Collaborating with MIT students and staff to make instructional improvements

Canvas has the potential to facilitate learning objectives when resources are dedicated to its set up. This is exactly why the Canvas Innovation Fund (CIF) exists—to provide support to MIT faculty and instructors wanting to leverage Canvas to improve their instructional effectiveness. 

“What may seem like minor changes to a Canvas site can actually make a huge difference in the student experience of navigating course content,” shared an instructor who participated in the CIF. 

An MIT undergraduate student is paid, trained, and guided by Open Learning Residential Education, and collaborates with faculty and instructors over the summer to implement instructional improvements using Canvas and integrated tools. 

“The meetings were very well organized and efficient,” an instructor shared, “I never felt that my time was wasted.” 

In summer 2024, faculty and instructors across the Institute gained both time and resources through the CIF, and began testing their innovative teaching approaches in AY24-25. 

Helping students navigate the Canvas course site 

Across many subjects, faculty and instructors aimed to find effective ways to present materials to students. For 8.13, Sean Robinson re-organized lab materials on Canvas, making it easier and quicker for students to find what they need, when they need it. The improved site structure helps to focus student effort where it matters most—becoming a physicist. 

Guiding students through their tasks became especially important to Devin Caughey when 17.20 changed to meet once a week. The Canvas structure needed to match this new schedule while continuing to encourage students to engage in challenging readings throughout the week. 

Both 8.13 and 17.20 now have a home page on the course site that gives students quick access to essential class materials, whether they are preparing for a lab or class discussion. 

Navigating through weekly activities, including for example Residential MITx material, becomes easier via a home page which is why this was one of many improvements made by Michael Yaffe and Tyler Smith to 7.05 as well. 

But, how this home page is organized differs from one subject to another. For ES.A101, Ana Bell developed a brand new course site. The site’s home page contains weekly materials including dated assignments as well as in-class coding material. The ES.A101 set up looks different from that of 7.05, 17.20, and 8.13, though all help guide students toward course goals. 

Engaging students with tools integrated with Canvas 

For faculty and instructors who wanted students to engage more effectively with asynchronous work, helpful Canvas-related tools include Perusall, Panopto, and Residential MITx, just to name a few. 

Perusall enables students to collaboratively share their thoughts on a text, which is precisely why Devin Caughey implemented this tool for 17.20’s most difficult readings. But, Perusall also allows this collaborative process to unfold in various media types. In Emma Teng’s class (21G.042j/21H.352j/21L.492j/CMS.359j), Perusall helps engage students with class readings by corresponding the text to geographic locations on maps of China. 

Another media tool, Panopto, is known for hosting video files such as recorded lectures, though a lesser known feature proved useful for two different subjects. Emma wanted to leverage past lectures from guest speakers, so she made an assignment where students watch the video embedded on Canvas then answer a reflection question. In 21M.030 Patty Tang needed to share large-size audio and video files. So, she created Canvas pages where she embeds the media, via Panopto, and shares key information about it. Both instructors adjusted their set up so that they could better engage students with the media. 

Rather than using a tool just because it seems helpful, the CIF faculty and instructors found what was most efficient given their specific challenges and classroom context. 

For 16.851, Oli de Weck built out a flipped classroom structure with three modules per week that connected to readings, videos, and MITx questions all within the Canvas site. Residential MITx content was further developed for 7.05, and better connected with lab material in 8.13 to help students focus on core resources. In all, effective design of underlying course structures helps to minimize the challenge of finding materials and instead centers student effort on learning. 

Re-working Canvas course structures 

There are times when faculty and instructors want to primarily re-work their course structure. In CMS.611, for example, projects are a core part of the course. Rik Eberhardt streamlined the process for completing and reviewing assignments, ensuring student projects continue to progress and that students receive effective feedback. 

In another course with both individual and team activities and assignments, Teresa Neff (21M.500) outlined an organization structure aimed to reduce student cognitive load in the intensive subject. 

To strike a balance between what an instructor needs to efficiently manage a course site and the actual student experience, Diana Henderson built in different pathways in 21L.010 for students to access resources. She planned to collect feedback on student preferences. 

Since the implementation of Canvas features will differ across MIT subjects, the Canvas Innovation Fund gives faculty and instructors the support to think through their goals and the options in Canvas (and integrated tools) to address those needs. 

As a CIF instructor shared, “The project management and goal setting meetings with the CIF staff --- who both really understand the broad education & ed-tech landscape and who care enough to take the time to understand the specific idiosyncrasies of my course and its MIT context --- was very valuable.” 

We’d like to extend our gratitude to the MIT undergraduate students who supported faculty and instructors in designing and implementing these CIF projects. 

Want support in thinking through how to make improvements to your Canvas site or use of Canvas-related tools? Check out the Canvas Innovation Fund. 

For examples of CIF projects: 

• Sean Robinson - 8.13 Junior Physics Lab
• Devin Caughey - 17.20 Intro to the American Political Process
• Ana Bell - Hack yourself: An interdisciplinary course using Canvas
• Tyler Smith - Residential MITx
• Moving Forward Together
• Quick Tips from Students
• Maria Khotimsky, Richard Eberhardt, and Tyler Smith - Transforming MIT Subjects on Canvas
• Article: How MIT faculty and instructors transform their classes on Canvas for better instruction 

Want more information or a consultation? Email ol-residential@mit.edu to get help from the Residential Education team.