Save the Date: Thursday, May 2, 2024
Biosciences Complex, Room 1102
The Showcase of Teaching and Learning at Queen's provides an opportunity to meet with colleagues and to learn about the teaching and learning initiatives and innovations that are taking place across the institution.
The Showcase is part of Queen's Teaching and Learning Month.
| Time | Description | Presentation Slides |
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| 8:15 - 8:45am | Coffee, snacks, check-in (Bioscience Complex, Atrium) | |
| 8:45 - 9:00am | Land Acknowledgement, Welcome and Introduction (Biosciences Complex, Room 1102) Nevena Martinovic and Dale Lackeyram, Director, Centre for Teaching and Learning |
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| 9:00 - 10:15am | Section A (Biosciences Complex, Room 1102) | |
| 9:00 - 9:15am | A.1 "Sorry, what was that?" Hearing Challenges for Students and Instructors in Our Classrooms Robbie MacKay, Dan School of Drama and Music I am a "newly" hard of hearing instructor at Queen’s and a teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing with the Limestone District School Board. Broadly defined deafness is often an invisible disability, and a major barrier to accessibility in many educational settings. I will share information about hearing challenges in our classrooms for both students and instructors, and share strategies to mitigate problems and increase accessibility. From managing our learning spaces to using hearing assistive technology consistently and effectively, instructors can have a tremendously positive impact on the learning environment for all students, not just those with identified, permanent hearing problems. |
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| 9:15 - 9:30am | A.2 Making it Big: Strategies for Success (and Survival) in Large Courses Barb Vanderbeld, Anna Rooke, Howard Teresinski and Baharul Choudhury, Department of Biology We enthusiastically attend teaching and learning workshops and conferences, eager to learn new ways to make our courses amazing. However, as lab and tutorial instructors in courses with up to 1200 students, we often come away wondering how on earth could we ever scale the exciting pedagogical approaches we’ve just learned about into our own programs. This challenge is set to become even more prominent as first and second year courses are projected to grow further in size. In our presentation, we’ll briefly introduce some strategies we’ve adapted successfully in our larger courses including: students teaching students, teamwork as a pedagogical and logistical tool, having students generate and analyze their own novel datasets, and collaborating with teaching assistants to maximize effectiveness and efficiency. |
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| 9:30 - 9:45am | A.3 Teaching Queer Archives in the Classroom Rachel Friars, Department of English In fall of 2023, I introduced students in my second-year English course to the databases of archives of gender and sexuality available at Queen’s. Students were asked to produce an assignment using a piece of archival material in conversation with a text from the course syllabus. For most of my students, my class was their first foray into archives, and the exercise of not only teaching queer archives and literature, but asking students to do their own exploratory and analytical work with these databases was enormously beneficial. Our work informed our discussions of the literature we read throughout our class, beyond simply providing historical context(s). Using the responses I solicited from my students at the end of term reflecting on the literature and the archive assignment, I plan to discuss the ways using queer archives in the classroom can inform our approach to queer literary study for students. |
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| 9:45 - 10:00am | A.4 Evolution of Undergraduate Research Training Approaches in the Biomedical Sciences: Moving from Apprenticeship-Type Training to include Group-Based Team Research Nicolle Domnik, Jeanne Mulder, and Natalie McGuire, Biomedical and Molecular Sciences Undergraduate research training often relies on individual (apprentice-type) projects, but growing cohort sizes pose challenges. Group-based research training provides a potential solution that also promotes teamwork, project management, and mirrors diverse workplace structures. As DBMS begins to implement group-based research options, we investigated student and faculty perceptions of group-based versus traditional one-on-one fourth-year research training. Data collected by online survey and focus groups during the 2023-2024 academic year, and thematically analyzed (NVivo), revealed diverse student preferences: some favor group work for perceived real-world relevance and teamwork, while others prefer individual projects for perceived independence and personal accomplishment. Faculty identified both benefits and challenges in group research, emphasizing the need for clear communication to ensure accountability. Our findings offer insights into the changing landscape of undergraduate research, guiding curriculum design and delivery and helping support program enhancement. |
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| 10:00 - 10:15am | A.5 Scaffolded Assessments in STEM Erin Meger, School of Computing In notoriously difficult STEM courses, it can often be difficult to create assessments that allow students multiple pathways to success. In this talk, I will describe the assessment structure of CISC203: Discrete Structures II in the School of Computing. In many science courses, it is important that students demonstrate mastery of earlier material before moving on to later more difficult concepts. For many courses, there is simply not time to create multiple assessments on similar material. In this talk, I will describe the process I took through the Course Redesign Institute, where I broke down the course into three topic areas based on the learning outcomes. The learning outcomes were then further divided into types based on Bloom's Taxonomy, which then informed the design of each of the three assessment types. The framework described in this talk can be used in a variety of STEM and science courses, to facilitate clear learning outcomes and assessments designed around these outcomes. |
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| 10:15 - 10:45am | Refreshment Break (provided) (Bioscience Complex, Atrium) | |
| 10:45 - 12:00pm | Section B (Biosciences Complex, Room 1102) | |
| 10:45 - 11:00am | B.1 Helping Students be Heard: Make Large Active Learning Spaces Smaller by Leveraging Technology Tools Cynthia Pruss, Pathology and Molecular Medicine Developing a warm inviting class experience while managing the practicalities of a large class size is a challenge. Queen’s has large active learning classrooms for groups of 4-8 students. In PATH 120: Human Disease in the 21st Century, we attempt to deliver a small class experience in a large class format. PATH 120 has weekly two-hour sessions primarily for assessments, where students complete group work, share class presentations, and peer review using Feedback Fruits. The Qlicker app is used to poll for group dynamics and student wellness in addition to understanding of the material and a way to check in with the class. Teaching assistants work through MS Teams to collaborate on feedback and grading. OnQ resources are also leveraged to improve class management and identify struggling students for individual follow up. By making the most of active learning, we can help all our students thrive in this educational environment. |
