In April 2022, we asked students to share examples of exemplary Canvas courses and tell us why they thought these courses made particularly good use of Canvas.

Here is what our Chapman students said:

Argyros School of Business and Economics

  • Cristina Nistor | MKTG 408: New Product Development

Professor Nistor’s Canvas Course is organized in a fun and engaging way. Her modules are organized according to each unit. Under every unit she includes the matching powerpoint and other helpful links. All in all, she utilizes her Canvas page very effectively and makes for an easy/non-stressful experience when navigating. — a MKTG 408 student

Attallah College of Educational Studies

  • Gregory Warren | LEAD 302: Developing Effective Teams: Understanding Yourself and Others

Dr. Warren’s . . . course is easy to follow and helps prepare the class for self-discovery, emotional intelligence, and teambuilding. He has clear instructions and announcements on Canvas, posting lecture topics several days before class to help students prepare. All the document titles are clearly labeled and categorized into the correct number of groupings. Dr. Warren updates his class Canvas modules promptly, leaving students with the most up-to-date information. He has a section for course notes, weekly handouts and presentations divided by week, retreat waivers, student resources, student facilitation examples for student reference, a facilitation toolbox for setting up facilitation, and a syllabus. He also utilizes the Qwickly Canvas module for attendance (very cool!).

Dr. Warren is the most tech-savvy professor I have met so far at Chapman. — Kevin L.

College of Performing Arts

  • Andrew Chappell | TH 369: Dramatic Theory and Criticism

His Canvas courses are ALWAYS straight forward, simple, non-overwhelming, and easy to access. He teaches a combo of lower (freshman) and upper (senior) division courses. I strongly feel that freshman and seniors want simplicity and straight forwardness, especially as a first year student or a student on the way out. Dr. Chappell’s Canvas Course is easy to navigate, easy to understand, and his grades are always updated and easy to understand. He always leaves feedback on Canvas and always has his canvas submission portals open on time. He has a wide multitude of tabs, including but not limited to NameCoach and collaborations. I cannot express enough how much I appreciate Dr. Chappell’s use of Canvas in the forms of organization, communication, and easy understanding and access. — Talia I.

  • Jenny Jacobs | TH 150: Theatre in World Cultures

The course is very thoughtfully laid out. Everything is very detailed. Dr. Jacobs utilizes almost every aspect of Canvas, more so than any other professor I’ve had. The “Home” page is constantly updated to make all class information easily accessible. During lectures, Dr. Jacobs allows students to use the “chat” feature to gain participations points. The syllabus is set up well, her modules are organized beautifully, and it makes everything accessible to all students. — Ryan S.

Easy to navigate. — a TH 150 student

Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences

  • Matthew Ballew | PSY 204: Research Methods & PSY 495: Topics in Applied Psychology

Canvas can be the difference maker between a B and an A for many students. This Canvas gives students all the information they need to succeed. With dedicated modules for each class, hyperlinks to zooms/polls/forms/articles, and ‘to-do’ sections preparing students for next class, this Canvas is the epitome of organization and expertly prepares students for success. — Dylan K., PSY 204

Professor Ballew’s course on Canvas had outstanding organization, accessibility, resources available for students. He also included an activity portal that was a creative way to manage group activities. — a PSY 495 student

  • Brittany Ingersoll | PSY 203: Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences

This Canvas course is easy to navigate, the home page has every possible page we need to do well in the course, and her announcements are relevant and timely. — a PSY 203 student

  • Brennan Peterson | MFT 610: Family Life Cycle and Aging

The way the course is displayed on Canvas is inviting, creative, and just awesome! — Jennifer H.

Fowler School of Engineering

  • Jon Humphreys | CPSC 236: Visual Programming

The usage of videos allows students to properly learn how to complete the projects while also having the professor available to ask any questions. — a CPSC 236 student

  • Chelsea Parlett | CPSC 392: Intro to Data Science

I really like how Dr. Parlett does an extremely clever structure with “flipped classes”. I really love how we could watch any lesson during any time of the year. This style allows for an initial understanding of the material from the videos, a stronger understanding from asking questions in class, and a finalized understanding that other classes do not have by being able to rewatch the lecture. I feel like in this class it has been incredibly easy to grasp very difficult subjects simply due to Dr. Parlett’s Canvas setup. — a CPSC 392 student

It is organized beautifully and with careful consideration. She used the name coach tool and does truly use it to know peoples names. Dr. Parllett uses a flipped class structure and provided great information to her students. She combines her canvas page with github. In CPSC classes work and materials can often be really hard to find, she has eliminated this problem entirely. She enters all the graded items with their associated dates early and makes sure to remind people of any upcoming assignments. She also uses slack as a way to keep her students up to date and easily communicate with them. She has obviously put a great deal of time into her Canvas page . . . — Caprese W.

