Teaching Resources
Department of Mathematics, Purdue University
(Teaching Pit Crew, Aaron Yip, yipn@purdue.edu)


Teaching in a pandemic environment (Mathematical Community)

AMS Resources and Updates related to COVID-19
  • TPSE's Top Ten List: Recommended Practices for Every Online Instructor
  • Learning During the Pandemic: What we wish our professors and mentors knew
  • Writing Good Questions for the Internet Era (from AMS)
    Guide to Teaching Remotely (from the English Department, Purdue Univesity)

  • Teaching in a pandemic environment (Purdue University)

    Absolutely "all" you need to know:
    Semester Resources: standard operating procedures (SOPs) and syllabus guidelines
    Academic Calendar
    Updated information, newsletters from Purdue:
    2023-08-15: Updates about teaching resources in Purdue
    2023-08-11: Syllabus information

    Resources for Teaching

    Semester Resources: standard operating procedures (SOPs) and syllabus guidelines (absolutely "all" you need to know)
    Purdue Innovative Learning
    Tools and Services for Teaching Remotely
    Instructional Technology

    Contacts for help:
  • yipn@purdue.edu (Aaron Yip, Department of Mathematics Teaching Pit Crew)
  • tlt@purdue.edu (Teaching and Learning Technologies, mostly for questions about technical support)
  • innovativelearningteam@purdue.edu (Innovative Learning, mostly for questions about teaching pedagogy)
  • urgent Boilercast needs only: call 49-42765

  • Platforms for Teaching

    Schematics:
    in a classroom environment
    online/off-campus

    Brightspace: (default learning management system (LMS) in Purdue)
    Log in
    Purdue Brightspace (very useful)
    Vanderbilt University Brightspace help page
    Video: Minimal Introduction to Brightspace
    Some basic functionalities of Brightspace:
    (For most updated procedures, please see Purdue Brightspace Documentation.)
  • Activate a course: make a course available to students
  • Merge sections
  • Add TA/Grader ("username" refers to Career account login name, WITHOUT the "@purdue.edu".)
  • Add/upload syllabus
  • Copy course from earlier semester
  • Add Course Modules and Contents
  • Create Assignments
  • Set up weighted grade categories
  • Create and upload videos
  • Announcements and Emails
  • See student's view: click "Your Name" (upper right corner) and then "View as Learner".
  • View photo roster
  • How to link external platforms (e.g. Gradescope, Piazza, Zoom, etc) to Brightspace:
    - In course homepage, click Content.
    - Create a new module (Add a module) with the name of the platform (or in any of the existing modules).
    - Then click Existing Activities.
    - Choose External Learning Tools.
    - Scroll and choose the platform.

    Gradescope:
    Website for basic information
    Video: Linking BrightSpace to Gradescope and creation of homework in Gradescope
    Connect Gradescope to Brightspace, or in words:
  • In course homepage, click Content.
  • Ceate a new module (Add a module) called Gradescope (or in any of the existing modules).
  • Then click Existing Activities.
  • Choose External Learning Tools.
  • Choose Gradescope.
    How students submit homework
    How to create online assignment in Gradescope
    How to duplicate an old course:
  • Choose an old course;
  • Click "Course Settings";
  • At bottom of page, click "Duplicate Course"

    Piazza: Purdue Piazza page
    (Paid Model for Piazza Q&A)
    How to link Piazza from Brightspace:
  • In course homepage, click Content.
  • Create a new module (Add a module) called Piazza (or in any of the existing modules).
  • Then click Existing Activities.
  • Choose External Learning Tools.
  • Choose Piazza.

    Miscellaneous and Alternative Platforms:
    Campuswire: an alternative to Piazza.
    Shovel: an online college planner app. (Purdue students will have access.)

  • Giving Exams

    Academic Integrity (from a Purdue workshop, hosted by Office of Students Rights & Responsibilities (OSRR), Fall 2021)
    Guideline for writing exams (from a Purdue workshop, Spring 2021)
    Writing Good Questions for the Internet Era (from AMS)
    Video: Creating timed exams in Gradescope
    Instructional Technology (Digital Proctoring)
  • Examity
  • Respondus Lock Down Browser and Monitor

  • Making/Recording Lectures

    Instructional Technology
    Tools and Services for Teaching Remotely

    Documents created by Greg Buzzard for Spring 2020 (when it all started...)
    default (google doc / docx / pdf) and alternative (google doc / docx / pdf) practices.
    (The above documents contain lots of useful and practical information much of which is still applicable but beware that Blackboard is replaced by Brightspace.)

    Mediaspace: a good place to store videos.
    The recording done by Kaltura, Boilercast and Webex will automatically be uploaded to this location.
  • Go to: MediaSpace
  • Click Guest (upper right corner), and My Media or Log in to access.

    Kaltura - recording videos outside classrooms
    Website for basic information
    Video: How to Share and Download Videos from MediaSpace

    Boilercast - recording audio, computer screen, doc-cam (and webcam, if available) in classrooms.
    You can either request the recording in advance or do an "ad hoc" recording (see the videos below for some demo.)
    Website for basic information (including requesting Boilercast for your class)
  • To use pre-requested Boilercast recording, turn on the doc-cam and log in to the desktop.
    (This instruction sheet is available next to the desktop terminal.)

    Recording lectures in classroom using Kaltura and Boilercast
    Video: classroom setting and Kaltura/Boilercast capture
    Video: demo lecture using "ad hoc" Kaltura/Boilercast (without requesting Boilercast in advance)
  • Make sure you enter your Career Account name before you start or upon saving.
    Video: how to choose and change input sources (desktop, doc-cam, web-cam) for Boilercast capture.
    Publish or sharing your videos from MediaSpace

    Recording lectures off-campus and online
  • See the document above - alternative practices - created by Greg Buzzard for many practical methods and useful tips.

    Collective information and comparison between Zoom, Webex, and Microsoft Teams

    Zoom: Purdue educational license
    How to link Zoom from Brightspace:
  • In course homepage, click Content.
  • Create a new module (Add a module) called Zoom (or in any of the existing modules).
  • Then click Existing Activities.
  • Choose External Learning Tools.
  • Choose Zoom.

    Webex - for conference, recording lectures, and holding office hours
    Log in: faculty and staff and students
    Quick start / Further information from ITAP
    Video: recording in Webex, uploading to MediaSpace and publishing/sharing from MediaSpace

    Miscellaneous:
    Guide for OBS Studio
    Instructions on how to upload videos to YouTube
  • After that, you can either simply share the link of the YouTube or put the YouTube link in BrightSpace.
    To do the latter, following the sequence:
    Course Tool --> Kaltura Media (Gallery) --> Add New --> Choose YouTube.
    You will then be prompted to enter the YouTube link.