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| 11:0 - 11:15am | B.2 Academics 101: An Asynchronous Approach to Academic Preparation for Undergraduates Ian Garner, Student Academic Success Services When the Covid pandemic first hit Queen’s, Student Academic Success Services (SASS) created Academics 101 to provide students who had missed several months of Grade 12 with a full palette of support designed to ensure they possessed key academic skills for success in a Canadian undergraduate program. Using the e-learning platform Rise, SASS specialists created short asynchronous modules to teach skills in academic culture and expectations, reading and notetaking, time management, writing across disciplines, preparing for exams, and ensuring a successful start at university. Opportunities for engagement with other students through message boards and other interactive elements were woven into the course, resolving some of the challenges of online learning. After an open access pilot year in 2020-21, SASS staff then offered course modules to faculty to include as a for-credit component of full undergraduate courses. Today, all Arts & Science students are enrolled in the course, with over 2,600 students in 2023-24 completing at least one of Academics 101’s modules. |
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| 11:15 - 11:30am | B.3 Including Students as Co-Creators of Knowledge Mobilization: Learning about Extremism and Polarization Through Podcasting Dax D'Orazio, Political Studies In the fall of 2022, I delivered a third-year undergraduate course in the Department of Political Studies that examined the twin phenomena of extremism and polarization. The course featured a pilot project in podcasting, one that directly included students in knowledge mobilization. Students read articles/chapters and watched documentaries, and were subsequently assessed on questions they submitted directly in response to the writers and filmmakers (who included Emmy Award winners and notable academics). An assistant and I then lightly edited and combined the student questions to pose directly to interviewees in a mini-podcast series, titled Extremism, Polarization, and the Future of Democracy (and co-presented with the Centre for Constitutional Studies). The project was a novel way to include students as co-creators of knowledge mobilization, teaching them how to ask good questions and highlighting the importance of public intellectualism. A derivative benefit is having a tangible teaching resource that can be used for future iterations of the course. |
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| 11:30 - 11:45am | B.4 EmpowerED: Integrating Comprehensive Sexual Violence Education into Post-Secondary Curricula for Student-Driven Solutions Rebecca Rappeport, Human Rights Office; Rebecca Hall, Global Development Studies; and Joshua Marshall, Electrical and Computer Engineering This presentation will highlight the design and intention behind a new teaching methodology for sexual violence prevention being piloted in four different faculties. Our innovative approach partners with professors, includes grading, and focuses on encouraging students to create discipline-specific solutions for current and future issues on campus. |
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| 11:45 - 12:00pm | B.5 The Possibility of the Anti-Racist University Mala Joneja, Department of Medicine The anti-racist university represents an ideal educational site where anti-racism is integrated into higher education teaching and learning. This presentation will explore the possibility of the anti-racist university by addressing the following:
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| 12:00 - 1:00pm | Lunch (provided) (Bioscience Complex, Atrium) | |
| 1:00 - 2:30pm | Section C (Biosciences Complex, Room 1102) | |
| 1:00 - 1:15pm | C.1 From Confinement to Cultural Heritage: Digital Preservation and the History of Kingston Penitentiary Norman Vorano, Art History and Art Conservation Offered jointly by the Departments of Art History and Art Conservation & History, this interdisciplinary course offered students a rare opportunity to learn how to use specialized 3D laser imaging technology to digitally document a National Historic Site, the Kingston Penitentiary. Students critically examined the history of Kingston’s prisons and the penitentiary movement, studied the period architecture, and traced how Canada’s oldest—and most notorious—prison is now transforming itself into a tourist site. The course combined lecture components held on the Queen’s campus, as well as mandatory field components held at the Kingston Penitentiary, during which time students gained first-hand experience conducting documentary photography and 3-D laser scanning for the purposes of cultural heritage preservation. Additionally, students created collaborative projects involving the digital scans and documentary photographs, while considering other issues such as Canada's cultural heritage preservation policies. |
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| 1:15 - 1:30pm | C.2 Who are you Writing for? Moves Towards Linguistic Justice in a Non-Language Course Johanna Amos, Art History & Art Conservation, and Student Academic Success Services Within academic spaces, linguistic justice refers to a series of antiracist instructional practices that emphasize the value of all languages, including all varieties of English, and reject standard language ideology. While linguistic justice has increasingly become one of the tenets of writing curriculum in North America, it is less discussed in courses where language is not the focus. This presentation explores the use of a series of linguistic justice practices in the course policies and assessments of an art history class offered in the fall of 2023, including the incorporation of a language acknowledgement, opportunities for translanguaging, and activities derived from critical language awareness (CLA) pedagogies. While the aim of these moves was to foster a more inclusive and just space for learning, this presentation will consider how approaches grounded in linguistic justice may also enhance students’ own awareness and understanding of their language choices. |
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| 1:30 - 1:45pm | C.3 The “Reading Choice” Model: Student Voice, Jigsaw Activities, and Course Content Michael Murphy, Political Studies; and Centre for International and Defence Policy Preparing to teach a senior seminar in Fall 2023, I recognized that the coincidence of university holidays and observances meant that my Monday-morning course would have two fewer instructional days than typical. My problem-solving began with a teacher-centric question (how will I cover all the content I want to cover?) that quickly gave way to a student-centric solution—the “reading choice” model. Instead of the standard model of assigning all readings to all students, I polled students on which readings they wanted to read out of a pair. Roughly half of the class would read each of the paired readings, and each class session would begin with a jigsaw activity where students would meet with their co-readers before small group discussions where students would teach their reading to colleagues who read the other reading. This paper draws on instructor reflection, student survey, and content analysis of written work to assess how the “reaching choice” model fostered an inclusive and engaging classroom environment. |
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| 1:45 - 2:00pm | C.4 Automated Feedback for Programming Assessments Sean Kauffman, Electrical and Computer Engineering; Asli Sari, The Robert M. Buchan Department of Mining; Sean Whitehall, Electrical and Computer Engineering Students working on formative assessments usually require access to an instructor or TA to receive feedback before submission. In the first-year courses, Introduction to Programming for Engineers I/II, we have introduced automated tools for providing iterative and immediate feedback to the nearly 800 students in the classroom. This also frees up instructor and TA time that can be used for other student supports and more detailed and constructive evaluation. In this talk we introduce “CLion Learning Modules”, used in labs, and “gradescope”, used for assignment submission. The main advantages of these tools include (1) providing direct feedback to students to set them up for success, (2) significantly decreasing the time that it takes to grade, (3) standardizing the marking, and (4) standardizing the code-building environment for students. These tools are useful for any programming assessment, not only in computer focused disciplines. |
