[{"id":10015,"date":"2026-10-01T17:16:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T17:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/?p=10015"},"modified":"2026-10-01T17:16:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T17:16:10","slug":"team-teaching-canvas-gradebook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/2026\/10\/01\/team-teaching-canvas-gradebook\/","title":{"rendered":"Team Teaching: Canvas Gradebook"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Team Teaching is a series of blog posts designed to support team teaching at the School of Nursing. In this series you will find best practices in team teaching and managing your Canvas course while working on a team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Grade Posting Policy: Automatic or Manual?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The default in Canvas is that as soon as you grade an assignment, the student gets notified of the grade they received.\u00a0 This setting is known as the course or assignment grade posting policy.\u00a0\u00a0One way to manage grading in a course that is taught as a team is to set different grade posting policies on different assignments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Set the Grade Posting Policy on an Assignment<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To set a grade posting on an individual assignment, go to the Canvas gradebook.\u00a0 Go to an individual assignment column and hover over the name of the assignment.\u00a0 To the right of the assignment name, you will find an assignment menu.\u00a0 Select the menu and at the bottom you will see Grade Posting Policy.\u00a0 For more detailed information, please review the following Canvas Guide: <a href=\"https:\/\/community.instructure.com\/en\/kb\/articles\/660845-how-do-i-select-a-grade-posting-policy-for-an-assignment-in-the-gradebook\">How do I select a grade posting policy for an assignment in the Gradebook<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Note<\/strong>: changing a grade posting policy on an assignment should be done before entering the grades for the assignment.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"855\" height=\"381\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/246\/2026\/10\/grade-posting-policy.png\" alt=\"An image of the Canvas gradebook indicating a manual grade posting policy.\" class=\"wp-image-10016\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/246\/2026\/10\/grade-posting-policy.png 855w, https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/246\/2026\/10\/grade-posting-policy-300x134.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/246\/2026\/10\/grade-posting-policy-768x342.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 855px) 100vw, 855px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When a manual posting policy has been applied to an assignment, the assignment header displays the <strong>Manual<\/strong> label [1]. This label indicates that a manual posting policy is currently in place and future grades are hidden from student view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once a submission has been graded, the assignment header displays the <strong>Visibility<\/strong> icon [2]. This indicates that there are grades within the assignment that must be posted before they can be viewed by students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When grades are hidden from student view, the Total column also displays the <strong>Visibility<\/strong> icon [3]. This indicates that the total grade in the Gradebook differs from the total grade viewed by the student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To <a href=\"https:\/\/community.instructure.com\/en\/kb\/articles\/660844-how-do-i-select-a-grade-posting-policy-for-a-course-in-the-gradebook\">manage the default posting policy for a course<\/a>, click the <strong>Settings<\/strong> icon [4].<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Post Grades by Section<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once an assignment has a manual posting policy, you will have options on how to post grades.  Go to the menu for the assignment and choose Post grades.\u00a0For more detailed information see the Canvas Guide: <a href=\"https:\/\/community.instructure.com\/en\/kb\/articles\/660846-how-do-i-post-grades-for-an-assignment-in-the-gradebook\">How do I post grades for an assignment in the Gradebook<\/a>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once you choose to post grades, you will have posting options.  If you are on a teaching team you may be asked to post grades only for your section once you have finished grading.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Select &gt; Graded &gt; Specific Sections and select the section for your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"322\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/246\/2026\/10\/specific-sections.png\" alt=\"The posting grades menu options.\" class=\"wp-image-10017\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/246\/2026\/10\/specific-sections.png 322w, https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/246\/2026\/10\/specific-sections-168x300.png 168w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 322px) 100vw, 322px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Canvas Guides<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The images used in this post are from the Canvas Guides listed below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/community.instructure.com\/en\/kb\/articles\/660845-how-do-i-select-a-grade-posting-policy-for-an-assignment-in-the-gradebook\">How do I select a grade posting policy for an assignment in the Gradebook<\/a>?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/community.instructure.com\/en\/kb\/articles\/660846-how-do-i-post-grades-for-an-assignment-in-the-gradebook\">How do I post grades for an assignment in the Gradebook<\/a>?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/community.instructure.com\/en\/kb\/articles\/660840-how-do-i-use-the-icons-and-colors-in-the-gradebook\">How do I use the icons and colors in the Gradebook<\/a>?