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Best Practices

How to Use Plain Language in Your Online Course

By Abbie Amadio
April 26, 2023

April 26, 2023

Download the “How to Use Plain Language in Your Online Course” infographic above or the accessible PDF to share with your students or colleagues.

If you’ve ever tried to explain your work or research to anyone outside your field, you may have realized how much your discipline relies on specialized language that is often difficult for people outside your field to understand. To students, this type of language can be especially intimidating. And even more so when they aspire to join your profession or discipline and may not want to admit they don’t understand something.

But jargon doesn’t only occur in academia—it occurs across fields, especially in health and medicine where critical information often needs to be communicated to patients and the public. With this in mind, U.S. Congress passed the Plain Writing Act in 2010 to make public communications from the federal government clearer and easier to understand. But many of the plain writing techniques detailed in the 2010 Act can be used to make any type of writing clearer. In your courses, these techniques can be used to explain lengthy assignments, assessments, or discussion prompts. They can also be used for longer-form writing and media like presentations and scripts. Many of the techniques highlighted in this article are especially useful for writing online, where many readers often skim the page and look for what they need to know and what they need to do.

To put it simply, plain language is used to communicate complex topics to a broad audience in a digestible way. And it’s an important part of making online courses at UW Extended Campus accessible for all students. Here are some key techniques to write in plain (or plainer) language in your online courses.

Know Your Audience

Write for your audience (your students), and write directly to one person in the class. Use “I” to refer to yourself and “you” to refer to your reader.

Use Detailed Headings

Use detailed headings, so your reader understands how your document is organized. Consider writing headings as questions or statements. To keep your headings accessible though, keep them under 120 characters in length.

Use Simple Verbs & Present Tense

Tell your reader what they should do and keep it simple. Write in the present tense, and use “must” to communicate anything your reader is required to do. For example, avoid “should.” Rather than telling students, “You should keep your paper under two pages,” say, “You must keep your paper under two pages.”

Keep Sentences & Paragraphs Short

Limit sentences to one idea and paragraphs to one topic. When you write a sentence, remember to put your subject, verb, and object close together, and keep any modifying information concise.

Use Examples, Tables, & Lists

Use examples to clarify abstract concepts, tables to break up and organize complex information, and lists to highlight important tasks.

Format Carefully

Only use bold for emphasis, and use it sparingly. Avoid writing in all capital letters or underlining, which can be distracting or confusing. Only use underlining for links.

If you’re interested in reading the complete guidelines, check out the Federal Plain Language Guidelines.


See Plain Language in Action!

Here are two examples from an introductory marketing course that have been revised using plain language techniques. The first example is instructions for an essay assignment; the second is an excerpt from an instructor’s commentary. Both examples use some of the same techniques (notated in pink italicized text) to make the language clearer.


Original Instructions

As part of your academic obligations to this course and its field, expectations are that you write an eight- to ten-page essay using one-inch margins, double-spaced, 12-point, Times New Roman font, that examines a current trend in the marketing industry such as privacy marketing, micro-influencing, chatbots, social commerce, or another topic. Write 2000-2500 words.

Revised Instructions

In this course, you will write an essay on a current trend in marketing. Directly address your reader. → You may choose to write about privacy marketing, micro-influencing, chatbots, social commerce, or another marketing trend. ← Use consistent language. Use the same words to refer to the same things. Your essay must be 8 to 10 pages (2,000 to 2,500 words) double-spaced in 12-point, Times New Roman font with one-inch margins. ← Group similar information together.


Original Commentary

Consumers make many purchasing decisions, some rather unimportant day-to-day purchases, and some substantial and infrequent decisions. The amount of effort we put into making these decisions depends on many factors. For example, when you are choosing a snack to buy to take to a party, some factors you may not even be aware of that are part of your decision may include: How much can you afford to spend? Does an advertisement you’ve seen for a snack item come to mind? If no one likes your snack, will you feel embarrassed? Would you feel guilty for bringing an item you consider to be junk food if the people at the party are health and fitness oriented? On the other hand, would you feel awkward if you brought a health-food snack to a group that prefers beer and nachos? What if you’re taking the snack to a birthday celebration for an 8-year-old? Maybe you previously brought a certain snack to an event that was the hit of the party so you’ll return to the store to buy the same item without considering other alternatives.

