Generated by All in One SEO v4.8.9, this is an llms.txt file, used by LLMs to index the site. # Educatus (archived) By Teaching We Learn - A GMCTL blog ## Sitemaps - [XML Sitemap](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website. ## Posts - [Writing Learning Outcomes using Generative AI](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/10/02/generating-learning-outcomes-with-generative-ai/) - We know that learning outcomes are essential for orienting students, articulating them can be an arduous process. Where does one even begin? Thankfully, this is one area where Generative AI's capabilities to support teaching really deliver. Using a text-producing AI tool such as the USask created tool ALDA (AI Learning Design Assistant), insert as many - [Getting AI to Write Questions for You](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/09/01/getting-ai-to-make-questions-for-you/) - You know you should make your class more active. Asking students regular, low stakes questions about the key concepts, skills, and process you are teaching is essential. In a 50-minute lesson, it is great to do that 5 times. You shouldn't grade any of the questions, and you should asks students to talk with with - [Prompting Generative AI to Help You Plan for Your Class Quickly](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/07/28/prompting-generative-ai-to-help-you-plan-for-your-class-quickly/) - Having a good teaching assistant (TA) can be so important. While anyone needs clear direction to grade an essay with the same criteria you use, it is incredibly helpful to have someone help carry the teaching load. It turns out that Generative AI (like Microsoft Copilot) doesn't just force you to redesign your assessments for - [Perusall or Discussion Boards](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/11/25/perusall/) - Previous blog posts have introduced Perusall to turn pre-class readings into social learning. In this post, let's explore how instructors might use Perusall to overcome discussion board fatigue and provide resources on using Perusall along with sample learning activities. Perusall is a free social learning tool that students can access through Canvas. Students have discussions - [Using Poll Everywhere to Integrate Formative Assessment in Courses](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/06/05/using-poll-everywhere-to-integrate-formative-assessment-in-courses/) - Poll Everywhere is integrated polling tool at USask. As you begin planning for the fall term, you may be considering how you will make use of formative assessment in your courses, including the use of Poll Everywhere. For Learners Formative assessments allow students to obtain feedback on how well they've grasped concepts and improve through - [Using Zoom Meetings in Canvas](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/09/21/using-zoom-meetings-in-canvas/) - Zoom is a web conferencing tool available in Canvas. To be enabled, it has to be added to the course navigation menu. Zoom can be used to schedule lectures, group meetings or appointments. Students can join any virtual meeting directly through Canvas and can review any recorded sessions through the Zoom Meetings link. The videos - [Canvas Integrations Bring New Opportunities For Student Projects](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/03/11/single-sign-on-brings-new-opportunities-for-student-projects/) - Panopto and various homework systems integrate with Canvas allowing for users to access materials without any additional account create or sign-on. This integration for homework systems helps to link homework systems to the Canvas grade book and protects students from any potential risks associated with purchasing access from a publishers website. There are also new - [How Students Interact With Your Online Course Predicts Their Success](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/02/10/how-students-interact-with-your-online-course-predicts-their-success/) - We all know that students are more successful when they have a deep interest in course materials or strong thinking skills. Similarly, we know we can help students do better when assessment is transparent. However, we are less aware of the impact that our course design has on likely student persistence and success. In online - [How Canvas Tools Can Enable Connection](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/11/08/how-canvas-tools-can-enable-connection/) - By Roberta Campbell-Chudoba This post is part of a series about using Canvas to integrate the eight Learning Technology Ecosystem Principles. You can find more about these principles here; in this post, we look at the seventh principle. Designed to enable connection: Learners exist in accessible networks, and connect to the experiences, concepts, people, and ideas - [Posting Feedback and Grades in Canvas](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/10/09/posting-feedback-and-grades-in-canvas/) - Once students start completing quizzes and assignments in your course, you may start wondering how students access this feedback. You may also be wondering if you need to do anything to release the feedback. You may also be wondering, to be frank, about a lot of things. Grade Posting Policy for an Individual Assignment By - [What Does a Well-Designed Canvas Course Look Like?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/09/23/whats-a-well-designed-canvas-course-look-like/) - Just as students appreciate seeing good examples of work before doing their own, instructors designing courses often feel the same way. As Canvas is our adopted learning management system, we want to provide you with some examples through the following two courses. In both cases, student information and data has been removed. ETAD 402 - - [Lecture Videos: Keep Them Short](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/05/22/lecture-videos-keep-them-short/) - You can use Panopto to record your lectures with slides, and incorporate an audiovisual experience to the learning so that students can see and hear you. Note the links at the bottom of this article access detailed training resources. To get started, you should break your previously prepared lectures into smaller sections (5-7 minutes) to - [Making it Accessible: Turn on Live Captions in Zoom](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/09/17/making-it-accessible-turn-on-live-caption-in-zoom/) - When you have certain learning disabilities or you are studying in a language you aren't fully fluent in, it is easy to miss important details of what your professor says. As an instructor, you can make what you say accessible for all your learners by turning on captions before your Zoom meetings. The button to - [How Does Canvas Make Learning Accessible?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/10/01/how-does-canvas-make-learning-accessible/) - This is the second post in a series about how you can use Canvas to integrate the eight Learning Technology Ecosystem Principles. You can find more about these principles here, but in this post, we'll be looking at the first principle. Accessible: Learning must be found easily at any time, and all learners and teachers have - [Keep it Active with Classroom Polling](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/08/19/keep-it-active-with-classroom-polling/) - After about 15 minutes listening in a large lecture hall, many students' minds are likely wandering. An easy way to make your class more active and allow your students to see if they are understanding is to use polling software. A poll can be an open text response, multiple choice, and even a visual you - [Managing and Facilitating Discussions in Canvas](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/11/05/managing-and-facilitating-discussions-in-canvas/) - By Roberta Campbell-Chudoba Once you’ve settled on why and how discussions will be used in your course and have set up the initial discussion(s) and specific guidelines for posting, let students know your plan for how you or a TA will be moderating the posts. Your involvement in discussions, especially initial ones, is vital for - [Create Groups for Collaborative Learning Spaces in Canvas](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/02/01/create-groups-for-collaborative-learning-spaces-in-canvas/) - By Roberta Campbell-Chudoba Perhaps you’d like to set up groups in your Canvas course for discussions, assignments, projects or presentations. The process creates smaller groups, as well as a space within the course for group members to collaborate, called a Group Homepage. Group creation can help our courses to be more active and social, and - [The “What if…?”s of Live Zoom Sessions](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/09/04/the-what-ifs-of-live-webex-sessions/) - Interested in using Zoom for online, synchronous learning? Here are some basic ‘what-ifs’ to consider before you start using Zoom. What if a student refuses to mute themselves? To start, tell students that you will have specific times during your live session where they will be able to speak and that they should wait to - [Remote Breakout Rooms – Facilitating Small Group Discussions and Interactions with Zoom](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/09/02/remote-breakout-rooms-facilitating-small-group-discussions-and-interactions-using-zoom/) - The move to remote learning has created challenges for actively engaging students in our classes. A simple think-pair-share activity now requires extensive descriptions of who is partnered with whom, how will you communicate, and how much time do you have – not to mention how to use the available technology to complete the activity. The truth - [Panopto or Narrated PowerPoint](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/03/17/panopto-or-narrated-powerpoint/) - With regards to the use of Panopto for instructional videos, a frequently asked question is, "why one would use Panopto instead of a narrated PowerPoint file or video?" Instructors who are comfortable with using the "Record Slide Show" feature in PowerPoint are encouraged to continue to use it. However, someone who is new to recording - [First-time Thoughts on a Student Blog Assignment](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2017/09/19/first-time-thoughts-on-a-student-blog-assignment/) - [social-bio] By Yin Liu, Associate Professor, Department of English Why I did it In 2016-2017 I taught, for the first time, a full-year (6 credit unit) English course. The course, “History and Future of the Book,” is one of our Foundations courses – that is, it is one of a few 200-level courses required for our - [Breakout Rooms in Zoom](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/09/20/breakout-rooms-in-zoom/) - This feature in Zoom allows you to sort your students into small groups where they can collaborate on projects, discuss topics or brainstorm ideas. If you have a large class, breaking students up into smaller groups helps build connection between students and ensures that everyone in the group has a voice. The breakout rooms in - [Keep recording when you present content](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/08/04/keep-recording-when-you-present-content/) - The move to remote instruction with COVID-19 forced a pivot that was frustrating for educators and students alike. USask collected data about the student learning experience in focus groups and surveys throughout the pandemic. Students consistently told us they missed community and direct connection with their professors. However, they also told us how much they - [How Canvas Supports Learner-Centred Assessment](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/11/08/how-canvas-supports-learner-centred-assessment/) - By Roberta Campbell-Chudoba This post is part of a series about using Canvas to integrate the eight Learning Technology Ecosystem Principles. In this post, we look at the Inclusive of learning-centred assessment principle. Inclusive of learning-centred assessment: Learning and feedback are iterative, and assessment comes from multiple sources, including self, peers, teachers, and outside experts. Effective - [Understanding Timer, Availability, and Accommodation Settings for Canvas Classic Quizzes](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/10/06/understanding-canvas-classic-quizzes-timer-availability-and-accommodation-settings/) - Setting up Classic Quizzes in Canvas involves some important settings to highlight and understand. This post aims to clarify these settings to allow for the smoothest experience for you and your students. Note: if you're using Canvas New Quizzes, please go here instead: Canvas - Add accommodations to a New Quiz. Time Limit The time - [Utilizing Peer Feedback in Canvas](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/09/22/utilizing-peer-feedback-in-canvas/) - Peer feedback involves students providing feedback to each other on work prior to a final or revised version being submitted to the instructor. This creates the opportunity for students to receive formative feedback, improve on their work, and then submit it to the instructor. The integration of peer feedback for assignments or other activities in - [Please note: This blog is no longer active and has been archived](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2024/10/24/please-note-this-blog-is-no-longer-active-and-has-been-archived/) - Please note that this blog has been archived, and is no longer in active use for publishing content from the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching & Learning (GMCTL). If you wish to see more recent teaching & learning resources and content from the GMCTL, please visit our new blog home at teaching.usask.ca/teaching-blog.php. - [Creating Efficiencies: Grading Discussions in Canvas](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/07/18/creating-efficiencies-grading-discussions-in-canvas/) - Perhaps you are using Discussions in Canvas as a supplement to your face-to-face class or using it in an online course. While students' posts may provide evidence of their learning and allow for online engagement, giving feedback on the posts is a vital part of the process – and as you are no doubt - [10-Year Anniversary of OER At USask Brings Celebrations and Opportunities](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2024/09/10/10-year-anniversary-of-oer-at-usask-brings-celebrations-and-opportunities/) - The 2024-25 academic year marks an important milestone for USask. It’s been ten years since the first adoption of an open textbook in a large course. During the 2014-15 academic year, Professor Eric Micheels from the College of Agriculture and Bioresources adopted the OpenStax Economics text for Agriculture Economics. Students that year saved roughly $30,000 - [From Student Volunteer Experience to Credit-Earning Experiential Learning Course](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2024/08/20/from-student-volunteer-experience-to-credit-earning-experiential-learning-course/) - Summary: Transform volunteer work into academic credit! Discover how USask is turning student experiences into valuable, credit-earning opportunities through innovative experiential learning courses. Date of publishing: August 20, 2024 Experiential learning is a critical component of student development. At the University of Saskatchewan, the KIN 350 and 460 courses exemplify how volunteer experiences can be - [Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL)](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/10/05/collaborative-online-international-learning-coil/) - Summary: Explore how Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) connects students globally, fostering intercultural skills and collaboration through innovative virtual partnerships. Date of publishing: October 5, 2020 Like with other methods of internationalization, Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) projects help to prepare students to work in today's global knowledge economy and enriches teaching and learning experience - [USask spaces that flex with the type of learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/10/22/usask-spaces-that-flex-with-the-type-of-learning/) - Many USask classrooms have been designed with one thing in mind – successful transmission of information from the faculty member to the students. Even as technologies changed over time, that model did not – we just added screens, data projectors for our slideshows, and cameras and microphones to capture a lecture. Current theories of learning - [How do you know when you need Experiential Learning?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/09/22/how-do-you-know-when-you-need-experiential-learning/) - Summary: Identify when your teaching can benefit from experiential learning to boost student engagement with practical, real-world applications. Date of Publishing: September 22, 2022 Experiential learning (EL) is not a new approach to teaching, but in recent years has become increasingly common in higher education. It is an engaging approach to teaching and learning that - [Getting More Active (and getting more learning)](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2018/12/20/getting-more-active-and-getting-more-learning/) - Summary: Boost engagement and deepen learning with active learning strategies. Discover tips to make your classroom more interactive and effective. Date of publishing: December 20, 2018 This post focuses on easy changes to make your course more active. Step 1- Clarify the purpose of active learning in your class Active learning is time in your - [Increasing Voice and Choice in the Classroom](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/12/21/increasing-voice-and-choice-in-the-classroom/) - Summary: Boost engagement in your classroom! Discover strategies to amplify student voice and choice, making learning more personalized and empowering for all. Date of publishing: December 21, 2022 When we think of increasing voice and choice in the classroom we may immediately think of choice in assignments or assessment tasks. Whereas these do increase student - [Exploring the Campus as a Living Lab: A Pathway to Innovation and Engagement](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2024/05/14/campus-as-a-living-lab/) - Summary: Experience USask's innovative "Campus as a Living Lab" project, where campus becomes a dynamic space for sustainability education and hands-on learning. Join us in shaping a sustainable future! Date of publishing: May 14, 2024 The concept of a "Campus as a Living Lab" is not just an academic buzzword; it's a transformative approach that - [Online Homework Systems: How to Protect Student Privacy and Keep Materials Costs Down](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/01/21/online-homework-systems-how-to-protect-student-privacy-and-keep-materials-costs-down/) - Online homework systems (OHS) are online tools that can grade questions asked to students as homework, track formative practice, or assess examinations. Students can receive immediate feedback on the activities they complete using an OHS, providing students with a clear picture of how they are progressing and where they may need to do some additional - [High quality, respectful classroom dialogue](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2019/06/28/high-quality-respectful-classroom-dialogue/) - Summary: High-quality, respectful classroom dialogue can enhance student learning and understanding. How can you create an open, healthy, and inclusive learning environment? Date: August 15, 2024 High quality, respectful classroom dialogue is essential in helping student learning. When students are engaged in actively thinking about their own learning and discussing it with others, they are - [Comparing two online quizzes: Formative Assessment](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/03/02/formative-assessment-a-comparison-of-two-online-quizzes/) - This post aims to compare the design of two online quizzes to determine how each design impacts student learning. Formative assessment is a process used to: Identify what students already know and where they need more support to reach the desired learning outcomes. Provide feedback that the student can use to increase learning before a final - [Course Learning Outcomes or Course Learning Objectives?