Honoring Instructor Excellence in Canvas
Canvas Hall of Fame
The Northwestern Canvas Hall of Fame is an annual award established to honor instructors who go above and beyond to create engaging learning experiences for their students using the Canvas Learning Management System. Each year, winners are announced and awarded during the spring quarter. Nominations for the Hall of Fame come entirely from students in one of three categories:
- Most Innovative Course Site: This award is given to the instructor who best exhibited an innovative approach to the delivery of their course in Canvas. This open category allows students to identify what they find innovative in Canvas.
- Best Use of Video: This award recognizes faculty who use Zoom or Panopto to deliver or supplement lecture content in an engaging and, where possible, interactive way.
- Excellence in DEI/Accessibility: This award honors faculty who have successfully integrated the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility into their Canvas site.
Read on for information on past inductees of the Canvas Hall of Fame.
Most Innovative Course Site
2024
Fundamentals of Computer Programming I
Connor Bain
Assistant Professor of Instruction, McCormick School of Engineering
Computer science is a difficult class to teach, let alone when one is instructing 500+ students. However, Professor Bain's Fundamentals of Computer Programming Canvas site is innovative, accessible, and comprehensive for all students, allowing us to focus on learning and not navigating a website.”
WHAT THE SELECTION COMMITTEE SAID: “This course demonstrates excellent course design and integration of various tools to enhance learning, particularly in the math and coding fields. Numerous nominations highlight the impact of their well-crafted course site. Students praised the organized homepage and well-designed rubrics in assignments, promoting clarity and consistency in learning. Skillfully integrating Canvas with associated tools further enhances the learning experience.”
Most Innovative Course Site Previous Winners
2023
Intensive Intermediate French
Aude Raymond, Christiane Rey, and Patricia Scarampi
Department of French and Italian, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
The ‘Flipped French’ course has been the easiest course for me to navigate. You can access varied materials in several ways based on where you are on the site. It also has visuals that help students stay engaged and a preview of all units once you enter the home page.”
WHAT THE SELECTION COMMITTEE SAID: “Flipped French has been a multi-year project to flip their course and design the course materials rather than have students buy a textbook. The course includes videos with built-in feedback, contemporary cultural examples, and more. The Canvas course for Flipped French supports engagement with the content and is an extension of the physical classroom.”
2022
Accelerated General Chemistry Lab
Katie Gesmundo
Assistant Professor of Instruction, Co-Director of General Chemistry Laboratory, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences
This course is extremely well organized in the way that it presents all the information a student might need on the Canvas site. There was a descriptive homepage with images and graphics, the module section was ordered very neatly, and one could always find exactly what they needed whether it was homework, recorded lectures, or key dates.”
WHAT THE SELECTION COMMITTEE SAID: ““From the colorful front page to the use of Padlet for student questions during lectures, the creativity of Chem 161 instructor Katie Gesmundo is abundantly evident. The site is very well organized, puts student concerns front and center, and uses multiple ways to be welcoming and inclusive. There are lots of science writing resources, an Excel tutorial, and an opening survey to determine names and pronouns. There is also an unusual and entertaining use of comics to get difficult chemistry concepts across. The course site is very well thought through and makes effective use of the technologies available. ”
Best Use of Video
2024
Finance I
Erez Levy
Visiting Associate Professor of Finance, Kellogg School of Management
Professor Levy goes above and beyond to upload videos on Canvas explaining various finance concepts. He also uses these videos to provide a step-by-step solution to homework assignments. This is extremely helpful, especially for students who are new to finance and for those who miss a class. No one feels left behind by this innovative approach to making course materials available for visual learners, auditory learners, and those who learn best by doing.”
WHAT THE SELECTION COMMITTEE SAID: “The instructor enhanced the student learning experience by using video solutions for problem sets with step-by-step explanations. The videos have been embedded into Canvas and categorized into modules, making the course informative and accessible. The videos created by the professor provided invaluable support to students, especially those who are new to finance. The detailed walkthroughs of practice problems go above and beyond typical instructional methods, demonstrating a commitment to student success.”
Best of Use of Video Previous Winners
2023
Contracts (LLM)
Emily Kadens
Edna B. and Ednyfed H. Williams Memorial Professor of Law, Pritzker School of Law
The Nearpod and Panopto videos are fantastic. The subtitles were also accurate, which helps a lot with my comprehension, and lots of razzmatazz spice up the contracts learning. Great to hear her voice from an avatar! The videos definitely contributed to my learning.”
