Judy attended this session...

These two faculty from UW-Tacoma are working on a study in which they are experimenting with Persistence Plus, a vendor that sends automatic daily prompts to students in online courses. They build the nudges from the faculty member's syllabus. Students can voluntarily opt in to participate in these "nudges." This occurs outside of Canvas.

Much of their research is based on this book. Here's a link to the Amazon page if you want to browse.

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They posted a link to an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education entitled "The New Traditional Student" which states that our students are more stressed and it's easier for them to lose focus. Thus, the rationale for nudging.

The presenters focused on a Canvas Gradebook tool that we can use to nudge students. It's in the column header for a graded item (see screen captures below).

We worked in groups to think of scenarios and text we might use to send messages. These were uploaded into a Google Doc (though I think they've not put in the hand-written ones yet). These messages are free to be copied for use in our own courses. You can also feel free to add to the list! In particular, I was intrigued by the messages to students who scored HIGHER than... It's a reminder to me to be sure to praise the good work, as well as help with the not-so-good!

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