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Team Teaching is a series of blog posts designed to support team teaching at the School of Nursing. In this series you will find best practices in team teaching and managing your Canvas course while working on a team. Grade Posting Policy: Automatic or Manual? The default in Canvas is that as soon as you [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":275,"featured_media":10000,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[33,56],"class_list":["post-10015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-teaching-tips","tag-canvas","tag-team-teaching"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/275"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10015"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10020,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10015\/revisions\/10020"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":9999,"date":"2026-10-01T14:26:41","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T14:26:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/?p=9999"},"modified":"2026-10-01T14:47:44","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T14:47:44","slug":"team-teaching-post-announcements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/2026\/10\/01\/team-teaching-post-announcements\/","title":{"rendered":"Team Teaching: Post Announcements"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Team Teaching is a series of blog posts designed to support team teaching at the School of Nursing. In this series you will find best practices in team teaching and managing your Canvas course while working on a team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Post Announcements by Group or Section<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you are teaching a course with others, you may be responsible for only 1 group or section of students.&nbsp; Communicating with the students in your section is possible by posting an announcement only to your section or your group.&nbsp; The lead faculty for your course will direct you to the best method to use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Post Announcements to a Group Homepage<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Groups are small subsets of students that are organized for specific projects or assignments. If you are new to using groups as an instructor, review the Canvas Guide: <a href=\"https:\/\/community.instructure.com\/en\/kb\/articles\/660872-how-do-i-view-all-groups-in-a-course-as-an-instructor\">How do I view all groups in a course as an instructor<\/a>?  To view the groups in your course, visit the People page from the Canvas course menu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"398\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/246\/2026\/10\/InstructorView.png\" alt=\"View of groups from the instructor view in Canvas.\" class=\"wp-image-10002\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/246\/2026\/10\/InstructorView.png 900w, https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/246\/2026\/10\/InstructorView-300x133.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/246\/2026\/10\/InstructorView-768x340.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Selecting the People menu from the instructor&#8217;s view displays all groups in the course.  An instructor can visit any group homepage by selecting the group menu (the three vertical dots to the right of the number of students) and choosing Visit Group Homepage.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To post an announcement to your student group, click the 3 vertical dots to the right of your group\u2019s name and choose Visit Homepage. Once you are on the homepage of your group, press the + Announcement button on the right side of the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"384\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/246\/2026\/10\/AddGroupAnnouncement-1024x384.png\" alt=\"The group homepage view in Canvas.\" class=\"wp-image-10007\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/246\/2026\/10\/AddGroupAnnouncement-1024x384.png 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/246\/2026\/10\/AddGroupAnnouncement-300x113.png 300w, https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/246\/2026\/10\/AddGroupAnnouncement-768x288.png 768w, https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/246\/2026\/10\/AddGroupAnnouncement.png 1032w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Posting an Announcement to a Section<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Announcements can be posted to all sections in a course or to a specific section.&nbsp; For a deeper dive into course announcements, review the Canvas Guide: <a href=\"https:\/\/community.instructure.com\/en\/kb\/articles\/660641-how-do-i-use-the-announcements-index-page\">How do I use the Announcements Index Page<\/a>? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Go to Announcements from your Canvas menu, and choose the + Add Announcement button.&nbsp; Give your announcement a title, and some content.&nbsp; Under Post to\u2026select \u201cAll Sections\u201d or choose a specific section using the drop down menu.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"710\" height=\"283\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/246\/2026\/10\/AnnouncementToSection.png\" alt=\"Announcement to a section in Canvas.\" class=\"wp-image-10004\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/246\/2026\/10\/AnnouncementToSection.png 710w, https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/246\/2026\/10\/AnnouncementToSection-300x120.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 710px) 100vw, 710px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Selecting the drop down menu displays all sections in the Canvas course.  Once you select your section, the Post to menu will be replaced with the name of your specific section.  After choosing your section, scroll down the page to the Publish button in the lower right corner of the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Canvas Guides<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/community.instructure.com\/en\/kb\/articles\/660643-how-do-i-add-an-announcement-in-a-course\">How do I add an announcement in a course?<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/community.instructure.com\/en\/kb\/articles\/660872-how-do-i-view-all-groups-in-a-course-as-an-instructor\">How do I view all groups in a course as an instructor<\/a>?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/community.instructure.com\/en\/kb\/articles\/661331-how-do-i-view-my-canvas-groups-as-a-student\">How do I view my Canvas groups as a student<\/a>?