The Canvas Blueprint serves as the foundational structure for all online course shells at MSU Denver, aimed at ensuring consistency and quality. If you’ve taught online since we transitioned to Canvas, chances are you’re familiar with the Blueprint, though it has been updated since the first iteration. This current version of the Blueprint features streamlined […]
Author: CTLD Support
By Michael Rupert, Alexandra Grima, Will Austin, Sarah Creasy, Nate Easley III, Todd Wolfe, and Alex McDaniel During the fall 2023 semester, instructor Alex McDaniel and Innovative and Lifelong Learning partnered with the CTLD Instructional Design team to create “Foundations of Instructional Design,” a self-paced, online course that can be finished in 8 weeks or […]
In July of 2023, then Interim Provost Marie Mora, Ph.D., stated every course at MSU Denver should explicitly address the use of generative artificial intelligence in the syllabus or other course information. Review the Generative Artificial Intelligence Taskforce page for more information on Generative AI from the Provost. For specific examples of different AI policies […]
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Aligning Rubrics with Outcomes
Imagine running a marathon without any signs to guide you or a visible finish line. You wouldn’t know where to go or if you’ve completed the race. This confusion mirrors what happens in a learning experience when course activities and assessments aren’t aligned with the desired outcomes. In a well-organized marathon, the finish line represents […]
One way to increase the value of discussions in your course is to require that students participate in the discussion more than once. For example, you can have students respond to a prompt in their first post and then reply to a classmate several days later. Starting May 19th 2026, Canvas Discussions will include the […]
By Jennifer Whitton-Trujillo, Tim Wright, Todd Wolfe, and Alex McDaniel In the Fall 2023 development cycle, Innovative and Lifelong Learning (I&LL) and the Center for Teaching, Learning and Design (CTLD) decided to use a storytelling and scenario-based approach in designing a self-paced online course to create an innovative and engaging learning experience. Our development team […]
One of our primary goals at the Center for Teaching, Learning and Design is to build courses that create engaging, interesting, and inspiring online classroom experiences for students. During our Spring 2023 development cycle, we collaborated with Dr. Ting Jiang to create a new course, Asia in Global Perspective, for their proposed new Asian Studies […]
In the CTLD Course Development Cycle, MSU Denver instructors have the opportunity to work with the instructional design team to improve their courses. Instructors identify course objectives, develop learning activities, create user-friendly courses, record high-quality multimedia content, and much more. As part of the Spring 2023 development cycle, Dr. Kamran Sahami worked with a team […]
Sitting alone in a quiet room can help improve your productivity and learning. It is easier to concentrate and compose your thoughts without distraction or interruption; a book or article is easier to comprehend when it’s the only stimulus available. However, this setting also means that you have only your prior knowledge at hand. Your […]
At MSU Denver, instructors don’t just teach – they live and breathe the subjects they’re passionate about. Many have walked the path of their respective fields for years before stepping into the role of educators, while others remain active participants. A shining example is Dr. A.J. Alejano-Steele, who not only co-founded The Laboratory to Combat […]