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/01/14/course-learning-outcomes-or-course-learning-objectives/) - Summary: Clarify the difference between course learning outcomes and objectives. Understand their impact on student engagement and success. Find out how to enhance your course design! Date of publishing: January 14, 2013 What exactly are course learning outcomes and why are higher educational institutions moving in this direction? First, the distinction between course learning outcomes - [Sequencing an outcome](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/05/14/sequencing-an-outcome/) - Summary: Align your course with clear goals! Learn how to sequence learning outcomes effectively to enhance student success and engagement. Date of publishing: May 14, 2020 How do you breakdown a course outcome into manageable sections, or chunks, of information or action for students? What do students need to be able to do with automaticity - [Making Space for Challenging Conversations](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2024/07/02/making-space-for-challenging-conversations/) - There have always been “sensitive” topics that do or may come up in classes. They may be introduced by an educator or by a learner. They may be planned or arise organically. Even if the topic is introduced intentionally, it may seem there is little to prevent the conversation from deviating into unproductive or emotionally - [The Canvas Inbox](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/10/08/the-canvas-inbox-is-better-than-you-think/) - Summary: Canvas Inbox is a two-way messaging tool used to communicate with a course, a group, or an individual user in a course. Date: October 8, 2020 Did you know that messages in Canvas are also called Conversations? And that when you send a message you are actually starting a conversation thread which is stored within Canvas? - [Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the Classroom](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2024/01/16/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 - [Inclusive Teaching Strategies: Reflecting on Your Practice](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/05/07/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? - [Experiential Learning Resources – 5 Top Picks](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/10/11/experiential-learning-resources-5-top-picks/) - Summary: If you’re wondering how to enhance your experiential learning practices and make meaningful connections with learners' knowledge and experiences, here are five valuable resources to support experiential learning. Discover rubrics, learning modules, reflection models, and prompting questions. Date of publishing: October 11, 2022 When exploring the USask Experiential Learning framework, you might want - [New Quizzes - Adding Accommodations](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/06/19/new-quizzes-adding-accommodations/) - Summary: If you need to provide students with quiz accommodations, it is important to know that adding accommodations in New Quizzes looks quite different than Classic Quizzes. Date published: June 19, 2023 Options for accommodations in New Quizzes include: Time adjustments for all quizzes in the course (Accommodations and Edit Pencil) Add extra - [Using Oral Assessments to Collect Evidence of Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/03/30/using-oral-assessments-to-collect-evidence-of-learning/) - Photo by Christina Morillo from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-wearing-blue-top-beside-table-1181712/ Summary: Boost learning engagement with oral assessments! Discover how this dynamic approach can provide richer evidence of student understanding and mastery. Date of publishing: March 30, 2021 Oral assessments can serve as a great method to collect another type of evidence of student learning. It typically consists of - [Student Voice and Choice: Co-Creating Choice Boards ](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/02/23/student-voice-and-choice-co-creating-choice-boards/) - Summary: Co-creating a list of potential assessments with students is a great opportunity to increase student voice and choice. Students who choose assessments that are personally relevant are more likely to be motivated, engaged, and take ownership of their learning. Giving students a choice and voice in assessments allows them to demonstrate their understanding of - [Grading reflection](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/09/02/grading-reflection/) - Giulia Forsythe, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons Summary: Reflect on grading practices to enhance student learning and equity. Discover how thoughtful assessment can drive better educational outcomes. How can you determine if someone's reflection is good enough, and how can you signal that to students so they reflect well and understand the feedback and grades they - [Assessing student participation and attendance](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/02/16/assessing-student-participation-and-attendance/) - While everyone agrees a grade is designed to represent what a student has learned, some educators also think grades should be used to motivate students. When our students seemed less inclined to attend or participate during and after the pandemic, we turned to something the grading literature does not support - giving a grade for - [Assessing Outcomes versus Grading Assignments](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/10/24/assessing-outcomes-versus-grading-assignments/) - Shift your focus from grading tasks to assessing outcomes. Learn how this approach fosters deeper learning and provides a more meaningful evaluation of student progress. In this article, we will examine why assessing outcomes can target learning improvements better than grading assignments.Ooutcomes-based assessment starts with articulating what students will be able to do (the learning - [You May Have Too Much Content, But What Should You Take Out?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/06/06/you-may-have-too-much-content-but-what-should-you-take-out/) - One of my favourite blog posts is actually entitled "Everything you know about curriculum may be wrong, really" and it's by Grant Wiggins. I know it's a depressing title, but it speaks to the problem we often have in higher education of thinking of curriculum as content. Wiggins' post goes back to Dewey and Tyler - [An Outcomes-Based Practice Continuum](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/02/03/4545/) - This article will discuss a continuum of outcomes-based practices including referencing outcomes, assessing outcomes, and reporting student achievement on outcomes. Referencing Outcomes Referencing outcomes is a beginning outcomes-based practice. Outcomes are referenced within each assignment, often with the instruction section. Here, the instructor has created the assignment with the outcomes in mind and makes this - [From Modelling to Designing Intercultural Curricula](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2019/11/18/from-modelling-to-designing-intercultural-curricula/) - Summary: Intercultural curricula can enrich learning. Discover practical steps and strategies to effectively design inclusive and diverse educational programs. Date of publishing: November 18, 2019 You are on this page because you believe that you have pretty decent intercultural teaching capacities. This is evidenced by your continued commitment to developing an awareness of your own - [Defining Competencies and Outcomes](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/01/16/4478/) - Summary: Improve your course clarity with competencies and outcomes. Learn how to break down complex skills into measurable parts for better student understanding and success. Date of publishing: January 16, 2023 Defining Competencies and Outcomes Although there is no widely accepted distinction between a competency and an outcome, there is sufficient commonality for the following - [Defining Authentic Assessment](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/01/13/defining-authentic-assessment/) - Summary: Authentic assessment emphasizes real-world application of skills and knowledge. Learn how it enhances student engagement and aligns with meaningful learning outcomes. Date of publishing: January 13, 2023 The term “authentic assessment” is often misleading as it is not just about assessing a student submission ‘authentically’; rather, it focuses on the context and relevance of - [Inbox Assignment ](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/08/16/inbox-assignment/) - Summary: Transform your teaching with Inbox Assignments! Engage students and boost learning outcomes through real-world email scenarios. Explore this innovative approach now. Date of publishing: August 16, 2023 How’s your email inbox looking today? This can be a stressful question! We each have different ways of addressing projects but the reality is that email often - [Adding Experiential Learning to an Introductory Course](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/10/31/adding-experiential-learning-to-a-200-level-course-project/) - Summary: Boost engagement and learning by integrating experiential activities into introductory courses. Learn how practical experiences enhance academic understanding. Date of publishing: October 31, 2023 It can feel overwhelming to add experiential learning to large classes, particularly at the first and second year level of undergraduate learning. For Dr. Bob Patrick from the Department of - [Embedding Research, Artistic, and Scholarly Skills: A Step-by-Step Guide for Classroom Success](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/11/23/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). - [To Be What the World Needs, We Need to Bring the World Into the Classroom](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/11/14/to-be-what-the-world-needs-we-need-to-bring-the-world-into-the-classroom/) - Summary: Bring global perspectives into your classroom! Learn how integrating diverse viewpoints can enrich learning and prepare students for a connected world. Date of publishing: November 14, 2023 The global lockdown of 2020 showed us that learning doesn’t require desks and a lectern. If the activities could be done in isolation (listening, reading, answering test - [Gamifying Learning Experiences](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/12/13/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, - [Bringing Theory to Life Through International Experiential Learning ](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2024/04/01/bringing-theory-to-life-through-international-experiential-learning/) - Summary: Discover how international experiential learning bridges theory and practice, offering students immersive experiences that enrich their education and global understanding. Dive into real-world learning! Date of publishing: April 1, 2024 The University of Saskatchewan's taught abroad courses aim to transform theoretical knowledge into tangible experiences (this is a form of experiential learning). In Dr. - [It's All About Your Outcomes](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2018/09/19/its-all-about-your-outcomes/) - Summary: Clear, actionable outcomes are the backbone of effective teaching. Ensure your objectives drive student success and align with your educational goals. Date of publishing: September 19, 2018 Structurally, outcomes are obligations. You need outcomes for your course syllabus, and your program as whole has some form of outcomes. From a teaching and learning perspective, - [Reflective Journaling: How Instructor Feedback Helps Students Improve](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/10/31/reflective-journaling-how-instructor-feedback-helps-students-improve/) - Summary: Enhance student growth with instructor feedback in reflective journaling. Learn how targeted comments can improve student writing and critical thinking skills. Date of publishing: October 31, 2023 Journaling is like capturing a series of snapshots of changing knowledge and skills. Reflective journaling is a lens through which students can examine their own progress, capturing - [The Life-Giving Role of Field Work in Biology Courses](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2024/02/28/the-life-giving-role-of-field-work-in-biology-courses/) - Summary: Explore how hands-on fieldwork in biology courses breathes life into learning, fostering deeper understanding and engagement with the natural world. Discover the transformative power of outdoor education! Date of publishing: February 28, 2024 Biology 228 at the University of Saskatchewan stands as a testament to the enduring value of field work in higher education. - [Elevating Mentorship in Higher Education: The Key to Effective Preceptor Development](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2024/02/28/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 - [Relationship: A Key Component of Indigenous Student Success](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/04/18/relationship-a-key-component-of-indigenous-student-success/) - The current reality faced by Indigenous students is the focus of discussion from pre-kindergarten to post-secondary. Across the country, education for First Nation, Inuit, and Métis people is a different experience. Numerous factors contribute to this reality, many of which are within the control of education authorities and classroom personnel. The call to address systemic - [Listening Woman](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2024/05/17/listening-woman/) - Listening Woman The fifth clan mother teaching is centered around stillness, silence and listening. This clan teaching, as described in, The Original 13 Clan Mothers, by Jamie Sams, emphasizes the art of being in a state of complete awareness. Sams writes, “we will never learn or expand if we do not listen to what is - [Using Your Syllabus to Set the Tone for Class](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/05/03/using-your-syllabus-to-set-the-tone-for-class/) - The syllabus is often the first window that students get into a course. An instructor may post it to Canvas, email it, or even still hand out printed copies. While the university sees it as a contract, and instructors and students see it as a description of expectations for course work, the syllabus can do a lot - [Syllabus Generator Offers Ease and Support When Creating Your Syllabi](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/03/21/new-syllabus-generator-offers-ease-and-support-when-creating-your-syllabi/) - A course syllabus provides students with a guide to what they should be able to do by the end of the course and a plan for how they will get there. This includes requirements and expectations but also signals the type of course it will be through information on assessments, learning strategies, required resources, and - [Using Authentic Assessment to Integrate Current Events Into Courses](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/09/15/using-authentic-assessment-to-integrate-current-events-into-courses/) - Authentic assessments are activities, whether for marks or not, that involve students addressing "real-world" problems in a way that reflects activities they might engage in as professionals in the discipline. Authentic assessments can provide several benefits to both students and instructors, including: Enabling students to engage with current issues to increase engagement in learning actively - [Exploring the Many Ways of Using Canvas Classic Quizzes](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/10/07/exploring-the-many-ways-of-using-canvas-classic-quizzes/) - Quizzes are an extremely flexible tool that can be used to support many stages of learning. For example, quizzes can be used to pre-assess (prior to learning), provide practice and feedback (during learning), or as post-assessment (after learning). Experimenting with these various methods can assist you in finding ways of making your course more supportive - [Easy ways to make your course more accessible](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/04/01/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 - [Looks Far Woman](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2024/04/09/looks-far-woman/) - Looks Far Woman Looks Far Woman is the guardian of the fourth moon cycle. Among other things, Looks Far Woman is also a visionary. She teaches humanity the ability to see the truth from multi-dimensions. She warns us of the power of fear, and the potential it has on limiting the possibilities of growth. Removing - [Academic Integrity and Remote Teaching](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/03/18/academic-integrity-and-remote-teaching/) - The commitment of the University of Saskatchewan to academic integrity and fair assessment remains in place during this time of remote and online learning. As instructors, here are key points for academic integrity: You should explain your rules again, or any shift in your rules, for assessments. Clear understanding by students improves students’ academic integrity. - [Weighs the Truth](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2024/03/13/weighs-the-truth/) - Weighs the Truth The third moon teaching, from the book, The 13 Original Clan Mothers, by Jamie Sams, acknowledges taking responsibility for the truth. Sams explains that this moon is the Guardian of Justice; the teacher of principles that emphasizes the ability to see all sides of a situation, rather than seeking punishment. The wisdom in - [Wisdom Keeper](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2024/02/15/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 - [Talks With Relations](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2024/01/10/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 - [ChatGPT and Academic Misconduct Regulations](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/01/24/chatgpt-and-academic-misconduct-regulations/) - What is ChatGPT? ChatGPT is an generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) text generator that has been trained on data sets of mind-boggling size. It produces apparently "original" and coherent text responses in what is referred to as natural language. Tools of this kind have been in use in a range of sectors and have been on - [Will you allow ChatGPT? Considerations.](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/01/25/will-you-allow-chatgpt-considerations/) - Many instructors are surprised by the capabilities of a new artificial intelligence text generator - ChatGPT - that was released in November, 2022. Try it out . Many are asking what the right thing to do is in terms of allowing or disallowing its use. In the short-term, it is reasonable to be contemplating whether - [Make your "ChatGPT" and other GenAI expectations clear](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/05/18/make-your-chatgpt-and-other-artificial-intelligence-expectations-clear/) - Links and terminology were updated October 2023 Students want to know what your expectations are. Sometimes students feel uncertain about what to ask or how to ask. Students learn quickly that different instructors, in different programs, handle and regard some things differently when it comes to rules for academic integrity. The reasons for this - [Need to learn more about ChatGPT?