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Team Teaching is a series of blog posts designed to support team teaching at the School of Nursing. In this series you will find best practices in team teaching and managing your Canvas course while working on a team. Post Announcements by Group or Section If you are teaching a course with others, you may [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":275,"featured_media":10000,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[56],"class_list":["post-9999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-teaching-tips","tag-team-teaching"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/275"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9999"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10014,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9999\/revisions\/10014"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":9986,"date":"2026-09-17T14:11:47","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T14:11:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/?p=9986"},"modified":"2026-09-17T14:11:50","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T14:11:50","slug":"the-principles-of-alignment-in-course-design-aligning-mos-with-cos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/2026\/09\/17\/the-principles-of-alignment-in-course-design-aligning-mos-with-cos\/","title":{"rendered":"The Principles of Alignment in Course Design: Aligning MO\u2019s with CO\u2019s"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What the heck are COs vs MOs? And why does they matter?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Well, you\u2019ve already encountered COs-the acronym stands for Course Outcomes and they are on the short syllabi of the SON Courses you are assigned to teach. You\u2019ve probably also heard them as Learning Outcomes, Course Learning Objectives, and a couple of different variations-they are all the same thing.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">SON Courses are typically structured as a set of modules to break up course content and scale learning to meet course outcomes. Within each module, you will often have a focus with a set of tasks or goals that you want the student to be able to complete by the end of the module. These are your module outcomes. Each module outcome should align with reaching a wider course outcome<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is known as the principle of alignment; the application of different course elements coming together to facilitate the achievement of learners accomplishing and achieving the intended learning outcomes of the course.<em> It is also the elimination of busy work.<\/em> Every component of the course has a directive or purpose for students being able to meet outlined course outcomes.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You may have heard the term \u201cBloom\u2019s Taxonomy of Verbs\u201d and while it may sound like a fun skit from the days of Sesame Street, it is actually a tool for helping the course stay aligned and to write your own module outcomes so as to ensure<em> your assigned work for learners is of value.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"750\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/246\/2026\/09\/image.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-9987\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/246\/2026\/09\/image.jpeg 750w, https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/246\/2026\/09\/image-300x205.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Time to think about verbs-no don\u2019t run! You won\u2019t have to diagram sentences like in 7th grade English. But verbs help formulate course outcomes. Everything a student does is an <em>action.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Take a look at these course outcomes for <strong>478: Leadership and Management in Health Care. <\/strong>Every single outcome begins with a verb:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Discuss the principles of nursing leadership and management. (SLO 5, 7)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Demonstrate an understanding of ethical and legal principles related to leadership and management in nursing practice. (SLO 3, 7)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Develop leadership skills, strategies, and behaviors in the context of systems-based care. (SLO 7)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Explore theories of organizational and systems leadership and management to the healthcare environment. (SLO 2, 5, 7)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Evaluate the impact of healthcare policies and regulations on nursing practice and leadership. (SLO 7)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Engage in self-reflection and ongoing professional development to enhance nursing leadership and management skills. (SLO 3)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this class, learners will be discussing, developing, exploring, and evaluating, and these skills exist on a compendium of ability, growth, and maturity&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New nursing students do not analyze. But they are discovering, observing, naming, sorting, and then practicing recalling that information. As learners progress, they start to recognize patterns, their recall of information gets stronger, and eventually (and excitingly) they begin to use old concepts to create new ideas.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This progression exists in a condensed version in your class. If say, you are introducing pathophysiology to a nursing student that has never taken a patho class, they are not going to jump straight into assessment, analysis, and providing solutions for a patient. They will start by naming, sorting, coding, and memorizing language to lay the foundation of what they need to know later on.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, this is where Bloom\u2019s taxonomy starts to come into play. It would make a lot of sense that module outcomes, especially in the first few weeks, stay in the lower end of the scale of Bloom\u2019s taxonomy of verbs. As your class continues, those module outcomes will start to move up the scale. Or for more advanced graduate level courses you begin in the middle of Bloom\u2019s taxonomy, with the goal of having students reach the very top of the scale. This is useful for your formative assessments (smaller activities\/quizzes\/exercises) and your large flagship Big projects known as summative assessments. Formative assessments tend to stay lower in Bloom\u2019s taxonomy, while summative assessments tend to focus on the higher level ones.