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| 2:00 - 2:15pm | C.5 To Help You Reach Knowledge: A Care-filled Approach for National Financial Literacy Hannah Burrows, Psychology; Alyssa Giovannangeli, Psychology, Adrianna Armstrong, Education and Psychology, Floor Nusselder, Psychology Addressing the intersection between financial literacy and higher education accessibility, our project underscores the significant role of applied cognitive psychology in enhancing students' financial literacy and scholarship application skills. Despite the acknowledged benefits of higher education (HEd) for income, poverty alleviation, and well-being, financial barriers remain a major obstacle, exacerbated by underdeveloped financial skills among potential students. Our evidence-based program, leveraging innovative pedagogical approaches to optimize learning and memory, aims to dismantle these barriers by improving financial literacy, raising awareness of scholarships, and enhancing application competencies. This initiative aims to improve equitable access to higher education and highlight the relevance of psychological science. Through our focus on teaching and learning, we aim to demonstrate the critical importance of educational interventions in bridging the financial literacy gap and facilitating broader access to HEd. |
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| 2:15 - 2:30pm | C.6 Strategies for Incorporating Engagement Methods in Large STEM Classes Alan Ableson, Mechanical and Materials Engineering For a teacher, an engaged class is a fun class, and research shows greater engagement also increases student learning and understanding. It is a challenge to make large classes engaging at scale though. I will report on the successes and failures I've experienced while experimenting with a variety of techniques for 200+ student STEM courses: flipped course design, Qlicker in-class responses, open-ended questions in OnQ quizzes, active learning sessions and more. Tips for how to increase the student take-up of these methods will be presented, and time will be reserved for the audience to share their own challenges, successes, and strategies for increasing student engagement. |
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| 2:30 - 2:40pm | Wrap-up and Closing Andy Leger and Nevena Martinović, Centre for Teaching and Learning |
This year the Centre for Teaching and Learning is planning to go back to an in-person Showcase of Teaching and Learning scheduled for Wednesday, May 3. It provides an opportunity to meet with colleagues and to learn about the teaching and learning initiatives and innovations that are taking place across the institution.
Program
| Time | Description | Presentation |
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8:30 - 8:45am |
Check-In (refreshments and snacks provided) |
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8:45 - 9:00am |
Land Acknowledgement, Welcome and Introduction |
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9:00 - 10:15am |
SESSIONS A: |
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9:00 - 9:15am |
A.1 Adapting Team Presentations to Foster Accessibility and Inclusion Public speaking is a desirable skill that in-class presentations help develop. However, many students find this activity intimidating. Students may require accommodations requiring alternatives to presentations or oral participation in class. These alternatives may emphasize an exclusion, reducing discretion. When offered a choice, students preferred participating in a creative and flexible group presentation to an alternate assignment. Team members decided how to work from their strengths to complete the task. The activity, which involved 30 groups of five students, focused on providing real-world examples illustrating course concepts emphasized in each week of the course. It required teams to work together to capture the class's interest in a learning outcome for each week. The activity also enhanced team development through a high-collaboration, creative, and low-risk activity, which helped members recognize and use their members' strengths. This experience allowed the teams to work more effectively in a subsequent group project. |
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9:15 - 9:30am |
A.2 Write It: A Strengths-Based Skills Approach to Academic Writing Our presentation offers an introduction to "Write It", a weekly interactive academic writing workshop offered by the QUIC and SASS. Each session focuses on a different writing topic and brings together a small writing community to discuss the topic in relation to an altered excerpt of academic writing. Together, we explore writing conventions and how different sentence-level choices affect the reader. We seek to demystify academic writing culture and empower students’ writing agency by helping them understand the "why" behind their writing choices and how to be intentional writers. In this presentation, we will explain how Write It works and offer suggestions for how instructors could employ this approach in their own classrooms or collaborate with us to create more inclusive classrooms. |
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9:30 - 9:45am |
A.3 The Participation Grading Project: Fairness and Inclusion in the Classroom Participation grades are a contested concept in higher education. This is true both in practical terms of how to design techniques that fairly and accurately capture classroom engagement as well as in theoretical terms of how we should understand the value and role of participation-based assessment and evaluation. Emerging from the context of disciplinary pedagogical debates in political science, the “Participation Grading Project” sought to better understand student and instructor perceptions of in-class participation through four case study courses (including student surveys and instructor interviews). Considerations relating to inclusion and fairness for diverse learner profiles emerged repeatedly in responses, and this presentation highlights how these study findings can inform future research and practice in the context of participation grading. |
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9:45 - 10:00am |
A.4 Curating an Online Course: French Language for Indigenous Contexts We will share our experiences developing and delivering FREN 239: French for Indigenous Contexts offered as part of the Certificate in French for Professionals. Challenges and possibilities include:
This course offers students a multiplicity of encounters with Indigenous artists through a diversity of course format (video recordings, film previews, short texts, interviews, etc.). It is designed to provide learners with the oral and written skills necessary to accurately understand and effectively engage with Indigenous contexts in the workplace. |
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10:00 - 10:15am |
A.5 Some Naive and Tentative Attempts at Introducing Indigenous Perspectives into my Biology Teaching This presentation will describe some preliminary attempts at meaningfully including Indigenous perspectives on nature into my small fourth year undergraduate seminar discussion course on sustainability. I will outline the course, its learning outcomes, and then present the specific ideas I used to include indigenous perspectives and context. In addition, with input from Biology colleagues and CTL staff, I recently compiled a set of specific teaching practices and resources aimed at helping teachers (i.e. professors, program associates, and teaching assistants) raise awareness of, and promote Indigenization - Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Accessibility, Anti-Racism (I-EDIAA). This ‘starting-point’ document contains a blend of biology-focused and more general teaching suggestions, and I will outline some of the Indigenization-related practices before finishing with some reflections. |
"Specific Teaching Practices to help promote I-EDIAA"
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10:15 - 10:45am |
Refreshment Break (provided) |
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10:45 - 12:00pm |
SESSION B: |
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10:45 - 11:00am |