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/07/27/need-to-learn-more-about-chatgpt/) - Are you looking for a comprehensive and digestible introduction to Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI)?GenAI is the term in use now for the category of machine learning tools that ChatGPT falls under. A new module titled "Understanding Generative AI" has been added to the academic integrity tutorial. It is a recommended resource for both student and - [Recommendations for Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/07/28/recommendations-for-ethical-use-of-artificial-intelligence/) - These recommendations were provided in June 2023 in response to a request from Deans to provide guidance to the campus community with respect to ChatGPT - a generative artificial intelligence tool that can produce content that is difficult to distinguish from that produced by humans. Some links and terminology were updated in July 2023 and - [New Module on GenAI added to Academic Integrity Tutorial](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/08/30/new-module-on-genai-added-to-academic-integrity-tutorial/) - The Academic Integrity Tutorial has a new addition entitled Understanding Generative AI which focusses on the ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in university. ChatGPT is one tool among thousands that fall under the GenAI category. This means there are now 4 modules that each take about 45 minutes to complete (a - [ChatGPT Detection Tools – neither approved nor recommended at USask](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/09/26/chatgpt-detection-tools-neither-approved-nor-recommended-at-usask/) - Within weeks of the release of ChatGPT, generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) detectors were claiming to be able to identify the text it produces. However, a growing body of research has found that these detection tools are not effective. Even the company that created ChatGPT (OpenAI) abandoned their detector in July 2023 due to its low - [Identifying ChatGPT Text-based Plagiarism](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/11/22/identifying-chatgpt-text-based-plagiarism/) - General plagiarism identification advice applies to ChatGPT text-based plagiarism, too. Read this post for more on possible plagiarism flags. You may have heard about detection tools but they are not reliable, recommended or approved for use. Read this post for more on current limits of these tools. Read this article about how ChatGPT can be - [Identifying Plagiarism](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/11/22/identifying-plagiarism/) - Preventing academic misconduct is always better than policing it. But, sometimes you notice a problem and wonder if the work you are marking was really created by or fully authored by the student who submitted it. It is your responsibility, according to the academic misconduct regulations to follow up judiciously with your concerns. Educator judgment - [Determining Levels of Acceptable GenAI Use](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/12/20/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 - [10 Guidelines for Assessment Practice in a GenAI Environment](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/05/03/10-guidelines-for-assessment-practice-in-an-artificial-intelligence-environment/) - This post was updated for links and terminology in October 2023. Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools, such as but not limited to ChatGPT, are increasingly available with quickly advancing capabilities. Proper and ethical use is important for transparent and valid assessment. The following are 10 general guidelines for educators. To prepare Learn about relevant, - [Things to Tell New USask Students about Final Exams](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/11/22/things-to-tell-new-usask-students-about-final-exams/) - There are many unstated or rarely stated norms and practices associated with the final exam setting. New students need to learn the ropes. This is especially important for students who are: writing their first university exams because they are new to university study (like first year students), new to USask (like transfer students), new to - [How to Talk with Students About Suspected Academic Misconduct](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/10/23/how-to-talk-with-students-about-suspected-academic-misconduct/) - Faculty and instructors follow up with suspected academic misconduct and when we do, we show we care about students and their learning the validity of the assessment the fairness of grades for all students in the course. When we don’t follow up, there are risks for students. If students are not made aware of their - [2024 Funding to Address Priorities Using Open Educational Practices](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2024/01/03/2024-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 - [Instructional Strategies for Climate Justice](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/12/05/5156/) - 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 - [New! USask's Enterprise GenAI](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/11/27/new-usasks-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 - [Sing Me Your Song](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/11/21/sing-me-your-song/) - I recently attended a KISS concert where the familiar tunes triggered a nostalgic trip to my teenage years. I realized that I had grown older with two of the performers, and that very moment of realization had impacted me more than I had bargained for. As the music played, I found myself captivated by the - [Discussions in Canvas - Asking Good Questions - Part 2](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/04/18/discussions-in-canvas-asking-good-questions-part-2/) - By Roberta Campbell-Chudoba The exchange of questions and responses is vital to teaching and learning. The types of questions we pose as instructors should grab our students’ attention and curiosity, reinforce key points, encourage reflection, and foster active learning. Discussions in Canvas – Asking Good Questions - Part 1 explored creating open-ended questions by - [Poll Everywhere: PowerPoint Add-in Update](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/11/16/poll-everywhere-powerpoint-add-in-update/) - We’re happy to share that Poll Everywhere recently released an update to the PowerPoint Add-in. After local testing, the update was installed across campus on November 13. This update solves a significant barrier to using Poll Everywhere on our classroom PCs. Prior to this update, it was common for the Poll Everywhere log in button - [Poll Everywhere Conversations and Recommendations](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/09/28/poll-everywhere-conversations-and-recommendations/) - By Kristine Dreaver-Charles, Academic Innovation Specialist with Academic Innovation Technologies The challenge of technology is when it fails. I’ve had those moments of presenting or trying to demonstrate something and my technology just does not do what I intended. Sometimes it is the technology. Sometimes it’s the hardware. But sometimes it’s me and I’ve forgotten - [New Season and New Name for GMCTL Podcast](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/09/18/new-season-and-new-name-for-gmctl-podcast/) - The third season of the podcast from the Gwenna Moss Centre will go live in the next few weeks. Just as in the first two seasons, we'll be speaking with instructors from across the institution about their teaching and how they connect with learners. One significant change to the podcast as of this season is - [Syllabus Links to Academic Misconduct Regulations: Necessary but not Sufficient](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/11/30/syllabus-links-to-academic-misconduct-regulations-necessary-but-not-sufficient/) - The syllabus describes the course, outlines the requirements, and sets the expectations. Important expectations relate to academic integrity, and ensuring academic misconduct is avoided. Updated Template at USask The University’s syllabus template has recently updated some of the standard information related to academic integrity, templates, available here. See the sections on academic integrity for language - [Creating Discussions in Canvas to Support Student Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/11/05/creating-discussions-in-canvas-to-student-support-learning/) - By Roberta Campbell-Chudoba The technical creation of a discussion in Canvas is relatively straightforward and intuitive. What requires deeper initial consideration is how using the discussion tool will support student learning. Here, we look at the necessary planning for setting up purposeful discussions, then the post that follows, we’ll go through the technical aspects of - [Wellness-Centric Course Design Toolkit](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/07/18/wellness-centric-course-design-tool-kit/) - Is it possible to design a course with WELLNESS in MIND? We have the unique opportunity to shape the holistic well-being of our students, fostering an environment that supports their personal growth and success. With the fall semester of 2023 on the horizon, it is essential to consider a fresh approach. Introducing Wellness-Centric Course Design, - [How to Make an Effective Rubric](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/07/08/how-to-make-an-effective-rubric/) - Good rubrics have three key advantages: If you develop them, they help you align your assignment with your outcomes They help you have similar marks for different students' assignments of similar quality (inter-rater reliability), if you practice using them with other instructors or your TAs They increase student understanding of the skills you want them - [Collaborative Online International Learning - and Teaching!](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/06/20/collaborative-online-international-learning-and-teaching/) - by Monica del Valle, MSc (Marketing), USask. Monica was a Teaching Assistant for multiple COIL projects from 2021 to 2023. "Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first and the lesson afterward." - Oscar Wilde I started my MSc in Marketing in September 2021 and even before - [Maximizing Learning Potential with Student Wellness](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/06/20/cultivating-wellness-in-education-practices-series-2/) - Your Brain on Teaching and Learning: Series 2 Are your students showing signs of anxiety? Are your students experiencing a sense of purpose and engagement in the classroom? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ The impact of teaching and learning practices on student wellness cannot be overstated ______________________________________________________________________________________________ By integrating insights from brain science, we can create powerful learning environments - [From Stuck to Supercharged: The What and Why of Brain Plasticity](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/05/10/from-stuck-to-supercharged-the-what-and-why-of-brain-plasticity/) - Your Brain on Teaching and Learning: Series One What is Brain Plasticity? Brain plasticity is the brain's ability to reorganize and restructure itself throughout a person's lifetime. It is a result of the brain's ability to form new neural connections and strengthen existing ones based on the activities we engage in and the information we - [Your Brain on Experiential Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/05/02/your-brain-on-experiential-learning/) - “Is disengaged.” “Is easily distracted.” “Shows no interest.” “Never shows up.” No professor wants to use these phrases to describe their students, but disengagement is a persistent problem -- making descriptions such as these all too common today. Experiential Learning can help. Experiential learning is a powerful educational approach that helps students remain focused as - [Indigenization and Assessment - Rethinking Traditional Practice](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/03/24/indigenization-and-assessment-rethinking-traditional-practice/) - "Education got us into this mess, education will get us out of it." - Honourable Justice Murray Sinclair, Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, December 2015 Higher education is embarking on a journey of Indigenization, decolonization and reconciliation (IDR). Location will impact understanding of how to accomplish IDR and who will be involved in actualizing - [Turn Pre-Class Readings into Social Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/10/20/turn-pre-class-readings-into-active-and-social-learning/) - When we design courses, we carefully choose readings or videos for students to review before coming to class. We then plan for the fantastic discussions and activities that will occur in class. All too often, when we arrive in class, we quickly realize that most of the students have not engaged with the pre-class materials - [In Testimonial: Collaborative Online International Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/02/01/in-testimonial-collaborative-online-international-learning/) - Lecturer in the Department of Political Studies, Dr. Martin Gaal, shares about his COIL experience in a recently produced testimonial video. COIL is a framework of teaching and learning that promotes intercultural opportunities through a short-term virtual exchange program. It involves an instructor from the university partnering with an instructor from a partnering institution abroad - [What works with study of teaching and learning?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2019/09/20/what-works-with-study-of-teaching-and-learning/) - The Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning (GMCTL) offers grants for groups of faculty investigating what works in teaching and learning practice. For most of, the process of teaching causes us to question, asking ourselves things like: Why did that class work so well? Why did students struggle so much with a particular question - [Is Your Instruction Designed to Produce Student Learning?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2018/11/13/is-your-instruction-designed-to-produce-student-learning/) - Lecture is an efficient way to transmit information, especially in large classes. We inevitably feel there is a lot of content to cover, since the gap between what novice students know and expert professors know is large. However, large, uninterrupted blocks of lecture are very inefficient ways to learn, because they are passive. Learners get - [USask Assessment Principles](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/03/01/usask-assessment-principles/) - In the 2022-23, USask adopted an updated set of principles about how we try to assess students. Here are some tips about using each of the principles in your course. Each principle is defined and related posts are listed. Is aligned with learning outcomes and instructional strategies (assessment of learning). Alignment refers to the process - [Writing Learning Outcomes for the Sustainable Development Goals](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/02/03/writing-learning-outcomes-for-the-sustainable-development-goals/) - This is a series around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) written in 2021. Each post dives into one of the goals and how we as educators can strive to embed these into our own courses. It is in the author’s opinion that any course or class can connect with one of the 17 goals - [Time for a Jump Start? Teaching and Learning Fund at the GMCTL](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2023/01/26/time-for-a-jump-start-teaching-and-learning-fund-at-the-gmctl/) - Feeling stuck? Even though good ideas for change are exciting and energizing, sometimes they sit still or do not progress. Common reasons include: Working at it sporadically or “off the side of your desk” Attending to more urgent or pressing issues Being at (or beyond) your limit in terms of projects and things to do - [What to Do First in Your New Canvas Course](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/06/10/what-to-do-first-in-your-new-canvas-course/) - By Roberta Campbell-Chudoba Canvas offers faculty and instructors an exciting online platform with efficient and effective tools to improve the teaching and learning experience, especially during this time of remote instruction. In mid-June of 2020, Canvas courses will be available to all those who elected to be ‘Early Adopters’ and faculty whose college, department or school is - [Grading Discussions in Canvas](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/09/29/grading-discussions-in-canvas/) - By Roberta Campbell-Chudoba You’ve set up and run your first graded discussion in Canvas – and the volume of posts seems a bit daunting. Now it’s time to assess the individual student contributions against the defined criteria and get results out to them before the next discussion goes up. Here are some tips for grading - [How Canvas supports student control and ownership of learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/10/13/how-canvas-supports-student-control-and-ownership-of-learning/) - By Roberta Campbell-Chudoba This is the sixth post in a series about how you can use Canvas to integrate the eight Learning Technology Ecosystem Principles. You can find more about these principles here, but in this post, we’ll be looking at the fifth principle. 