Canvas Spotlight on Instructors 2024-2025

November 11, 2025

In April 2025, we asked students to share examples of instructors with exemplary Canvas courses and tell us why they thought these courses made particularly good use of Canvas. The following themes emerged:

1. Exceptional Organization

Courses are consistently praised for being well-structured, with content arranged in weekly modules.
Clear labeling of assignments, readings, and resources reduces confusion and saves time.
Many comments highlight intuitive layouts that make navigation simple.

2. Ease of Navigation

Homepages and modules are designed so students can quickly find what they need without excessive scrolling.
Use of hyperlinks, tabs, and embedded buttons to connect students directly to relevant content.

3. Visual Design & Aesthetics

Courses stand out for being visually appealing, colorful, and creative.
Some homepages look like custom websites rather than standard Canvas pages, making them engaging and less “bland.”

4. Accessibility & Student-Centered Design

Pages prioritize ease of use, reducing stress and anxiety for students.
Resources are readily available, often posted in advance, and updated regularly.

5. Clear Communication

Effective use of announcements to keep students informed.
Detailed instructions and screenshots for navigating Canvas and accessing feedback.

6. Comprehensive Resources

Inclusion of extra materials, such as study guides, examples, and external resources.
Some courses provide help sections, APA guides, and even motivational content.

7. Feedback & Support

Instructors use Canvas features to provide timely, constructive feedback.
Gradebooks and rubrics are clearly organized, helping students track progress.

🎉 Congratulations to the following instructors on your nominations!

Your dedication to enhancing the learning experience is truly inspiring. 🎉

Argyros College of Business and Economics

Mark Engstrom | ACTG-541-01

Professor Engstrom organizes the entire course into weekly Canvas modules. Students can easily identify all the materials, required homework, Zoom links, and recorded Zoom lectures for any given week. He also has an organized grade book for every assignment, presentation, and test, which makes it a breeze to find the grades that he provides very swift turn-around for. Overall, Professor Engstrom structures a very pleasant Canvas experience for his students, and I would definitely take his class again. — Gus N., ACTG-541 student

Mark Johnson | REAL-370-02

This course is an exemplary Canvas course because each tab has a clear and distinct use for the course. The announcements tab is creatively used for announcements that help connect class topics to real-world data. The modules tab has a clear organization, with each week as a category containing the class slides, quizzes, and discussion posts, all with clear due dates attached. The discussion post rubric focuses on the Canvas feature of replying to encourage thoughtful engagement and respectful communication about class topics. Professor Johnson always uses Canvas to provide feedback on our discussion posts and to display our quiz averages. — Hayden T., REAL-370-02 student

Attallah College of Educational Studies

Todd Schmidt | LEAD-320-01

I’m nominating Professor Schmidt’s course because his Canvas module is one of the most organized and effective I’ve ever used. As a rising Senior who has been using Canvas since middle school, I feel confident in saying his course stands out in terms of structure and usability.

He thoughtfully incorporates a variety of Canvas tools—such as discussion boards, announcements, and clearly organized modules with assignments and materials posted well in advance. I especially appreciate that he uploads class materials before each session, which allows me to come prepared and stay on top of the content.

Everything I need to succeed in his course is easily accessible within the Canvas module. On top of that, Professor Schmidt consistently provides constructive feedback on assignments and grades fairly, which makes a huge difference in the learning experience. — Chloe H., LEAD-320-01 student

Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences

Brynn Nodarse | PSY-101-02

Dr. Nodarse has various links, files, and resources to video lectures that we can refer to and examples of work expectations. — Valeria B., PSY-101-02 student

Andrea Wolfs | PSY-204-06

Organizes clearly in Modules with resources labeled and easy to find, it’s also colorful and the canvas itself is used really well and so accessible within the page. — Anonymous PSY-204-06 student

I am nominating this course because of the layout on the homepage, which is broken into 13 different categories including Lectures, Labs, Help!, APA 7, Paper, Analyses, Quiz Help, Student Resources, AI Hub, Grad School, Fun!, Surveys, and most importantly Words of encouragement!