B.1 Practical Challenges and Opportunities for Globally Engaged Learning In my teaching and learning I have struggled with communicating the diverse local and global perspectives of the course content to the students. Although courses on the United Nations appear to lend themselves to globally engaged discussions, it is just as easy to find myself stuck in traditional discourses while trying to steer my class successfully through a semester. In re-working my syllabus for Globally Engaged Learning, using the new syllabus tool designed by Yunyi Chen and the Centre for Teaching and Learning, I found myself particularly adjusting the assessment of my learning goals significantly to focus student learning on these discourses. The new course delivery faced challenges, some of which were environmental, but the experience was overall positive and it taught me important lessons and opportunities for continuing to structure and re-structure my courses for global engagement in the future. |
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11:00 - 11:15am |
B.2 Strategies for Anti-Racist and Anti-Oppressive Pedagogies in the Classroom As the recipient of the 2022 Principal's Impact Award, myself and my colleague Dr. Thashika Pillay, will share strategies for incorporating anti-racist and anti-oppressive pedagogies in the classroom. We will share information about our school community project and our project supporting teachers in local school boards. |
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11:15 - 11:30am |
B.3 Lessons in Cultural Humility: Teaching Music History Globally Standard music history courses disseminate a Eurocentric narrative omitting many musics and peoples. Although many university instructors recognize the limitations of such canonic approaches, revisions are difficult as the narrative is embedded in teaching materials and past training. Yet, rising awareness of coloniality and systemic racism has demanded a new approach to concerns about Eurocentrism in university music programs. As courses in music history are often the primary route to critical thought in music degrees, addressing the messages of whiteness, erasure, and cultural superiority communicated through standard histories is a crucial part of curricular planning. In this presentation, I share my experiences grappling with the redesign of music history courses at Queen’s. Focusing on my recent experience working with Yunyi Chen’s Holistic Framework for Globally Engaged Curriculum, I explore how the core values of decolonization, antiracism, accessibility, and cultural humility provide a solid foundation for my ongoing pedagogical efforts. |
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11:30 - 11:45am |
B.4 Examining QEVAL: A Community-Engaged Interdisciplinary, Experiential Program Evaluation Course This presentation will examine an innovative model of interdisciplinary course delivery as a mode for developing evaluation capacity with students and community. QEval (also known as EDUC 843 & 888) has been offered to graduate students and community learners since 2021 in May-June using a hybrid approach (synchronous and asynchronous learning with both online and in-person options). The course is offered by Searle in conjunction with Gokiert, an instructor from the University of Alberta. A distinctive feature of the QEval course (called UEval at the University of Alberta) is the one-week intensive where course attendees support community organizations. Working with multiple sources of data spanning the various course iterations we will describe the purpose and processes as well as the challenges and opportunities for this type of course. |
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11:45 - 12:00pm |
B.5 Creative Solutions in Your Classroom In this presentation, I will outline how I use creativity to solve some challenges facing me in current post-pandemic classes, examples of strategies for groups, approaches to creatively reinforce key parts of readings, playful reviews and focusing rituals, and how to use the elements of improv as a guide to teaching delivery on unexpected spots. I will also highlight some strategies I use (or keep on hand) to keep energy, engagement and buy-in higher.
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12:00 - 1:00pm |
Lunch (provided) |
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1:00 - 2:30pm |
SESSIONS C: |
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1:00 - 1:15pm |
C.1 Post-Pandemic, Re-Engaging Students in the Large Lecture Class: Help for Worn-Down Instructors Post-pandemic and remote learning, university lecture halls face new challenges. The presenter highlights changes she made this year that brought success in the large lecture hall (on several metrics). The presentation has a story. Frustrated managing accommodations (QSAS), student demands for notes and videos and declining attendance, the presenter visited the CTL and met with Ms. Yunyi Chen, Educational Developer (ED). The majority of changes were suggested by the ED, met with resistance from the instructor, and achieved great success in the classroom. CTL Showcase presentations typically feature a single innovation for 10 minutes. However, beleaguered colleagues will find several ‘tricks of the trade’ helpful in this short presentation. Here is a run-down of content: re-thinking small-stakes assignments, OnQ streamlined, digital detox, learning outcomes and assessments aligned, grading rubrics with purpose, lecture hall engagement tools, OnQ survey to effect change, feedforward, collaborative skill-based learning, and authenticity. |
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1:15 - 1:30pm |
C.2 Tales From the Adventures of Self-Grading This presentation will discuss how self-grading assignments have been assigned in third and fourth year courses, the benefits of this approach, and some of the unexpected curveballs that come from students. |
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1:30 - 1:45pm |
C.3 Humanitarian Health Emergencies and Wicked Problems: Facilitating Emergent Creativity through the Application of Systems Thinking and Design Thinking While the world’s attention is focused on Ukraine, more than two billion people are currently living in fragile or conflict-affected states. The global COVID-19 pandemic has hindered humanitarian responses over the last two years, further exacerbating health care shortages, food scarcity and insecurity, and worsening poverty. A humanitarian health emergency can arise from any combination of natural disasters and man-made elements (such as armed conflict) with pre-existing vulnerabilities, creating a crisis requiring a large-scale, multi-agency humanitarian response. The scale and complexity of these crises can be overwhelming and the volume of suffering unimaginable. GLPH 482 Foundations of Humanitarian Health Emergencies was designed to facilitate emergent creativity through a systems thinking and design thinking approach. The course is rooted in an experiential learning paradigm whereby the students are introduced to and apply various systems and design thinking methodologies to better understand the wicked problems that reside in humanitarian crises. |
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1:45 - 2:00pm |
C.4 Sparking Creativity Assessing students in business related courses often involves tests, cases, presentations, and reports. These are typically structured and provide limited opportunities for students to engage their creative side when demonstrating their learning. Students all too often become assignment processing machines, using the same formula again and again. By creating assignments that eliminated a pre-defined structure students were able to creatively communicate their learning in a manner that was meaningful for them. As an instructor it was hard to let go and give students choice. There were concerns about what they would produce if the assignment wasn’t structured. And yet, in practice students were better set up for success and produced work that exceeded expectations. It was not easy and the results of were surprising, interesting and reminded me that students are (whole) people with passions and interests beyond the curriculum.
