Your Instruction Manual

Have you found yourself wishing that your job as a university instructor came with an instruction manual? Well, now it does. Browse our topics below and click the + to find the "curriculum" the Office of Instructional Resources recommends you follow for each topic. Each link will take you to necessary information or training no matter where it is to be found. In order to get back to the list you are working from, you will often need to rely on your "back" button since the "In This Section" might not have an option to return here. Bookmark this page, or better yet, just remember our web address! This page can be found at: wichita.edu/Instructions. Would you like us to add a set of instructions? Just let us know by sending an email to OIR@wichita.edu.

Guidance by instructor type

New Direct Instruction GTA

Congratulations on your appointment as a direct instruction GTA. A direct instruction GTA is the instructor of record for their own class, and that can feel a little daunting at first. As you transition from your role as a student to your role as an instructor, there are certain things you need to know to be successful.  The information below will get you started, and for more information, check out our "New GTA" webpage.

Technical Training

Wichita State is a Blackboard school. No matter what kind of course you are teaching (in-person, hybrid, online), you are given a Blackboard shell to augment your course. At the very least, please post your syllabus on your Blackboard shell.  You should develop any new courses in the Blackboard Ultra course type.

  • Ultra Blackboard help
  • If you would like a sandbox (also called a "development shell") to create your class in ahead of time, please send a request to the Office of Instructional Resources at OIR@wichita.edu. Please let us know what you would like your course to be called and what your WSU id is.  We will create the shell for same day, and once you build your course, you can copy it right into a "live" course shell when they become available.

If you will be offering synchronous online lectures, or if you plan to record lectures to deliver online,  we recommend you use Teams.  Wichita State provides Microsoft 365 accounts for free to all instructors, so you should get one right away.  If you would like to record your lectures in Teams for your students to watch later, we recommend you learn how to use your OneDrive account, as all recordings are stored there. Lectures in OneDrive can easily be captioned in the Stream interface.

Getting Support

If you need help, the Office of Instructional Resources is here for you. You can reach us at OIR@wichita.edu and you are also welcome to attend our Zoom-based, lab time by appointment. If we can't help you, we can direct you to the right people.  If you are having password problems, please contact the helpdesk at helpdesk@wichita.edu. If you are in an in-person class and you need help with classroom technologies, call Campus Media Services at 978-3588. If you are having technical problems with Blackboard, Panopto, Zoom, Respondus, or another system associated with online components of classes, you will need to locate your "Telephone Access Code" online before contacting Blackboard Support. To find this code, go to MyWSU, and under where you would login, click "manage your password" and then login.  On that screen you will see a 8-digit number called the "OneStop Access Code" or "Telephone Access Code."   Finally, you will want to make sure you are taking full advantage of the free software provided to you through the university.

Setting Up a Course

You will have many questions when you set up your first few courses.  The Office of Instructional Resources is here to help you, and we would suggest you use the OIR Help Request form for harder or more philosophical questions.  You should also become very comfortable using the OIR website as many questions can be answered online. 

Classroom Management

If you are making the transition from student to instructor for the first time, you likely have questions about how to manage your classroom effectively. Each person has their own style, and that's a good thing, so if you do things differently from your friends, that's fine. The key is to understand your own goals and motivations as an instructor and to work to get better at expressing those in the classroom.

Your Changing Role

As a new GTA, you need to be aware of your changing role.  You are not only a student now, you are a student and an instructor. That means there are expectations about how you conduct yourself. You will learn more about those expectations in the mandatory GTA training conducted by the Graduate School, and these resources may help you as well:

Experienced Direct Instruction GTA

Now that you have your first class or classes behind you as a GTA, you may feel more confident but also more aware of all that you have to learn as an instructor.  These resources will help you develop as a college instructor and as a trainer in general. The skills you are learning now are transferable to many professions, so taking time to improve your abilities as a teacher will be beneficial to you regardless of your career plans. Please review the training information for new GTAs as well, to make sure you have covered all your bases.

Technical Training

If you will be offering synchronous online lectures, or if you plan to record lectures to deliver online,  we recommend you use Teams.  Wichita State provides Microsoft 365 accounts for free to all instructors, so you should get one right away.  If you would like to record your lectures in Teams for your students to watch later, we recommend you learn how to use your OneDrive account, as all recordings are stored there. Lectures in OneDrive can easily be captioned in the Stream interface.