In each of the circles if you click on them it brings you directly to another page of information for the given category. The way the Canvas Course is engaging, straightforward, helpful, very creative and visually aesthetic (not bland like a lot of other courses in the past) makes it easier to get help with anything related to the class content- it eases potential anxiety :). — Delia S., PSY-204-04 student

Fowler School of Engineering

Franceli Cibrian | CPSC-355-02

It is laid out very nicely and beautifully. It’s nice that there is a weekly breakdown with everything you need for the week and it keeps track of past and future weeks. — Anonymous CPSC-355-02 student

Elia Eiroa Lledo | CPSC-231-02

Lots of embedded buttons makes it easy to navigate and visually exciting. — Shelly N., CPSC-231-02 student

School of Communication

Hannah Ball | COM-700-01

This Canvas shell was very organized. Announcements were used well and there were not too many. When an assignment/grades were posted she provided directions with images (screen shots) on how to navigate Canvas to get to her feedback. I LOVED the tabs on the home screen. We could click on the weekly table and it would take us to the corresponding module. This way, we did not have to scroll all the way down the page to get to our weekly module. This was especially helpful toward the end of the semester when you are on of the last few modules. Also, when students were assigned specific due dates, she went into Canvas and set up our assignment with our specific due date. That was a nice touch! Course Resources were organized in modules at the top and then the weekly modules started. This was the most user-friendly, organized Canvas shell I have seen. I was never confused or searching for anything, such as her contact information, assignments, due dates, etc. — Kim S., COM-700-01

Jarrod Ventura | COM-211-04, SCC-100-01

I’m nominating these courses because they are well-organized and provide tons of information. Jarrod creates a welcoming environment on these courses because he introduces himself in the syllabus and lays out important instructions for the classes. The modules section of Canvas is very organized, lays out everything we do for the week, and provides additional information. The Canvas also provides many outside resources and examples to help promote student learning. Jarrod also uses discussions interestingly because we do little activities in class and then post them in the discussion section of Canvas so that we have the opportunity to interact with our classmates and share ideas in a comfortable learning environment. — Anonymous SCC-100-01 student

I am nominating this course because it is incredibly well-organized and easy to navigate. Everything I need—assignments, readings, announcements, and grades—is clearly labeled and easy to find. The layout is intuitive, which saves time and reduces stress when managing deadlines or reviewing materials. The instructor has clearly put thought into making the Canvas experience user-friendly and supportive of student success. This course stands out as a model for how Canvas can be used to enhance learning through simplicity and clarity. — Maria K., COM-211-04

I’m nominating Jarrod Ventura’s course because his Canvas page is one of the most organized and helpful I’ve used. Everything is laid out—weekly assignments, announcements, class notes, and student materials are all easy to find. Each week’s content is outlined, so it’s simple to keep track of what we’ve done in class and stay caught up. He also includes extra readings from different authors that connect directly to what we discuss in class, which helps deepen our understanding of the material. The way the course is set up makes learning more engaging and accessible for everyone. — Anonymous COM-211-04 student

I appreciate the organization of Jarrod’s Canvas course. He clearly outlines the course expectations and provides detailed slideshows and coursework for each class session. The structure makes it easy to understand daily assignments, and the Canvas page efficiently directs students to all necessary links and documents. Overall, Jarrod is an outstanding instructor, and his Canvas course reflects his commitment to accessibility and ease of navigation for all students. — Nyah G., COM-211-04 student

I appreciate the variety of materials in Canvas as well as how smooth and organized it is to navigate weekly modules and assignments/to-do tasks. — Isaac S., COM-211-04

Jarrod’s Canvas Course is an example of an “Exemplary Canvas Course” because it is clearly organized and easy to navigate. In the modules section, he has an organized tab for each week, as well as class and school resources. In any project that we complete, he also provides detailed feedback for us by using the comments section. Jarrod’s Canvas Course is simple, but is clearly easy to navigate and laid out for us students so we can get ahead or get caught up on course material. — Anonymous COM-211-04 student