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2:00 - 2:15pm |
C.5 Fostering institutional Open Education Practice through the development of OERs Open Educational Resources are teaching and learning materials that are freely available for everyone to use, modify, and share. This includes textbooks, videos, quizzes, and other educational resources. OER offer several benefits to both students and educators, including cost savings, improved access to high-quality educational resources, and increased collaboration among educators. Attendees of this workshop will learn about:
We will also showcase OERs at Queen’s and will make the case for the need to develop an institutional community of Open Education Practice (OEP) to support the (re)use and production of OER through institutional policies, promote innovative pedagogical models, and respect and empower learners as co-producers on their lifelong learning paths. |
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2:15 - 2:30pm |
C.6 Pedagogical approaches to ChatGPT and other large language models This presentation is derived from an article titled “Artificial intelligence and academic integrity in political science education” but offers a general, non-disciplinary perspective. It addresses three different pedagogical approaches to ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs): we can ‘mitigate’ the negative effects of LLMs through regulation and assessment design; we can ‘inform’ students about what LLMs are, what they can and cannot do, and when their use is appropriate; and we can ‘adopt’ LLMs by incorporating them into the curriculum. The main argument is that all three approaches are necessary, but our primary focus should be on developing ‘artificial intelligence literacy’ among both students and faculty, including its general character and limitations, the importance of how it is perceived and other social implications, and that it should only be used as a research tool insofar as it follows the inferential and evidentiary standards of the relevant discipline. |
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| 2:30pm | End |
This year the Centre for Teaching and Learning planned a virtual Showcase of Teaching and Learning. The event was held on Wednesday, May 4th and provided an opportunity for instructors to share their approaches to design and delivery as they shifted their courses to remote teaching and learning.
Session 1
8:45 am – 10:30 am
Moderated by Yasmine Djerbal, Centre for Teaching and Learning
Welcome and Announcements
Assessment
Linking course completion to fundamental competencies
Presented by Brian Frank, Electrical and Computer Engineering
University programs aspire to develop fundamental skills, which may include competencies like communication, working effectively in a group environment, thinking critically, and conducting quantitative analysis. Our academic evaluation and progression system, however, is generally not tied to students' ability to demonstrate these skills, as in most cases course completion is based on a weighted mean of scores on assessments. This presentation will describe pilots of using competency-based assessment as a component of a grading scheme in two large undergraduate courses. It describes how student progression was tied to demonstrating fundamental competencies, and the administrative barriers to implementing this approach.
Assessing healthcare professional communication via simulated voicemail responses to scenarios in OnQ
Presented by Kathleen Norman, School of Rehabilitation Therapy
In the Physical Therapy Professional Practice course, we sought to assess students' knowledge of laws and standards governing professional practice, and skill at verbal communication in realistic clinical scenarios. Since in-person encounters with actors were not feasible, we created an OnQ testing method.
Students encountered three scenarios, one at a time, and had to record a verbal response in OnQ within 15 minutes for each scenario, representing a simulated voicemail message for a character in the scenario. The characters were: a patient, a family member, and a co-worker.
Inclusive Community
Exploring International Virtual Exchange Through COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning)
Presented by Jenny Corlett, Bader International Study Centre, and Nadya Allen, Faculty of Education
The global pandemic created challenges and opportunities for intercultural learning. To help first year Concurrent Education students experience the British education system when they were not able to travel to the Bader International Study Centre in England, Professional Skills 110 instructor Elizabeth Hubbell introduced a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) project, in partnership with Coventry University in England. COIL is a pedagogy that links the classrooms of two or more higher education institutions, each located in a different country or cultural setting. The lack of physical mobility during the pandemic saw more institutions creating COIL projects that offered students an intercultural experience without leaving the institution. It is contingent on the partner faculty members to collaborate to offer a short-term project within a course. The session provides an overview of this COIL project, titled "Using Picture Books to Explore Challenging International Issues in Canadian and British Classrooms", and lessons learned.
From Idea to Idea Worth Teaching: The COMM354 Journey
Presented by Lindsay Brant, Smith School of Business , and Kate Rowbotham, Smith School of Business
Lindsay Brant, Adjunct Lecturer, and Kate Rowbotham, Distinguished Faculty Fellow of Organizational Behaviour, Smith School of Business, will take you on a journey to describe the creation and delivery of their Commerce elective course COMM354: Relationships and Reconciliation in Business and Beyond. We will embark on this journey by beginning from the initial idea stage, to planning and development, to teaching it for different audiences (undergraduate and graduate students), to winning a prestigious Internationally recognized "Ideas Worth Teaching" award from the Aspen Institute. This presentation will highlight the successes and challenges of adopting and fostering a community of care within the classroom through the adoption of critical pedagogical approaches such as the pedagogy of peace, and centring love and hope, to create a sense of inclusion and belong in our classroom. We will also explore and share about our approach to teaching and learning through highlighting our innovative ungrading approach to assessments, and the use of sharing circles/discussion-based learning.