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are many, many MANY lists of Bloom\u2019s taxonomy of verbs to help you create outcomes, and can also help you make sure your formative and summative assessments align with those outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Here is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.utica.edu\/academic\/Assessment\/new\/Blooms%20Taxonomy%20-%20Best.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">great PDF from Utica.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There\u2019s been scant research on the use of Bloom\u2019s Taxonomy within nursing education. Interestingly, the results have been mixed. Some feel that Bloom\u2019s Taxonomy does not adequately address the complexity of patient experience and care, and that there may be other ways to determine measurable learning outcomes. There is also some research that indicates that alignment does not increase cognitive learning.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What may be useful however, is that having clearly defined module outcomes that outline course outcomes, will help your course meet AACN essentials. Here is a great blog post talking about just that at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.elevatednpblog.com\/post\/how-to-write-learning-objectives-in-nursing-courses-to-drive-clinical-thinking\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Elevated NP: Empowering NP Educators to Teach, Lead, and Thrive.\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With all of that being said, take a deep breath and don\u2019t get too hung up on verb usage, outcomes, and alignment. It can get overwhelming and it might derail you from creating something that feels exciting for yourself and for students. The OLTS Team can help you get started with some mapping and as you start to work on building out a new course, the wording for the outcomes will become more clear. Sometimes reverse engineering them is a perfectly acceptable way to get them done.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Happy course-building! May your canvas login always work, your VCU Laptop stay at full battery, and Rodney the Ram sends you good tidings.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Research:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dabney, B. W., &amp; Eid, F. (2024). <a href=\"https:\/\/doi-org.proxy.library.vcu.edu\/10.1016\/j.teln.2024.05.012\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Comparing educational frameworks: Unpacking differences between Fink&#8217;s and Bloom&#8217;s taxonomies in nursing education.<\/a> <em>Teaching and Learning in Nursing<\/em>, <em>19<\/em>(4), 347\u2013350.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jia Z, Balinas JM. <a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC11000043\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Teaching Strategies in Psychiatric Nursing Based on Bloom&#8217;s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.<\/a> Cureus. 2024 Apr 7;16(4):e57759. doi: 10.7759\/cureus.57759. PMID: 38590977; PMCID: PMC11000043.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Su, W. M., Osisek, P. J., &amp; Starnes, B. (2005). <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1097\/00006223-200505000-00014\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Using the revised Bloom&#8217;s taxonomy in the clinical laboratory: Thinking skills involved in diagnostic reasoning.<\/a> <em>Nurse Educator<\/em>, <em>30<\/em>(3), 117\u2013122.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Image source: Menu, Sethi<a href=\"https:\/\/oercommons.org\/courseware\/lesson\/72230\/overview\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Bloom\u2019s Taxonomy of Objectives. <\/a>OER Resources. Creative Commons License<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What the heck are COs vs MOs? And why does they matter?\u00a0 Well, you\u2019ve already encountered COs-the acronym stands for Course Outcomes and they are on the short syllabi of the SON Courses you are assigned to teach. You\u2019ve probably also heard them as Learning Outcomes, Course Learning Objectives, and a couple of different variations-they [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2465,"featured_media":9991,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,1],"tags":[16,17],"class_list":["post-9986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-assessment-and-measurement","category-learning-objectives","category-uncategorized","tag-education","tag-faculty-development-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2465"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9986"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9996,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9986\/revisions\/9996"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":9867,"date":"2026-09-09T19:33:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T19:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/?p=9867"},"modified":"2026-09-09T19:33:02","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T19:33:02","slug":"aacn-memberships-for-son-faculty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/2026\/09\/09\/aacn-memberships-for-son-faculty\/","title":{"rendered":"AACN Memberships for SON Faculty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Did you know that VCU SON Faculty may be eligible for AACN Memberships? Here are some of the benefits included: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Learn and network with fellow professionals at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aacnnursing.org\/conferences-webinars\/conferences\">nationwide conferences<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Earn free Continuing Education (CE) credits by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aacnnursing.org\/conferences-webinars\/online-learning\/upcoming-webinars\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">attending a webinar<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Learn to advance the profession and your career as an academic nursing leader through\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aacnnursing.org\/conferences-webinars\">Professional Development Programs<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Develop professionally with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aacnnursing.org\/faculty\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Faculty Development Programs<\/a>\u00a0and stay at the forefront of nursing education<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aacnnursing.org\/Membership\/Volunteer-Engage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Volunteer<\/a>\u00a0on one of AACN&#8217;s many committees, advisory groups, and task forces.