Inclusivity
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Challenging Conversations – The Stories We Tell
This is the first in a short series on having challenging conversations either in your classes or individually with students. The topics covered in these posts come from the GMCTL short-course Challenging Conversations. The ideas and concepts shared in the course and these posts were contributed in large part by Dr. Rose Roberts, Roberta Campbell-Chudoba, Dr. Wendy James, and myself, Heather Ross. One of the first concepts we talk about in the Challenging Conversations short-course is the stories we tell. While later in the course we talk about the importance of storytelling in many cultures and the role it can play in your own courses, this initial discussion is about…
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Easy ways to make your course more accessible
There are 3,000 students at USask who have some form of accommodation, so there is an excellent chance that your class has a student with a disability. Ideally, we’d all design courses that are universally accessible and reduce the need for accommodations by using Universal Design for Learning. If you feel like you don’t have time for a rethink right now, you can make simple changes that make it easier for all students, not just your most advantaged students, to have an equitable opportunity to succeed in your course. Accessible Online Environments Here are four simple ways to make your online class more accessible for your students: Record and Share:…
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Initiating Peer Conversations
It’s been a while since I wrote a conversational blog post – in a pre-pandemic world, more of our content on this site was first-person and took the tone of a friendly colleague. In the pandemic context, our blog quickly became a knowledge base to help you get the help you needed, when you needed it. The dropping temperatures in Saskatchewan are reminding me of last winter, when work felt like a much different place. While most of us aren’t currently walking, biking, skiing to campus, the days are still just as beautiful with the crystalline quality of light and crisp skies. I hope that this post is a moment…
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Building Community, Remotely
In an online remote context, virtual learning communities (VLCs) allow us to plan for: Interaction Communication Collaboration This video highlights some of the reasons we might want to develop rich VLCs in remote teaching. Below are some strategies framed from instructor competencies. Some strategies for developing interaction: Model participation and practice good nettiquette Use Discussion Forums and participate actively Steer conversations in the right direction Motivate and encourage Create a safe and supportive environment/network Moderate Discussion forum Temper the dominant voices in the forum Set the tone by being positive Encourage and motivate students Use introductions, online office hours and e-mail to promote interaction Incorporate collaborative learning and increased opportunities…
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How to get students to hand in quality work by planning for choice
In my course, at this level, at this place of progress in their learning, what do students need to demonstrate to me? Handout version for USask Instructors What do I expect of my students? Offering choice in how students meet course objectives is rooted in inclusive education and that by providing choice we acknowledge and respect that there are many ways to demonstrate learning and students have the agency, when appropriate, to pick the one that motivates them. These checklists might help you think about “shifting the ‘locus of control’ from the teacher to the student” (Jopp & Cohen, 2020) There are three methods described: when students pick the medium…
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Inclusive Teaching Strategies: Reflecting on Your Practice
Summary: How do you engage with students? How do students see themselves in the content of your course? How are students expected to engage with each other? Date: August 30, 2024 Here are some strategies compiled from the University of Michigan with permission. Which ones do you do already? Which ones might you try? Instructor-Student Interactions Learn and use students’ names they choose to be called. Clarify how you want students to address you, especially if you teach students from a range of educational and cultural backgrounds. Distribute a student background questionnaire early in the term to learn about students’ experience with the course topics, educational background, professional ambitions,…
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Land Acknowledgements – A Reflection 5-years After the TRC Report
By Stryker Calvez and Rose Roberts Five years after the release of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report, Land Acknowledgements are still gaining strength as an important component of the University landscape. In fact, it is more common to notice when this statement has been missed at an event, meeting or in a course than when it is present. More often than not we have people tell us about how uncomfortable someone got when they didn’t hear the land acknowledgement at the beginning of a proceeding, and the lengths people have gone to right this wrong. These stories are a testament to the power of this protocol, its intended purpose, and the readiness of people and society to embark on the journey toward reconciliation. Five years after the TRC report, the concerns for land…
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Internationalization of Teaching & Learning : Featured Instructor
Dr Lucy R. Hinnie Postdoctoral Fellow Lucy is a postdoctoral fellow in the department of English and completed her PhD at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. In her work, she looks at written text through the frame of intersectionality, interrogating the accepted ‘canon’ of white male scholars and looking to find relevance to every student, regardless of their background. She has a desire to strengthen her teaching practice and do better by all of her students. She took the internationalization short course because she has a desire to strengthen her teaching practice and do better by all of her students, especially those who face difficulties in what is perceived to…
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Internationalization of Teaching and Learning : Featured Instructor
Jocelyn Peltier-Huntley, M. Sc., P. Eng. Lecturer, College of Engineering Jocelyn is a professional mechanical engineer. Her research is around understanding the gender gap in the Canadian mining industry. At a personal level, she wants to see positive change happen to move towards equity within our society. As an instructor of engineering design and communications, and as a professional, she feels it is vitally important to know how to understand and work with stakeholders who may be from a variety of backgrounds and have different ways of knowing. Successful internationalization allows for all people to be fully included and empowered… She took the internationalization short course to improve her teaching…
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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…