Now that students have some understanding of consumer-buying processes, in the next module, they will be asked to author and submit a document in which they assess their own purchasing decision.

Revised Commentary

Consumers make many purchasing decisions. Some are routine, but others are rare and much more significant. ← Keep sentences short. Try to use one idea per sentence. This sentence was split into two separate sentences. The effort we put into these decisions depends on many factors.

Say, for example, you must choose a snack to bring to a party. You might consider the following questions:

  • How much can you afford to spend?
  • Did you recently see an advertisement for a particular snack?
  • Will you feel embarrassed if no one likes your snack?
  • Would you feel guilty bringing junk food if the group is health conscious? ← Keep language consistent. Use the same words to refer to the same things.
  • Would you feel awkward bringing a healthy snack if the group prefers beer and nachos? ← See the above list item. These two items were revised to use consistent language.
  • What if the party is for an eight-year-old child?
  • If you recently brought a snack to another party that was a hit, would you buy the same item without considering alternatives?

      ↑ Use lists, so your information is easier to read. Also, make list items parallel in structure. All these items are questions.

Now that you have learned about how consumers make decisions, you’ll tell me how you decided to buy a product (or not) in the next module’s assignment. ← Directly address your reader, and use simple, clear words to tell them what they need to know or do.

Small Course Changes, Big EDI Impacts

By Kristine Pierick
December 20, 2022

December 20, 2022

Introduction

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Three small words with huge meaning! So what do these words mean to our Instructional Design team? They mean creating courses where students see their lived experiences valued and represented and space for their voices to be heard. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to developing courses with an equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) perspective. What this looks like varies from subject to subject and course to course.

EDI can sometimes feel like an all-or-nothing task. It may feel overwhelming to figure out where to start or how to incorporate it into your course. In that regard, EDI is no different than other course design principles. For example, you may start your course development with one or two really engaging, dynamic discussions or one authentic assessment. And that is great! When the next revision comes around, you may find another assessment to modify or resource to update. EDI is similar. The challenge with EDI can sometimes be where to start. To help, we’ve created the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Reflection Document. This document can be used during new course development and revisions to help identify areas where EDI is incorporated well and areas where it could be improved. From that information, we create an EDI action plan for your course.

An Example of Using the EDI Reflection Document

A recent example of how to use this document comes from Lifetime Wellness and Self-Growth, a course that is part of the Collaborative AAS program. Chris Jones (Lecturer of Kinesiology at UW-Eau Claire – Barron County) and I started off the course development by looking at what he wanted to do, where EDI was present in the course already, and where there were opportunities for improvement. One area Chris identified early on was the list of resources provided to students for a semester-long project in the course, the Self-Growth Book Review. Early in the semester, students are given a list of books and are asked to select one related to wellness to read for the assignment. Chris identified that the books on the list were narrow in focus and perspective. Most of the books were written by professional coaches and focused on sports, which wasn’t representative of the professional interests or experiences of students in the Collaborative AAS program. This became the action plan for the semester: to create a more inclusive list of books for students to choose from. We worked with a campus librarian to identify books available to students throughout the program’s partner campuses that would provide diverse voices, perspectives, and lived experiences related to the topic of self-growth.

Along with updating the list of books, we updated the design and layout of the assignment page. The books were organized thematically, annotations for each book were provided, and callouts were added to highlight which of the nine dimensions of wellness each book related to. So not only were the books more diverse in perspectives, but those perspectives were the categories by which the books were organized, making it easy for students to find the books that they were most interested in.

The amount of time it took to make this update was low, and now students have a list of books that represent a more diverse range of voices, lived experiences, and perspectives.

Screenshots of Self-Growth Book Review instructions page on Canvas. Book titles are organized by the perspectives they take on wellness and growth.

Image 1: Screenshots of Self-Growth Book Review instructions page on Canvas. Book titles are organized by the perspectives they take on wellness and growth.

Using the EDI Reflection Document

The reflection document was created to be easy to use for instructors and instructional designers. There are just three steps. Step 1 is to identify the strengths relative to EDI in your current course. The document lists many components of a course and how EDI can be incorporated into each. Step 2 is to identify the opportunities for making the course more equitable and including more diverse perspectives on the subject matter. Step 3 is to identify one of the opportunities from Step 2 and create an action plan for making that course component (and the rest of your course as a result) stronger.

