Teaching Classes at EVE University

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See also: Teaching Department
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For a summary of EVE University's rules and code of conduct, see EVE University Rules.
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Teaching is the main function of EVE University, which is why our teachers and guest lecturers are some of our most important resources. Teaching at EVE University is a rewarding activity in many ways, not least because it gives you the opportunity to educate thousands of capsuleers as they begin their journey in New Eden.

We are always looking for new volunteers willing to step up and teach what they have learned to a new generation of EVE pilots.


Golden Rule
If in doubt, reach out to the Teaching Department via Discord (channel #teaching-general or PMs). We are always happy to help!


Becoming a teacher

While most of our teachers are current members of EVE University, this is not a requirement: we often have guest lecturers holding classes, workshops, and talks. Some of them even put an alt character into the University to continue their teaching on a semi-regular basis.

Why teach?

  • Give back to the community, share your knowledge with the next generation of capsuleers, foster your playstyle, and provide content for yourself and others.
  • Learn by teaching your chosen topic. Advance your own understanding of the subject matter and hone your real-life presentation and public-speaking skills.
  • If you're a member of EVE University, teaching can earn you credit towards the Educator Medal, the Community Content Initiative, and Progression Titles like Sophomore and Graduate.

What is expected?

You do not have to be an expert in every area of EVE Online to teach classes, nor do you have to know every last detail of your particular specialty. If you have a good working knowledge of a specific part of the game, that might be the right topic to teach. You should be comfortable with most aspects of your chosen subject, be able to present them in a concise and understandable manner, and be able to answer student questions.

In general, EVE University hopes that its teachers will:

  • have a working knowledge of the subject area(s) they wish to teach, and the ability to communicate that knowledge
  • comply with the standards outlined in this article.
  • act appropriately as a member/guest of the University and set a positive example to students: EVE University’s general rules and guidelines must be kept.
  • continue growing as educators, be it through self-observation, constructive feedback from students, or mentoring by the Teaching Staff.

Running classes requires:

  • timely and correct scheduling (see below).
  • class-relevant content (slides, instructions for practicals/workshops).
  • access to our Discord. This is available to non-members, so Out-of-Corp Guest Lecturers are welcome!
    • Contact the Teaching Department for Discord rights and any help you might need to make your class happen.

Support from the Teaching Department

  • A library of ready-to-teach CORE Classes.
  • Assistance in creating your own non-CORE classes or practicals. Just contact a Teaching Officer via Discord and they will be happy to assist you.
  • In-game resources for practicals (ships, BPCs, et cetera): we see no reason for you to also pay ISK on top of your teaching efforts. Just get in contact with us and we'll try to figure something out!
  • Mentoring from our Teaching Officers (optional).
  • Teaching assistance during your class, e.g. posting links, providing an in-game target to shoot/scan down, etc. Just approach any member of the Teaching Department if this sounds useful.
    • Please note that the presence of a Teaching Officer is mandatory for any guest lectures.
  • Constructive class feedback, gathered by students filling out the Class Feedback Form at the end of your class.

Choosing a topic

CORE classes

To make teaching as accessible as possible and to provide students with the proper basic knowledge to find their way in New Eden, the Teaching Department offers a library of ready-to-teach "CORE" classes. Most new teachers are advised to start their teaching career with one of these: they are easy to pick up and teach if you have a working knowledge of the topic area.

Other classes

By their very nature, CORE classes do not cover all areas of interest and expertise in EVE Online. We encourage experienced and/or specialized teachers to develop and hold their own classes.

  • The Teaching Department is here to help! Reach out to the experienced teachers in the department for guidance and assistance with class development.
  • Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. A decent class that gets held is better than a perfect class that never happens.
  • Please use our slide template in our corporate branding, which we can provide.

Players outside of EVE University who would like to contribute practically by leading educational fleets can do so through the Guest Fleet Commander Program. This can be a good way to share and foster types of advanced content and gameplay that the University itself lacks the resources to provide.

