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Elevating Mentorship in Higher Education: The Key to Effective Preceptor Development
Summary: Discover the transformative impact of mentorship in higher education. Learn how effective preceptor development is key to nurturing future leaders and fostering academic excellence. Date of publishing: February 28, 2024 Mentors play an invaluable role in shaping the future of our students. The integration of preceptorship, and their input on assessment, in workplace learning is necessary to fully actualize experiential learning. Here is a summary of a conversation with Taylor Raiche, Experiential Learning Assessment and Program Development Specialist at the College of Pharmacy, providing crucial insights into the essence and importance of preceptor training for effective mentorship. Key takeaways Preceptors Play a Crucial Role in Professional Identity Formation Preceptor…
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Wisdom Keeper
Jamie Sams, author of, The Original 13 Clan Mothers, offers a template for personal and professional consideration. Through the wisdom passed down to her from the medicine lodges, Sams’s knowledge can be a tool for bridging meaningful relationships in educational systems that were historically were not inviting spaces for Indigenous people. Last month, we invited some thought into the first moon teaching, Talks with Relations. In this teaching, Sams shares the appreciation of the unspoken language to communicate with, not just one another, but to be mindful of what the animals, plants, and sky can teach us. This understanding creates a space of understanding diversity that allows insight into the…
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Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the Classroom
Summary: Discover GMCTL’s EDI Flower, a resource to help you cultivate a learning environment where all students thrive. Explore essential competencies from positionality to assessment, designed to enhance your teaching and foster equity, diversity and inclusion in your classroom. Date: January 16, 2024 Educators today are at the forefront of fostering Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) in the classroom. Promoting EDI in the classroom is a journey of continual learning and adaptation. The Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning (GMCTL) has created a resource designed to enrich educator’s understanding and application of EDI principles and provide strategies for incorporating EDI principles into instruction and assessment. The inner petals of…
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Talks With Relations
Jamie Sams, author of, The 13 Original Clan Mothers, leaves with us a wealth of knowledge that was passed down to her by her grandmothers, Cisi Laughing Crow, and Berta Broken Arrow. Sams was of mixed descent, her heritage included French, Cherokee, Seneca, Choctaw, and Mohawk (Brussat & Brussat, 2006). While the teachings are centered around women, the lessons and values are both universal and versatile. Sams explains that the clan mothers’ teachings, passed down through medicine lodges, are acknowledged with gratitude to grandmothers, Cisi Laughing Crow, and Berta Broken Arrow. However, she continues to remind us that these teaching also belong to, “all of the Children of Earth” (Sams,…
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2024 Funding to Address Priorities Using Open Educational Practices
In a recent survey of approximately 2,500 University of Saskatchewan (USask) students, respondents indicated that an investment in open educational resources (OER) rated in the top five either “important” or “very important” areas USask should invest in. Similar results came from the 2022 survey. Over the past eight years, USask educators have increased the integration of open educational practices (OEP) at USask, including OER and open pedagogy, thus saving students more than $1.7 million during the 2023-2024 academic year. In addition to these savings, students have created or contributed to Open Educational Resources (OER) in the form of open textbooks and learning materials for various community and campus organizations, generating…
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Determining Levels of Acceptable GenAI Use
Many instructors are contemplating what level of GenAI (e.g., ChatGPT) use is acceptable for students when completing their assessments. Instructors who have tried the tools have seen how well they can generate text in response to a prompt or request. It concerns them that they will not be able to tell when a student has completed an assessment with or without this kind of assistance and the validity of assessment will become uncertain. If you’re new to GenAI, read these posts: Need to learn more about ChatGPT New! USask Enterprise GenAI New module added to academic integrity tutorial Students are gaining more experience with these tools and looking for…
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Gamifying Learning Experiences
Summary: Discover how gamification can transform your teaching! Learn strategies to engage students and enhance learning through game-like experiences in our latest article. Date of publishing: December 13, 2023 In this blog post, we’ll explore helpful tips on how to incorporate gamification into your own university courses. Dr. Martin Gaal, a Political Studies faculty member, has successfully incorporated gamification into two of his courses, POLS 261 Global Politics and POLS 201 Global Citizenship Cultures and Coexistance. While POLS 261 and POLS 201 are not prerequisites for each other, Dr. Gaal does see value in students taking POLS 261 before 201. This sequential progression aligns with the staircase model of applied…
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Instructional Strategies for Climate Justice
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Environmental Solutions Initiative has developed the Climate Justice Instructional Toolkit to enhance climate justice education. Aimed primarily at educators in introductory undergraduate courses, the toolkit provides resources and programming to integrate climate justice content and instructional approaches across various disciplines. The toolkit is openly licensed and includes adaptable teaching modules (with downloadable pptx files), instructional guides, and student resources. The toolkit focuses on climate justice—addressing the unequal impacts of climate change on vulnerable groups and identifying solutions. The proposed instructional strategies align with the University of Saskatchewan’s teaching practices for sustainability competencies and types of experiential learning. The initiative also encourages feedback and collaboration for…
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New! USask’s Enterprise GenAI
USask’s very own Generative AI solution for faculty and administrative staff goes live this week! The Microsoft AI tool — currently named “Bing Chat” but being rebranded as “Copilot” — utilises GPT4 and Dall-E 3, the most up-to-date version of the text and image generating models developed by OpenAI. Some significant features to note of our enterprise license, especially in comparison to ChatGPT: Users are each permitted 200 independent chats per day, with 30 exchanges per chat. In addition to text conversations, you can prompt the chat directly to generate images and even drop images into the chat field with queries! For the best experience, use either Microsoft Edge or…
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Embedding Research, Artistic, and Scholarly Skills: A Step-by-Step Guide for Classroom Success
Summary: Elevate classroom success with this guide on embedding research, artistic, and scholarly skills. Gain practical steps to enhance student learning and engagement. Date of publishing: November 23, 2023 Whether you’re a seasoned educator or just beginning, this blogpost aims to empower you to align your course outcomes with research, artistic, and scholarly work (RSAW). Let’s explore a self-guided journey of instructional alignment using the 7-level research skills framework and the experiential learning cycle. To undertake this self-guided exploration, you may wish to have the following material handy: Sticky notes in two colours Paper Markers Pens A large piece of paper Step 1: A Day in the Life… Grab a…