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Gain invaluable insight from an experienced nursing leader in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aacnnursing.org\/conferences-webinars\/leadership-development\">AACN LEAD<\/a>&#8216;s programs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Make a difference in healthcare policy at the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aacnnursing.org\/SPS\">Student Policy Summit<\/a>\u00a0and as a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aacnnursing.org\/policy-advocacy\/resources\/deans-faculty-resources\">State Grassroots Liaison<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Learn and network with fellow professionals at<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aacnnursing.org\/conferences-webinars\/conferences\"> nationwide conferences<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Earn free Continuing Education (CE) credits by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aacnnursing.org\/conferences-webinars\/online-learning\/upcoming-webinars\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">attending a webinar<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Contact <a href=\"mailto:beliecd@vcu.edu\">Dina Belic<\/a> via email for more information about AACN memberships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Did you know that VCU SON Faculty may be eligible for AACN Memberships? Here are some of the benefits included: Contact Dina Belic via email for more information about AACN memberships.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2465,"featured_media":9873,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,55,49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-assessment-and-measurement","category-professional-development","category-training"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2465"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9867"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9874,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9867\/revisions\/9874"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":9854,"date":"2026-09-03T18:29:38","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T18:29:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/?p=9854"},"modified":"2026-09-03T18:31:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T18:31:54","slug":"scaffolding-assignments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/2026\/09\/03\/scaffolding-assignments\/","title":{"rendered":"Scaffolding Assignments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There has been a lot of chatter lately about AI, education, and forming \u201cuncheatable assessments\u201d or \u201cAI-resistant\u201d assessments. While cheating has existed long before college students had their own private dial-up internet, AI has posed new challenges in creating educational content that actually assesses and develops learner competencies and cognition.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the answers that often comes up in these discussions is the scaffolded assignment. Many educators already create scaffolded assignments, whether they know it or not. It simply means breaking up a larger assignment into smaller sections throughout a course. A community health assessment for example, might start with a needs assessment survey, then a review of relevant literature with a bibliography, an outline, various methods of data collection, a synthesis of results, a plan of implementation for a solution, and a final presentation. There are infinite variations of this, and the ingenuity which educators have used scaffolded assignments have yielded great results-research generally shows that scaffolding assignments improves student performance, cognitive development, and motivation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, past the first glance the story is of course a little more complicated. Scaffolding assignments is a learning modality based on a learner\u2019s \u201czone of proximal development\u201d (ZPD), a term that refers to skills or content that is just out of a learner\u2019s reach to complete on their own, but with the right support would be able to achieve and master. Support includes learning materials and most importantly, instructor feedback.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When thinking about ZPD, this creates a new set of parameters to think about when creating scaffolded assignments. It is not just about breaking apart a large project into smaller tasks, it also involves formulating assignments that assists learning so that neural pathways are created for long-term memory, rather than short-term working memory. Dr. Leo Van Lier in his seminal book <em>Interaction in the Language Curriculum: Awareness, Autonomy and Authenticity <\/em>developed six principles for scaffolding assignments:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Contextual support\u2014a safe but challenging environment, errors are expected and accepted as part of the learning process<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Continuity\u2014repeated occurrences over time of a complex of actions, keeping a balance between routine and variation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Intersubjectivity\u2014mutual engagement and support, two minds thinking as one<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Flow\u2014communication between participants is not forced, but flow in a natural way<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Contingency\u2014the scaffolded assistance depends on learners\u2019 reactions, elements can be added, changed, deleted, repeated, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Handover\u2014the ZPD closes when the learner is ready to undertake similar tasks without help<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So the original focus for scaffolded assignments was more intentional than simply breaking down a final project into smaller tasks. It\u2019s really about instructor\/student engagement, safety in experimentation, and the goal of a learner being able to complete the project on their own.