Teaching Philosophy

If you are planning to pursue an academic career and make college or university teaching part of your ongoing professional life, you are going to need to develop a statement of your teaching philosophy.  Now is the time to begin that work because you will find that you will dial it in over time. The sooner you start thinking about your own teaching philosophy, the better your statement will be when it comes time to look for jobs.   The Office of Instructional Resources recommends these webpages for help with this task:

New Adjunct Instructor

Congratulations on your appointment as an adjunct instructor at Wichita State. There is much to learn about the technology and support systems at Wichita State, so even if you are a seasoned college instructor, this is a good area to review before you begin teaching at WSU, and for more information, check out our "New Adjunct" webpage.

Technical Training

Wichita State is a Blackboard school. No matter what kind of course you are teaching (in-person, hybrid, online), you are given a Blackboard shell to augment your course. At the very least, please post your syllabus on your Blackboard shell. You should develop any new courses in the Blackboard Ultra course type.

  • Ultra Blackboard help
  • If you would like a sandbox (also called a "development shell") to create your class in ahead of time, please send a request to the Office of Instructional Resources at OIR@wichita.edu. Please let us know what you would like your course to be called and what your WSU id is.  We will create the shell for you the same day, and once you build your course, you can copy it right into a "live" course shell when they become available.

If you will be offering synchronous online lectures, or if you plan to record lectures to deliver online,  we recommend you use Teams.  Wichita State provides Microsoft 365 accounts for free to all instructors, so you should get one right away.  If you would like to record your lectures in Teams for your students to watch later, we recommend you learn how to use your OneDrive account, as all recordings are stored there. Lectures in OneDrive can easily be captioned in the Stream interface.

Getting Support

If you need help, the Office of Instructional Resources is here for you. You can reach us at OIR@wichita.edu and you are also welcome to fill out an OIR Help Request form. If we can't help you, we can direct you to the right people.  If you are having password problems, please contact the helpdesk at helpdesk@wichita.edu. If you are in an in-person class and you need help with classroom technologies, call Campus Media Services at 978-3588. If you are having technical problems with Blackboard, Panopto, Zoom, Respondus, or another system associated with online components of classes, you will need to locate your "Telephone Access Code" online before contacting Blackboard Support. To find this code, go to MyWSU, and under where you would login, click "manage your password" and then login.  On that screen you will see a 8-digit number called the "OneStop Access Code" or "Telephone Access Code."  You will also want to make sure you are taking full advantage of the free software provided to you through the university.

Setting Up a Course

You will have many questions when you set up your first few courses.  The Office of Instructional Resources is here to help you, and we would suggest you use the OIR Help Request form for harder or more philosophical questions.  You should also become very comfortable using the OIR website as many questions can be answered online. 

Classroom Management

If you are making the transition from student to instructor for the first time, you likely have questions about how to manage your classroom effectively. Each person has their own style, and that's a good thing, so if you do things differently from your friends, that's fine. The key is to understand your own goals and motivations as an instructor and to work to get better at expressing those in the classroom.

New Full-time Faculty Member

Welcome to Wichita State! As a new full-time faculty member, you have more than one new role. The Office of Instructional Resources is here to support you primarily in your role as a classroom instructor.  The Faculty Advancement office will provide support and encouragement as you establish and advance in your career, so make sure to check out their webpages too.

Technical Training

Wichita State is a Blackboard school. No matter what kind of course you are teaching (in-person, hybrid, online), you are given a Blackboard shell to augment your course. At the very least, please post your syllabus on your Blackboard shell. You should develop any new classes in the Blackboard Ultra course typel

  • Ultra Blackboard help
  • If you would like a sandbox (also called a "development shell") to create your class in ahead of time, please send a request to the Office of Instructional Resources at OIR@wichita.edu. Please let us know what you would like your course to be called and what your WSU id is.  We will create the shell for you the same day, and once you build your course, you can copy it right into a "live" course shell when they become available.

If you will be offering synchronous online lectures, or if you plan to record lectures to deliver online,  we recommend you use Teams.  Wichita State provides Microsoft 365 accounts for free to all instructors, so you should get one right away.  If you would like to record your lectures in Teams for your students to watch later, we recommend you learn how to use your OneDrive account, as all recordings are stored there. Lectures in OneDrive can easily be captioned in the Stream interface.