When it comes to incorporating EDI into courses, the most important step is to pick a place and get started. Your instructional designer is here as a resource to help! Make it your new year’s resolution this year to make your course more equitable, diverse, and inclusive.

Step Up Your Students’ Motivation Using Instant Feedback

By Brian Chervitz
October 6, 2022

October 6, 2022

It can be difficult knowing how to increase student motivation in your online course. But online learning has a ton of ways to raise engagement and students’ motivation! This article focuses on the ways that providing kinds of instant feedback can ensure your students are getting the resources and comments they need at the moment they need them.

How to Use This Article

Use the following article in the way best suited for your needs:

  • Read just Step 1 if you want the most important information and a simple example. This is for faculty who just want the abstract or are looking for an easy way to improve their instruction.
  • Also read Step 2 if you want to implement more advanced instant feedback on an assignment. This is for faculty who want to improve their quality of feedback and want more than the basics.
  • Continue to Step 3 if you want to learn more about using instant feedback throughout your course, beyond just quizzes. This is for faculty who are open to changing different parts of their course. Your instructional designer can help you implement instant feedback in many parts of your course!

Step 1: Introduction to Instant Feedback

Timely feedback for students is integral to effective learning and students’ satisfaction with their learning experiences (Espasa & Meneses, 2010). Providing that feedback, however, can be more difficult in online classes. Although your lack of physical proximity to your students can be challenging, your feedback remains essential. It can be a powerful tool for motivating students through online courses, especially instant feedback (Bridge, Appleyard, & Wilson, 2007).

Instant feedback could include praise for excellent work, corrections of mistakes, or helping a student assess the quality of their work and assess the pace of their learning.

Instant feedback provides several benefits for students:

  • Mistakes and misconceptions can be immediately corrected.
  • Correct knowledge and skill application can be positively reinforced.
  • Corrective feedback can be personal, which avoids embarrassing students.
  • Students gain more self-awareness of strengths and gaps in knowledge or skill sets.
  • Instant feedback can increase the amount of time a student is engaged in the course.

Two Types of Instant Feedback

In an online course, students can benefit from two kinds of instant feedback: instructor comments and norm-referenced feedback. Norm-referenced feedback is feedback students get by comparing their work or progress to other examples or standards, often created by the instructor. For instance, giving students an example of an exceptional essay to help them with their essay is providing norm-referenced feedback. Both instructor comments and norm-referenced feedback are common in coursework, though the latter form may not be immediately recognized as instant feedback.

Instructor Comments

You can provide automatically generated written comments in response to specific answers or behaviors provided by students. For instance, when students choose an incorrect answer on a quiz, you can set up an automatic comment to provide the student with the necessary resources to fix their mistake the next time they need that knowledge (for example, in an assignment or exam).

Norm-Referenced Feedback

Students don’t just receive instant information from their instructors in the form of comments in response to answers. If you provide your students with norms for the class, such as deadlines, suggested timelines, and models of good work (and examples of poor work), they can compare their work and learning progression with those norms. They can instantly recognize when they are falling behind, need to improve their answers, or need to complete specific, upcoming work, all as soon as they need it.

Example of Instant Feedback in Canvas

In this political science course, the instructor set up a Canvas quiz to automatically provide feedback based on a student’s answer. In the first image, the correct answer provides positive feedback.

An example of positive feedback automatically appears when the correct answer is selected in a quiz.
Image 1: Positive feedback for the correct answer.

In the second image, an incorrect answer provides instant feedback as well, explaining the likely misconception that would lead a student to choose that answer.

An example of constructive feedback automatically appears when the incorrect answer is selected in a quiz.
Image 2: Constructive feedback for the incorrect answer.

Step 2: More Advanced Instant Feedback

Thanks for striving to improve your feedback! While any helpful feedback is better than no feedback (Espasa & Meneses, 2010), there are ways to improve its quality and effectiveness. The third and fourth images below show more detailed feedback for both correct and incorrect answers, demonstrating the characteristics of effective feedback.