Schmid College of Science and Technology

  • Lauren Dudley | CHEM 230; CHEM 331: Organic Chemistry

Everything is well organized, and I can prepare myself for upcoming lessons before going to class. — a CHEM 230 student

The organization is amazing! It is super accessible and easy to find everything. Each day of class has a module on canvas with the things we need to do to prepare for class, and lecture notes. Also, she has a separate canvas module for the SI information. — a CHEM 331 student

The instructor has a very organized recorded Zoom class videos in Canvas. Also, the instructor uses Canvas to remind students with deadlines. Lastly, her Canvas was formatted simply and user friendly. — a CHEM 331 student

  • Matthew Gartner | CHEM 140 & CHEM 150: General Chemistry

Everything is very organized and always easy to access. — Andrew T.

  • Kelsey Gray | SCI 250: Grand Challenges

The home page for this course provides an overview and easy access to all parts of the course using pictures that act as buttons and a summary of all assignments listed at the bottom! This makes it incredibly convenient to find any information one needs, since it’s all located in one place! The pictures and section titles also add in a pop of color that make the page more fun and engaging. I really appreciate all of the effort that went into making this resource. — Stacy C. 

  • Kate Hill | BIOL 205: Evolution and Diversity of Multicellular Organisms

Everything is organized weekly, in set categories, and is so easy to understand and look for something. — a BIOL 205 student

  • Jeremy Hsu | BIOL 208: Intro to Molecular Genetics

Professor Hsu has a lot of resources on his Canvas. Everything is easy to access and categorized well. He gives polls on how we feel, he provides mental health outlets, and overall makes all of his information accessible. He will always post weekly update videos and makes learning this information a lot more fun by using active learning. — a BIOL 208 student

  • Maduka Ogba | CHEM 331: Organic Chemistry; CHEM 444: Intro to Molecular Modeling

The organization of this course is amazing and the modules publish on the correct time everyday. It is also super easy to follow. — Kurt H., CHEM 331

Super organized coursework and proper use of Canvas in all aspects. — a CHEM 444 student

  • Criselda Toto Pacioles | MATH 203: Introduction to Statistics; MATH 303 Biostatistics

It is incredibly well put together and is always up to date and accurate. You can tell that she has put in a considerable amount of time to make her course page simple and very user-friendly. — Justin N., MATH 303

This professor provides weekly checklists that allows everyone to fully understand the demands of the class. Although canvas already has a “to-do list” section and a calendar, this course goes above and beyond to ensure students have all of the tools necessary to succeed. She also has us complete discussion boards weekly to interact with peers. These boards are both academic and fun which allows for a great dynamic of the class. — Abi W., MATH 203

Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

  • Rachelle Chuang | GD 301: Book Design

Rachelle Chuang organized our Canvas course in a way that helped alleviate stress to the students. The organization revolved around modules which were separated by not only project, but also by week. She would publish only what was necessary (whether that be just the week we were on, or the upcoming weeks if they were applicable). This system helped us not feel overwhelmed with the class, especially being one of our first classes back on campus after being fully virtual in prior semesters. — a GD 301 student

  • Adriana Falcon | GD 201: Typography

Adriana Falcon is so organized on Canvas and is consistently updating the assignments and giving us information via announcements. The directions on each assignment page are so thorough, and Adriana is sure to give plenty of references and examples so that we all know exactly what is expected of us. Not to mention everything is perfectly organized into its own weekly module layout. — Emily H.

  • Kathleen Kaiser | GD 304: History of Graphic Design

Kathleen Kaiser is KNOWN in the graphic design department among students and other professors for having the most organized Canvas courses for her classes. She mostly uses modules with a few pages as well within. The modules start with a page with our weekly schedule for the semester. The page includes class agenda, homework, and links to other assignments or discussions for easy access and submissions. She marks off what has been covered already and that helps keep us all organized. Below the weekly schedule is a week by week breakdown for the semester with what is due every week. This class moves very fast-paced, so it helps to see everything in advance to help plan and prepare for each week with our other classes. — a GD 304 student

  • Nora Rivera | ENG 472: Film, Gender, and Sexuality

The Canvas page is very organized and has a nice aesthetic. Modules are organized in a logical manner and are easy to navigate. The course schedule is linked on the home page, which has been a helpful reference throughout the semester. NameCoach is used in this Canvas page and has been an effective way for me to better understand how to pronounce my peers’ names and what pronouns to refer to them by (and vice versa). It adds to the already inclusive environment that this course embodies in person. — an ENG 472 student

Everything is very organized and I’m able to find assignments easily. — Even J.

  • Joann Skousen | ENG 252: Introduction to Poetry

Every assignment is posted with ample notice, starting right from the beginning of the course. There’s discussion questions but the course isn’t relying on the old tried and true method of “I don’t have to be here, you do the work” because the professor will often join in on the conversation! The class isn’t easy, but the expectations are clear and accessible. — Natasha R.

  • Luisa Spanu | ITAL 102: Elementary Italian

Professor Spanu makes sure that we have every resource we need inside and out of class. She does this by providing everything we do in class, along with what needs to happen outside of class, on Canvas. Everything is organized by Unit, Week, and Day. She makes it so easy to catch up when class is missed because of her use of Canvas. She is the winner for Canvas if there is one! — Gracie-Anne F.