5. Designed for student control and ownership of learning: Learners create - [Setting Up Discussions in Canvas](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/11/05/setting-up-discussions-in-canvas/) - By Roberta Campbell-Chudoba This is the second post in a series of four about using discussions in Canvas to support student learning. Discussions can be set up from within a module, or from the Discussions index page found by clicking on the Discussions link in the course navigation menu on the left of the course - [Using MEETS in Canvas](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/01/27/using-meets-in-canvas/) - By Roberta Campbell-Chudoba When we listened to students in facilitated focus groups this fall about their remote learning experiences, they said it would be helpful to have a central place to meet virtually with their instructors, eliminating the need to search for meeting links and access different platforms. Your integrated Webex room in MEETS provides - [Personalizing Feedback with Canvas Audio Visual Tools](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/06/21/personalizing-feedback-with-canvas-audio-visual-tools/) - By Roberta Campbell-Chudoba As instructors and teaching assistants, we invest a great deal of time in giving feedback to students to enhance their learning and improve their performance. Giving meaningful feedback involves describing what we experience when excellence catches our attention, building on the strengths demonstrated, and guiding learners to see what excellence looks like. Students - [Immersive Reader Enhances Accessibility in Canvas](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/01/04/immersive-reader-enhances-accessibility-in-canvas/) - By Roberta Campbell-Chudoba The Immersive Reader option in Canvas helps students access your course materials, whether they have a certain learning or medical disability, use English as an additional language – or could simply benefit from its text-to-speech function. The Immersive Reader button, at the top right-hand of Pages, Assignments, the Course Home Page, and - [Discussions in Canvas - Asking Good Questions - Part 1](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/04/12/discussions-in-canvas-asking-good-questions-part-1/) - By Roberta Campbell-Chudoba Asking questions is one of the most powerful tools we have as instructors. Just like asking good questions in class, promoting discussion with questions that capture students' attention and stimulate intellectual engagement can be facilitated online, using Canvas Discussions. Crafting questions for a discussion forum depends on the purpose of the discussion, - [Improving Accessibility with Canvas' Rich Content Editor](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/04/28/improving-accessibility-with-canvas-rich-content-editor/) - By Roberta Campbell-Chudoba Small formatting changes on Canvas Pages, Assignments, Quizzes and the Syllabus page can make your course more accessible. Using the suggestions below will improve clarity, readability, and navigation for all your students. In the Rich Content Editor (RCE) menu bar, illustrated below: The drop-down menu on the Paragraph option [1] has three - [Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement within JSGS](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/12/14/creating-a-culture-of-continuous-improvement-within-jsgs/) - By Jamie Mayoh-Bauche, Instructional Designer, U of R, Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy Keeping up with the latest scholarship on evidence-based practice can be a challenge for instructors who are busy with their own areas of research, amongst all the other things. In response to this challenge, Johnson Shoyama Graduate School (JSGS) embarked - [From Grit to Pearl: Understanding our SLEQs](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/10/17/from-grit-to-pearl-understanding-our-sleqs/) - Guest Post by Roslyn M. Compton, Sithokozile Maposa, Sheryl Mills, Schroder Sattar This past year we decided to approach our SLEQs differently. Because we planned and taught NURS 306 as a team, we decided to review our SLEQs as a team. In this post, we share the step-by-step process we used to shift from a - [Announcing a New OER – Universal Design for Learning (UDL): One Small Step](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/10/11/announcing-a-new-oer-universal-design-for-learning-udl-one-small-step/) - We know that learners bring a wide range of knowledge, skills, backgrounds, and experiences into the classroom. As educators, we can expect to find variability in our classroom. The USask Learning Charter lists, as one of the Educator Commitments and Responsibilities, to Strive for Excellence in Teaching. This commitment means that educators work to develop respectful and - [Non-Disposable Assignments and Why You Should Use Them](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/09/26/non-disposable-assignments-and-why-you-should-use-them/) - This post originally ran on the Open Education at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) website and is reposted here under a CC-BY license. By Jen Moss, Instructional Designer and Adjunct Faculty at UAF The idea of the non-disposable or reusable assignment has been around for a while. The last couple years may have brought - [Efficient Feedback](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/09/19/efficient-feedback/) - Struggling to learn something? Trying something complex or hard? There is nothing like feedback to help you learn well. For many of us teaching in higher education, however, providing feedback is an aspiration. We know it is important, but we struggle to provide it early or sometimes at all, particularly in large classes. Even when - [Graduate Transformative Skills Project Series: Faculty Perspective](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/08/19/graduate-transformative-skills-project-series-faculty-perspective/) - In 2019-20, the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning (GMCTL) funded a faculty fellow, Dr. Loleen Berdahl, to study the needs for graduate student professional skill development at USask and recommend next steps. This blogpost series examines and translates the data from differing perspectives. We invite you review the data here. This work continues - [Graduate Transformative Skills Project Series: Graduate Student and Postdoc Perspective](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/08/12/graduate-transformative-skills-project-series-graduate-student-and-postdoc-perspective/) - In 2019-20, the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning (GMCTL) funded a faculty fellow, Dr. Loleen Berdahl, to study the needs for graduate student professional skill development at USask and recommend next steps. This blogpost series examines and translates the data from differing perspectives. We invite you review the data here. This work continues - [Graduate Transformative Skills Project Series: Support Perspective](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/08/05/graduate-transformative-skills-project-series-support-perspective/) - In 2019-20, the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning (GMCTL) funded a faculty fellow, Dr. Loleen Berdahl, to study the needs for graduate student professional skill development at USask and recommend next steps. This blogpost series examines and translates the data from differing perspectives. We invite you review the data here. This work continues - [USask Sustainability Fellows Leading the Way](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/07/20/usask-sustainability-fellows-leading-the-way/) - For the past few months, I've had the pleasure of co-facilitating the first of the two years of the Sustainability Faculty Fellowship sessions with Aditi Garg. There are six Faculty Fellows, each bringing different experiences, ideas, and perspectives to the group. The Faculty Fellows are: Tate Cao from Engineering Kate Congreves from Agriculture and Bioresources - [USask Releases New Syllabus Template and Guide](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/06/13/usask-releases-new-syllabus-template-and-guide/) - Before starting work on your syllabus for the Fall term, be sure to look through the new syllabus template and guide. While you're departments, colleges, or schools may have their own syllabus template, the guide will provide you with a clear explanation of what is required to be in your syllabus under the Academic Courses - [USask Moving to Poll Everywhere for Student Response System](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/06/02/usask-moving-to-poll-everywhere-for-student-response-system/) - Beginning this month the University of Saskatchewan will be transitioning to Poll Everywhere as the integrated polling tool at USask, replacing Top Hat. This decision was made after extended consideration and demonstrations from vendors. Instructors will be able to use Poll Everywhere to: • Gather information from formative assessments, such as polling questions or open-ended - [Helping Students Build Resilience](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/05/12/helping-students-build-resilience/) - The COVID-19 pandemic has increased stress and mental health challenges for many people, including instructors, staff, and students. To help our students, and each other, to build or rebuild resilience we need to take a multi-pronged approach. While the university offers a variety of resources, there are things instructors can do within their classes to - [Assigning Students to Act as Discussion Moderators](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/04/26/assigning-students-to-act-as-discussion-moderators/) - During in-class discussions, the entire class and the instructor may be part of the same discussion, but sometimes instructors put students into smaller groups, with multiple discussions happening around the room. While the instructor may be able to walk around the room and listen in on what the students are saying, they can't catch everything - [Aligning Your Discussion Questions With Purpose and Desired Outcomes](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/04/03/aligning-your-discussion-questions-with-purpose-and-desired-outcomes/) - Many instructors indicate that they struggle with how to come up with good questions of students, whether during a synchronous session (in-person or on Zoom) or in the discussion forums in Canvas. The purpose of this post is to help you consider three key factors when trying to decide what questions to ask in these - [Serious (about) Academic Misconduct? A lesson plan](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/02/14/serious-about-academic-misconduct-a-lesson-plan/) - Students encounter mixed messages when it comes to the seriousness of different forms of academic misconduct. As instructors, we may be assuming that our colleagues teach about and respond to academic misconduct issues in a similar way to ourselves, when very often, they do not. This post provides a lesson plan (using the “BOPPPS” model) - [Choosing a mix of F2F and remote online? Tips for smoother hybrid approaches](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/02/02/choosing-a-mix-of-f2f-and-remote-online-tips-for-smoother-hybrid-approaches/) - The University has announced a return to campus stating Feb. 7th. With the exception of some specific programs designed to provide hybrid options, instructors are not expected to teach students face to face (F2F) and online at the same time in their F2F course(s). However, you may be trying to provide some extra options for - [Understanding final grades in the Canvas gradebook.](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2022/01/25/understanding-final-grades-in-the-canvas-gradebook/) - With contributions from Carmen Harder, Training Specialist, Client Experience, Client and Technology Success The dashes that you see on the Canvas gradebook indicate missing assignments. When calculating final grades Canvas does not treat these missing assignments as zero. In this example the final grade for the student is 60%. To make sure that missing assignments - [Masking protocols and a values-based approach to norms in the classroom](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/12/20/masking-protocols-and-a-values-based-approach-to-norms-in-the-classroom/) - As we start to anticipate the needs of students and instructors at the start of term, we recognize that some folks will be on-campus and in-person for the first time since the pandemic began. We know that setting the tone for the class at the start of term is very important and we wanted to - [Assessment Design and Academic Misconduct](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/12/01/assessment-design-and-academic-misconduct/) - First, the not-so-good news There is no such thing as a “cheat-proof” assessment. Now, for the good news Instructors can reduce the likelihood of academic misconduct through assessment design and the context for assessment. Such designs and contexts are those that help students to see the value of the learning, hold positive expectations, - [Collaboration technical tools](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/11/18/collaboration-tools/) - One of the essential goals of the Learning Technology Ecosystem at USask is to allow students to connect to others. While collaboration skills are one of the essential skills most employers describe, the need for collaboration tools is actually more immediate. When students have the opportunity to think through things actively with others, they learn - [GMCTL to Launch New Open Course on Open in Early February](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/11/01/gmctl-to-launch-new-open-course-on-open-in-early-february/) - The University of Saskatchewan is a leader in Canada around open educational resources (e.g. textbooks) and is moving toward wider integration of open pedagogy (students as contributors, not just consumers of knowledge). As part of this, and in the spirit of open educational practices (OEP), on February 1, 2022 we are launching a new open - [Improving Student Feedback Response Rates in Remote Courses](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/10/25/improving-student-feedback-response-rates-in-remote-courses/) - By David Greaves, Teaching and Learning Enhancement Specialist When it comes to student feedback, more is generally better. When we have higher response rates, we know that more student voices are being heard and that the feedback an instructor receives is more complete. To ensure that student feedback processes are effective, it is important for - [Generating an attendance report in Zoom](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/09/17/generating-an-attendance-report-in-zoom/) - Term has started and whilst the instructors who are back in the classroom can clearly see who is present in their classes, for those who are teaching virtually it is not so easy to determine. Luckily for the instructors who are hosting their virtual classes in Zoom, an attendance report can be generated. This - [SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals – Embedding the Sustainable Development Goals in Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/09/08/sdg-17-partnerships-for-the-goals-embedding-the-sustainable-development-goals-in-learning/) - This blog post is part of a series around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each post will dive into one of the goals and how we as educators can strive to embed these into our own courses. It is in the author’s opinion that any course or class can connect with one of the - [SDG 16 Peace and Justice, Strong Institutions – Embedding the Sustainable Development Goals in Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/09/03/sdg-16-peace-and-justice-strong-institutions-embedding-the-sustainable-development-goals-in-learning/) - This blog post is part of a series around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each post will dive into one of the goals and how we as educators can strive to embed these into our own courses. It is in the author’s opinion that any course or class can connect with one of the - [SDG 15 Life On Land – Embedding the Sustainable Development Goals in Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/08/25/sdg-15-life-on-land-embedding-the-sustainable-development-goals-in-learning/) - This blog post is part of a series around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each post will dive into one of the goals and how we as educators can strive to embed these into our own courses. It is in the author’s opinion that any course or class can connect with one of the - [SDG 14 Life Below Water – Embedding the Sustainable Development Goals in Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/08/25/sdg-14-life-below-water-embedding-the-sustainable-development-goals-in-learning/) - This blog post is part of a series around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each post will dive into one of the goals and how we as educators can strive to embed these into our own courses. It is in the author’s opinion that any course or class can connect with one of the - [SDG 13 Climate Action – Embedding the Sustainable Development Goals in Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/08/25/sdg-13-climate-action-embedding-the-sustainable-development-goals-in-learning/) - This blog post is part of a series around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each post will dive into one of the goals and how we