Format options

Different options (or a combination) can be used for different types of classes:

  • Classic slide decks are a good way to present bundled up static information in a visual way.
  • Open Q&A lets students pick out the topics and problems most pressing for them.
  • Screen-sharing your EVE in-game view offers a great way to demonstrate things in real-time, and our Discord classroom is set up for this already.
  • Organizing in-game practicals gives students hands-on experience and works well for some topics. (If you require ships/materials for these the Teaching Department is more than happy to help you out and foot the bill!)


To hold classes, we most commonly use Discord for screen-sharing, slide presentations and typed questions.


Additional options include, but are not limited to:

Choose the right way to present for you and your topic. It is common and natural to evolve your approach as you gain experience with the subject and better understand how students perceive the content.

Scheduling your class

  • Try to schedule your class at least one week in advance, to give people a chance to hear about your class and make time in their schedule to attend. If you are expecting support for ships/modules or other manufactured items this is a minimum requirement and not optional.
  • Check the UNI in-game calendar for available dates/times. Do not schedule a class at the same time as any other class. A Teaching Officer can check the calendar on behalf of guest lecturers from outside the University.
  • The teaching department asks that we avoid overlap of classes. Classes shall be considered a two hour block of time, reserved on a ‘first come first serve’ basis (first class to post on the calendar or be scheduled in the forum for OOC lecturers who cannot access the Uni calendar). Classes should not be scheduled to start within less than 2 hours of an already scheduled class.
  • Please do follow the scheduling formats below - classes not following these formats may not be eligible for teaching medals and titles (our Teaching Department may not see them to record the class occurring!)

Forum announcement

  • Post an advert as a new topic in the Scheduled Classes Forum, using the standard format described below.
  • Create a new post for each class session. Please do not re-use posts for multiple class sessions. New posts are more visible to the target audience - your students!!
  • If you do lack access to this forum, please ask the Teaching Department to do this for you.

In-game calendar

Create a class announcement on the in-game EVE Uni calendar (provided you hold the Sophomore title; if not, ask a Teaching Officer).

Make sure to:

  • include "[Class]" as a title prefix, followed by the name/topic of the class.
  • set availability to "Alliance" (preferred); the default is "Private", which only you can see. Do not tick the box labeled Important.
  • set a realistic duration, leaving time for questions. We generally prefer classes to last around 60 minutes, but 45–90 minutes is perfectly acceptable.
  • ensure that your class is not colliding with other classes. Classes should not be scheduled to start within less than 2 hours of an already scheduled class.
  • include a short outline of the class and a forum link in the description.
  • Include a link to the forum post for the class

Pings

Please ping "@everyone" in the "#ping-class" Discord channel shortly before you start, and you can ping with advance notice beforehand.

  1. (optional) "@everyone x hour preparing for Intro to XYZ"
  2. (mandatory) "@everyone Intro to XYZ starting now/in 5 minutes"

Feel free to expand on those pings by providing the forum link or additional context to the class, but keep it reasonably brief.

EVE University members can also put an announcement in the "Alliance" chat channel in-game.

Changes to scheduled classes

Sometimes the unexpected happens, and you must change or cancel a class after it has been announced. That's ok! Real life comes first.

Please use the following guidance for how to ensure your audience knows about the changes. Generally speaking - please do not delete posts or calendar events - this leaves the audience unaware and searching for what they thought they saw before!

Changing your forum announcement

  • Please do not delete the forum announcement - students may have already put the class on their calendar.
  • If you are canceling the class with no replacement time (or intend to reschedule later but do not have the rescheduled time right now :(
    • Edit the post title to say "[CANCELLED]" at the start of the title.
    • Edit the body of the post to make it clear the class is canceled (some bold text at the top of the post helps!)
    • REPLY to your class post indicating that the class was canceled - this is the important step that pushes the forum post back to the top and flags new content for the audience to see!!
      • Please do not simply edit your post - editing a post does not push it to the top and flag it as new content for people who have previously read the post.
  • If you are canceling the date and time originally announced - but rescheduling now - please do not create a new forum post for the rescheduled date and time
    • Edit the title of the post to reflect the new date and time.
    • Edit the body of the post to reflect the new date and time.
    • REPLY to your class post indicating the reschedule - noting the old date and time - this is the important step that pushes the forum post back to the top and flags new content for the audience to see!!
      • Please do not simply edit your post - editing a post does not push it to the top and flag it as new content for people who have previously read the post.