Session 2
11:00 am – 12:30 pm
Moderated by Lauren Anstey, Centre for Teaching and Learning
Student Engagement
Bridging the Educational Gap through Fourth-Year Student Mentors
Presented by Madison Shields, Film and Media, and Jade Courchesne, Film and Media
For this presentation, fourth year students Jade and Madison reflect on their experiences as student mentors for the Film and Media Department under the supervision of Dr. Dan Vena. They aim to discuss the benefits of having upper-year students as peer mentors in Arts and Humanities departments, including learning environments of equal power dynamics and allowing instructors insight into the successes and shortcomings within their own classrooms. This role bridges the gap between students and their educators, a disconnect that has been made more apparent with the uncertain changes to remote and in-person learning, and can be supported anecdotally through their own experience as well as that of their fellow students. Delving into topics such as consent-based learning, the deconstruction of traditional learning strategies, and community care-giving, Jade and Madison will demonstrate the advantages of student mentorship for all parties involved — their peers, the supervising professor, as well as the mentors themselves.
Pedagogical strategies for enhancement of learning
Presented by Ron Easteal, Biomedical and Molecular Sciences
Clearly, Memory is essential to learning. To make memory more robust and long term, we should turn to the advances in Cognitive Science. This presentation first describes the memory stages and pathways that pertain to Long Term Memory (LTM). Stress is placed on The storage constuct of Schema. Leading from this basic Cognitive Science are several pedagogical strategies They include- Cognitive Load, Dual Encoding, Spiral learning, Bridging and Chunking, Sleep Consolidation and Retrieval Practice.
A United Nations Simulation in the Virtual Classroom: Lessons and Opportunities
Presented by Samantha Twietmeyer, Department of Political Studies
In the fall of 2020, I delivered my United Nations political studies course online after two years of delivering the course in person. The unique factor in my UN course design is the use of a high intensity active simulation which comprises a little over 3 weeks of the semester, or about 30% of class hours. This is a teamwork simulation which applies course knowledge and skills from the previous weeks to an active negotiation setting. This presentation will examine my strategy for applying the learning goals of the simulation to the virtual learning environment, the anticipated and unexpected challenges I faced in delivery, and some lessons learned for not only offering virtual or hybrid simulation activities in the future, but also how this experience enhanced my understanding of the value and content of simulation-based learning in general.
Fostering engagement and inclusion through discussion-based learning
Presented by Kelley Packalen, Smith School of Business
In summer 2020 I completely revamped my undergraduate entrepreneurship course. Underlying my transformation were two fundamental goals: 1) increase the focus on diversity (there is no one right way to be an entrepreneur) and moral leadership; and 2) create a course that encourages engagement and flexibility. The result is a small group discussion-based course that transitions smoothly between remote and in-person education and where the discussion is guided by a mix of EDII-aware pre-class materials (mini lectures, podcasts, videos and (academic) articles) and the questions that students bring to class.
In my presentation I will describe the process that I used to develop and teach this course. This includes: syllabus design, material selection and course policies, class structure and discussion format, and learning goals, assignment choices and feedback style. I will also speak to the challenges I encountered with the format and flexibility, the changes that I have in response to those challenges, and what I’ve learned about the limitations of the format.
The day included four sessions focusing on: Student Engagement; Course Organization and Communication, Inclusive Community, and Assessment. In each session, there were four presenters who shared their experiences, followed by a breakout discussion, and ended with a panel question & answer period.
SESSION 1: Student Engagement
8:45 -10:30am
Moderated by Lindsay Brant, Centre for Teaching and Learning
Teaching Intro Archaeology via Storybooks and Videos
Presented by Barbara Reeves, Department of Classics
Teaching Intro Archaeology via Storybooks and Videos Presentation Slides (PDF, 2.7MB)
“Introduction to Archaeology II: Methods and Analysis” is normally taught via in-person lectures. When COVID necessitated a switch to asynchronous instruction, Barbara decided to abandon that traditional format and reconsider how best to teach the material in order to keep online learners as engaged and enthusiastic as possible. One strategy was to replace her lectures with PDF “storybooks” for each topic that led the readers through the course concepts with text, images, and questions. Another strategy was to begin each section with a short video in which she introduced the topic while standing in front of local ruins, construction sites, and memorials or while working with artifacts in her office. Both she and her students enjoyed the result and the class did very well on the assessments. As a result, Barbara now plans to continue with this format next year.
The Ethics of Prompting Passion
Presented by Colleen Renihan, Dan School of Drama and Music
The Ethics of Prompting Passion Presentation Slides (PDF, 22.2MB)
It makes sense that students training for careers in one of the creative domains should be experienced in advocating for the arts. And yet, this is one of many skills that does not find its way into most university music or theatre curricula. In an undergraduate seminar that examined theatrical and musical performance in times of crisis—a course designed to take up the current moment of crisis in society and in the arts—Colleen assigned students a final project in which they were asked to create a Rick Mercer-inspired “rant” that required them to express themselves in an impassioned way about the value of the arts in the context of a crisis (The Climate Crisis, Black Lives Matter, Me Too, COVID-19, etc.). In this presentation, Colleen reflects on both the value and the ethics of including passion and affect as aspects of student work, and the significance of this particular assignment in this year of remote learning.
From the lab-bench to the kitchen table: “At-home Lab kits” to explore core environmental engineering concepts for 3rd year civil engineers
Presented by Sarah Jane Payne, Department of Civil Engineering
In CIVL 372, third-year Civil Engineering students are introduced to critical topics including water quality analysis and treatment, mass balances and reactor design. During COVID-19, in-person labs were deemed too risky by the instructor, as physical distancing would be difficult to maintain and create hazards (e.g. students passing reagents to one another). Two teaching assistants (TAs) were engaged prior/during the course to help rapidly develop/refine experiments, using only widely available non-toxic materials to explore 4 concepts: pH assessment and calibration; turbidity and coagulation; reaction kinetics; mass balance and reactor design. Under the supervision of TAs, students collaborated virtually with their lab groups, while working at their own kitchen tables. Attendees of this session will learn about how core engineering concepts were translated from the lab bench to the kitchen table, analytical instruments were fashioned from cell phone cameras, as well as the logistical challenges of procuring reagents and delivering 96 “at-home lab kits” across Canada and the globe.