Getting Support

If you need help, the Office of Instructional Resources is here for you. You can reach us at OIR@wichita.edu and you are also welcome to fill out an OIR Help Request form. If we can't help you, we can direct you to the right people.  If you are having password problems, please contact the helpdesk at helpdesk@wichita.edu. As a full-time faculty member, you will also need to receive training, mentorship, and direction from the Faculty Advancement office. Faculty Advancement can help you with all of your questions surrounding promotion and tenure. If you are in an in-person class and you need help with classroom technologies, call Campus Media Services at 978-3588. If you are having technical problems with Blackboard, Panopto, Zoom, Respondus, or another system associated with online components of classes, you will need to locate your "Telephone Access Code" online before contacting Blackboard Support. To find this code, go to MyWSU, and under where you would login, click "manage your password" and then login.  On that screen you will see a 8-digit number called the "OneStop Access Code" or "Telephone Access Code." Finally, no matter how competent you are with Microsoft products, you should make time to attend the various Microsoft tools trainings offered by ITS and you should make sure you are taking full advantage of the free software provided to you through the university.

Setting Up a Course

You will have many questions when you set up your first few courses.  The Office of Instructional Resources is here to help you, and we would suggest you use the OIR Help Request form for harder or more philosophical questions.  You should also become very comfortable using the OIR website as many questions can be answered online. 

Classroom Management

If you are making the transition from student to instructor for the first time, you likely have questions about how to manage your classroom effectively. Each person has their own style, and that's a good thing, so if you do things differently from your friends, that's fine. The key is to understand your own goals and motivations as an instructor and to work to get better at expressing those in the classroom.

Mid-Career Faculty Member
Those instructors who have been college teachers for a decade or more have more advanced training needs. The Office of Instructional Resources has designated the May Academic Resources Conference week for advanced training for experienced and mid-career instructors and faculty members, so make sure to check out the offerings for that each year. 

Technical Training

If you require introductory training in areas such as Blackboard or Microsoft, please review the technical training recommendations for new faculty members. Once you master what you need from those recommendations, we would suggest you invest time in learning the following:

Changing Trends, Developing Knowledge

Educational and teaching theory and research advances quickly, but unless you are a professor of education, you might not be aware of current trends and research-based improvement in teaching recommendations including:

  • Since the development of learning style theory began in the 1960s, it's gone through several stages.  Starting in the 1990s , learning styles theories began to be investigated through research, and many learning styles beliefs have since been questioned. To learn more, have a look at: Belief in Learning Styles May be Detrimental ;  The Myth of Learning Styles
  • In 2014, an small but influential study concluded that taking notes via computer/digital device was not as good as taking notes by hand. Many professors used this study to justify a no-computers rule in their classes.  However, since the original study additional investigation into the question has undermined the conclusion of the original article so much, that it appears to no longer be supportable.  To learn more about the value of any kind of note-taking, read: How Much Mightier is the Pen Than the Keyboard for Note-taking? (Must sign-in with WSU credentials) If you prefer a discussion of the study over the study itself, or need something not behind a paywall, check out this article from the Center for Teaching Excellence at UVA.
  • The Office of Research hosts and conducts regular training sessions in the general area of research. You can access recordings of the Office or Research recorded sessions online here.

Recommended Reading

Instructions for common tasks

Submitting Grades and Related Information

The University Registrar offers a great explanation about grading periods, the incomplete grade policy and more, and all instructors should be sure to read and bookmark that page. Grades are always due by 10:00pm Central Time on the Tuesday after the last day of finals (for a regular semester) or by 10:00pm Central Time on the Tuesday after the last day of class for the Summer term. If you need help submitting grades to the Banner system, this document from ITS will help you. NOTE: you will need to login to access this document. If you are looking for dates for your course, you can login to myWSU, go to the "Faculty" tab to see your courses.  Click on "Detail Schedule" for the start and end dates of your class, and for more general dates, you can access the university's academic calendar here.  Here is a handy table provided by the Registrar:

Final grade student should receive (and will see):

If student neverattended class/logged in or participated online , enter:

If student attended class/participated online for entire course and earned failing grade, enter:

If student started but stopped attending/participating online and failed course, enter:

F

FN

FF

FQ

U

UN

UF

UQ

NCR

NCRN

NCRF

NCRQ

NBG

NBGN

NBGF

NBGQ

 

Do not enter Last Date of Attendance

Do not enter Last Date of Attendance

You must enter Last Date of Attendance

 

NOTE: While you are encouraged to keep your gradebook in Blackboard so students have easy access to monitor their progress, grades in Blackboard do not automatically upload to the Banner system when grades are due. Instructors must input grades into Banner manually.

