Islamic Studies M20 – Introduction to Islam

This showcase demonstrates how the instructor and TAs have applied different design approaches to build the Introduction to Islam course in Bruin Learn and use educational technology tools to bring an immersive learning environment to students to discuss and reflect on Islam’s history and contemporary practices through visuals and social annotation. By creating several interactive activities in Canvas/Bruin Learn, the instructor and TAs encouraged student participation and highlighted key passages to focus students’ attention for discussion and reflection.

In this course showcase session, the instructor will share his experience of using a variety of design approaches and educational technologies, such as Bruin Learn and Perusall, to create an immersive learning environment for students to discuss and reflect on Islam’s history and contemporary practices. Highlights from the session include but not limited to:

  • Use of Perusall for: 
    • Low-stake reading assignments to encourage students’ participation
    • Highlighting key passages to focus student attention for discussion and reflection
  • Interactive activities through Canvas discussion boards and quizzes to complement lectures
    • Use of media, includes audio and images to create immersive learning experience of Islams’s history and contemporary practices
  • Creation of a user-friendly homepage and modules structure to guide students

Presenter Bio:

Dr. Mohsin Ali is a lecturer for the Global Islam Writing Cluster and an instructional designer for the UCLA Library. He completed his PhD in Islamic Studies at UCLA in September 2022 and wrote about modern changes in historical writing among Muslim scholars in India writing in Arabic and Urdu. While a graduate student in the Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (NELC) Department, he helped transform Professor Asma Sayeed’s Introduction to Islam course into an online course. He also served as an instructional technology assistant for NELC while it transitioned from CCLE to Bruin Learn. 

Presented: Thursday, March 9, 2023