Ramp Up to Instruction
Ramp Up to Instruction
About Ramp Up to Instruction
Each fall and spring semester, Ramp Up to Instruction offers OHIO faculty dedicated time to enhance upcoming courses. Faculty can choose from 15 focused, a la carte sessions designed to fit their schedule, as well as their pedagogical needs and interests.
Each 30-minute workshop includes 15 minutes of strategically targeted professional development followed by time for questions and hands-on practice.
Faculty experts and staff from the Center for Teaching, Learning and Assessment; the Office of Instructional Design; and University Libraries will lead the interactive sessions that focus on elevating course design and delivery.
Whether refining assessments, incorporating GenAI or boosting student engagement, these workshops provide practical strategies that instructors can implement immediately.
All sessions are offered virtually via Teams, and registration is included in each session description.
Tuesday, Aug. 18, Sessions
This faculty development day explores how intentional course design can strengthen student learning in a rapidly changing teaching environment.
Sessions move from foundational practices—designing lectures that actively support learning and reimagining the syllabus as a teaching tool—to timely questions about generative AI.
Faculty will consider how to create clear course AI policies, design assignments that preserve meaningful learning and help students engage with AI critically, ethically and productively.
9 to 9:30 a.m.: Designing Lectures to Support Learning
Despite the criticism they receive, lectures remain one of the most effective ways to teach—when they are designed to engage and support student learning. This workshop introduces evidence-based strategies for designing and delivering lectures that capture students’ interest, clarify complex ideas, and foster deeper learning.
In this session, participants will:
- Apply techniques to design lectures that sustain attention, foster engagement, and enhance learning
- Recognize and select AV supports that strengthen lecture delivery and improve comprehension
9:30 to 10 a.m.: The Syllabus as More than a Contract
Your syllabus is not merely a contract; it’s a roadmap for learning, a communication tool, and a reflection of your teaching philosophy. Beyond listing topics and assignments, a syllabus offers unique opportunities to express pedagogical choices and demonstrate commitment to student success.
In this session, participants will:
- Recognize required syllabus components and understand their purpose
- Apply strategies to design or revise a syllabus that supports both instructor goals and student learning
- Explore ways to make the syllabus a welcoming document that sets the tone for the course
Register here.
10 to 10:30 a.m.: Creating a GenAI Policy for Your Course
Whether you’re an AI skeptic, an AI champion, or somewhere in between, your students will benefit if you provide them with clear guidance about whether, when and how (or how not) to use AI in your course.
In this session, participants will:
- Identify important components of effective AI policies
- Create or refine an AI policy that aligns with their pedagogical goals and values
10:30 to 11 a.m.: Crafting AI-Resistant Assignments
As generative AI becomes increasingly accessible to students, faculty must rethink how assignments foster and demonstrate learning. This workshop introduces practical strategies for designing assignments that emphasize student thinking, decision-making, and engagement with authentic contexts. Participants will leave with a simple framework for creating assignments that are more resistant to AI substitution while remaining focused on meaningful learning outcomes.
In this session, participants will:
- Identify key characteristics of assignments that promote authentic evidence of student learning
- Apply three assignment design principles that increase resistance to generative AI use
- Revise an existing assignment to better assess student reasoning, process, and judgment
11 to 11:30 a.m.: Helping Students Engage with AI
This workshop offers grounding in CTLA’s Critical AI Literacy Framework and a crash course in the three pathways for AI integration utilized in our Teaching and Learning with GenAI Institute. Participants will be introduced to the four domains of critical thinking tied to critical AI literacy and discuss how AI might be used for individualized student support, instructional aid, or as the topic of learning for a course. We will examine ways that other instructors have used AI for those purposes and brainstorm how we might integrate it into our own courses.
Wednesday, Aug. 19, Sessions
Day 2 of Ramp Up focuses on practical, scalable strategies in large-enrollment courses.
Sessions address the distinct challenges of teaching online and in person, with an emphasis on large-enrollment sections; organizing Canvas to support clarity and student success; designing rubrics that make expectations transparent and feedback more meaningful; and using student input to strengthen instruction.
Together, the sessions emphasize consistent communication and continuous improvement to promote student success.
9 to 9:30 a.m.: Faculty Presence at Scale: Strategies for large-enrollment online courses
Large-enrollment online courses present a real tension: scale dilutes engagement, feedback quality, and instructor presence. In this workshop, participants explore four practical strategies for strengthening faculty presence, managing communication and feedback, and building connection without overburdening faculty.
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- Identify evidence-based strategies for sustaining student engagement and instructor presence in large-enrollment online courses.
- Apply workload-efficient methods for feedback and communication that scale to large course sizes.
9:30 to 10 a.m.: TEAM Based Approach to Large Lectures
Large lecture courses can sometimes feel impersonal, making it challenging to foster meaningful student engagement and connection. This interactive workshop explores practical strategies for transforming large classes into collaborative learning communities by intentionally leveraging a team-based approach.
In this session, participants will learn:
- How to organize large lecture students into teams
- How to build a team environment that includes safety, vulnerability, and purpose
- How to enable student victories & good sportsmanship
10 to 10:30 a.m.: Canvas Strategies that Scale
Large enrollment courses come with unique challenges—more students, more communication, and more opportunities for confusion. A well-structured Canvas course can reduce instructor workload, streamline grading, and improve student success at scale. This workshop highlights practical design strategies that keep learning organized and accessible, no matter the class size.