Schmid College of Science and Technology

Jean-Louis Bru | BIOL-317-01, BIOL-205-01, BIOL-208L, BIOL-498

Dr. Bru is very organized and clear on the Canvas. I love how he puts everything into modules and makes it super easy to navigate and read. — Anonymous BIOL-208-L05 student

Great organization. — Theo M., BIOL-205-01

Dr. Bru’s Canvas pages are some of the most thoughtfully designed and organized I’ve ever used. From the moment you open the home page, you’re met with everything you might need right at your fingertips—his office number, office hours, room location, and other essential information are clearly laid out and easy to access. What stands out most is that he consistently applies this level of clarity and organization across all of his classes.

His modules are intuitively divided by week, which is something that both I and many other students really appreciate. Each week includes the relevant assignments, lecture slides, notes, and study guides all in one place. This structure not only helps us stay organized, but also reduces the stress of trying to track down materials during busy parts of the semester. Every element has its designated place, and you can tell he’s put a lot of time and care into making the learning experience as smooth as possible.

I truly wish more instructors followed his lead—his Canvas pages set the standard for what an effective and student-centered course should look like! — Anonymous BIOL-317 student

Dr. Bru’s canvas is BEYOND organized!!!! So easy to find items by the week of the course. Items are uploaded in advance to the week so previewing material is available. He is so good at keeping canvas updated with all we need to know. I have never had a single class with Dr. Bru where the canvas den wasn’t this organized, which directly correlates to my success in his classes. — Anonymous BIOL-417-01 student

His canvas is very well laid out with some good pointers and its detailed so that the students known which week they are looking into and separates the work effectively to be able to find when things are due an its neat and easy to go through. — Anonymous BIOL-417-01 student

He has organized it very well and made it easy to find things week by week. Everything is clearly labeled and categorized and even pictures and emojis are put to help quickly find things. This is the best Canvas page I have seen a teacher make, it makes it a lot easier on the students. — Andrew T., BIOL-498-01 student

Calvin Trinh | BIOL-205L-L08

Cause the home page doesn’t look like Canvas at all, it looks like a web page separate from Canvas. It is really eye popping and easy to navigate to the correct sections for each lab. — Anonymous BIOL-205L-L08 student

Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences

Candace Goodman | SPAN-101-15

Such good organization. Clear resources for students. — Wednesday P., SPAN-101-15

Allan MacVicar | FREN-102-02

He has a breakdown of every day and every week giving clear formatting and attention to detail throughout the course and semester. When you click in the day by day it not only gives you clear methods and activities for language learning but a run down of the day. — Sylvia B., FREN-102-02

Jeff Pearlman | ENG-241-01

His syllabus is creative, easily accessible and helps us follow along in the class. His use of announcements really lets us know what changes there may be or what is coming. Jeff’s gradebook is genius and allows me to follow along so easily. — Anonymous ENG-241-01 student

Barbara Smith | ANTH-321-01

I really appreciate the way that the home page for this course is set up with intention. The home page clearly lays out the syllabus, course schedule, lectures, activities, assignments, quizzes, and exams. Each of these items are hyperlinked and bring you directly to the lecture slides or assignment designated in each week of the course schedule. I don’t have to search around in modules, files, or quizzes to find what I am looking for as it is all I’m easily accessible in one place. The professor also provides in depth details into her organization of the home page and seems to prioritize ease of use for students. Additionally, this home page provides exact due dates with specific times and is regularly updated by the professor if there are any changes. This level of organization and ease of navigation is something that I have only seen present in courses by this instructor and it makes for a great experience in her class. Due to this high level of organization, there is never any confusion on my end to what assignments are due, what we will be covering, or when certain things will be happening. The organization of this professor’s course on Canvas is something I recognized and appreciated when I first took one of her classes and I’m glad to see that this is a standard throughout all of her courses. — Anonymous ANTH-321-01 student