• Instructional / Course Design,  Instructional Strategies,  Learning Charter

    All aligned – Instruction

    In higher education, we have our students do all the hardest learning by themselves.  As academics, our greatest strength is expertise, but we routinely select passive instructional strategies that have our students mostly listening to lectures in our classes and doing their learning later.  Choosing passive listening robs us of the opportunity to provide the nuance and clarification that learners need while they learn. This post focuses on selecting the right type of instructional approaches to have our students actively learning the most important and challenging things they will need. Relationship to our Learning Charter:There are two learning charter educator commitments related our instructional approaches to learning tasks: Be aware…

  • Inclusivity,  Instructional / Course Design,  Instructional Strategies,  Internationalization

    How do I internationalize my course?

    Self-reflection Step 1: Know my position and privilege. Who am I as a teacher? (This idea isn’t new, check out this article from 1958: Teacher, Know Thyself) Step 2: Does the way I design my course plan for access and diversity? Step 3: Do I want to “add-on”, “infuse”, or “transform” my course through internationalization? Some direction If you are working on step 3, there is an excellent resource of teaching tips here: Strategies for Course Internationalization. Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo. A simple way to start internationalization is to add assigned readings from international perspectives. This can be a way to start conversations and look for similarities and…