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The effects of scaffolding assignments to minimize AI-use have largely not been studied. So while it is often positioned as one of the main solutions to AI over-reliance, the technique and the technology still do not have conclusive results. Scaffolding is also considered controversial in some higher education spaces as not demonstrating an improvement in writing skills, and studies have shown that scaffolding makes great improvements in meta-cognitive domains, and less in affective and cognitive domains. In other words, students learn much more about how to self-reflect on how they learn and what works best for them in learning, and less improvements in memorization, problem-solving, and motivation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more information check out:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Coffman, S., Iommi, M., &amp; Morrow, K. (2023). Scaffolding as active learning in nursing education. <em>Teaching and Learning in Nursing<\/em>, <em>18<\/em>(1), 232\u2013237.<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.teln.2022.09.012\"> https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.teln.2022.09.012<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lier, L. V. (2014). <em>Interaction in the Language Curriculum: Awareness, Autonomy and Authenticity<\/em>. Routledge.<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4324\/9781315843223\"> https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4324\/9781315843223<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>(PDF) A Meta-Analysis of Scaffolding Effects in Online Learning in Higher Education. (2026). <em>ResearchGate<\/em>.<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.19173\/irrodl.v21i3.4638\"> https:\/\/doi.org\/10.19173\/irrodl.v21i3.4638<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>(PDF) The Effect of Scaffolding on Assignment Quality and Procedural Learning Achievement. (2026). <em>ResearchGate<\/em>.<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.7358\/ecps-2020-022-midu\"> https:\/\/doi.org\/10.7358\/ecps-2020-022-midu<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>The Zone of Proximal Development in Vygotsky\u2019s Analysis of Learning and Instruction (Chapter 2)\u2014Vygotsky\u2019s Educational Theory in Cultural Context<\/em>. (n.d.). Retrieved September 3, 2026, from<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/books\/abs\/vygotskys-educational-theory-in-cultural-context\/zone-of-proximal-development-in-vygotskys-analysis-of-learning-and-instruction\/1F8B412CF2A358988F0E7C2ABBCECBA3\"> https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/books\/abs\/vygotskys-educational-theory-in-cultural-context\/zone-of-proximal-development-in-vygotskys-analysis-of-learning-and-instruction\/1F8B412CF2A358988F0E7C2ABBCECBA3<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There has been a lot of chatter lately about AI, education, and forming \u201cuncheatable assessments\u201d or \u201cAI-resistant\u201d assessments. While cheating has existed long before college students had their own private dial-up internet, AI has posed new challenges in creating educational content that actually assesses and develops learner competencies and cognition.\u00a0 One of the answers that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2465,"featured_media":9855,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,13,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-assessment-and-measurement","category-learner-engagement","category-learner-support"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2465"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9854"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9858,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9854\/revisions\/9858"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":9848,"date":"2026-09-03T12:02:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T12:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/?p=9848"},"modified":"2026-09-10T18:47:26","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T18:47:26","slug":"course-design-feedback-form","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/2026\/09\/03\/course-design-feedback-form\/","title":{"rendered":"Course Design Feedback Form"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It is the beginning of the semester and you went through your course before it launched and thought you found all of the issues that students might encounter.  Inevitably, there will be items missed or issues that pop up that you didn&#8217;t anticipate.  The Online Learning and Teaching Support Team (OLTS) has you covered!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We are launching a Course Design Feedback Form that will be located in the &#8220;Faculty Only&#8221; module of your Canvas course.  Review the video below to see how you can locate the form and add an entry to be sure that the next time the course is launched the issue will be rectified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><video controls src=\"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/246\/2026\/09\/CourseFeedback.mp4\"><\/video><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is the beginning of the semester and you went through your course before it launched and thought you found all of the issues that students might encounter. Inevitably, there will be items missed or issues that pop up that you didn&#8217;t anticipate. The Online Learning and Teaching Support Team (OLTS) has you covered! We [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":275,"featured_media":9849,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[33,54],"class_list":["post-9848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-canvas","tag-canvas","tag-quality-improvement"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/275"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9848"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9853,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9848\/revisions\/9853"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":9828,"date":"2026-08-31T14:07:54","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T14:07:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/?p=9828"},"modified":"2026-08-31T21:53:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T21:53:29","slug":"ungrading-alternative-grading-frameworks-for-nursing-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/2026\/08\/31\/ungrading-alternative-grading-frameworks-for-nursing-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Alternative Grading Frameworks for Nursing Education"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As education and pedagogy have evolved, differing systems of assessments and grading infrastructure have been positioned to provide alternatives to standard, numeric-based grading systems. These are largely to configure a vision of learning that gives students intrinsic motivation for learning and, particularly in medicine, ensuring competency in nationalized standards that students must pass in order to become clinicians. One particular grading assessment framework that has been used in different disciplines is the Ungrading Framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;The Ungrading framework as Susan D Blum says in the seminal work <em>Ungrading: Why Grading Students Undermines Learning, and what We can do Instead <\/em>defines Ungrading as,&nbsp;&#8220;\u2026focus[ing] on increasing students\u2019 intrinsic motivation [which] often taps into students\u2019 curiosity.