In this session, participants will learn how to:
- Structure modules for consistent, student-friendly navigation
- Use Canvas tools to automate reminders and manage communication efficiently
- Implement scalable assessment and feedback strategies to reduce grading burden
10:30 to 11 a.m.: Designing Aligned Assessments and Rubrics to Support Student Learning
Join us for a practical workshop on creating alignment between learning outcomes, assessments, and rubrics. Participants will explore strategies for designing assignments that effectively measure student learning and developing rubrics that clearly communicate expectations and support meaningful feedback. Through examples and guided activities, faculty will examine how alignment can improve transparency, consistency, and student success.
In this session, participants will:
- Identify the connections among learning outcomes, assessments, and rubrics
- Learn best practices for developing rubrics to support and assess student learning
- Understand how to align rubric criteria with course learning outcomes to promote consistency and transparency in grading
11 to 11:30 a.m.: Leveraging Student Feedback to Improve Instruction
Gathering early-term feedback is a powerful teaching strategy: it helps instructors make timely adjustments, strengthens student engagement, and improves the quality of end-of-semester evaluations. This workshop provides participants with strategies and tools to integrate student feedback into their teaching practice, supporting both immediate improvements and long-term course success.
In this session, participants will learn how to:
- Administer surveys that elicit meaningful early-semester feedback
- Guide students in offering constructive, actionable input on instruction
- Interpret and respond to feedback in ways that enhance course design and teaching effectiveness
Thursday, Aug. 20, Sessions
The final day of Ramp Up focuses on creating more accessible learning experiences while making faculty expertise and accomplishments visible.
Sessions explore how to design course materials that work for all learners and connect faculty (and as a result) students with valuable library resources.
The day concludes with conversation about how teaching well and teaching efficiently occur concurrently and guidance on documenting teaching excellence and recognition of effective teaching..
9 to 9:30 a.m.: Making Course Materials Work for All Learners
Accessibility isn’t just about compliance, it’s about creating learning environments where every student can thrive. This workshop introduces tools and strategies for improving the accessibility of digital course content, helping instructors ensure that every student can fully engage with their learning materials.
In this session, participants will learn how to:
- Use the Canvas Accessibility Checker to find and fix common accessibility issues
- Generate, review and refine captions for clarity and accuracy
- Evaluate course file content to determine the most accessible and efficient remediation strategy
9:30 to 10 a.m.: Library Support for Faculty
Discover how University Libraries can instantly elevate your course design by integrating library resources directly into Canvas— including zero-cost textbooks, multimedia content, prebuilt learning modules, databases and customizable research guides. You’ll also learn how to partner with subject librarians for instructional support, explore options for copyright/open access, and tap into publishing tools that strengthen both your teaching and your research profile.
In this session, participants will:
- Learn how to integrate library-supported course materials into Canvas— including embedded articles, eBooks, streaming media, OER, and course reserves— to increase student engagement and reduce textbook costs.
- Understand how to collaborate with librarians for instructional support such as information literacy instruction, affordable course material identification, assignment design, data literacy integration, and custom course/subject guides.
- Explore library research services including scholarly communication support, copyright and Creative Commons guidance, ORCiD and research impact tools, and publishing/open access options that enhance scholarly visibility.
10 to 10:30 a.m.: Alternative Grading
Traditional grading can sometimes work against the learning outcomes we care most about. Alternative grading approaches offer new ways to assess student learning that prioritize growth, mastery, and meaningful feedback.
In this session, participants will:
- Explore a range of alternative grading systems, including specifications grading, ungrading, contract grading, and mastery-based grading
- Compare approaches across key dimensions to identify which might work best in your course context
- Identify and respond to common myths about alternative grading
10:30 to 11 a.m.: Finding Teaching Efficiencies When and Where You Can
What takes up most of your time when teaching? What if teaching more effectively didn't always require doing more? In this session, participants explore how practical but intentional efficiencies can create space for the work that matters most: engaging students, providing meaningful feedback and designing purposeful learning experiences. Participants will leave with the "top 5" strategies for simplifying course and activity design, streamlining routine tasks and focusing efforts where they have the greatest impact on student learning.
11 to 11:30 a.m.: Documenting Teaching Excellence @OHIO
The purpose of this learning session is to provide OHIO faculty and staff with the tools and techniques to document teaching excellence. Teaching excellence at OHIO is described using six descriptors (well-designed, well-delivered, inclusive, learner-focused, reflective, and evolving) and eight criteria (preparation, engagement, inclusion, subject expertise, pedagogical competence, outcomes, improvement, and adaptability/innovation). Per the Ohio University Faculty Handbook (IV.A.8), faculty are expected to provide evidence of their teaching effectiveness using one or more of the teaching excellence criteria and multiple sources of evidence.
Learning Outcomes: After the learning session, participants will be able to:
- Recognize the six descriptors and eight criteria of Teaching Excellence at OHIO.
- Identify possible sources of evidence.
- Map potential sources of evidence to one or more of the eight criteria.
- Create an individual plan to systematically document and report evidence of teaching effectiveness.