Top 12 Adjunct Faculty Skills to Put on Your Resume

Crafting a compelling resume as an adjunct faculty member means spotlighting a distinctive blend of skills that show depth, range, and classroom savvy. You’re signaling expertise and flexibility at once. Pedagogy and people skills. Rigor and warmth. That mix helps hiring committees notice—and remember—you.

Adjunct Faculty Skills

  1. Curriculum Development
  2. Online Instruction
  3. Blackboard Learn
  4. Zoom Proficiency
  5. Student Engagement
  6. Assessment Creation
  7. Moodle Expertise
  8. Research Methods
  9. Canvas LMS
  10. Scholarly Writing
  11. Google Classroom
  12. Lecture Capture

1. Curriculum Development

Curriculum development, in the context of an Adjunct Faculty role, includes designing, refining, and evaluating courses so they align with learning objectives, institutional standards, and student needs. Think syllabi, readings, assignments, assessments, and teaching methods that actually fit the goals.

Why It's Important

Curriculum development ensures courses stay relevant, rigorous, and coherent. Done well, it boosts learning outcomes, keeps content aligned with industry and academic expectations, and helps students build skills that transfer beyond the classroom.

How to Improve Curriculum Development Skills

Sharper curriculum, stronger results. Try these focused moves:

  1. Stay Updated: Keep current with research and trends through sources like Google Scholar and ResearchGate, plus leading journals in your field.

  2. Leverage Technology: Fold in platforms such as Khan Academy for supplemental content and Canvas (or your LMS) to organize delivery and feedback.

  3. Engage with Peers: Share syllabi, swap ideas, and solicit critiques in department groups or broader academic networks like Academia.edu.

  4. Student Feedback: Gather feedback through short surveys or pulse checks; adjust readings, pacing, and activities based on patterns you see.

  5. Professional Development: Take structured courses on pedagogy and assessment via Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, or institutional workshops.

  6. Outcome-Based Objectives: Anchor each unit to clear, measurable learning outcomes. Align content and assessments directly to those targets.

Blend these practices and your courses will feel tighter, more relevant, and more learnable.

How to Display Curriculum Development Skills on Your Resume

How to Display Curriculum Development Skills on Your Resume

2. Online Instruction

Online instruction means teaching through digital platforms rather than in a physical classroom, with tools for content, conversation, and assessment stitched together in one place.

Why It's Important

It opens doors. Flexible schedules, diverse cohorts, and a toolkit that can make learning more interactive and accessible for more students.

How to Improve Online Instruction Skills

Make the virtual room come alive:

  1. Engage Actively: Use discussion boards, live sessions, and breakout rooms in tools like Zoom or Microsoft Teams to spark participation.

  2. Provide Clear Instructions: Keep assignment prompts, due dates, and rubrics unambiguous and easy to find in Canvas or Blackboard.

  3. Incorporate Multimedia: Mix short videos, podcasts, and interactive activities. Sources like Khan Academy and TED-Ed can deepen understanding.

  4. Offer Regular Feedback: Provide timely, actionable comments; tools like Turnitin and LMS speed-grading features streamline the workflow.

  5. Promote Accessibility: Follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). Caption videos, provide alt text, and share materials in accessible formats.

  6. Vary Assessments: Use low-stakes quizzes, reflective prompts, and project-based tasks. Kahoot! and Quizlet keep practice lively.

  7. Support Self-paced Learning: Offer optional modules or recommended resources via platforms such as Coursera and edX.

  8. Stay Current: Track edtech developments and test new tools sparingly. Keep what works; scrap what distracts.

Clarity, connection, and consistent feedback carry online courses a long way.

How to Display Online Instruction Skills on Your Resume

How to Display Online Instruction Skills on Your Resume

3. Blackboard Learn

Blackboard Learn is a learning management system for building, delivering, and managing courses. Content, assessments, communication, analytics—the core pieces live in one hub.

Why It's Important

For adjunct faculty, it’s a reliable backbone. It organizes teaching, supports engagement at scale, and centralizes feedback and grading.

How to Improve Blackboard Learn Skills

Dial in the essentials:

  1. Streamline Communication: Post announcements consistently. Use discussion boards for questions and peer exchange to reduce email churn and build community.