&#8221;(3) According to Blum, some of the top medical schools use the Ungrading framework to rely less on typical alpha-numeric grade metrics and more on basic pass-fail for earlier classes, and encouraging a more collaborative approach for later classes. Blum says,&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Most elite medical schools (eighteen of the top twenty medical schools) use only pass-fail grades for preclinical courses. In 2017 as many as ninety-six medical schools used simple pass-fail systems; twenty-six used honors, pass, fail; and thirteen used honors, high pass, pass, fail. Only twenty-eight used numerical or letter-grade systems. The argument is that students\u2019 grades in basic science courses show no meaningful correlation with their later quality as practicing physicians. Medical schools have also largely eliminated a focus on grades because they have been plagued by high rates of suicide; these reforms aim in part to ameliorate some pressures by creating more cooperative communities\u2014 something that surely is relevant for institutions serving undergraduates, said to have \u201cepidemic\u201d levels of anxiety. (12)&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There are many critics of the Ungrading framework as being only as good as student abilities for self-evaluating, or that it might unknowingly contribute to equity gaps. There is also critique that it doesn\u2019t necessarily enhance student assessment. However, unilaterally, Ungrading research shows that student and instructor engagement exponentially increases. It also reduces stress and creates intrinsic motivation in learning.&nbsp;Other findings indicate that clinical practice is elevated and there is stronger alignment with overall competency-based education.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ungrading also exists on a spectrum. It does not mean that accountability, responsibility, deadlines, and rigor are absent from assessments. Many professors that embrace the Ungrading philosophy might have standard alpha-numeric grading for some assignments, and not others. They may also have standard grading for the first third of the semester, and then switch to a dialectic submit, feedback, return and resubmit assignment process. These are just a few examples of the myriad of ways professors in STEM fields have used to enhance assessment, instructor and student relationships, and competency. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more information about using Ungrading in Nursing education, check out the following articles:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>&#8220;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/journals.healio.com\/doi\/10.3928\/01484834-20250825-01\"><strong>Toward Equity in Evaluation: Rethinking Grading for Nursing Students<\/strong><\/a><strong>&#8220;<\/strong> <em>(Journal of Nursing Education)<\/em>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ovid.com\/10.1097\/NNE.0000000000002174\"><strong>&#8220;Role of Alternative Grading in Promoting Student Outcomes&#8221;<\/strong> <\/a><em>(Journal of Professional Nursing)<\/em>&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/41117207\/\"><strong>&#8220;Exploring the Implications of Implementing Ungrading in Two Graduate-Level Courses&#8221;<\/strong><\/a> <em>(Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health \/ Global Health Metrics)<\/em>&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Reference:&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Ungrading : Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead)<\/em>, edited by Susan D. Blum, West Virginia University Press, 2020.<em> ProQuest Ebook Central<\/em>, <a href=\"http:\/\/ebookcentral.proquest.com\/lib\/vcu\/detail.action?docID=6370466\">http:\/\/ebookcentral.proquest.com\/lib\/vcu\/detail.action?docID=6370466<\/a>.Created from vcu on 2026-07-26 14:22:20.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As education and pedagogy have evolved, differing systems of assessments and grading infrastructure have been positioned to provide alternatives to standard, numeric-based grading systems. These are largely to configure a vision of learning that gives students intrinsic motivation for learning and, particularly in medicine, ensuring competency in nationalized standards that students must pass in order [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2465,"featured_media":9838,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,13,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-assessment-and-measurement","category-learner-engagement","category-learning-objectives"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2465"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9828"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9828\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9840,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9828\/revisions\/9840"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":9810,"date":"2024-09-19T14:08:49","date_gmt":"2024-09-19T14:08:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/?p=9810"},"modified":"2026-09-04T17:05:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T17:05:28","slug":"adobe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/2024\/09\/19\/adobe\/","title":{"rendered":"Adobe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Take advantage of these two upcoming faculty professional development opportunities offered through through Adobe:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.adobeeducationevents.com\/adobedigitalliteracycafewebinars\">Digital Literacy Caf\u00e9 Webinar Series<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.adobeeducationevents.com\/adobeexpress-fireflywebinars\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.adobeeducationevents.com\/adobeexpress-fireflywebinars\">Adobe Express + Firefly Webinar Series<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Enjoy the series above for engaging, successful and interactive classroom exercises and lesson plans shared by four faculty at different institutions.  