Code of Academic Integrity. Students are ultimately […]
How Students Can Show Their Work on Exams in Canvas
When giving tests online, you may want your students to show their work, either to enable you to evaluate students’ thinking or as a check against academic dishonesty. This can […]
Assessments and Exams in Online Courses
Designing or adapting assessments for an online learning environment involves several considerations, some distinct to online teaching, some broadly relevant: What are your most important goals for students to know […]
Asynchronous Elements of Online Courses
What can students do on their own time? Asynchronous tools can help your students prepare for synchronous sessions, practice and reflect on their understanding, and create space for student interactions. […]
Meeting Synchronously
Leveraging the Value of Real-Time Communication in Online Courses Synchronous class meetings allow for real-time student discussion, problem-solving, clarifications, and emphasizing and summarizing key points. This is a time when […]
Organizing Your Course and Distributing Materials
Because students in online courses navigate so much of the content and activities on their own time, it is important that the goals that they are aiming for are clear […]
Creating Community in Your Online Course
Building community in online courses takes thinking intentionally about where students can connect with each other and with their instructors. There are many ways to establish and sustain community in an […]
Teaching Online
This guide is intended to help faculty, instructors, and TAs to adapt a course to a fully or mostly online course. The following principles can help you identify ways to achieve the course’s goals and support […]
Using Online Tools for Discussion
Online discussion boards and other collaboration tools allow students to engage asynchronously with one another through a series of written posts and replies. Sometimes these posts can also contain multimedia like […]
Storing Zoom Recordings
Zoom is primarily a communications platform, not a place to permanently store recordings. The steps below can help you move Zoom recordings to a secure, longer-term storage solution. If you […]
What Students Want from Canvas Sites
CETLI asked undergraduate students across Penn for feedback on how Canvas helps or hinders their learning. This page provides some insights from them about what has been most helpful as […]
Getting Started With Canvas
Canvas provides instructors with many basic tools for sharing documents, posting and managing assignments, and assigning grades. Canvas also supports a wide range of other functions. This page provides resources and […]
Instructional Technology Support by Schools
If you don’t see a contact for your school or department listed, consult ISC’s Faculty & Staff Support Directory. Instructional Technology Support Annenberg: ASC IT Helpdesk School of Arts & Sciences: Instructional Technology […]
Teaching with Technology
Technology can help instructors reach their goals for student learning when used thoughtfully. CETLI supports instructors as they think about why they might use technology, which tools might best fit […]
Technology Support for Evaluations
Course Evaluation administrators in each school provide assistance to students, instructors, and administrators. Students with questions about a specific course evaluation could contact the school responsible for the course. Other […]
Course Feedback for Instructors (CFI)
Course Feedback for Instructors (CFI) is an online questionnaire that instructors can use to get feedback from their students about their teaching. The system allows instructors to select the questions […]
End of Semester Student FAQ
Where are my end-of-semester course evaluations? Go to http://www.upenn.edu/eval. Then log in with your PennKey What are the benefits of evaluating classes? There are three main reasons students should complete course […]
End of Semester Faculty FAQ
Where are my end-of-semester course evaluations? Go to Courses@Penn. Then select “Course Evaluation Reports” in the lower lefthand tile. How do Penn course evaluations work? Student course enrollments are loaded into […]
Penn’s End-of-Semester Evaluations
During the last weeks of the semester, students are asked to evaluate their classes. These evaluations stay open through the end of exams. Students are asked to evaluate classes before […]
Course Evaluations
Using student evaluations to better understand your students’ experiences is one important way to improve as a teacher. End-of-Semester Course Evaluations Penn’s online course evaluations provide students the opportunity to give feedback […]
Combining Structure and Flexibility in Your Courses
Combining course structure and flexibility will help your students learn what you expect them to. That means giving students clear expectations, deadlines, and steps they need to take on a […]
Practices for Teaching Students Living with Stress and Trauma
Students experience a wide variety of stresses in their lives outside our classrooms, circumstances that affect how they learn in our courses. Considering ways to proactively design our classes to […]
