New Employee Welcome This site will provide you with the information and resources you need to help you be successful and productive in your new position.
New to Teaching at NIU Find course policies, teaching policies, and teaching-related resources to help you start your teaching career at NIU successfully!
Strategies for Starting the Semester Well This list of strategies you can use the first day and into the first weeks of the semester that will help you create an engaging, motivating, and organized classroom environment.
Week of Engagement ToolkitFEATURED The first week of classes is a critical opportunity to engage students actively and early, thereby setting the expectation for a high level of participation throughout the semester. The connections that students form in the first week with you and their classmates can have a profound impact on their sense of belonging and ultimately their success and persistence in the course. This toolkit offers principles and strategies to keep in mind as you develop your syllabus and plan your first week of class.
Support Units for NIU Faculty Many support units are available at NIU to assist new faculty in their teaching, research, scholarship and artistry. This guide provides a quick overview and contact information to the support units that new faculty often connect with for support for their teaching, research, scholarship and artistry.
Learning Technologies at NIU Catalog of available and institutionally supported software and web tools to promote collaboration, enhance communication, share multimedia, teach online and more.
Tips for Starting the Semester with BlackboardFEATURED Answers to frequently asked questions new faculty, teaching staff, and TAs may have, as they request course space and get ready to develop their courses in Blackboard, NIU’s learning management system.
Teaching Effectiveness Guides
Active Learning Activities Here you will find several activities that can be used in any classroom to engage students as well as to monitor student learning / understanding.
Assessing Student Learning An overview of learning assessment is provided, with several goals: 1) to define student learning assessment and why it is important, 2) to discuss several approaches that may help to guide and refine student assessment, 3) to address various methods of student assessment, including the test and the essay, and 4) to offer several resources for further research.
Direct Versus Indirect Assessment of Student Learning It is important to understand the distinction between direct and indirect evidence of student learning. A few considerations, examples, and answers to frequently asked questions are provided.
How to Teach a Good First Day of Class The first day of class is crucial both for your students and for you. This guide will help you make opening day as effective as possible.
Instructional Guide for University Faculty and Teaching Assistants This guide is a brief compilation of teaching-related information from several sources, including instructional guidebooks from other institutions, journals, and contributions from master teachers and academic support units at Northern Illinois University.
Interactive Techniques Compendium of interactive instructional techniques categorized by instructional context.
Mid-term Check-in Reflection Questions Sample reflection questions for survey or discussion with students as well as faculty to reflect on their teaching practices and make adjustments mid-term .
Navigate Resources and Job Aids NIU Navigate connects students, advisors and services to promote academic planning and success. It has uses for both students and faculty/staff members, aimed at improving student success, retention and graduation rates. See the available training and support resources to assist you with using the Navigate platform.
Options for Delivering Exams via Virtual Instruction As you consider your options for delivering exams while teaching virtually, remember to exhibit equity, kindness, generosity and patience with your students. There are several options for you to rethink or deliver your exams via virtual instruction. You may want to consider one or multiple of these recommendations.
Preparing to Teach for the First Time Have you been invited to teach a course for the very first time and wondering where to begin? This guide provides tips and resources for getting started.
Starting Off Right with the Syllabus We can create more engaging and inspiring ways to begin a class. Here are some concrete ideas for how to do so.
Strategies for Starting the Semester Well Whether you have been teaching for several years or are beginning to teach your very first semester, being prepared for the start of the semester will help make the transition successful for you and your students. These strategies you can use the first day and into the first weeks of the semester that will help you create an engaging, motivating, and organized classroom environment.
Student Success Resources You are encouraged to incorporate these academic support resources into your teaching and to refer students to utilize the services available for their academic success.
Student Success Tips and Tools These tips and practical strategies for student success, geared for a student audience, can be shared with your students.
Supporting Disappearing Students Every semester there are a number of students who receive failing grades not because they performed poorly on assessments, but because they stopped attending class and submitting assignments, or because they never attended. How do we reach these disappearing and missing students?
Supporting Underprepared StudentsNEW With the right resources and a supportive atmosphere, we can help students succeed, whatever their starting point may be. With some effort, we can create class environments where students feel empowered and encouraged.
Syllabus Checklist Design a course syllabus to best meet your teaching style, course content, activities, and departmental requirements. Consider creating a learner-centered syllabus that targets student learning and success!
Learner-Centered Syllabus Design Guide Effective syllabi are learner-centered, meaning they move beyond the mechanics of a course (i.e. office hours, deadlines, and textbooks) to outline how students can be successful in a course.