WHAT THE SELECTION COMMITTEE SAID: “This course exemplified the use of videos that were durable and reusable. The videos were linked to assignments and key concepts of the course. The use of the avatar and Nearpod demonstrates commitment to exploring new features and technologies.”
2022
Engineering Analysis 1
Ilya Mikhelson
Associate Professor of Instruction, Electrical and Computer Engineering
He had folders for each topic and even had recordings for midterm/final review sections. Additionally, he had links to review videos on his YouTube channel which helped me SIGNIFICANTLY in studying for his exams for which he made countless practice quizzes available. These short quizzes helped me review key concepts in a brisk manner while remaining completely optional.”
WHAT THE SELECTION COMMITTEE SAID: “Professor Mikhelson has capitalized on the use of video in multiple ways in this course. Not only has he recorded every lecture for both his classes, but he has also provided recordings of his review sessions, helpful hints, and everything a student might need on this course. Many of the videos are also hosted on YouTube, making the material available to others. In many cases, Mikhelson has pre-recorded information using Panopto, employing screen-writing techniques for annotation. In all cases, the audio is clear and well recorded. This is only a guess, but our estimate is that this course represents more than 500 hours (about three weeks) of recording work – truly a significant effort. For the students in Engineering Analysis I, this assiduous attention to detail and ability to re-use is a gift.”
More about Professor Mikhelson’s winning course site.
Excellence in DEI/Accessibility
2024
Earth - A Habitable Planet
Rosemary Bush
Assistant Professor of Instruction and Weinberg College Adviser, Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences
I really loved this course a lot, and I think the Canvas page mirrored some things I loved so well: it’s very organized and easy to follow, and also it allows you to go above and beyond if you’re passionate about the week’s subject.”
WHAT THE SELECTION COMMITTEE SAID: “With an impressive Pope Tech score and completion of the Mission: Accessible challenge, the instructor’s commitment to digital accessibility is commendable. The course incorporates Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles, offering multiple means of representation to ensure that content is accessible to all learners.
The instructor’s proactive approach is evident in how they break down weekly tasks and provide clear guidance. By offering class readings primarily in digital formats and including resources in various formats, they cater to diverse learning preferences. Utilizing Quizlet as the primary means of quizzing enhances engagement and reinforces learning objectives.”
Excellence in DEI/Accessibility Previous Winners
2023
Witches, Bots, and Trolls: Misinformation in Society
Annie Wilkinson
SPAN Postdoctoral Fellow, Gender & Sexuality Studies, Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences
The course was accessible because of the inclusion of different variations of media content. The instructor did an excellent job of including mulit-modality content, which allowed for people with varying strengths in acquiring information to acquire said information. The Canvas course was well organized and extremely helpful. The syllabus was provided via modules and in a downloadable format, which was helpful.”
WHAT THE SELECTION COMMITTEE SAID: “Professor Wilkinson’s course not only included a range of course materials and sources, it also included zero-cost, multi-modality content, use of alt text and different types of media, and a supportive Canvas course.”
2022
Queer Criminality and Political Transgression
Roy Noll
SPAN Postdoctoral Fellow, Gender & Sexuality Studies, Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences
The layout of the Canvas page detailed everything we would need for the entire quarter from the beginning, making it easier for students to know even what kind of accommodations to ask for right away. The professor was generous, understanding, and creative in the ways that they provided accommodations. Additionally, our coursework explored a wide variety of identities in its content and had the most diverse representation of authors in terms of race, gender identity, sexuality, life experience, and relationship to academia which allowed for principles of equity and inclusion to be represented at every level of our coursework.”
WHAT THE SELECTION COMMITTEE SAID: “The course design of Gender Studies 353 is clear and well organized, with modules progressing week by week and including links to the course readings. The syllabus is clear and includes an accessibility statement. All readings are linked in the course Modules area; most are PDFs. As such, they are readable by a screen reader. The Canvas syllabus page is also set up well to be read by a screen reader.
This course stands out in equity and inclusion. The readings cover a wide range of topics and have a wide range of authors in terms of gender identity, nationality, and race. The course seems to rely entirely on readings available on Canvas, making it a $0 cost course for materials.”