• Organize content with built-in heading styles so students and screen readers can quickly navigate your materials.  

• Give documents, assignments, and D2L pages meaningful titles that clearly describe their content.  

• Replace “Click here” with descriptive hyperlinks that tell students where a link will take them. (For example, link to Koehler Center events webpage instead of click here to see…)

• Use built-in bulleted and numbered lists rather than typing dashes or numbers manually. 

• Organize your course consistently so students can easily find materials, assignments, and resources throughout the semester. 

• Write in clear, concise language and avoid unnecessary jargon whenever possible.  

• Break up long blocks of text with headings, lists, and short paragraphs to improve readability.  

• Choose readable fonts that are easy to read on digital screens and in presentations. Sans-serif fonts (such as Arial, Aptos, Calibri, or Verdana) are generally easier to read on digital screens and presentations. Serif fonts (such as Times New Roman or Garamond) are often better suited for longer printed documents. 

• Provide clear instructions and labels so students understand expectations and next steps.  

• Add alt text to meaningful images so students using screen readers receive the same information as their peers.  

• Caption instructional videos and review automatic captions for accuracy.  

• Describe important visual information presented in videos or demonstrations whenever it isn’t explained aloud (e.g., “on this slide there is a graphic of…”) 

• Use sufficient color contrast between text and background to improve readability (for example, black text on a white background). 

• Don’t rely on color alone to communicate meaning or directions. 

• Use real text instead of pictures of text whenever possible so students can search, resize, copy, and use screen readers with your materials. For example, type instructions directly into your document instead of inserting a screenshot of the text. 

• Run the built-in Accessibility Checker in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, or D2L before sharing your materials.  

We are in the process of updating our accessibility resources. Please check back to explore the Accessibility in Teaching Resource Hub for: 

• Step-by-step quick guides  

• D2L Webinar recordings  

• TCU Online accessibility resources  

• Additional tools and resources 

Need additional support? Schedule a Zoom appointment to meet with our Learning Technology & Online Education team.

Class Search: Login to classes.tcu.edu for information about your class(es) (e.g. building, room, days, time).

Core Curriculum: Determine if your course is part of the core and identify the student learning outcomes you need to teach and assess. Learn more about the TCU Core Curriculum.

Place textbook orders using Order Textbooks on the TCU Online homepage.

Emergency Preparedness: Locate buildings for your classes and identify relevant emergency information. Check for classroom assignment right before classes start in case the location has changed.​

Registrar’s website

Don’t Cancel that Class

A well-designed, complete, and engaging syllabus is key for a successful course. Use the syllabus template to prepare accessible syllabi based on best practices and TCU policy.

Craft syllabi in your own style with the many features available in Microsoft Word while ensuring you include required content for students.

AI Policy Syllabus Statement

Draft from AI Teaching & Learning Committee (Available for optional use by faculty)

This syllabus includes information about when, how, and which forms of AI are required, permitted, restricted, or prohibited in this course. When AI use varies from the general course expectations for specific activities, you can expect activity-level instructions. If in doubt, you as a student, should ask the instructor before submitting work. If you use AI in this or any course, you are responsible for the accuracy, quality, and integrity of the coursework you submit including any errors, fabrications, or biases the AI may produce. Your critical judgment is crucial in determining how you use AI. Once included in your coursework, you are responsible for any misinformation. AI technology is not responsible. 

If faculty use AI to assess student work, you can expect a disclosure of this use in this syllabus and assessment descriptions. Faculty, like students, are responsible for their use of AI-generated material. This course syllabus may also include instructions on how to disclose and cite your use of AI. Presenting AI-generated content as one’s original work is a violation of TCU’s Academic Conduct Policy. Blaming AI shall not be accepted as an excuse or defense at TCU. 

TCU grades are due at mid-term (unsatisfactory grades) and end of the term (final grades). For more on grades see the Grading and Grade Rosters.

TCU’s Learning Management System (LMS) is D2L. We use it as digital companion for our classes including posting of syllabi and navigating course evaluations.

Copy Your Course content and items from a previous term and update in the new course.

Faculty Requests to enroll co-instructors and TAs, to combine your courses, et cetera.

Learn more about TCU’s LMS.

Use YuJa, a video content management system, to create, edit, store, and share video and audio files. YuJa is integrated in TCU’s LMS and can be used on its own.

Learn more about YuJa.

iThenticate and Turnitin assess the originality of text. Faculty and graduate students can check the originality of written work before publication with iThenticate. Instructors can verify the originality of student work with Turnitin. Artificial Intelligence has reduced the efficacy of both of these tools.

Learn more about iThenticate and Turnitin.

Respondus LockDown Browser and Monitor are integrated with the LMS Quizzes tool and helps to prevent cheating in online exams.

Learn more Respondus.

Lumi Pro, Feedback, Tutor, and Chat are available to help streamline the teaching and learning experience within Brightspace.

Learn more about D2L Lumi AI tools.

Have students complete these sentence stems:

• One thing helping me learn in this course is…
• One concept I am still working to understand is… 
• One question I have about the material is…

Why it works:

Provides formative feedback for instructors and encourages students to reflect on their learning process.

Ask students to predict the answer to a concept question before presenting the content.

Example prompts:

• Which of these explanations best describes today’s concept?
• What do you think will happen in this experiment or case study?

Students can respond by:

• Raising hands
• Writing on a note card
• Using a polling tool (Check out Multipoll tool in D2L’s Creator+ H5P Interactives.)

Why it works:

Students become invested in discovering whether their prediction was correct.

Show students a graph, chart, or problem setup but hide the final result.

Ask: What trend or outcome do you predict the data will show?

Then reveal the result and discuss why.

Works especially well with course content in:

• Data analysis
• STEM
• Social Science
• Business

This is also a great time to receive mid-semester feedback from your students via a brief start-stop-continue survey.