as educators can strive to embed these into our own courses. It is in the author’s opinion that any course or class can connect with one of the - [Canvas Online Attendance](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/08/24/canvas-online-attendance/) - Canvas has just released an online attendance dashboard for instructors who are teaching online and who want to define attendance around students’ interactions within Canvas. You can access the online attendance dashboard through the New Analytics link either from the course navigation menu or through the course homepage. This dashboard gives instructors an at-a-glance view - [Write your teaching statement, with a little help from a friend](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/07/19/write-your-teaching-statement-with-a-little-help-from-a-friend/) - Teaching philosophy statements are challenging to write, whether you are writing one for the first time or revising one you wrote years ago. This blog post is designed to help you start writing or revising your statement. Part of what makes a philosophy statement challenging to write is that they are diverse in style and - [SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production – Embedding the Sustainable Development Goals in Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/07/12/sdg-12-responsible-consumption-and-production-embedding-the-sustainable-development-goals-in-learning/) - This blog post is part of a series around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each post will dive into one of the goals and how we as educators can strive to embed these into our own courses. It is in the author’s opinion that any course or class can connect with one of the - [SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities – Embedding the Sustainable Development Goals in Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/07/12/sdg-11-sustainable-cities-and-communities-embedding-the-sustainable-development-goals-in-learning/) - This blog post is part of a series around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each post will dive into one of the goals and how we as educators can strive to embed these into our own courses. It is in the author’s opinion that any course or class can connect with one of the - [SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities – Embedding the Sustainable Development Goals in Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/07/09/sdg-10-reduced-inequalities-embedding-the-sustainable-development-goals-in-learning/) - This blog post is part of a series around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each post will dive into one of the goals and how we as educators can strive to embed these into our own courses. It is in the author’s opinion that any course or class can connect with one of the - [SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure – Embedding the Sustainable Development Goals in Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/07/09/sdg-9-industry-innovation-and-infrastructure-embedding-the-sustainable-development-goals-in-learning/) - This blog post is part of a series around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each post will dive into one of the goals and how we as educators can strive to embed these into our own courses. It is in the author’s opinion that any course or class can connect with one of the - [Using Case Studies to Teach about Academic Integrity](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/06/29/using-case-students-to-teach-about-academic-integrity/) - It is a common and effective practice to contexualize academic integrity for students using clear and relevant cases that bring home the relevance and applicability of these principles in and beyond the classroom. Cases from Current Events and/or Professional Practice Make the connections of the case to learning and assessment explicit, otherwise students may not - [SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth – Embedding the Sustainable Development Goals in Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/06/18/sdg-8-decent-work-and-economic-growth-embedding-the-sustainable-development-goals-in-learning/) - This blog post is part of a series around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each post will dive into one of the goals and how we as educators can strive to embed these into our own courses. It is in the author’s opinion that any course or class can connect with one of the - [SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy – Embedding the Sustainable Development Goals in Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/06/11/sdg-7-affordable-and-clean-energy-embedding-the-sustainable-development-goals-in-learning/) - This blog post is part of a series around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each post will dive into one of the goals and how we as educators can strive to embed these into our own courses. It is in the author’s opinion that any course or class can connect with one of the - [Challenging Conversations - Safe Spaces vs. Brave Spaces](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/06/08/challenging-conversations-safe-spaces-vs-brave-spaces/) - This is the second 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, - [SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation – Embedding the Sustainable Development Goals in Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/06/04/sdg-6-clean-water-and-sanitation-embedding-the-sustainable-development-goals-in-learning/) - This blog post is part of a series around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each post will dive into one of the goals and how we as educators can strive to embed these into our own courses. It is in the author’s opinion that any course or class can connect with one of the - [Challenging Conversations - The Stories We Tell](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/05/31/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, - [SDG 5 Gender Equality – Embedding the Sustainable Development Goals in Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/05/28/sdg-5-gender-equality-embedding-the-sustainable-development-goals-in-learning/) - This blog post is part of a series around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each post will dive into one of the goals and how we as educators can strive to embed these into our own courses. It is in the author’s opinion that any course or class can connect with one of the - [SDG 4 Quality Education – Embedding the Sustainable Development Goals in Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/05/21/sdg-4-quality-education-embedding-the-sustainable-development-goals-in-learning/) - This blog post is part of a series around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each post will dive into one of the goals and how we as educators can strive to embed these into our own courses. It is in the author’s opinion that any course or class can connect with one of the - [SDG 3 Good Health and Well-Being – Embedding the Sustainable Development Goals in Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/05/11/sdg-3-good-health-and-well-being-embedding-the-sustainable-development-goals-in-learning/) - This blog post is part of a series around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each post will dive into one of the goals and how we as educators can strive to embed these into our own courses. It is in the author’s opinion that any course or class can connect with one of the - [SDG 2 Zero Hunger - Embedding the Sustainable Development Goals in Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/05/07/sdg-2-zero-hunger-embedding-the-sustainable-development-goals-in-learning/) - This blog post is part of a series around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each post will dive into one of the goals and how we as educators can strive to embed these into our own courses. It is in the author’s opinion that any course or class can connect with one of the - [Introduction to Teaching Online](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/05/04/introduction-to-teaching-online/) - If someone asked you "How is online teaching different from face-to-face teaching?", the first thing you might say is that face-to-face teaching involves real time interaction between students and instructors (synchronous) whereas online teaching happens through a computer, with students typically working through course content like lectures and other materials in their own time (asynchronous). In - [SDG 1 No Poverty - Embedding the Sustainable Development Goals in Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/04/30/sdg-1-embedding-the-sustainable-development-goals-in-learning/) - This blog post is part of a series around the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each post will dive into one of the goals and how we as educators can strive to embed these into our own courses. It is in the author’s opinion that any course or class can connect with one of the - [Apply For Funding to Support Your Open Pedagogy Projects](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/04/12/apply-for-funding-to-support-your-open-pedagogy-projects/) - Open educational resources (OER), particularly open textbooks, have become widely used at USask since the first adoption for a large class in early 2015. More than 8,000 students used OER instead of commercial materials during the 2020-2021 academic year. That growth has helped to raise awareness about open educational practices overall, including open pedagogy. Taking - [Imagining Reconciliation](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/04/06/imagining-reconciliation/) - The following was created as an introduction to a panel discussion about how to build pathways toward reconciliation. What are the qualities that help people along this journey for a more inclusive society? As a Manager at the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning, I have been helping the University move forward in building - [How Do I Subscribe to This Blog, and Other Sites](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/04/05/how-do-i-subscribe-to-this-blog-and-other-sites/) - There have been some recent inquiries about how to subscribe to this blog, which is great. We love to hear that readers are finding this site helpful. This post will explain how to use RSS (Real Simple Syndication) to subscribe to Educatus and other sites. What Is RSS and What's It Good For? RSS allows you - [You can only make a first impression once – make it a good one with your Canvas Homepage](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/03/10/you-can-only-make-a-first-impression-once-make-it-a-good-one-with-your-canvas-homepage/) - Co-written by Toni Marchione and Ryan Banow, GMCTL Your course homepage is the first thing that students see when they log in to your Canvas course. It is their first impression of your course. As a landing page, it should be inviting, informative and easy to navigate. Canvas allows instructors to customize their homepage and choose between five different layout options: Course Activity Stream, Pages Front Page, Course Modules, Assignment List or Syllabus. It is - [Let Students Choose their Breakout Session and More – Now in WebEx!](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/02/05/let-students-choose-their-breakout-session-and-more-now-in-webex/) - USask’s version of WebEx recently updated with a few new features worth highlighting. Students can now choose which Breakout Session to join On certain devices WebEx, can now recognize hand gestures, including hand raising Students can now choose which Breakout Session to join This feature opens up new pedagogical opportunities in class sessions. There are - [Elaborations on Canvas collaborations](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/01/28/elaborations-on-canvas-collaborations/) - The transition to remote learning has been in progress for almost a year now, with many instructors grabbing the Canvas bull by the horns and learning how to use the different Canvas tools to provide their students with the best learning experience possible. With what feels like the whole world working remotely right now, collaborating - [Contract Cheating is Riskier than Students Think ](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/01/27/contract-cheating-is-riskier-than-students-think/) - “Contract cheating occurs when a student procures a third party (who knows about and benefits from the transaction) to produce academic work (that is usually, but not always assessable work) that the student then submits to an educational institution as if it were their own” (Ellis, Zucker & Randall (2018) p. 1). Academic misconduct of any - [Instructor Strategies to Mitigate Contract Cheating](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/01/27/instructor-strategies-to-mitigate-contract-cheating/) - “Contract cheating occurs when a student procures a third party (who knows about and benefits from the transaction) to produce academic work (that is usually, but not always assessable work) that the student then submits to an educational institution as if it were their own” (Ellis, Zucker & Randall (2018) p. 1). There is no - [What is contract cheating?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/01/27/what-is-contract-cheating/) - “Contract cheating occurs when a student procures a third party (who knows about and benefits from the transaction) to produce academic work (that is usually, but not always assessable work) that the student then submits to an educational institution as if it were their own” (Ellis, Zucker & Randall (2018) p. 1). Contract cheating is - [What can I do using the Canvas mobile app?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/01/25/what-can-i-do-using-the-canvas-mobile-app/) - The Canvas Teacher mobile app provides quick access to grading, communicating, and updating your course. It delivers added convenience with day-to-day tasks once your core course structure is set up. That’s the philosophy behind the app and it helps us meet the USask Learning Technology Ecosystem Principle of our courses being efficient and easy to - [Office hours in Canvas](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/01/13/office-hours-in-canvas/) - Office hours are important because they allow our student to connect with us and ask questions, but they can be time consuming to set up in a remote environment. Using Meets in Canvas, you can quickly and simply set up remote meeting times as "office hours" so your students can sign up for a time - [Ready to Talk to Students About Suspected Academic Misconduct?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2021/01/07/ready-to-talk-to-students-about-suspected-academic-misconduct/) - When you suspect academic misconduct in your course, it’s common to feel frustrated. Some educators feel insulted or angry. Some blame themselves. Some people have a mix of all of this. Regardless, if you suspect a student has engaged in academic misconduct it is important to talk to them about it. The points below are - [Students in Grief: What can you do?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/12/17/students-in-grief-what-can-you-do/) - By Lisa Greig, Student Support and Outreach Coordinator It has been a difficult nine months for many as we have all been braving the waves of grief, collectively, in this pandemic. Understanding grief Jack Jordan provides a great definition of grief: it is “the whole person response to the actual or threatened loss of anything - [Elevate Your Course Projects using Riipen](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/12/15/elevate-your-course-projects-using-riipen/) - USask faculty members have been taking advantage of our new partnership with the Riipen project-based learning platform. Riipen provides an all-in-one platform for connecting, communicating, sharing documents, and managing deadlines between stakeholders (instructors, students, and community/industry partners). This post highlights the experiences within two USask courses. Course within College of Agriculture and Bioresources Within the - [Initiating Peer Conversations](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/12/02/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 - [Just the Right Amount of Workload](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/11/04/the-right-amount-of-workload/) - In the story of Goldilocks, the main character tries bowls of porridge that are too hot and too cold. Finally, Goldilocks settles on a porridge that is just the right temperature. Figuring out the right, or adequate, amount of work for students is a Goldilocks opportunity - tweaking and adjusting to find the right mix, - [How Canvas' intuitive interface makes it easy to use](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/10/27/how-canvas-intuitive-interface-makes-it-easy-to-use/) - This is the seventh post in a series about how you can use Canvas to integrate the eight Learning Technology Ecosystem Principles. You can find more about these principles here, but in this post, we’ll be looking at the sixth principle. Efficient and easy to use: Learners need to work in a system that is - [Using Canvas New Analytics to see how students are doing in your course.](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/10/16/using-canvas-new-analytics-and-course-statistics-to-see-how-students-are-doing-in-your-course/) - Having to teach remotely may have left some of us feeling like we are teaching in a vacuum. Without the usual cues that face-to-face teaching provides, it can be difficult to tell whether students are engaging or participating with their course materials. Even if you feel like you have a good sense of how your students are engaging with the course, New Analytics can help confirm these feelings. - [Students Finished Writing my Canvas Classic Quiz: Now What?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/10/07/students-finished-writing-my-canvas-classic-quiz-now-what/) - Once your quiz or test availability period ends, there are a number of tasks that you might want to complete, such as reviewing how the entire class performed, reviewing an individual student's quiz, and manually grade questions. This post and video will outline these different tasks and how you can accomplish them when using Canvas - [How Canvas supports students remixing and / or creating](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/10/07/how-canvas-supports-students-remixing-and-or-creating/) - This is the fifth post in a series about how you can use Canvas to integrate the eight Learning Technology Ecosystem Principles. You can find more about these principles here, but in this post, we’ll be looking at the fourth principle. 