PVP-U Instructor Guidelines

Introduction

The aim of this article is to provide a set of guidelines for new instructors, in particularly on scheduling and leading classes.

The Class Timeline

• ~3+ Weeks to go
  • Pick the class you want to run, decide on a few possible dates and times that would work for you.
  • Discuss with the PVP-U Lead Admin, agree on provisional date and time.
  • Arrange an FC for the class (if applicable).
• 3 Weeks to go
  • Post Enrollment Thread (locked).
  • Send a mail to the Agony PVP Uni mailing list announcing the class, with a link to the enrollment thread.
  • Add the class to the Agenda on the Agony forum.
• 2 Weeks to go
  • Unlock Enrollment Thread (signups start here).
  • Arrange assistant instructors/admin (if applicable)
  • Post internal thread for class support.
• 1 Week to go
  • Process enrollment and assign access to reading material.
  • Chase up any class support that is still lacking.
• 1 Hour to go
  • Log in early!
  • Ensure assistant instructors/admin are present, and agree on sections if you haven't already.
• CLASS TIME!
  • During Roll Call, note down any students who are not present. If they turn up subsequently, cross them off.
• After Class
  • De-Sticky the Enrollment Thread
  • Post Feedback Thread
  • Update 'Credits' sticky with anyone who paid but did not attend.
  • Update the Graduate List on the wiki with all who attended (first time students only).

Pre-Class

Scheduling Classes

• Always schedule classes well in advance. We recommend posting the enrollment thread a minimum of 2 to 3 weeks before the class.
• There is a sticky in the PVP-U Intructors forum for working out class schedules - if you've got an idea when you might want to run a class, but it isn't definite yet, post in there.
• Remember to announce classes in the Agony PVP Uni mailing list in game.

Enrollment Threads

• You can use the following template for enrollment threads: PVP-U Enrollment Template
  • (this example is for a BASIC class). Relace anything in the angular brackets with the appropriate info.
  • For classes other than BASIC, remember to ammend the template accordingly.
• Remember to include a time and date that enrollment will open. This should be 1 to 2 weeks before the class, and should if possible be at the same time (e.g. for an 1800 class, have enrollment open at 1800) - this avoids confusion, as well as making sure it's in the timezone of prospective students.
• Enrollment threads should be posted with the title [ANNOUNCEMENT]. (Note that you should 'Sticky' class threads, not actually post them as an 'Accouncement').

Enrollment Time

• If you announce that enrollment will open at a certain time, try to have it open at that time. If you don't expect to be around, arrange for another intsructor to unlock the class for you. At this point, you should change the title to [OPEN].
• As a general rule, a Basic class enrollment thread during peak timezones can fill in about an hour. More advanced classes, especially those on off-peak timezones will take significantly longer to fill, up to a few days.
• Try to have yourself or another instructor monitor the thread once it is close to filling. Once the class has hit it's maximum, post in very bold letters to state the thread is closed, as well as updating the thread title to [CLOSED].
• If the class has overfilled, you may choose to create a waiting list consisting on everyone after the maximum number who signed up before your post (up to a reasonable limit). Whether you do so is up to you.

Payment Processing

• Be sure to leave plenty of time for processing enrollment. This should be done at least 1 week before the class.
• The method for processing this is as follows:

1. Copy and paste all the enrollees onto the list on the front page - this will make processing easier (I like to sort them in alpabetical order).
2. You should be able to see wallet payments via the 'Wallet Payments' link from the Agony website. For anyone not paying via credit or a corp account, you should be able to find their name on there - when each student is checked, move them to under the 'confirmed and paid' header.
3. For all students paying via corp account, simply edit the Corp Accounts sticky and deduct the relevant amount from their corp's account.
4. For anyone using a credit to pay for the course, simply remove their name from the list of credits (which is also under the Corp Accounts sticky).

Assigning Wiki Access

• Senior instructors will be given admin rights on the forum, which are necessary for assigning wiki access. If you require (or already have) this access, speak to a director or another senior instructor for more detailed instructions on assigning wiki rights.
  • If you do not have this access, arrange for a director or senior instructor to assign access for your students.

NOTE: The normal PVP-U admin rights do not work for assigning wiki access to Agony members - doing so will remove any rights we do not have the ability to assign (which means all their current Agony access rights will disappear). If you need to give wiki access to an Agony member, get a director to do it for you!

During Class

Calling Roll

• When the class begins, all of your students will be in the default channel. Rather than moving them all to a wing channel, we recommend combining this with the Roll Call, whereby you go down the list of students (not Agony or Alumni, and obviously only those who have paid) and call out their named on vent. Students who are present should speak up (to test that their mic is working) and also X up in the Agony Public channel. While you are calling named, have one Agony member dragging students to a wing channel when they speak up, and one giving fleet invites when they X in-game. This significantly reduces the difficulty of these tasks.
• Have alumni indicate that they are alumni in their vent comment. Once all students are moved, have Agony members move alumni (checking against the thread, and the graduate list on the wiki if needs be).
• Take note of any paid students who are not present for Roll Call - you will be adding these to the credited list unless they show up later on.
• If any students mics are not working, get an Agony member to convo them in game and help them solve it - do not waste time doing this yourself!

Timekeeping & Managing Questions

• The number 1 Golden Rule for instructing a class is to keep the momentum going. A class can very easily over-run, and it's your job as lead instructor to stop that from happening. Obviously, avoid repeating yourself. If you've covered a subject, move on.
• One of the main difficulties with timekeeping is questions. If you're getting questions that have already been covered, are in the reading material or are not relevant, ask students to ask again during a Bio, or get other Agony members to answer questions in fleet while you continue.
  • A useful way to manage questions is to have students type a Q in fleet chat when they have a question. You can then take questions at a convenient time, to avoid interruption.