Read more »

Effective Email Communication to Engage Students

By Jessica O'Neel
September 22, 2022

September 22, 2022

Imagine you’ve had a busy day teaching on campus. You return to your office and get ready to grade some papers. You check your email quickly and see this message from a student who hasn’t been very active in your UWEX course:

Hello Professor,
I noticed that I have a very low grade in your course, and as we are getting close to the end of the term, I am wondering what I can do to improve my score. Would it be possible to turn in some of my late assignments? ​
Thank you,​
Student

Has this ever happened to you? How do you feel when you receive these types of messages from students? While it may be easy to dismiss a message like this as simple procrastination, the good news is that the student wants to reengage in your course! It is tempting to send a quick reply telling the student what they need to turn in or fix. Digging deeper into a student’s needs will help them feel connected to you and the course. Research has shown that when students disengage, those who feel supported and connected are more likely to reengage compared to those who don’t.

Here are some example conversation starters and questions you could try with students to support them in self-motivation to reengage in a course:

GOAL PHRASE
When students share struggles in the course, build empathy.
  • That sounds like a real challenge for you…
  • I can see why it has been hard for you to…
Help students recognize strengths and how to apply them to other parts of the course by mixing the positive with the negative. Use “yet” or “and” instead of “but” to reduce defensiveness and ensure positive feedback is received.
  • I’ve noticed your quiz scores are great, yet I wonder if we could try working on your writing skills.
  • Your written assignments are well done, and I think you could use that to help strengthen your discussion posts.
  • You did really well on this other assignment. What was different about this one?
Praise students for taking the time to ask for help and identify shared goals.
  • I’m so happy you reached out.
  • I really want you to do well in this course, too.

Questions to Build Deeper Understanding for Change

Using guiding questions helps students discover what is needed to change. Asking closed questions (questions with a yes or no answer) might mean students respond with what they think you want to hear and not what they actually need. Try some of these open-ended guiding questions instead of yes or no questions.

GOAL PHRASE
Identify barriers or make students aware of barriers. How has…created problems for you?
Understand student anxiety. What worries you about…? (i.e., grade, performance, etc.)
Ensure you understand student meaning. If I’m understanding you right, it sounds like… (repeat back student’s answer)
Identify motivation. How important is it for you to do this…?
Assess a student’s readiness to change. How confident are you to do this…?
Highlight past “wins”/success strategies. What difficult goals have you accomplished in the past?
Identify student needs.
  • What would you like me to do to help?
  • How long of an extension are you hoping to get?
  • When would you be able to turn in this late assignment?
Connect choices and consequences. How did skipping two weeks make the assignment more difficult for you?
Help a student get started.  What’s the first thing you might try to…?

This article is based on a conference presentation by Liz Seitz and Jessica O’Neel entitled “Engaging the Disengaged Student: Motivating Change from Within,” which was presented at the UW Extended Campus 2022 Collaborative Online Programs Faculty Symposium, May 24-25, 2022, Middleton, WI, United States. https://ce.uwex.edu/faculty-symposium/

Faculty Spotlight: Jean Marsch

By Kerri Patton
September 15, 2022

September 15, 2022

In this issue’s “Faculty Spotlight,” instructional designer Kerri Patton interviews Professor Jean Marsch about strategies to strengthen instructor presence in online courses. When teaching online, instructors have to compensate for their lack of physical presence in the classroom by engaging with their online students creatively and regularly. Here are some favorite strategies that Prof. Marsch uses in her course HIMT 415: Human Resource Management in Healthcare to build a rapport with her online students and increase her presence in the course.


Jean MarschProf. Marsch is an Associate Lecturer at UW-Green Bay and teaches in the Bachelor of Science in Health Information Management and Technology (HIMT) program. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from UW-Madison and an MBA from UW-Oshkosh. She was the Chief Human Resources Officer for Green Bay Public Schools and the Director of Human Resources at St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay. She was also elected to and a member of the Green Bay School Board for 15 years. For 10 years, she served as the School Board’s president.

