The planning cycle begins again

It's that time again - Summer quarter is right around the corner and fall quarter will be here before I know it. It's time to get serious about course planning. When I started this blog this time last year, we were just learning we had adopted Canvas. Now we are deep into the pleasures of this new Learning Management System (LMS). I am really a huge fan of Canvas and love how it is constantly adapting to our needs, getting better and better every few weeks.

One of my favorite parts of this time of the year is thinking about what my focus will be for the new quarter. For my Global Studies Environment class, which I teach every summer at Highline, I hate to say it but this class needs a complete overhaul.  I love what I have there, but several of my favorite readings are dated, environmental problems that were pressing, like the global food crisis, have passed into being everyday miseries instead of headline grabbing events.  Thinking around climate change has matured.

I don't use a textbook.  Instead, I've gathered together a huge selection of articles from our library databases and open educational resources (OER).  One of the challenges of teaching with OER is that I have to stay on top of the readings and make sure everything is current - I can't rely on the textbook publisher to do it for me. That means rewriting all of my quizzes, recrafting essay questions, creating new discussions.  This is a ton of work, but it is work that is worthwhile. Students regularly comment on how relevant this course is and a good portion of that is because I craft the content to what matters to my students. Plus, the students don't have to buy a book and save a lot of money. They like that too :-).

Additionally, I want to think about gamifying my class, which is the process of incorporating game like rewards into the course.  I also want to make the class more personal for my students, allowing the selection of a book or movie to report on and having a class journal.  Whenever I add work, of course, I need to think about what I'm going to take away. This is already a robust class and, in keeping my student workload in mind, I need to maintain balance.

I have to be realistic, though. I am a part time instructor and am teaching this quarter in the graduate school at Seattle U.  I only have so many hours to give to indulging in course planning (which I genuinely do enjoy).  So, with the genuinely pressing need to overhaul the summer class, trying new things might have to wait for fall and my American Government class.

What new pedagogies are you thinking of indulging in this summer? Share your thoughts in the comments.