Teaching at NIU for the First Time Teaching for the first time at a new university can be enjoyable and daunting at the same time. Whether you are an experienced teacher or new to the profession, being prepared to teach at a new institution will help you transition and succeed in your new environment. This guide contains information on course policies, teaching policies, and teaching-related resources to help you start your teaching career at NIU successfully!
Teaching a Course on Short Notice This guide addresses two situations: being asked to teach a course that begins very soon, and being asked to take over a course that someone else was teaching, sometime after the semester has begun.
Transparent Assignment Checklist In-depth checklist for designing course assignments that clearly articulate to students the purpose, task, and criteria for success.
Transparent Assignment Template Template for designing course assignments that clearly articulate to students the purpose, task, and criteria for success.
Workload Estimator Tool for estimating the course workload for the courses you teach.
Week of Engagement The first week of classes is a critical opportunity to engage students actively and early, thereby setting the expectation for a high level of participation throughout the semester. The connections that students form in the first week with you and their classmates can have a profound impact on their sense of belonging and ultimately their success and persistence in the course. This toolkit offers principles and strategies to keep in mind as you develop your syllabus and plan your first week of class.
Writing Content Notices for Sensitive Content Content notices give people the forewarning necessary for them to make use of the strategies that will decrease the harmfulness of encountering triggering material. Content notices are not intended to permit students to skip class or censor your material.
Technology Integration Guides
Accessible Syllabus This guide to creating an accessible syllabus includes quick and easy tips for developing an accessible syllabus using Microsoft Word.
Learning Technologies Catalog Learning technologies include recommended and institutionally supported software and web tools to promote collaboration, enhance communication, share multimedia, teach online and more.
ChatGPT and Education What is ChatGPT and what do you need to know about it? Learn more about what ChatGPT is, what it can and can't do (yet), and what educators can do with ChatGPT.
Class Policies for Generative AI Tool Use Sampling of various class policies shared by faculty, provided as examples that you might use or modify in developing your own policies for navigating generative AI tools (such as ChatGPT, MidJourney, Dall-E, etc.)
Create Accessible Course Materials TThere are small steps that you can take in creating digital materials that may have a large impact for your learners. This list of resources provides a starting point for exploration.
Online Course Essentials These research-based standards are used to design online and hybrid courses and assess online course quality at Northern Illinois University.
Proctoring a Live Online Exam with Zoom This guide describes one approach to administering online exams using Zoom to allow instructors and TAs to proctor exams while students complete them online.
Setting Up Bookings with Me Microsoft's Bookings with Me is a fantastic tool that simplifies the process of scheduling time to meet with students, prospective students, or colleagues.
Teaching with Blackboard Support website on using Blackboard and various tools integrated into Blackboard.
Using Microsoft Teams at NIU Microsoft Teams is a unified communications tool that allows for persistent 1:1 or group chat, video/audio calls and conferencing, and has integration with the full suite of O365 applications we've come to rely upon at NIU.
Using VoiceThread to Record Narration Over Slides This guide summarizes a solution for instructors who need a tool to allow them to record narration over a PowerPoint presentation. This approach is ideal if you were planning to present slides in your face-to-face course.
Using a Smartphone or Laptop with VoiceThread for Virtual Lab Recordings This guide summarizes a possible solution for instructors who teach lab courses in which students would in normal circumstances interact with lab equipment, conduct experiments, take measurements, analyze data, and generate a lab report.
Using Zoom at NIU Learn more about use of Zoom and to get started using Zoom at NIU.
Virtual Office Hours Office hours are an important component of any course. While in-person office hours may be ideal, online courses may necessitate moving those office hours to a virtual format. Find options for holding virtual office hours.
Webcam Use in the Classroom This guide provides guidance about the use of webcams, alternatives to consider, and suggested syllabus language.
5 Ways to Use 5-Minute Videos to Revolutionize Your Online Classroom As faculty, we strive to ensure students feel connected to us, their classmates, and the content of their online class. A unique way to accomplish this is by using short faculty- and student-led videos. With just a little bit of effort (and confidence) faculty can employ personally recorded videos in a variety of ways, and these videos will serve to both enhance curriculum and increase student engagement.
8 Ways to Use QR Codes in Higher Education Classrooms QR codes can complement the design of more interactive and engaging learning experiences in higher education. This guide covers how to create QR codes and offers ideas for how they can support active learning.
Brainstorming Guide discussing techniques that will help you start writing a paper and continue writing through the challenges of the revising process.
Effective Email Communications Guide to help students, faculty, and University professionals learn to use email more effectively. It can help you determine whether email is the best mode of communication in a particular situation and write messages that successfully convey your meaning to your intended audience.
New Chairs and Directors Quick Guide Highlighting available programs, resources and services of interest for new department chairs and directors