 

Kerri PattonKerri Patton is an instructional designer with UW-Extended Campus. She holds bachelor degrees in English Literature and German from UW-Eau Claire, a Master’s of Educational Technology from Boise State University, and a Graduate Certificate in Online Teaching from Boise State University. Prior to her current role, she served as an instructional designer with the UW MBA Consortium/UW Undergraduate Business Alliance. For 10 years, she was the German language instructor (Levels 1-AP) and German American Partnership Program coordinator for Memorial High School in Eau Claire, as well as a district instructional technology liaison. She also taught English in Germany as a U.S. Fulbright scholar. She began her career as a project coordinator and assessment report writer for Personnel Decisions International and a Desktop and Helpdesk Support Technician for UW-Eau Claire. 


Interview

What tools or strategies do you use to connect with students in your course so they know you are “present”?

Throughout HIMT 415: Human Resource Management in Healthcare, students take on the role of the newly hired manager of a health information management department in a fictitious hospital. They are divided into two discussion groups and alternate between responding to human resource issues posed in the scenarios or reflecting on the issues through discussion prompts. There is no perfect solution to the issues, but students are able to analyze various approaches to the issues using the concepts in the lecture, text, readings, and past or current employment. [Note: This type of activity is called a fishbowl discussion. You can reach out to your instructional designer if you would like to use a similar activity in your course.]

Screenshot of a Canvas Fishbowl Discussion
Screenshot of a fishbowl discussion set up in the Canvas learning management system

I connect with each student at least every week and write a response that is specific to their work. I feel it is important to respond timely to each student’s work, so I strive to do so within a day or two of the due date. In my response, I comment on the points they made and add additional supporting details, often making connections through my personal experiences in nursing and/or human resources. If a student’s response lacks depth and demonstrates little analysis, I encourage them by sharing examples of what additional information may be helpful to explain their ideas. I may also refer to a section of the text to supplement my responses.

Which of these strategies is your favorite? Which do you think is most effective?

I feel strongly that the content of this course can benefit students in current and future employment, and personally. For example, when we explore the issues around effective recruitment and retention, I encourage students to think not only about compensation, but all the other factors that are at play. When we study the chapter on benefits, students often comment that they took a second look at the benefits offered by their employer and came to appreciate not only the health and dental plans, but disability insurance, tuition assistance, paid time off, and more. By sharing the list of benefits (other than health insurance) that they consider most important, students comment on how they changed their thinking about the importance of benefits and that they will pay close attention when looking for employment. We relate this to how organizations can promote a full array of benefits when they develop recruitment materials.

Is there a story or example you would be willing to share about a time when developing a connection and presence in the course helped a student be successful?

One of the assignments in the course consists of writing a resume, cover letter, and reference list. When I first taught this class, I wondered if this lesson would be helpful to students who might find this assignment merely busywork. My concern was unfounded when I received a great deal of immediate feedback from students who appreciated my critiques. A student stated that after submitting the updated documents, an interview was scheduled within 24 hours. Clearly, this was not the only reason for the interview. However, I inform students that well-prepared application materials are often the first opportunity for a candidate to present themselves to an employer and therefore must be carefully and accurately prepared.

After each lesson, I send an announcement that summarizes the points of the lesson . . . I may call attention to a reading or share a recent and relevant article. Most often, I share an experience from my work that demonstrates how the concepts relate to HR and leadership practices.

How does your connection to students provide increased learning opportunities?

After each lesson, I send an announcement that summarizes the points of the lesson and I include important points or themes shared by students. I may call attention to a reading or share a recent and relevant article. Most often, I share an experience from my work that demonstrates how the concepts relate to HR and leadership practices.

How does your connection to students impact student performance or engagement?

I find that my students are very engaged in the lessons. They demonstrate engagement through responses to other students and me in which they share insights from their current or past employment, based on the topic of the lesson. For example, they may share how important it is to be able to balance work and family commitments or the impact that a supervisor and tuition assistance through an employer had on their decision to continue their education. We then translate these ideas into ways to structure a new position to retain staff. In our class scenarios, which were developed as real-world situations, the students are the supervisors. Through their participation in the scenarios, they learn that the decisions they make directly impact the ability to recruit and retain staff.

What was difficult at first about maintaining a presence in your course? How did you overcome that difficulty?

When I first taught the course, I was unsure of how much and the type of feedback to offer students. Based on input from students, I found that they appreciate feedback that enhances their ability to think deeper about an issue. When I get responses such as, “I never thought about this before,” or “I never realized that…,” or “I am going to add that to my staff evaluations,” I realize that the lessons and my personalized feedback make an impact.

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