4. Designed for students who are remixing and/or creating: Learning is most effective when - [Student presentations in Canvas](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/10/06/student-presentations-in-canvas/) - By David Greaves, ICT Support Services What does a good student presentation look like in an online learning environment? Take a moment to think about it. While you were thinking, you likely made the realization that the learning environment makes a difference. This post will guide you through the technology selection process as you design your student presentation. Let’s start with some assumptions: - [How Canvas supports learning through Reflection and Growth](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/10/06/how-canvas-support-learning-through-reflection-and-growth/) - This is the fourth post in a series about how you can use Canvas to integrate the eight Learning Technology Ecosystem Principles. You can find more about these principles here, but in this post, we’ll be looking at the third principle. 3. Designed for Reflection and Growth: Learning is refined and extended through prompted and - [Active and social learning in Canvas](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/10/05/active-and-social-learning-in-canvas/) - This is the third post in a series about how you can use Canvas to integrate the eight Learning Technology Ecosystem Principles. You can find more about these principles here, but in this post, we’ll be looking at the second principle. 2. Active and Social: Learning is a process of meaning making, constructed through learning with - [What are Learning Technology Ecosystem Principles and why are they important?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/10/01/what-are-learning-technology-ecosystem-principles-and-why-are-they-important/) - Technology and education go together like strawberries and cream, or peanut butter and jelly, and in this time of remote instruction, teaching and learning are both enabled by and reliant on technology. In order for us to be successful in an online teaching and learning environment, there are eight principles that USask instructors should consider important when using technologies for teaching and learning. The eight - [Reading the Remote Room: Surveying your students](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/09/30/reading-the-remote-room-surveying-your-students/) - It is always a good idea to collect feedback from your students about your teaching, but this importance is magnified while teaching remotely. if you’re teaching primarily synchronously (e.g., on Zoom) you might be getting a sense that things are going well, without realizing that some students are struggling with the content and/or their internet - [Orange Shirt Day](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/09/24/orange-shirt-day/) - Orange Shirt Day began as a result of a residential school commemoration event held in Williams Lake, BC in the spring of 2013. It grew out of Phyllis Webstad’s story of having her shiny new orange shirt being taken away from her on her first day of school at the St Joseph Mission residential school, - [Small group synchronous discussion or presentations using WebEX](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/09/22/small-group-synchronous-discussion-or-presentations-using-webex/) - WebEx has a new feature that allows you to automatically or manually sort your students into small groups so they can remotely do the types of small group activities you had them do in your face to face classroom. While they are in groups, you can: send a message to give instructions, to all or - [13 tips for talking to students about academic integrity](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/09/10/13-tips-for-talking-to-students-about-academic-integrity/) - Do you wonder how best to speak with students about academic integrity?Here is a great resource from Kwantlen Polytechnic University, developed by Dr. Kristie Durkewich (thanks again for creating this, Kristie, and for the CC-BY license). Watch this eight minute video for 13 tips of “pure academic integrity gold”, as one of our USask Educational - [7 Tips for Using Group Work](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/09/09/7-tips-for-using-group-work/) - Group work can be highly effective in the remote and in-person teaching context. It is important to use strategies that require interaction among students. In groups, they can check their understanding with peers and develop a sense of belonging that helps engage and motivate. Tip 1: Be clear on purpose and process. Make it crystal - [Academic Integrity 'Talking Points' for Instructors](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/09/08/academic-integrity-talking-points-for-instructors/) - In addition to pointing students to the USask academic misconduct policy (a minimum requirement as part of your syllabus), it’s important to talk about academic integrity and academic misconduct with students. Students need to know that: You know about academic misconduct and the temptations students face; You respond to the suspected academic misconduct; You prevent - [Considerations for Hosting Guest Lecturers Remotely](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/08/24/considerations-for-hosting-guest-lecturers-remotely/) - You may have had guest speakers or guest lecturers into your class before. Typically, they brought their own material, spoke live to your class, and answered any questions before they left. You, as the instructor, were not responsible for recording the talk, storing the files of the talk, sharing the talk for students outside of - [Deterring Exam Collusion Using the LMS Tools](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/08/19/deterring-exam-collusion-using-the-lms-tools/) - Some exam cheating occurs as a "crime of opportunity." That is, the situation has made it so easy to cheat, that some (not all) students think everyone must be doing it and then some (not all) are tempted. This is not what you want. You have multiple tools to address this. When students know that - [Canvas Commons Opens New Ways to Share Materials With Colleagues, and Beyond](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/08/18/canvas-commons-opens-new-ways-to-share-materials-with-colleagues-and-beyond/) - As part of our move to the Canvas LMS, the U of S gains the use of the Canvas Commons. The Canvas website describe it as: Commons is a learning object repository that enables educators to find, import, and share resources. A digital library full of educational content, Commons allows Canvas users to share learning - [Why Is My Syllabus Public?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/08/13/why-is-my-syllabus-public/) - Syllabi within the learning management system (LMS) have long been set to public as the default at the U of S. There are a number of reasons for this, including allowing students to view course syllabi prior to registering for courses. We encourage you to leave your syllabi public for the benefit of students, and - [Why Open Educational Practices in Our Context?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/07/28/why-open-educational-practices-in-our-context/) - In the previous post about open educational practices (OEP) at USask, I explained what they are. In this post, we will explore why so many people are already engaging in OEP, and why you should consider integrating these practices into your own teaching and research. Our beliefs make us Open supporters Open allows students to - [What Are Open Educational Practices in Our Context?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/07/28/what-are-open-educational-practices-in-our-context/) - We have seen significant growth in the use of open educational resources at the U of S in the past six years. As of this fall, more than a dozen open textbooks have been created or adapted at by instructors and students have saved well over $2 million dollars. “Open”, however, is about more than - [Considerations for creating an open-book exam](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/06/30/considerations-for-creating-an-open-book-exam/) - An alternative to the traditional time-constrained invigilated final exam is the open-book exam. “Open-book” implies that learners will have access to some type of references or resources during the exam, but the level of access to resources and time constraints are variables controlled by the instructor depending their exam design decisions. If you are considering - [What Can You Do About Academic Misconduct?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/06/15/what-can-you-do-about-academic-misconduct/) - The causes of academic misconduct have been well-studied and the following points explain most of this concerning behavior. Research shows that very few students plan on doing things like buying papers or crowd-sourcing exam questions when they enroll in courses. Students widely report that their decision to “cheat” was almost always instead taken at the - [How Do I Set Up My Notifications in Canvas?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/06/10/how-do-i-set-up-my-notifications-in-canvas/) - As you're getting started with Canvas, you'll want to set up a few things to make it work more like the way you'd like. Within Canvas you'll find a button under which it says Account. When you click on that you'll see a list of links including Notifications, Profile, Files, Settings, and some other things - [Office Hours, Remotely](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/06/08/office-hours-remotely/) - When we move to remote teaching, we need to consider how we will continue to provide students with student-instructor interaction. One way of offering this is through office hours. While we used to offer office hours outside of lecture or class time, now we might be able to leverage our scheduled class time to engage - [Copyright and Remote Teaching](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/06/08/copyright-and-remote-teaching/) - As you prepare for remote teaching this fall, you need to keep in mind issues related to copyright. The following key points were made in the USask version of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARLs') copyright guidance released as the University quickly shifted to remote teaching in March: Most of the legal issues are - [Studio-based Remote Teaching](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/05/28/studio-based-remote-teaching/) - Studio-based courses are about the process of observing, creating, critiquing, and refining over time. Students learn techniques and process, attempt them, compare what they have created to criteria, intent, or other works, and then refine or iterate. The 4 key elements for a studio-course include: Observing a demonstration of a process or the creation of - [Online Sharing Circle](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/05/25/online-sharing-circle/) - Technology is excellent at allowing us to work remotely, but it can be more challenging for building community or keeping a community strong. Technology’s strength is for communication and is not as robust for building connection, especially with larger groups. Purpose The goal is to create the ‘lunchroom’ experience where people share and ground themselves - [Field Work in the Classroom - Remote Context](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/05/25/field-work-in-the-remote-context/) - Field work is important to your course because it provides a way for students to meet experiential outcomes, build a professional identity, feel engaged in their learning, and can help students retain knowledge and understanding. Some programs may rely on fieldwork for attracting new students and for maintaining outreach with community partners. Can students meet - [Offering Seminar Courses Remotely](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/05/25/offering-seminar-courses-remotely/) - A good seminar is all about students thinking critically and deeply about ideas, and then building on the ideas of others. Face to face (F2F), that looks like a small group of students in discussion, lead by an instructor, TA, or even by another student or groups of students. In an online environment, seminars will - [Making the Most of Synchronous Lectures](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/05/22/making-the-most-of-synchronous-lectures/) - Synchronous lectures are likely to seem awkward for the first while, but by following the suggestions below you’ll be making the most of your time together and building a community of learners. Synchronous lectures mean that you and students are “together” using an online platform or tool in real time. When you choose to teach - [Simple Strategies to Elevate your Asynchronous Delivery](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/05/22/strategies-to-elevate-your-asynchronous-delivery/) - By now you are probably familiar with the concept of asynchronous remote learning. If not, asynchronous learning means you and students are not limited by timing. You are deciding that students can engage with the material on their schedule, at times, and places when they may have better bandwidth and other kinds of capacity. As - [Identifying Placements that work for Remote Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/05/22/identifying-placements-that-work-for-remote-learning/) - Your “placement” may be a practicum course or may be work-place or community-based learning experiences built into a course. In either the longer or shorter duration, these opportunities are valued by students as a means to improve skills and refine understanding by practicing and receiving feedback in a professional setting. Also, students appreciate the chance - [Preparing and Supporting Students in Remote-context Placements](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/05/22/preparing-and-supporting-students-in-remote-context-placements/) - You already know how much your students value the learning opportunities that happen sometimes and are called the “real-world.” Our approaches to this need to be different in the remote context, but there are opportunities for expanded student learning too. After all, skills for remote working and use of online tools for collaboration and communication - [Three Ways of Delivering Remote Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/05/22/three-ways-of-delivering-remote-learning/) - Making some preliminary decisions about the direction of your remote course can help you focus in face of a sometimes overwhelming number of technological options and educational jargon. Here are three ways of delivering remote learning to contemplate before you go too far down any one path. Prior to locking yourself into a method, you - [Remote Lab Experiences](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/05/21/lab-experiences-virtually-or-remotely/) - Download: Planning for Modules with Labs Lab experiences are often rich, hands-on elements of courses that build on learning outcomes from lectures or achieve a different set of outcomes. There are typically three key buildings blocks to any lab experience. A problem or task Active completion of a procedure or process Documenting the process and - [Why You Should Use Modules When Planning Your Course](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/05/21/modules/) - DOWNLOAD: Planning for Modules Excel Template LINK: Module Checklist Take a look at your course syllabus. What do you want learners to be able to do by the end of the course? Review your learning outcomes and consider these questions: What type of learning activities are needed? What type of assessment activities are needed? How - [Building Community, Remotely](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/05/21/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 - [Teaching Performance-Based Classes Remotely](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/05/21/teaching-performance-based-classes-remotely/) - For those of us who have ever taught courses that require a lot of practicing a skill, this move to remote and online instruction is crushing. It is one thing to record a video of something you’d tell your students and put it up online somewhere for them to access, and another thing to think - [Start Here...Pick Two](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/05/20/start-here-two-things/) - Let’s boil this down. What’s most important for us to rethink as we use our precious hours to redesign our courses for remote learning? Work with a colleague, friend, or student to talk through your answers after you fill this out. Still stumped? Contact gmctl-support@usask.ca PDF Version: Start Here - Break it Down - Pick - [How to get students to hand in quality work by planning for choice](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/05/11/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 - [Leveraging Peer Feedback in an Online Environment](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/04/07/leveraging-peer-feedback-in-an-online-environment/) - When students take courses in-person, they often find at least one friend in the course with which they discuss the course, the assignments, give feedback to one another, and so on. With the shift to remote delivery, students might have more trouble finding someone to connect with on their own. This post explores how you - [Worried About Take Home Exams and Academic Misconduct?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/04/02/worried-about-take-home-exams-and-academic-misconduct/) - There is more than one way of looking at the extended time period for open book exams when it comes to academic misconduct worries. You can see 24 hours of unsupervised time with an exam as more time for students to break your rules. Some students may use the time that way and that is - [Land Acknowledgements – A Reflection 5-years After the TRC Report](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/04/01/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 - [It Helps To Be Transparent About Academic Integrity](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/03/31/it-helps-to-be-transparent-about-academic-integrity/) - You and your students will be out there wondering how fair final assessments can be when everyone is unsupervised. Thankfully, there are some students, that no matter what, will follow the rules and maintain their academic integrity. A small number, will seek to cheat no matter what we do. The group to focus on right - [The Benefits of Using OER For Remote Teaching](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/03/31/the-benefits-of-using-oer-for-remote-teaching/) - Open Educational Resources (OER) have experienced a growing popularity at the U of S during the past six years, with more than 6,500 students using open textbooks and other OER instead of commercial textbooks. They're free to use, easy to access, and allow for adaptation to improve student engagement and learning, as well as instructor - [Tips From Veterans of Remote / Online Teaching](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/03/26/tips-from-veterans-of-remote-online-teaching/) - As you prepare to create and teach courses remotely this spring and summer terms, we asked some U of S instructors experienced with this type of teaching to share some quick words of wisdom based on what they learned from their own experiences. Below are their tips related to design, teaching, and assessment for remote - [How much help are students getting on their assignments?