A Remote Role-Play on Climate Negotiation to Foster Student Engagement During a Pandemic
Presented by Max Boreux, Department of Biology
In order to grasp the challenges of climate negotiation and to foster a classroom community during a pandemic, students took part remotely in a role-play within breakout rooms. Each student was given a playing card and assigned a country to represent (or a chairperson role) and had to use the course contents in order to reach a fair and representative climate deal. A code of conduct was provided to students to stimulate engagement and ensure inclusiveness and equity. Students’ performance in the role play was evaluated by requesting students to: (1) expose their negotiation strategy before the debate, (2) submit as a group a report of the climate deal reached during the role play and (3) write an individual post-debate reflection assessed using the ICE approach. This class activity was particularly efficient as it favored student engagement, developed critical-thinking and provided a ludic component of the course essential alleviate student isolation during a pandemic.
Session 2: Course Organization and Communication
11:00am – 12:30pm
Moderated by Lauren Anstey, Centre for Teaching and Learning
Moving the Laboratory into a Virtual Classroom: A Case Study of LISC 391 - Integrated Life Science Laboratory
Presented by Cynthia Pruss, Department of Biomedical and Molecular Sciences
Moving the Laboratory into a Virtual Classroom Presentation Slides (PDF, 2.1MB)
“LISC 391: Integrated Life Sciences Laboratory” is a physiology and pharmacology laboratory focused on critical-thinking, writing, and presentation skills that moved to remote learning in 2020-2021. Learners analyze a variety of data using human research participants and animal tissues. New applications were adopted to provide platforms so learners could interact with each other and their data remotely. Regular weekly Zoom sessions provided structure. Feedback Fruits was used for posters and presentation peer reviewing, and group member feedback. Two platforms, previously used in person, adapted seamlessly to remote learning: PsychLab 101 (cognitive function testing) and GraphPad PRISM (statistics and graphing). Other live experiments have been remodeled using Lt (ADInstruments), a platform which allows each learner to interact and analyze experimental data virtually in an online environment. Some student engagement issues occurred while running the course remotely. Fortunately, most aspects of the course worked well, with the learners mastering the course learning outcomes.
Cross-course Meet-ups
Presented by Christian Muise, School of Computing
Cross-course Meet-ups Presentation Slides (PDF, 325KB)
Christian teaches both a third-year and graduate course on Artificial Intelligence (entirely different syllabi /content, but same general field). To keep the students engaged, he ran weekly AI Meet-up sessions for both simultaneously. Everyone chatted collectively for a few minutes then went into breakout rooms with a specific task. They were then brought back together in the larger group before breaking for the week. Christian will report on what worked and what challenges he experienced. Several elements have been explored in the process, and it has proven to be quite successful so far. The lessons learned involve building a community that transcends any individual class, as it is bringing together two entirely different cohorts of students at a time when the vast majority of students are consuming their education remotely and asynchronously.
Facilitating Peer Interactions and Community-Building in a first-year course taught remotely
Presented by Ryan Martin, Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy
Ryan will discuss the steps that he took in a remote setting to promote community building in a first-year physics course. These included developing a custom video conferencing system, enforcing multiple mandatory synchronous sessions per week, and developing a culture of team-work. He will conclude with some general remarks and lessons learned about my experience teaching remotely and developing a course with a strong focus on community-building.
Individual student check-ins: A review of two easy techniques for online or in-class contexts
Presented by Colleen Davison, Department of Public Health Sciences; and Department of Global Development Studies
Individual student check-ins Presentation Slides (PDF, 464KB)
It is important for instructors to regularly check in with their students as they progress through any course. Being aware of times when students might be stressed, overwhelmed or not following the course material well is essential. When instructors are regularly communicating with individual students they can adapt teaching expectations, alter instructional approaches and provide individual support as needed. Open mechanisms for communication also allow comments and questions from students to arise over the term. It can be difficult however, especially with large classes, to find ways to check in with individual students on a regular basis. This presentation will review the use of two individual student check-in approaches: the internal/external weather report (best used in online environments) and the nametag comment form (best used in the in-class context). Each of the two approaches will be explained and reflections from experiences of their use in a variety of courses will be provided.
Session 3: Assessment & Inclusive Community
1:00 – 2:30pm
Moderated by Robin Attas, Centre for Teaching and Learning
ASSESSMENT
Teaching French On-line to 250+ students: Fair and engaging grading strategies
Presented by Sanita Fejzic, Department of French Studies
Teaching French On-line to 250+ students Presentation Slides (PDF, 1.2MB)
FREN107 is an online course offered by the French Department to students wishing to supplement their language skills by enabling them to engage in everyday interactions. It is mandatory for about one third of students, and about another third are professionals seeking a certificate in French. The course typically attracts between 100 and 350+ students per term. With anywhere between 3-7 TAs to manage, a very fast-paced timeline and online learning environment on three platforms including onQ, Pearson MyLab and Feedback Fruits, paying attention to fair and engaging grading strategies can sometimes end up at the bottom of the priorities list. However, over the last four terms teaching FREN107, Sanita has introduced many grading innovations with an aim toward improving fairness and increasing student engagement. These include: a new grading grid for the final presentation (worth 30% of overall student grades); innovated on the theme and goals of the final presentation; and changed the shape of the way TAs grade the final presentation.
