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EASTER EGGS!!

4/7/2020

4 Comments

 
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Do you ever wonder if your students are paying attention to your Announcements? Are they reading through an entire assignment, or just skimming it? Do you have some items in your course modules that you suspect they skip altogether? One way to check, to reward students who are thorough, or to give all students the incentive to pay stricter attention to the course material, is the idea of using Easter eggs.
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For example, I quite frankly despair of having all of my students read the weekly Announcement in my Canvas course. I don’t know why, because the Announcement always includes a summary of what we did in class, links to the handouts used in class, any upcoming homework, and what to expect in the next class – I would think that these would be important enough for students to check in regularly, but it doesn’t seem to be the case. So once or twice a semester, I plant a random (usually not even content-related) Announcement with a bonus point opportunity. Because I am just checking to see who has read the Announcement, it’s something easy like:
  • Just before the Oscars, I ask them to tell me (in their opinion): what was the best movie of the previous year?
  • At any time, I can give a ridiculous online survey link (What’s Your Pirate Name? Which Muppet are you? What’s your Hogwarts house? etc.)
  • At any time I can include a fun video link with a brief question (either online or at the start of the next class)
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This semester, right before Spring Break, I posted an Announcement asking students to keep an eye out and send me pictures of anything that said "Coronavirus Economy" to them, along with the date/place, and why it caught their eye. I then used the student photos and comments to create an Animoto video.


You could also give out some low-stakes information eggs, such as
  • giving one question from an upcoming quiz so that they know it in advance
  • a hint on an assignment that they wouldn’t get if they hadn’t found the egg
  • a fun content-related video, maybe one that will start off the following class
What are some other ways to use Easter eggs?
  • Problems getting students to view your entire Powerpoint or Google slide show? You could hide an egg somewhere in the middle of your presentation slides.
  • Trouble getting students to read all the way through your assignment instructions? Occasionally embed an egg within an assignment.
  • GOT MORE IDEAS? Share them with us – we’d love to hear your take on new ways to use Easter eggs!
Here's an idea shared last Spring by Dr. Alisa Beyer, Psychology Faculty:
"I do a line in my syllabus -- asking for a funny or cute animal picture for extra credit points -- give deadline and also request they do not share they found this reading the syllabus with other students....here is example....
  • For 2 points extra credit, please email me 2 or more items from the Tips for College Success (share link) AND your favorite animal picture by day 3 of class (by the start of class).  
I usually get 5 or so students who email me the extra credit."
Try hiding your own Easter Egg - it's easy!
Moreover, if your class is just resuming this week, it may be a way to reinforce the desired habits from your students in this Brave New World of Remote Learning (it's never a surprise that the Psychology faculty like to use this technique, because a Psych major friend years ago told me that "Intermittent Reinforcement" is the most powerful way to develop the desired behaviors)!!

And if you have questions or need assistance regarding Teaching, Learning and/or Assessment, your friendly neighborhood CTLA is (as always) happy to help. These days that means remote assistance, but we're still here for you!
Don't forget that you can use this link to Submit a Request for Assistance from the CTLA:
https://ctla.cgc.edu/help.html

HAPPY TUESDAY, EVERYONE!
4 Comments
Scott Adamson
4/7/2020 01:25:15 pm

Next week, my MAT276 (differential equations) students will be taking a "check your understanding" quiz on Canvas.

The topic is Laplace transforms, a particularly tedious and challenging method for solving second order, non-homogeneous, differential equations.

In the middle of the quiz is the question: Which of the following is the best Laplace meme?

There are 4 very funny...even hilarious...choices. Of course, all are the correct answer!

This is one way that I am using the easter egg idea in my math class!

Reply
Mary McGlasson
4/7/2020 01:29:34 pm

MATH HUMOR!!! It warms my geeky little undergrad-math-major heart... I can see this as a good strategy for getting students to complete a survey or an ungraded quiz, too!

Reply
Tom Shoemaker
4/14/2020 02:58:50 pm

I am usually over at MCC, but this semester I am teaching one face-to-face class at CGCC that has transitioned. I loved this email. I have been using "Easter eggs" for several semesters in my online class, and although some students grumble, it seems to work well. I offer during each of the modules three to four mini-lectures, each prefaced with a question like "How old was I when I made this video?" or "I mentioned four Hindu gods. Which of these was NOT one of them?"

I give "Attendance credit" for each question answered. The textbook and quizzes account for the credit needed to pass the course. The Attendance points allow them to build onto that C to get a B or an A.

In my weekly emails or the class announcements, I give away answers to the extra credit questions on the module quizzes, and occasionally I even give the password to the quiz (and if they get to the quiz without knowing the password, I gently remind them they should read my email and announcements).

One more thing I do: Any "lecture" has sidebits, something like "The earliest swastika ever found was in Ukraine and dates to 12,000 years ago." I tell them well ahead of time to keep a list of the sidebits, because half the final is their list of those sidebits. The longer the list, the more points they earn on the Final.

This approach is not widely talked about. I wish it were.

Reply
Mary McGlasson
4/14/2020 05:00:10 pm

Tom,

This is awesome! How interesting that students grumble, when I tend to assume that students from a Gaming generation would enjoy the hunt. I guess it's because with your setup, they actually have to go through all the material...

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  • Instructional Design
    • Course Planning & Design (IDR)
    • Backward Design
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