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/03/26/how-much-help-are-students-getting-on-their-assignments/) - You may be concerned with how much feedback or advice students are getting on their assignments or open exams. Below are some options, reasons to try them, and some tools for implementing. Option Reason Helpful tools for this Require an acknowledgement of feedback, guidance or teachings received Respectful of contributions of others Common academic practice - [Creating Your Syllabus in The Context of COVID-19](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/03/25/creating-your-syllabus-in-the-context-of-covid-19/) - As instructors prepare to teach during the spring and summer terms, one consideration is how to prepare their syllabi in the context of teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. The U of S considers course syllabi to be contracts between instructors and students. As such, there are normally significant restrictions on what can be changed in - [How to Support Students Who Have Multiple Final Exams In 24 Hours](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/03/25/how-to-support-students-who-have-multiple-final-exams-in-24-hours/) - Giving students 24 hours to complete a final assessment might make a lot of sense in a time of emergency, but it can also cause anxiety for students if they are unclear on expectations. You can help by clarifying expectations and stating clear limits in advance. To assist all of your students, but particularly students - [Ways To Limit Concerns About Non-permitted Collaboration](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/03/23/ways-to-limit-concerns-about-non-permitted-collaboration/) - Are you worried about non-permitted collaboration? It’s true, students can seek each other out for help, examples, interpretations, translations, feedback, and peer teaching when unsupervised. In fact, we often encourage students to do so as part of the learning process. Blatant “copying” is a real problem because then the submitted work does not represent what - [Assessment Equity and Alignment with Experiential Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/03/23/assessment-equity-and-alignment-with-experiential-learning/) - When I met with Sandy and Harold I was stressed. I was worried that I was falling behind. After coming from a very busy workplace with many competing deadlines and defined work hours, starting a PhD program and having to manage my time independently is a huge challenge. Most days feel chaotic and I’m often - [First, Take Inventory](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/03/20/_inventory/) - You might feel like the first thing to do for creating an online course is to understand the technology. Before, you dive into that first assess what you’ve currently got going for you in your course as you have been teaching it. Remember, the expectation is not for a fully developed on line experience, our - [Using Reflections on Learning As Assessments](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/03/18/using-reflections-on-learning-as-assessments/) - As instructors look for alternative ways to assess student learning while teaching remotely, Professor Hayley Hesseln in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources has a method that she’s used for students in her Agricultural Economics course, delivered both online and face-to-face. Hesseln, a USask Master Teacher, assigns students to write a reflective paper about their - [Online Presentations and Poster Sessions Within Canadian Copyright Guidelines](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/03/18/online-presentations-and-poster-sessions-within-canadian-copyright-guidelines/) - We’ve had several instructors approach us about how to move their poster sessions and student presentations to a remote (online) environment. After extensive conversations with the Copyright Coordinator, Undergraduate Research Initiative Coordinator, and our Distance Education Unit, we felt it was a good idea to develop some support resources around this topic. An earlier post - [Virtual Poster Presentations – Recommended Tools](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/03/17/virtual-poster-presentations-recommended-tools/) - Note: This list assumes student work is already coming in the likely poster formats (PDF, image as JPG or PNG, PPT, DOC) as opposed to being presented using some unique platform (e.g., Prezi, Sway). Please investigate the help pages linked below first. If you require additional help with one of these tools, email itsupport@usask.ca. - [It's Okay to Keep it Simple](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/03/13/its-okay-to-keep-it-simple/) - As we all rapidly transition to remote instruction this week due to COVID-19, it is actually better to keep it simple. When a friend sent me a blog post called Please do a bad job of putting your course online, I was initially offended. As I read the post, I realized it offered some really - [Featured instructor: Martin Gaal](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/03/05/featured-instructor-martin-gaal/) - Course Innovation Community CIC 2019 Martin Gaal, Lecturer Faculty Member in Political Studies Martin teaches Political Studies 112, Justice and Injustice in Politics and Law to 100 students. He participated in CIC to help address his concerns regarding how to link learning outcomes to active learning strategies that ladder-in formative and summative assessments. Martin has - [Featured Instructor : Colleen Bell](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/03/04/featured-instructor-colleen-bell/) - Course Innovation Community CIC 2019 Colleen Bell, Assistant Professor Faculty Member in Political Studies Colleen teaches International Studies 110, Global Studies, to a class of over 80 students. By participating in CIC, Colleen was able to gather new ideas on structuring student debates, improve her use of rubrics, and better able to select and sequence - [Feeding Learning: Mark better work, in less time](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/02/28/feeding-learning-mark-better-work-in-less-time/) - In the last two decades we've learned a lot about feedback. We know Our Learning Charter tells us that as educators, we've agreed to "Provide prompt and constructive feedback for students on their learning progress at regular intervals throughout the course." What does that actually mean, and why does it matter? What do we know - [Featured Instructor: Derek Postnikoff](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/02/25/featured-instructor-derek-postnikoff/) - Course Innovation Community CIC 2019 Derek Postnikoff, Lecturer Faculty Member in Mathematics & Statistics Sessional Lecturer in Philosophy Derek teaches Math 100, Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers, to a class of 85 students. By participating in CIC, he was able to attend two math education conferences: First Year Math and Stats in Canada in May - [Aligning assessment and experiential learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/02/18/aligning-assessment-and-experiential-learning/) - I didn’t know what to expect as I rode the elevator up the Arts tower to interview for a research assistant position for a SOTL group. I certainly didn’t expect the wave of information and Dr. McBeth’s joyful energy. She, Harold Bull, and Sandy Bonny explained the project in a unique dialect; a mix of - [Internationalization of Teaching & Learning : Featured Instructor](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/02/07/internationalization-of-teaching-learning-featured-instructor-2/) - 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, - [Internationalization of Teaching and Learning : Featured Instructor](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/02/07/internationalization-of-teaching-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, - [Transparent assessment](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2020/01/03/transparent-assessment/) - Assessment practice is shifting away from comparing students to each other, or grade derived professor's experiences and preferences. Increasing, it is focused on comparing students to a clear learning outcome or goal for the assessment that everyone in the class knows in advance. The process of clearly articulating that goal and what we consider good - [All aligned - Instruction](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2019/12/19/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 - [How do I internationalize my course?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2019/12/06/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? - [Outcomes-based Assessment](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2019/11/19/outcomes-based-assessment/) - Traditional forms of assessment, often norm-referenced, are increasingly mixed with outcomes-based assessment in campuses in Canada. Often, outcomes-based systems start in professional programs with accreditation standards, where it is important that all graduate have minimal standards of competence, and are not just rated in comparison to their peers. As the use of outcomes-based teaching and - [How Might Intercultural Capacity inform our Teaching?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2019/10/25/how-might-intercultural-capacity-inform-our-teaching/) - Once we develop the capacity for intercultural competence, we can start to infuse the associated skills into our teaching practice. This can take many forms but all the elements connect to the group of knowledge and skills we associate with facilitation. Pedogogy is the study of leading learners and facilitators make a process easier. So, - [What is Intercultural Teaching Capacity?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2019/10/25/what-is-intercultural-teaching-capacity/) - Intercultural teaching capacity is the ability to engage and support learners through difference in learning activities. Instructors who have intercultural capacity are able to bridge difference in the classroom and foster meaningful relationships with and among students. This is also called intercultural competency, but we like to think of it as a continual process instead - [All Aligned – Outcomes](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2019/09/06/all-aligned-outcomes/) - This post is one of a 3 part series on the concept of alignment of what you want students to learn, how you plan to teach them, and what you will assess them on. Sometimes called constructive alignment, it has three parts: Your learning outcomes Your instructional approach or learning strategies Your assessments This post - [Practice Your Research Skills Early and Often](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2019/07/30/practice-your-research-skills-early-and-often/) - by Merle Massie, Coordinator, Undergraduate Research Initiative We tend to think of university as a place to soak up knowledge, to learn stuff, to end up with a ‘brain full of smartness,’ as one twelve-year old boy once explained. Yet the new University of Saskatchewan Learning Charter promises, and expects, more. While content knowledge is - [Building Broad Minds: Active learning strategies for large classrooms](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2019/05/28/building-broad-minds-active-learning-strategies-for-large-classrooms/) - Building broad minds is not about back filling. Broad minds are the byproduct of encountering diverse ideas, thinking deeply about them, and integrating those ideas into our own worldviews and cognitive frameworks. In higher education, the opportunity to be exposed to the thinking of a wide variety of disciplines usually happens at the first year - [Graduates with perspectives and approaches the world needs](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2019/04/26/graduates-with-perspectives-and-approaches-the-world-needs/) - We often talk about the skills our graduates will need for success in their work and within our communities. As we aspire to be the university the world needs, we can't overlook how essential perspective taking and cross-cultural competence are in our increasingly diverse world. In this place, we have a collective commitment to improve - [Charter Chats](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2019/03/13/charter-chats/) - The University of Saskatchewan has a new Learning Charter. First written in 2010, then updated in 2018, our charter is helpful in framing what we believe about teaching and learning. It will also provide a sense of direction for work at Gwenna Moss over the next year: The Learning Charter thus acts as a conceptual - [Top Hat: How is it being used at the U of S?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2019/01/08/top-hat-how-is-it-being-used-at-u-of-s/) - The University of Saskatchewan has a continuing commitment to a technology-enhanced learning environment for students and in January 2016 acquired a campus-wide license for the Top Hat student response system. Top Hat is a software-based student response system, incorporating a “bring-your-own-device” solution, that is available at no direct cost to instructors and students. The primary - [Tips to Start Internationalizing Your Teaching](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2018/11/13/tips-to-start-internationalizing-your-teaching/) - This week is International Education Week. It's a great time to be thinking about how to encourage global citizenship among your students and how to make your course welcoming for international students. We can play a key role in providing the type of education the world needs, especially in a time of increased nationalism and - [Building Relationships With Students Before They Arrive at the University of Saskatchewan](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2018/08/20/building-relationships-with-students-before-they-arrive-at-the-university-of-saskatchewan/) - [social-bio] By Murray Drew, Professor, Department of Animal and Poultry Science I am a member of a committee which is exploring whether there are teaching practices that support student mental wellbeing in the classroom. You are probably thinking that this means talking about mental health directly with students. That’s not what we are interested in. - [Promoting Academic Integrity: Some design questions for instructors](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2017/10/31/promoting-academic-integrity-some-design-questions-for-instructors/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Here are some propositions about students’ academic integrity that I’ve been working with: Students are more likely to do their work honestly when they see the personal value in what is to be learned. Students are more likely to do their work honestly when they believe the assessment produces actual evidence of what - [When Performing Gets in the Way of Improving](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2017/10/03/when-performing-gets-in-the-way-of-improving/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] I encountered the following video in the spring and have been sharing it with faculty and groups with an interest in questions of assessment. I think it lays a useful foundation for discussions on (1) what it takes to master skills and knowledge, (2) the value of lower stakes practice, (3) the necessity of - [What's a Z-Course and How Do I Do That?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2017/09/12/whats-a-z-course-and-how-do-i-do-that/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] As costs for commercial textbooks continue to rise, there has been growing interest at the U of S in open educational resources (OER). OER is not only free to students, but adaptable to make the learning materials appropriate for a particular course. But OER is not the only way to reduce costs and - [Fostering Successful Intercultural Group Work: A Summary and Response to article “Rethinking multicultural group work as intercultural learning.”](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2017/09/05/fostering-successful-intercultural-group-work-a-summary-and-response-to-article-rethinking-multicultural-group-work-as-intercultural-learning/) - By Tereigh Ewert When I read the above article, I was immediately reminded of an article I read a few years ago, called “’I know the type of people I work well with’: Student anxiety in multicultural group projects.”