If you don&#8217;t have an Adobe license, use the <a href=\"https:\/\/adobe.vcu.edu\/access-licensing\/employees\/request-license\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/adobe.vcu.edu\/access-licensing\/employees\/request-license\/\">VCU Adobe License Request Form<\/a> to request access to: Acrobat Pro, Adobe Express, and the Adobe Creative Desktop Apps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Take advantage of these two upcoming faculty professional development opportunities offered through through Adobe: Enjoy the series above for engaging, successful and interactive classroom exercises and lesson plans shared by four faculty at different institutions. If you don&#8217;t have an Adobe license, use the VCU Adobe License Request Form to request access to: Acrobat Pro, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":275,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-learner-engagement","category-training"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/275"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9810"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9859,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9810\/revisions\/9859"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":9806,"date":"2024-08-06T12:20:31","date_gmt":"2024-08-06T12:20:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/?p=9806"},"modified":"2024-08-06T12:21:34","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T12:21:34","slug":"voicethread-workshops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/2024\/08\/06\/voicethread-workshops\/","title":{"rendered":"VoiceThread Workshops"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VoiceThread is hosting a basic workshop series in August.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>VoiceThread Basics 1: Upload, Comment, and Share<\/strong><br>When: August 6, 2024, 1:00 pm (Eastern Time)<br>Description: In this workshop, you will create a VoiceThread. Participants will learn how to upload media, comment and annotate on that media, and share it with others. This will be a slow paced, step-by-step, hands-on workshop. It is open to both VoiceThread license holders and free accounts.<br><a href=\"https:\/\/us02web.zoom.us\/webinar\/register\/WN_YYAlGolKSfmkfpVGGJPCfQ\">Register for VoiceThread Basics 1<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>VoiceThread Basics 2: Groups and Secure Sharing<\/strong><br>When: August 13, 2024, 1:00 pm (Eastern Time)<br>Description: This is a hands-on workshop.  Participants will learn how to create groups and subgroups, set sharing permissions within those groups, and privately share VoiceThreads with individuals.<br><a href=\"https:\/\/us02web.zoom.us\/webinar\/register\/WN_MYR1DAe9RCeCqdswdX9GJA\">Register for VoiceThread Basics 2<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>VoiceThread Basics 3: Moderating Comments, Private and Threaded Replies, Copying<\/strong><br>When: August 27, 2024, 1:00 pm (Eastern Time)<br>Description: In our third hands-on workshop in the series, participants will learn how to give private feedback, use threaded commenting, copy VoiceThreads for use with multiple groups, and use comment moderation to formatively assess student work.<br><a href=\"https:\/\/us02web.zoom.us\/webinar\/register\/WN_zvEsnHbpQ0aUNhQGklycsA\">Register for VoiceThread Basics 3<\/a><br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VoiceThread is hosting a basic workshop series in August. VoiceThread Basics 1: Upload, Comment, and ShareWhen: August 6, 2024, 1:00 pm (Eastern Time)Description: In this workshop, you will create a VoiceThread. Participants will learn how to upload media, comment and annotate on that media, and share it with others. This will be a slow paced, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":275,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,44],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-9806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-training","category-voicethread","tag-faculty-development-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/275"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9806\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":9805,"date":"2024-08-06T11:54:54","date_gmt":"2024-08-06T11:54:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/?p=9805"},"modified":"2024-08-06T11:55:59","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T11:55:59","slug":"examsoft-webinars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/2024\/08\/06\/examsoft-webinars\/","title":{"rendered":"ExamSoft Webinars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ExamSoft is offering a back to school 2024 webinar entitled &#8220;The Complete Guide to Preparing for Exam Day.&#8221;  The session is designed for Faculty and Proctors.  During this session, they will cover a high level overview of topics:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Leverage the power of mock exams<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Prepare exam-takers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Post assessment<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Proctor exams<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It will be held Tuesday, August 13th at 11 am.  <a href=\"https:\/\/groove.turnitin.com\/url\/0heEtm7TRCGeNDE6GXmt1QsA1Cw\/aHR0cHM6Ly90dXJuaXRpbi56b29tLnVzL3dlYmluYXIvcmVnaXN0ZXIvOTQxNzIxMjA3ODg1NS9XTl9wUUh6RXNsMFJreTJfX3kxUjZEbTJ3I2dyb292ZXN1bTo1NDY4Mjk3NTU=\">Register for this webinar<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ExamSoft is offering a back to school 2024 webinar entitled &#8220;The Complete Guide to Preparing for Exam Day.&#8221; The session is designed for Faculty and Proctors. During this session, they will cover a high level overview of topics: It will be held Tuesday, August 13th at 11 am. Register for this webinar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":275,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-training"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/275"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9805\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.vcu.edu\/nursingeducation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}]