  2. Organize Course Content: Arrange materials by week or topic using Content Areas and Folders so students can find what they need fast.

  3. Incorporate Multimedia: Embed short videos, audio clips, and interactive items through Mashups or native tools to break up long text blocks.

  4. Leverage Grade Center: Set up Smart Views, use categories, and provide timely feedback. Track patterns to catch students who need support.

  5. Use Assessment Tools: Build varied quizzes, assignments, and surveys. SafeAssign helps with originality checks.

  6. Offer Virtual Office Hours: Host real-time sessions with Blackboard Collaborate (or your institution’s conferencing tool) for quick problem-solving.

  7. Promote Mobile Access: Encourage students to use the Blackboard app for reminders, quick checks, and on-the-go learning.

Small structural tweaks often lead to big gains in student navigation and engagement.

How to Display Blackboard Learn Skills on Your Resume

How to Display Blackboard Learn Skills on Your Resume

4. Zoom Proficiency

Zoom proficiency means running live classes smoothly—screen sharing, breakout rooms, polls, recordings, security settings—while keeping the room energetic and focused.

Why It's Important

It’s the live classroom of the moment. Strong Zoom skills let you orchestrate discussion, manage logistics, and maintain momentum without friction.

How to Improve Zoom Proficiency Skills

Get fluent with the features that matter:

  1. Master the Basics: Schedule meetings with consistent settings, share screens cleanly, and manage chat without losing the thread.

  2. Drive Engagement: Use breakout rooms for small-group work; launch polls or quizzes for quick checks; invite reactions to keep pacing lively.

  3. Polish Presentation: Use tidy backgrounds, good lighting, and clear slides. Keep segments short with purposeful transitions.

  4. Secure the Room: Enable waiting rooms, control screen sharing, and know how to mute, remove, or lock the meeting when needed.

  5. Integrate Tools: Bring in apps like Kahoot! or Mentimeter for quick activities and formative assessment.

  6. Practice and Iterate: Run dry runs with colleagues. Test audio, annotate, toggle between views. Confidence shows.

Consistency plus a bit of showmanship goes a long way in live sessions.

How to Display Zoom Proficiency Skills on Your Resume

How to Display Zoom Proficiency Skills on Your Resume

5. Student Engagement

Student engagement is the blend of attention, curiosity, and drive that fuels learning. For adjuncts, it’s about sparking participation and making the material feel urgent and relevant.

Why It's Important

Engaged students learn more, stay longer, and push deeper. The classroom climate improves, and outcomes follow.

How to Improve Student Engagement Skills

More energy, better learning:

  1. Active Learning: Use case studies, problem-solving tasks, and team projects. Students doing the thinking learn more than students watching.

  2. Interactive Lectures: Break the flow with polls, micro-discussions, or mini-quizzes using tools like Poll Everywhere or your LMS quizzes.

  3. Feedback and Communication: Be present. Offer timely feedback, maintain regular office hours, and keep discussion forums buzzing.

  4. Technology with Purpose: Gamify practice with Kahoot! or create dynamic visuals with tools like Prezi—only when they serve the learning goals.

  5. Personal Connection: Learn names, note interests, pull in relevant examples. Relevance is rocket fuel.

  6. Peer Learning: Use peer review, jigsaw activities, or student-led discussions. Students teaching students cements understanding.

Small, consistent nudges toward interaction can transform the whole course.

How to Display Student Engagement Skills on Your Resume

How to Display Student Engagement Skills on Your Resume

6. Assessment Creation

Assessment creation means designing quizzes, exams, projects, and performance tasks that measure learning accurately and fairly—and inform your teaching.

Why It's Important

Good assessments align with objectives, reveal understanding, and provide feedback loops for students and instructors alike.

How to Improve Assessment Creation Skills

Build better gauges of learning:

  1. Define Clear Objectives: Start with what students should know or do. Use Bloom’s Taxonomy to balance recall, application, and higher-order thinking.

  2. Mix Question Types: Blend multiple choice, short answer, and open-ended prompts. Include real-world scenarios to test transfer.