Resources to Support Your Students
Faculty concerned about a student and not sure where to turn may also contact or refer undergraduate students directly to their school’s academic advising office. These offices can help students […]
Supporting Your Students
Students can have difficulties in the classroom as the result of academic or personal challenges as well as circumstances at Penn, in Philadelphia or more globally. As teachers, we can […]
Writing a Course Description
A course description needs to do several things: Indicate why students might be interested in the course (even if it is required). Indicate where a course fits in a curriculum […]
Communications & Email
A clear policy about how to communicate helps students know how best to interact with instructors. You policy should let students know when you are available, what platform to reach […]
Electronic Devices
Creating an effective policy on electronic devices, including laptops, cell phones, and tablets, requires instructors to balance the power these tools have for student learning with the power the tools […]
Course Costs
Increasingly, instructors are aware that students may struggle to buy the materials they need to for class. Many offer students less expensive options and explain them in their syllabus. Sample […]
Attendance & Absences
Penn’s Policy about Student Attendance Penn does not have an official policy on excused or unexcused absences except for religious holidays. Penn’s Policy on Secular and Religious Holidays asks that […]
Academic Integrity Statements for Your Syllabus
Why Include an Integrity Statement? Instructors who explain their expectations about integrity (as well as the consequences for not meeting them) help students better understand integrity and its value in […]
Advice on How to Succeed
These three examples show how faculty can use syllabus statements to help students focus their work and succeed in the class. Annette Lareau, SOCI 1000 “Free Advice” There are many […]
Syllabus Language and Policies
Penn has no official set of statements that an instructor must include on their syllabus. The following is a list of policies and statements that instructors might consider. In some […]
Course Roster, Classroom & Calendar Info
Instructors can find important information pertaining to their course rosters, classrooms, and Penn’s academic calendar in a number of places. Courses@Penn for Enrollment and Grading Instructors can see who is […]
Essay Grading
A clear set of standards or a rubric will help students set realistic expectations about the course and grades. You may not want to include these standards in your syllabus […]
Expectations about Active Learning
Evidence shows that active learning (in which students spend at least some time in class practicing the type of work they will be expected to do in exams and papers) […]
Late Papers
Instructors can save time and ensure that the students are treated fairly if they provide a policy for late work. Remember: Student Health Services will not provide notes verifying student […]
Setting a Welcoming Tone
A welcoming statement can signal that you value students’ questions and participation, and communicate your desire for students to thrive in your class. Sample Language Zahra Fakhraai, CHEM 248: “Physical […]
Wellness Syllabus Language
Instructors can alleviate distress by giving students clear standards for their work and acknowledging that students face challenges outside the classroom as well. Syllabus and course design are two areas […]
Supporting First-Generation, Low-Income Students
The term First-Generation, Low-Income (FGLI) captures a diverse group of students. At Penn these students have the same high SAT scores and the same motivation and ambitions as their peers […]
Regrade Policies
Errors in grading do happen and most instructors are happy to correct them. However, students often hope that by arguing about their work they can improve their grades. Instructors often […]
Recitation Guidelines
Few undergraduates have recitations in high school or have a clear sense of what a recitation is. Explaining what you (and their TA) expect them to prepare beforehand and to […]
Participation
Students are often unclear about class participation, especially if it counts toward their grade. If you explain what you expect students to do and why participation matters, you will help […]
Office Hours
Giving students an explanation about what office hours are for and why they might come will encourage students to attend them and welcome students who might be anxious about talking […]
Missed Exams & Quizzes
There may be circumstances where students are unable to make a mid-term or quiz. Providing a policy for students can avoid negotiations and can help students feel less stressed about […]
Policies Concerning Student-Faculty Interactions
A variety of University policies and federal laws structure teaching at Penn. For any Penn Policies that aren’t here, consult the PennBook which contains all of Penn’s Academic Policies. Policy on […]
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