Brightspace Matrix

Course Home is the first page students see when they open your Brightspace Course. It includes announcements, calendar, updates and the course banner. For each element, click the 'Why?' link to understand why and how these elements can impact the quality of your Brightspace course.

C (includes B)

Announcement to welcome the students
Why?
Example
Support

There is no welcome announcement.

There is an announcement welcoming students to the course.

An introduction to the course and information on how to get started. This can include a link to the course schedule, resources and tools, preparations for the first lecture, and other relevant information. The information on how to get started can also be included in a 'Getting Started' module instead (also see the tab 'advanced').

Introduction in Brightspace for students
Why?
Support

No attention is paid to the introduction of Brightspace.

The welcome announcement contains a link to the "Help for students" on the Brightspace support site and a link to the "Brightspace Pulse App". Also, the teacher explains the Brightspace course during the first face-to-face/synchronous teaching session (topics to address: announcements, notifications, where to find what, assignments, quizzes, grades)

The course contains a Getting Started module (see also the tab 'advanced'). This module contains an introduction of all the tools used in the course. The welcome announcement has a link to this module. There is also an opportunity for students to practice with the tools used in the course (e.g. the first quiz is practice quiz instead of a graded quiz).

Announcements
Why?
Example
Support

The announcements feature is not being used.

Announcements are used to inform students throughout the course. When reusing or adjusting announcements, the 'Major edit' check box is used

Announcements have a clear layout - for example using (short) paragraphs to increase the legibility - and meaningful titles. When reusing or adjusting (old) announcements, start dates are adjusted

Calendar
Why?
Example
Support

The calendar is not being used.

The calendar contains deadlines for graded assignments.

The calendar contains all assignment deadlines both graded and non graded. Students very much appreciate it if you also add an overview of all assignment deadlines in a separate document which they can print out.

Course banner
Why?
Example
Example
Support

The default course banner is being used.

The banner has been customised.

The banner reflects the course topic.

In your Brightspace course, you can find the Course Information under Content. Please note that the links to the Support website are all identical on this page. For each element, click the 'Why?' link to understand why and how these elements can impact the quality of your Brightspace course.

C (includes B)

Course description (incl. expected prior knowledge)
Why?
Example
Example
Support

There is no course description and/or no decsription of the expected prior knowledge.

A description of the course and of the expected prior knowledge necessary to participate.

A comprehensive introduction to the topic - what is it, the current state of affairs, it's relevance (to science, society, the student) The way the course fits in with the study programme. Specific descriptions of what prior knowledge is expected and references to materials to help students catch up with the expected prior knowledge.

Learning Objectives
Why?
Example
Example
Support

There are no learning objectives or they are not stated in terms of observable behaviour.

The learning objectives are stated in terms of observable behaviour.

In addition to the learning objectives for the entire course, the learning objectives for each module/week/learning unit are communicated.

Course structure and dates
Why?
Example
Support

No information about course structure and dates is available.

Information on the educational methods, the education period, contact hours and exam period.

A comprehensive outline of teaching sessions, topics, assignments, due dates and assessment. This outline can be printed.

Assessment
Why?
Example
Example
Support

There is no or only very basic information available about assessment.

The description includes the assessment type, weighing of each assessment type, the minimum grade to pass the course, scope of the material to be assessed, sample questions and answers, exam date and/or deadline, and permitted materials during the exam.

The description also includes a rubric or other way of showing how products will be assessed, an overview of the constructive alignment, and tips & tricks on what to demonstrate during the assessment (see example).

Resources and tools
Why?
Example
Support

There is no information about resources (books, articles, etc) and tools available.

Overview of the materials (books, articles, etc) being used in the course. Clear indication of what is core material and what is additional material.

Specific information about how to use and find the resources and tools is added, e.g. which pages to read. When using an external tool like Project Campus or Sketchdrive: instructions on how to access and use the tool.

Staff and support
Why?
Example
Support

There is no information about staff and support available.

Name and contact details of the course coordinator.

Background information about staff, information about how and when students can contact staff for questions and support, and whom to contact for which type of support.

Prev Next

In the content section you structure your Brightspace course. For each element, click the 'Why?' link to understand why and how these elements can impact the quality of your Brightspace course.

C (includes B)

Module structure
Why?
Example
Example
Support

The course is structured in an unclear way.

The course is clearly organised either per week, lecture or per content type (e.g. slides, reading materials, assignments).

When the course is organised per week or lecture, modules and sub-modules are numbered.

Titles
Why?

Titles of modules and files don't describe its content.

Modules, sub modules and files have meaningful names describing the content.

Titles do not overlap

Consistency
Why?
Support

There is no consistency (e.g. in font, size, colours) throughout the Brightspace course.

There's a consistent style (e.g. font, size, colours) throughout the Brightspace course.

The course predominantly consists of regular text (instead of uploaded word or pdf files) and makes use of the document templates. For each image an alternative text has been added describing the image.

Prev Next

Elements found in this category can be found in different places in a Brightspace course. For each element, click the 'Why?' link to understand why and how these elements can impact the quality of your Brightspace course.

C (includes B)

Discussion forum
Why?
Example
Support

Each course has a discussion forum by default. If you don't want to use this, please remove it from the course.

The course actively uses the default Q&A forum.

The discussion forum is actively promoted. Guidelines on how to use the forum (netiquette) are provided. Teaching staff participates on the forum when necessary.

Assignments
Why?
Support

There are no clear instructions to the assignments and no due dates.

The assignments have clear instructions. Assignments are added to the content part of the course, not only in the assignment tool. There are due dates added to the assignments.

The rubric tool is being used. Students get online feedback in Brightspace using the annotation tool.

Grading
Why?
Support

Grades are being shared in Brightspace outside the gradebook (This is NOT allowed!).

The gradebook is used to publish the final grade.

All grades are published in the gradebook. Clear grading schemes are used.

Copyrighted materials are unlawfully used in the course.

All materials in the course (including lecture slides) are used lawfully and attributed correctly.

n/a

Prev Next

For an absolute optimal learning experience for your students, please be aware of the elements below. For each element, click the 'Why?' link to understand why and how these elements can impact the quality of your Brightspace course.

C (includes B)

Module introduction
Why?
Example

The individual modules don't have an introduction.

For each module there's an introduction to the topic, instructions on what students need to do and a description of the relation to the teaching session(s) of that module.

Spark (something that triggers the students' attention, e.g. a quote, a video, a newspaper article). 
Description of the relation of this module to the rest of the course. 
Learning objectives for the module.

Course material instructions
Why?
Example
Example
Example
Support

There are no instructions describing what to do with the materials.

Clear instructions on what the students need to do with the material including questions (what to look for), tips and guidelines. This can be done using the 'descriptions' functionality in Brightspace.

Description of the relevance and background of the material. Also examples are included.

Duration of activity indication
Why?
Example

No indication for the duration of activities is given.

Indication for the duration of activities is given in the title or description of the activity.

Indication for the duration is given in the description or the title.

Completion Tracker
Why?
Support

The default settings of the completion tracker are used.

The default settings of the completion tracker are used. Optional materials and activities are set to 'not required'.

Students can manually indicate that they have completed a topic.

Getting started module/ module 0
Why?
Example
Example

There is no getting started module / module 0.

The getting started module / module 0 includes:
- Introduction to the course topic
- Expectations and guidelines about the course set up
- Instruction about the used tools
- A link to this module in the welcome announcement

And also includes:
- Introduction of the teacher(s)
- Invitation to students to introduce themselves (depending on your course setup)
- Student intake: students' background, their learning goals and expectations