  3. Use Technology: Create and manage assessments in tools like Google Forms or Moodle. Automate low-stakes checks; personalize feedback where it counts.

  4. Align with Content: If you didn’t teach it, don’t test it. Ensure assessments map cleanly to what you emphasized.

  5. Provide Clear Rubrics: Share criteria up front. Rubrics from organizations like AAC&U offer solid models.

  6. Offer Practice: Low-stakes quizzes, study sets in Quizlet, or sample problems build confidence before the big moments.

  7. Reflect and Iterate: Review item performance, solicit student input, and refine wording or weighting for next term.

Assessment should feel like a mirror, not a maze.

How to Display Assessment Creation Skills on Your Resume

How to Display Assessment Creation Skills on Your Resume

7. Moodle Expertise

Moodle expertise means knowing how to design courses, configure activities, manage grading, and support interaction inside the Moodle LMS.

Why It's Important

Moodle’s flexibility shines when used well—streamlined modules, interactive tools, and efficient assessment workflows elevate learning in online and blended formats.

How to Improve Moodle Expertise Skills

Level up with a mix of study and practice:

  1. Take Structured Courses: Explore Learn Moodle offerings and institutional trainings to move from basics to advanced features.

  2. Join the Community: Ask questions and share solutions in Moodle forums to pick up tips you won’t find in manuals.

  3. Read the Docs: Moodle Docs covers configuration, activities, grading, and reports in depth—bookmark the parts you use most.

  4. Attend MoodleMoots: Hear case studies, discover plugins, and see how peers solve common problems.

  5. Practice Regularly: Build a sandbox course. Test quizzes, gradebook setups, completion tracking, and backup/restore steps.

Hands-on tinkering, plus community wisdom, accelerates mastery.

How to Display Moodle Expertise Skills on Your Resume

How to Display Moodle Expertise Skills on Your Resume

8. Research Methods

Research methods are the systematic approaches scholars use to gather, analyze, and interpret data—quantitative, qualitative, or mixed—to push knowledge forward.

Why It's Important

Methods drive rigor. They make findings credible and replicable, and they help frame questions that actually matter.

How to Improve Research Methods Skills

Sharpen both breadth and depth:

  1. Stay Current: Track journals and use tools like Google Scholar alerts to spot methodological shifts and debates.

  2. Professional Development: Take methods workshops or online courses via Coursera or edX to fill gaps or branch into new techniques.

  3. Use the Right Tools: Apply software such as SPSS or R for statistics, NVivo for qualitative coding, and project trackers like Trello for workflow.

  4. Collaborate: Work with colleagues through networks like ResearchGate or Academia.edu to trade feedback and co-author.

  5. Seek Review: Invite critique from peers and mentors; volunteer as a reviewer to see what strong methodology looks like under the hood.

  6. Honor Ethics: Stay aligned with guidelines from bodies like the Office for Human Research Protections, and keep consent and privacy front and center.

Methodological agility—knowing when to pivot and why—sets strong researchers apart.

How to Display Research Methods Skills on Your Resume

How to Display Research Methods Skills on Your Resume

9. Canvas LMS

Canvas is a web-based LMS for creating, delivering, and managing courses with assignments, modules, discussions, quizzes, grading, and analytics built in.

Why It's Important

For adjuncts, Canvas centralizes communication, content, and assessment—making courses easier to run and easier for students to navigate.

How to Improve Canvas LMS Skills

Make Canvas work with you, not against you:

  1. Streamline Communication: Use Announcements with consistent cadence. Pin key info and reduce inbox chaos.

  2. Structure with Modules: Organize by week or theme. Add requirements and prerequisites to guide progress.

  3. Embed Multimedia: Add short videos and meaningful links in the Rich Content Editor to diversify inputs.

  4. Use the Calendar: Keep due dates synchronized. Students plan better; fewer late submissions follow.

  5. Leverage Discussions: Seed prompts that require application or critique, not just recall. Reward thoughtful replies.

  6. SpeedGrader for Feedback: Annotate, comment, and use rubrics to make grading consistent and fast.

  7. Keep Learning: Explore Canvas Network courses or your institution’s training to uncover features you haven’t tapped yet.