Finding Picture Rosters
Picture rosters can be found in Banner 9, but not in Blackboard. To locate your picture roster, follow these instructions:
  1. Everyone: Login to MyWSU
  2. GTAs: On the Home tab, look for the link to "Banner Self-Service" on the right side of the page. Open the "Faculty and Advisors" link.
  3. All other instructors: Locate the "Teach/Advise" tab at the top of the page. Click on "Banner 9 Faculty/Advisor Self Service" on the left side of the page.
  4. Everyone: Click on "Class List." While this does not look like a link, it is.
  5. Everyone: Locate the column called "Subject," and click on the letters/numbers representing your class (eg: ENGL 101). Again, this will not look like a link, but it is.
  6. Everyone: You should now have a picture roster of your course. If you would like the pictures to be larger, mouse over each student's name.
The "Visual Student Roster" once found in Blackboard is no longer available as the tool became defunct and can't be replaced.

When You Are Concerned About a Student

Whether you have a concern about a student's academic performance or their mental health, Wichita State has robust systems in place to provide help.

  • When you have a concern about your student's academic progress
    • File a SEAS Report: A Student Early Alert System (SEAS) report is the way instructors can notify a student they are in danger of failing a class. When instructors submit a SEAS report, the student will receive an email outlining the concerns and linking to resources.
    • Suggest the Shocker Learning Center: The Shocker Learning Center coordinates all kinds of academic success initiatives for your students.
    • Suggest Student Success Coaches: Student Success Coaches provide students with support and guidance in many areas including time management and procrastination. They also have services for instructors to help them identify barriers to learning in their classes, so check them out yourself!
    • Consult this document if you are unsure what service to suggest.
  • When you have a concern about your student's mental health
    • Submit a CARE Team report: The CARE Team can help with a wide variety of issues including an inability to get along with others, problems with self care, relationship struggles, and mental health concerns.
    • Suggest Counseling and Prevention Services: As the name implies, CAPS provides both counseling and prevention services to students. They have an excellent body of resources available online too.
  • When you have a concern about your student's physical health
    • Suggest Student Health Services: Student Health Services offers a wide variety of services including treatment for illness, injuries, lab testing, and medication services for both prescription and over the counter medications. 
    • Suggest the Shocker Support Locker: The Shocker Support Locker gives students, faculty and staff access to food, clothing, toiletries, and baby/family products. The Shocker Support Locker is coordinated and managed by the Student Government Association.
All Things Microsoft and More

Wichita State offers free, ultra high-quality training for Microsoft Office products through ITS.  No matter how comfortable you are with PowerPoint, Word, Excel, and Teams, you will learn a lot from attending these trainings. You will need to access the signup for these trainings through myTraining, which you get to through your myWSU login. The Office of Instructional Resources recommends that all instructors take Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint training as a minimum. 

  • If you are interested in Team training, check out the Teams Hub. If you would like to incorporate Teams in your teaching, contact Ali Levine to be included in an informal group of instructors who meet online to talk about Teams in the classroom.
  • If you are interested in Adobe Acrobat and InDesign training, you can access it through myTraining if you are a full-time faculty or staff member at Wichita State. Otherwise, the Office of Instructional Resources recommends you checkout the Microsoft training options in LinkedIn Learning, which is provided to you free of charge if you are a university employee.  Learn more about accessing LinkedIn Learning for free.
Getting Started with Blackboard Ultra

Blackboard Ultra is Wichita State's new learning management platform. Regardless of your university role or experience level, if you have not used Ultra as an instructor or an organization leader, you will find there is much to learn.  The Ultra platform is modern and highly functional, and taking the time to explore its features will improve your experience significantly. OIR provides a great deal of Ultra training, and you can find the Ultra homepage here.  The links below will get you started in a more directed way:

Offering Online Tests

For technical information on how to build online tests, you should have a look here for Blackboard Ultra and here for "old" Blackboard. Otherwise, the instructions provided in this area address online testing from a less technical perspective.

Online Test Integrity

  • Examity is Wichita State's human-based online proctoring option. Because Examity is paid for by each student who uses it, instructors must disclose in their syllabus if Examity will be required.
  • HonorLock is Wichita State's AI-driven online proctoring option. More information to come. 

Pedagogy of Testing

  • Not all testing requires proctoring. The first step in choosing whether to use proctoring should include understanding the purpose of the test. If a test or quiz is "formative,"  primarily used to reinforce and monitor ongoing learning, then it probably does not need any proctoring.  If a test is a high-stakes, summative exam, it may require proctoring. For more information about formative versus summative testing, have a look at Carnegie Mellon University's short discussion.
  • Tests and assignments that rely on "authentic assessment" require less rigorous proctoring in part because they are much harder to cheat on and in part because students have less motivation to cheat. This discussion of authentic assessment from the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning at Indiana University Bloomington has a handy chart to help explain these concepts.
Recording Lecture Videos Using Teams and Other Microsoft 365 Options

Zoom is an easy-to-use live video platform that also allows for easy video capture, with or without participants. Wichita State has invested in a technological "integration" that even allows instructors to have a seamless Zoom to Panopto experience with free human captioning through May, 2022. It is worth the time to learn how to master these tools at any time, but especially now while human captioning is free to the university community.