Transformation of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering Field Methods to Remote Delivery using Hands-On and Virtual Tools in Fall 2020
Presented by Jennifer Day, Department of Geological Sciences and Geological Engineering
GEOE/L 221 is a core course for two programs where students learn foundational knowledge, skills, and methods to conduct field work that is used to investigate geological aspects of the Earth. Typically, this fall-term course involves weekly field trips in the Kingston area to visit a variety of rock outcrops to learn and practice methods of field navigation, observation, and measurement. Remote delivery of this course in fall 2020 without in-person field trips required a dramatic transformation, including creating field and demonstration instructional videos, using 3D digital photogrammetry models of rock samples and outcrops, independent outdoor activities for compass navigation, manual sketching and graphical measurements on paper, and a culminating immersive 3D video game style geological field mapping exercise. This presentation will describe these new elements of the course and discuss how well the course learning objectives were achieved in a remote setting.
INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY
Remote Opportunity for Inclusive Music History
Presented by Margaret Walker, Dan School of Drama and Music
Remote Opportunity for Inclusive Music History Presentation Slides (PDF, 2.1MB)
Music history courses in Canadian universities almost invariably mean courses in the history of the elite concert music of Europe and its diasporas. Since these courses are embedded in a Eurocentric music curriculum and generally seen as ancillary to performance, changing their focus by decentering Western Art Music can seem an impossible task. Textbooks, other teaching materials, and our own training as music professors all conspire to produce barriers to change. Yet, the necessity to change delivery and design in the face of the COVID pandemic showed me that many of these seemingly impenetrable barriers are in fact illusions. Working with accessible online material, no required textbook, and a need to change both delivery and assessment gave me freedom to rethink both required content and disciplinary norms. Remote teaching gave me an unexpected opportunity to put ideas from my ongoing research into decolonizing curriculum, in part funded by a CTL Educational Research Grant, into practice.
Sharing Best Practices for Supporting Gender and Sexual Diversity in (Remote) Classrooms
Presented by Dan Vena, Department of Film and Media; and Lindsay Brant, Centre for Teaching and Learning
Dan and Lindsay demonstrate the role allyship, collaboration, and shared creativity play in creating more inclusive learning spaces. They will share their co-created instructor resource aimed at developing an inclusive mindset towards gender and sexual diversity in the classroom. They will first discuss what the Indigenous pedagogical value of a ‘good mind’ means and how it applies to gender and sexual diversity in educational spaces. This will be followed by a knowledge-share of practical strategies that can be used to create inclusive and accountable classroom communities from their own teaching experiences. The presentation will culminate with an invitation to instructors to further explore the resource on their own and share with others.
Session 4: Student Engagement
3:00 -4:30pm
Moderated by Karalyn McRae and Yunyi Chen, Centre for Teaching and Learning
Designing Technology-involved Solutions to Problems of Professional Practice: A Design Case
Presented by Richard Reeve, Faculty of Education
Developing viable ways of using technology remains a challenge in education. This session presents the case of a course design that focused on having teacher candidates engage in designing technology-involved solutions to substantive teaching and learning problems identified by in-service educators. Stanford’s Design Thinking process was used by thirteen design groups to engage in full cycles of designing that involved: empathizing (via client interviews); defining (of the problem); ideating (potential solutions); prototyping (of one best solution); and testing (in the form of making a presentation to the client educator). By working on design problems identified by in-service practitioners and having their designs vetted by these client educators the pre-service teachers improved their understanding of the complex nature of using educational technology to address teaching and learning problems. Participants in this session will learn about the process followed and how it may be applicable to other types of professional practice at Queen's University.
Student Engagement Strategies in a Virtual Classroom
Presented by Sue Haywood, Nicole Bérubé, and Matthew Aslett, Smith School of Business
Student Engagement Strategies in a Virtual Classroom Presentation Slides (PDF, 1.3MB)
Grounded in their experiences, the presenters conducted a case study to explore pedagogical innovations to increase students' interactions and engagement within the online environment. They tested different methods of engagement for classroom discussions and participation in the course. With a goal to provide a balance between various pedagogical methods and devise various ways to heighten students’ personal responsibility for their own learning. Anecdotal data from the 2020/21 school year supports the effectiveness of the combination of methods utilized. Four themes on effective pedagogy emerged: balancing synchronous and asynchronous components, maximizing discussion time, adopting a student-led focus, and creating sub-sections within a course. Their key recommendations focus on prioritizing student interactions among each other, but also with the instructors and teaching assistants. The positive implications for virtual pedagogy include a significant increase in student engagement, attendance, perceived fairness of participation evaluations, and ability to apply the course material.
Enhancing student engagement in nursing education using virtual simulation games
Presented by Marian Luctkar-Flude, School of Nursing
Healthcare simulation is a teaching and learning strategy embraced in health professional education to promote engagement, knowledge, skills, and clinical decision-making. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many educators were required to provide skills labs and clinical learning experiences virtually. Additionally, there was a need for specific education for health care providers related to the essential skills required for care of patients with actual or suspected COVID-19. We led a collaboration between the Canadian Alliance of Nurse Educators using Simulation (CAN-Sim) and the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing to create a series of virtual simulation games (VSGs) to prepare health care workers including students to provide better care while ensuring personal safety (www.can-sim.ca/hc). Additionally, the CAN-Sim repository of VSGs was made available to all nurse educators across Canada (www.can-sim.ca). Several VSGs have been adopted into the nursing curriculum at Queen’s University including the SOGI-Nursing toolkit (www.soginursing.ca).
There and Back Again: Adventures in adapting the blended learning model to remote learning (and back to campus)
Presented by Grahame Renyk, Dan School of Drama and Music
This presentation will discuss what Grahame learned adapting the blended model of Dram100 - Introduction to Theatre for remote delivery, and how it changed what the course will look like upon return to campus. Tweaks in course delivery and design forced by the pandemic have yielded unexpected benefits, including an uptick in the quality of student work. He will share his reflections on why this might have been the case. His insights are twofold: what he learned about creating concise, accessible, navigable, and engaging online content, and (even more crucially) what he learned about the value of instructor-led synchronous sessions in supporting student wellness and engagement. Synchronous sessions initially intended to supplement lectures evolved into vital opportunities for building community and connection. As the semester progressed, Grahame discovered small, but effective strategies for fostering community and wellness that he will most certainly retain as we move back to campus.