Good structure plus timely feedback makes Canvas hum.

How to Display Canvas LMS Skills on Your Resume

How to Display Canvas LMS Skills on Your Resume

10. Scholarly Writing

Scholarly writing is precise, evidence-driven, and anchored in existing literature. It advances arguments clearly and cites sources with discipline-specific rigor.

Why It's Important

It signals credibility, contributes to the field, and supports career growth through publications, grants, and conference presence.

How to Improve Scholarly Writing Skills

Write with purpose. Edit without mercy:

  1. Know Your Audience: Calibrate tone and depth for your field. Resources like Purdue OWL can help with academic conventions.

  2. Build a Strong Argument: Craft a clear thesis. Use the Harvard Writing Center’s guidance on structure and support as a mental model.

  3. Be Clear and Concise: Prefer plain words. The UNC Writing Center’s tips on concision are a north star.

  4. Organize Ruthlessly: Logical sections with clear signposting. Universities like Monash share excellent structuring guides.

  5. Master Citation Styles: Learn APA or MLA (or your field’s norm) through their official style resources.

  6. Get Feedback: Ask colleagues to critique drafts. Publishers like Elsevier emphasize the power of pre-submission review.

  7. Edit and Proofread: Use tools like Grammarly, but also read aloud. Clunky sentences reveal themselves.

  8. Read Widely: Google Scholar alerts keep your reading pipeline fresh and your literature reviews sharp.

  9. Practice Often: Write weekly. Short reflections, method notes, expanded outlines—momentum matters.

  10. Attend Workshops: Tap institutional seminars or courses on platforms like Coursera for targeted skill building.

Clarity, structure, and evidence—braided tightly—carry a paper far.

How to Display Scholarly Writing Skills on Your Resume

How to Display Scholarly Writing Skills on Your Resume

11. Google Classroom

Google Classroom is a free platform for creating, distributing, and grading assignments, while organizing communication and class resources in one tidy stream.

Why It's Important

It simplifies the work of teaching. Less time on logistics, more time on teaching and feedback.

How to Improve Google Classroom Skills

Make the most of its simple toolkit:

  1. Organize with Topics: Label units clearly so students can find materials without digging.

  2. Integrate Tools: Connect with apps from the Google Workspace Marketplace or compatible edtech tools to expand functionality.

  3. Boost Communication: Use announcements and questions to keep dialogue flowing. Encourage student-to-student support.

  4. Use Rubrics: Create clear criteria to speed grading and improve transparency.

  5. Assess with Google Forms: Build self-grading quizzes and quick surveys; share instant feedback when possible.

  6. Collect Feedback: Run short check-ins to learn what’s working and tweak pacing or content.

  7. Keep Learning: Explore Teacher Center trainings to discover time-saving features and best practices.

Clean organization plus steady communication keeps Classroom humming.

How to Display Google Classroom Skills on Your Resume

How to Display Google Classroom Skills on Your Resume

12. Lecture Capture

Lecture capture records your sessions so students can replay, review, and catch up. It turns the live moment into a reusable resource.

Why It's Important

It supports flexible learning, reinforces difficult concepts, and serves students with varied schedules and needs. It also lets you review and refine your own teaching.

How to Improve Lecture Capture Skills

High impact with a few tweaks:

  1. Prioritize Audio: Use an external mic and test levels. Clear audio beats fancy video every time.

  2. Light and Frame: Face a light source, center your head and shoulders, avoid clutter. Simple and steady wins.

  3. Connect on Camera: Look at the lens periodically. Vary your voice. Pause on key points.

  4. Add Interaction: Break recordings into segments. Insert short quizzes, prompts, or reflection moments.

  5. Edit for Clarity: Trim dead air, add titles or chapter markers, and overlay key terms.

  6. Ensure Accessibility: Provide captions, readable visuals, and verbal descriptions of critical diagrams.

  7. Gather Feedback: Ask students what helps and what hinders. Iterate quickly.

A crisp, accessible recording can double as study material and future course content.

How to Display Lecture Capture Skills on Your Resume

How to Display Lecture Capture Skills on Your Resume
Top 12 Adjunct Faculty Skills to Put on Your Resume