Changing your calendar event

  • Please do not delete the calendar event - students may have already put the class on their own personal calendar.
  • If you are canceling the class with no replacement time (or intend to reschedule later but do not have the rescheduled time right now ):
    • Edit the calendar event to replace the "[CLASS]" tag with "[CANCELLED]"
  • If you are canceling the date and time originally announced - but rescheduling now:
    • Edit the ORIGINAL calendar event to replace the "[CLASS]" tag with "[RESCHEDULED]"
    • Create a new calendar event for the new class date and time, following the guidance in the Scheduling Your Class section above.

Pings: cancelling on short notice

If your class is to be held in the next four hours, and you must cancel - first, don't feel terrible! Real life happens and that's ok. However, please:

  • Place a ping in the #ping-class Discord channel, to @everyone, noting that the class to be held has to be canceled.
  • Feel free to reach out to @teachers in #teaching-general to ask if anyone wants to take over teaching that class session.
    • If someone does take the class over after the ping in the first bullet goes out - please be sure to ping again noting that the class is back on!

Holding your class

Beforehand

  • Ensure that you have the Teaching role on Discord to allow you to stream slides on Discord. This is arranged via Alliance Auth and will need you to contact a Teaching Officer at least 24-48hrs ahead of your class.
  • Prepare your hardware (microphone etc.)
  • Prepare your software (Discord, EVE game client, etc.)
  • Prepare your lesson content:
    • Prepare the slide deck and speaker notes if desired.
    • Prepare an agenda to be followed, even if you're not using slides to stay on track.
  • If your class includes a practical, check what you need:
    • Prepare the ships/materials needed, or check they have been delivered as expected.
    • Prepare the environment. For instance, many practicals benefit from having established bookmarks to streamline activities.
  • Prepare yourself: have water on hand, and double check that any notes you need are present.

During class

Main article: Good teaching guide
  • Be early and start on time
  • Follow a clear structured agenda; don't jump all over the topic
  • Take your time (and drink of water). People tend to talk faster when they are excited/nervous, so slow yourself down and breathe.
  • Leave room for questions after "chapters" of your class and at the end.
  • Be assertive. Do not shy away from letting the class know certain questions will be addressed after the lecture, or referring to additional classes/materials so you can stick to your lesson plan. Make frequent references to the EVE University Wiki as needed and drop links in the Discord classroom channel text chats. For guest lecturers, a Teaching Officer can assist you in this.
  • Do not be afraid to not know something. Get back to students on questions that you don’t know or see if someone else in the class knows the right answer.


The good teaching guide offers more detailed advice on preparation and delivery

Discord streaming

Word of caution
Please make sure to not stream any of your personal data on accident. It's probably a good idea to use a clean browser, desktop background, et cetera, to protect your own privacy and the class's decency.


To present your slides (or in-game view) we use the EVE University Discord channel #classroom-alpha or #classroom-bravo. This requires either one of the Discord roles “Teacher” or "Guest Lecturer (OOC)". A member of the Teaching Staff can assist with these permissions.

Once you have the required permissions follow these steps (click to enlarge):

  • Discord presentation 1.JPG
  • Discord presentation 2.JPG
Joining a Classroom Chat Channel - Click the Chat Bubble Shown in a Red Box in the Image


Be sure to open the chat for the class by clicking the "Show Chat" button in the upper right corner of the classroom channel! This is where students will ask questions during the class, where you can drop links for further information and more!

Special note: those with the "Teacher" role in Discord, can set the "Use Voice Activity" feature in Discord - which will allow teaching the class without holding down a push to talk key. If you choose to enable this feature, please remember to turn it back off in your Discord settings before using other EVE University Discord voice channels, or attending another teacher's class!

Evaluation

Ask your students to fill out the Class Feedback Form at the end of the lesson. The form is also conveniently pinned on the Discord channel #teaching-general.

Reflect: what went great? What will you improve upon next time? Does the material need tweaks or edits?

Remember to go back to the original forum advert post, and change the [CLASS] tag to [COMPLETED].

Now that you have made it to this point, well done, and thank you for your service!

Useful resources

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