Getting Started with Microsoft 365

If you will be offering synchronous online lectures, or if you plan to record lectures to deliver online,  we recommend you use Teams.  Wichita State provides Microsoft 365 accounts for free to all instructors, so you should get one right away.  If you would like to record your lectures in Teams for your students to watch later, we recommend you learn how to use your OneDrive account, as all recordings are stored there. Lectures in OneDrive can easily be captioned in the Stream interface.

Microsoft Teams and Ultra

Microsoft Teams and Blackboard Ultra are integrated in a way that makes it easy for you to use both tools in your course. For more information, see OIR's Teams in Blackboard Ultra page. 

The craft of teaching

Running Class-Level Research Projects

As instructors we all like to try new things to improve teaching effectiveness and reach students better. But our own anecdotal experience is not always the best way to judge the effectiveness of new methods.  By doing a little work to learn how to set up a course-level research project, you can improve your teaching, serve as an informed mentor to others, and create data that you can use for publications and presentations.  

Fundamentals of Action Research

  • Action Research has been a popular theme in education for the last few decades, but it is not necessarily understood outside of Colleges of Education. Action Research is a method of investigation that supports instructors who want to use data to see what works in their own classrooms. Using Action Research, any instructor can become more systematic in their work to improve their own teaching. If you are interested in learning more about Action Research before you decide if it's for you, have a look at this excellent monograph by the Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory at Brown University (Eileen Ferrance, author).
  • If you would like to set up a small, course or semester based Action Research investigation in your own class(es), you can learn the basics of Action Research from a ARC recorded session from 2021 and the absolute basics of some useful statistics here.
  • If you think this sounds like something you would like to pursue but you can't figure out how to get started, reach out to the Office of Instructional Resources at OIR@wichita.edu.  
Writing Outcomes and Aligning Curriculum

Wichita State's standardized syllabus asks for measurable outcomes/objectives, but if you have never written those before, that can be a challenge. This area will help you understand the what, why, and how of measurable learning objectives.

Understanding and Writing Outcomes/Objectives

  • Outcomes, objectives, and course goals are all somewhat interchangeable terms to describe the same basic idea: what do you want your students to know and be able to do as a consequence of taking your class? The key to writing strong course and unit-based outcomes is to make them measurable, and that can be challenging for some kinds of learning. For an excellent introduction to what outcomes/objectives are and how to write them, refer to this article from Faculty Focus.
  • The key to having a measurable outcome is to start with a measurable verb. This list of action verbs from K-State will help you construct measurable outcomes.

The Basics of Alignment and Curriculum Mapping

  • Once you have created a list of course and module/unit level measurable outcomes (objectives, goals...!), the next step is to align those objectives with the course activities and assessments. This process ensures that each course has the appropriate information to help students achieve the course outcomes and also ensures that the course assessments actually measure the necessary data to evaluate whether students have met those outcomes.  This can be a difficult process, and the Office of Instructional Resources offers free consulting to instructors who would like help.
  • Creating outcomes and alignments will allow instructors and programs to take the next step and create a course or program map of outcomes and how they are assessed. Curriculum maps of this kind are exceptionally helpful when working on program assessment and when discussing changes in required courses or assignments. This page provides more detail about curriculum maps.
Becoming a More Inclusive Instructor

Higher education changes students lives, and the better we understand our students and how to reach them, the more effective we can be as instructors. This section addresses how to work to become a more inclusive instructor.

Inclusive Teaching Practices

Fostering Academic Integrity in Your Class

Fostering academic integrity in your courses an be a complex and dynamic process. For information about adding proctoring to your online course, refer to the section on Offering Online Tests. 

Academic Integrity Statements

 

Browse by Topic

The OIR website is organized topically so you can easily browse by subject.  Sometimes this is the best way to find information you are looking for. The following links will take you to some of our most frequently accessed webpages. For a complete list of the training and information we offer, please check out the links on our homepage.

Understanding AccessibilityWhen You Provide AccommodationsUsing Blackboard Learn ("Old" Blackboard)Using Blackboard Ultra ("New" Blackboard)Understanding Course Delievery OptionsUsing the Panopto Video ServiceClassroom PedagogyProctoring InformationUsing Zoom