[1] The authors of that article identify the “cognitive anxiety” and “affective anxiety” of students doing group - [Creating Time for Intellectual Creation: Deep Work and Maker Time](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2017/06/27/creating-time-for-intellectual-creation-deep-work-and-maker-time/) - By Carolyn Hoessler The familiar challenge: We are 6 weeks into summer, and in the pile on our desk about mid-way down is that proposal, paper, course redesign that there has yet to be time for. Each week offers 40+ hours, yet there can barely be 2 hours of continuous focused worktime strung together. How - [Wikipedia’s Ways of Knowing – Part 2](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2017/05/13/wikipedias-ways-of-knowing-part-2/) - By John Kleefeld In the first part of this two-part piece, I discussed arborescent (vertical, discrete, hierarchical) and rhizomatic (horizontal, overlapping, interconnected) ways of acquiring and classifying knowledge, as well as the convergence of the arbor and the rhizome in modern knowledge systems. In this part, I discuss how this applies to Wikipedia. Most of us use - [An Opportunity to Request Open Textbooks You Need](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2017/04/12/an-opportunity-to-request-open-textbooks-you-need/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Many of the open textbooks being used at the U of S were found through the BCcampus open textbook repository. If you are interested in switching to an open textbook, but haven't been able to find one for your course, this call for suggestions from BCcampus may be of interest to you: In - [Wikipedia's Ways of Knowing - Part 1](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2017/04/11/wikipedias-ways-of-knowing-part-1/) - By John Kleefeld [social-bio] In my previous post, I characterized the subject categories in the Requested articles page as idiosyncratic and mused that they might be better based on the Library of Congress Classification system. As it happens, Wikipedia does map some of its articles (pages) into the LCC system, and also provides several other - [Interested in Funding for your Teaching Innovation? Check out the “Innovative Teaching Showcase”](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2017/03/29/interested-in-funding-for-your-teaching-innovation-check-out-the-innovative-teaching-showcase/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Sometimes, that example from a peer is just what is needed to help us move from thinking about it to doing it! As part of GMCTL Celebration Week, check out a wide range of teaching and learning projects undertaken with assistance of funds administered through the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning - [Creating Articles With Wikipedia's 'Requested Articles' Feature](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2017/03/14/creating-articles-with-wikipedias-requested-articles-feature/) - By John Kleefeld [social-bio] In my previous two posts, I discussed how instructors and students can use WikiProjects to select articles for editing in Wikipedia-based course assignments. In this post, I discuss the creation of new articles, using WikiProject Requested articles (WP:WPRA) as a starting point. This is not the only way to start creating - [Taking a Fresh Approach to the Course Design Institute](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2017/03/02/taking-a-fresh-approach-to-the-course-design-institute/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] For more than a decade, the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning (GMCTL) has offered the Course Design Institute (CDI). Throughout the CDI, facilitators from the GMCTL work with instructors on developing or redeveloping a course. We go through learning about your students, writing learning outcomes, choosing teaching strategies, developing assessments, and - [WikiProjects, Article Importance, and Article Quality: An Intimate Relationship (1/2)](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2017/02/14/wikiprojects-article-importance-and-article-quality-an-intimate-relationship-12/) - By John Kleefeld [social-bio] In a previous post, I wrote about how WikiProject Medicine acts as a forum for determining the priority (also called importance) of specific health-related Wikipedia articles and assessing their quality (also called class). More generally, these three concepts—WikiProjects, article importance, and article quality—are crucial for instructors and students to understand if - [Wikipedia's Gender Bias - and What Your Students Can Do About It](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2017/02/07/wikipedias-gender-bias-and-what-your-students-can-do-about-it/) - By John Kleefeld [social-bio] Every system has its biases, and Wikipedia is no exception. A common criticism of Wikipedia is its male bias. Wikimedia Foundation, which runs Wikipedia, agreed with the criticism after it conducted a 2011 survey indicating that up to 90% of editors identified as male. This is a problem for a non-profit - [Teaching the Language of our Disciplines](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2017/02/02/teaching-the-language-of-our-disciplines/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler Bolded words (those terms highlighted in textbooks), matter for they are the building blocks of every language that allow us to communicate complex ideas, convey how we see the world and shape our questions and ways of engaging with the world to answer our questions. But words, those collected - [How Students Are Learning Medicine and Collaborative Skills, And Transforming Wikipedia](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2017/01/24/how-students-are-learning-medicine-and-collaborative-skills-and-transforming-wikipedia/) - By John Kleefeld In my last blog post, I wrote about the wide range of disciplines represented in student Wikipedia projects. Perhaps the most ambitious effort is the Wiki Project Med Foundation, whose goal is nothing less than “to provide the sum of all medical knowledge to all people in their own language.” Started by Wikipedia enthusiast and - [The Wikipedia Manifesto](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2017/01/17/the-wikipedia-manifesto/) - By John Kleefeld This post has been updated to correct some initial errors. A spectre is haunting academia—the spectre of Wikipedia. And while there was a time when all the old powers would have entered into an alliance to exorcise this spectre, a worldwide community of educators is now taking a radically different approach: they’re - [Faculty Fellows Playing Key Roles at GMCTL](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2017/01/11/faculty-fellows-playing-key-roles-at-gmctl/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] The Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning (GMCTL) has, for the past 3 academic years, had GMCTL Faculty Fellows. These roles are filled by members of faculty who set aside up to 1/2 day of their time per week to contribute to teaching and learning related work with and through the GMCTL. - [Teaching Students About Research: Open Data = Quality Data with Easy Access](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2017/01/09/teaching-students-about-research-open-data-quality-data-with-easy-access/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler When we teach students research skills and ways of approaching being a researcher, we know that research is more than just plugging in numbers or following a script. In a statistical analysis, being able to select the variables to use (and not use) and the analysis to answer - [Hands up! How We Increase (Or Decrease) Student Participation](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2016/10/31/hands-up-how-we-increase-or-decrease-student-participation/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] We design courses with many opportunities for students to learn by completing assignments, readings and answering questions in class. But does our teaching increase such behaviours or decrease them? One lens, psychology of learning, suggests we likely do both. B. F. Skinners’ operant conditioning suggests that how we respond to student behavior can - [Tools and Strategies for “Hot Topics”- Part 3 of 3](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2016/10/24/tools-and-strategies-for-hot-topics-part-2-of-3-2/) - By Tereigh Ewert After the difficult conversation or incident in class I regularly use formative feed-back in my class—feedback that is solicited over the course of a term, allowing me to measure student progress, highlighting concepts that are still unclear, and to hear from the students about what is and is not creating an effective - [Tools and Strategies for 'Hot Topics' - Part 2 of 3](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2016/10/17/tools-and-strategies-for-hot-topics-part-2-of-3/) - By Tereigh Ewert During Class A favorite strategy of mine has long been the “oops” and “ouch” strategy. I’m fairly certain I encountered it at a conference, but an Internet search doesn’t reveal who first developed the strategy. In English slang, the word “ouch” means “that hurt me.” The word “oops” means, “I made a - [Tools and Strategies for 'Hot Topics' - Part 1 of 3](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2016/10/11/tools-and-strategies-for-hot-topics-part-1-of-3/) - By Tereigh Ewert Before Class Regardless of the discipline in which you teach, undoubtedly you have encountered comments or topics in your classroom that have been opinion-/value- and/or emotion-laden. In those moments perhaps your heart quickened and you felt panicked trying to decide what to do. In this three-part series, we’re going to explore some - [Open Pedagogy: Using OER to change how we teach](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2016/09/26/open-pedagogy-using-oer-to-change-how-we-teach/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] There has been a considerable increase in the number of courses assigning open rather than commercial textbooks at the University of Saskatchewan. During the 2014-2015 academic year, there were approximately 300 students enrolled in three courses using open textbooks. This year more than 2,650 students are enrolled in the at least 20 courses - [Why Google Can't Replace Good Teaching](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2016/09/19/why-google-cant-replace-good-teaching/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler The internet contains more facts, pictures and formulas than any human mind, yet we do not see it as “smart” and it can sometimes feel like we are stumbling in a jungle. Last year’s estimate placed it at 136 billion pieces of 8x11 paper and there are more pages - [Using Forums Effectively: Ways to improve engagement](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2016/09/12/1917/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Katharine Horne This post originally appeared on the University of Sussex Technology Enhanced Learning Blog. It is being republished here with permission. In a Virtual Learning Environment such as Study Direct (Moodle), forums can be a great way to share course information, build community and allow students to easily share resources and - [Ideas about Assessing Student Participation](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2016/09/06/ideas-about-assessing-student-participation/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Recently we completed another Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) at our Centre. This an intensive and engaging 4-day workshop where faculty and instructors learn about and practice participatory learning strategies, and upon completion, receive a certificate of completion that is nationally recognized. As the workshop unfolds, important questions are brought forward by participants. Given - [Coffee and Icebergs: Analogies, Metaphors, and Stories in Teaching Tough Concepts](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2016/08/22/coffee-and-icebergs-analogies-metaphors-and-stories-in-teaching-tough-concepts/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Nancy Turner, GMCTE Director, recently came across an intriguing resource on an Australian listserve called the Chemistry Pedagogical Content Knowledge Project. This site had been developed through a large qualitative research project and this specific resource is for Chemistry. She shared it with me, and after exploring it, I was inspired by its - [Building Capacity for Effective Group Work](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2016/08/15/building-capacity-for-effective-group-work/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Megan Marcoux, Student Employment and Career Centre A session on this topic will be held during the Fall Fortnight on Monday August 22, 2016 from 1 - 4 PM. Register here. Over the past several years, the Student Employment and Career Centre (SECC) has had the opportunity to expand its in-house offerings - [First Day of Class: Providing students a relevant and engaging initial taste](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2016/08/11/first-day-of-class-providing-students-a-relevant-and-engaging-initial-taste/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler Sessions related to this topic will be held during the Fall Fortnight: Why Teach With Top Hat? (Monday, August 22, 2016 from 10-10:25 AM) - Register Here Building Student Capacity for Effective Group Work (Monday, August 22, 2016 from 1-4 PM) - Register Here Preparing & Personalizing Your Syllabus - [Stories from Librarian and Faculty Partnerships](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2016/08/09/stories-from-librarian-and-faculty-partnerships/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Kristin Bogdan, Librarian, College of Engineering Sessions related to this topic will be held during the Fall Fortnight: Integrating Digital Information Literacy Into Courses (Wednesday August 31, 2016 from 9 - 11 AM) - Register here Stories From Librarian and Faculty Partnerships (Thursday September 1, 2016 from 1- 2:30 PM) - Register - [ePortfolios and the Curious Case of the End-of-Term Journal](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2016/08/02/eportfolios-and-the-curious-case-of-the-end-of-term-journal/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Sessions on this topic will be held during the Fall Fortnight: Mahara ePortfolios (Short & Snappy session) (Monday August 22, 2016 from 11- 11:25 AM) - Register here Mahara ePortfolios (Expansion Pack session) (Tuesday August 23 from 10:30 - 11:50 PM) - Register here As an undergrad, I took a senior studio art - [Why Do We Acknowledge Treaty 6 & Metis?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2016/07/25/why-do-we-acknowledge-treaty-6-metis/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] A session on this topic will be held during the Fall Fortnight on Monday August 29, 2016 from 9:30 - 9:55. Register here. Many of you may have noticed that across the campus that there has been an increase in number of people who are acknowledging “that we are on Treaty 6 Territory - [Why Consider Open Educational Resources?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2016/07/18/why-consider-open-educational-resources/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Sessions on this topic will be held during the Fall Fortnight: Open Educational Resources (Monday August 22, 2016 from 9-9:25 AM) - Register Using and Adapting Open Textbooks (Wednesday August 24 from 1-2:30 PM) - Register There has been a lot of talk around the University of Saskatchewan during the past year about - [Gearing Up With Fall Fortnight 2016](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2016/07/12/gearing-up-with-fall-fortnight-2016/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] “Happy New Year!!” That is how I think of September and the new school year. This often coincides with a strong pull to stationary stores, tidying my office, organizing my supplies, reading new books, and pulling out sweaters and warm socks. Gearing up for the Fall Term is exciting. There’s often anticipation, hope, - [A Short Reflection of a Graduate Student Fellow](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2016/05/10/a-short-reflection-of-a-graduate-student-fellow/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Ayodele Olagunju, Doctoral Candidate, School of Environment and Sustainability My time working on a graduate fellowship at the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching Effectiveness highlights a most significant period in my graduate program. As a doctoral candidate with a deep longing to be part of a vibrant academic community, I did have - [Reflecting on Assessment and Feedback](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2016/04/12/reflecting-on-assessment-and-feedback/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] At this time of year, faculty can see the learning that has occurred for students reflected back through the culminating assessments. Whether it’s the term project, the research paper, the reflective portfolio, the group presentation, or the final exam – this is a means to discover what has been learned by students and - [Open Now: The USask Open Textbook Authoring Guide](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2016/04/04/open-now-the-usask-open-textbook-authoring-guide/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Jordan Epp, Instructional Designer, Distance Education Unit (DEU) The adoption and adaptation of open textbooks at the U of S has been an organic process up until this past year, with faculty and departments independently making use of open textbooks and resources to fulfill their own course needs. In 2015 the U - [Using Reflective Practice to Become the Teacher You Want to Be](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2016/03/07/using-reflective-practice-to-become-the-teacher-you-want-to-be/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] With Wenona Partridge, GMCTE Richard Feynman was a great physicist and exceptional teacher, and generally cool person. He had a vision for how he wanted to teach and kept moving towards that vision. For a glimpse of Feynman, see the video at the end of this post (or read more and see the - [Open Education Week Coming to USask](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2016/02/22/open-education-week-coming-to-usask/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] During the week of March 7 the University of Saskatchewan will be offering several sessions related to open textbooks and other open educational resources (OER), along with a session on the Tri-Agency open access publishing requirements as part of International Open Education Week. "Open Education Week is a global event that seeks to - [Historical Biases in Understanding Culture – A Barrier to Indigenization?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2016/01/27/historical-biases-in-understanding-culture-a-barrier-to-indigenization/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Western society has made significant advances in empirically derived truth and scientific inquiry (e.g., anthropology, psychology, linguistics, etc.) since the Age of Enlightenment (e.g., Descartes, Diderot, Montesquieu, Turgot, Vico, Voltaire, etc.). The impact and importance of this epistemological approach to the world and its mass adoption by Western societies can be perceived in - [Reading Students Work With Them Present – A Different Take on Marking](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2016/01/18/conversing-with-students-while-marking-their-papers/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Many years ago, while I was a student at a community college in California, I took two courses that fell under the very general subject banner “Humanities”. One was The Individual and Society and the other The Individual and The Arts. These classes met for three hours twice a week and were team - [Graduate Student Teacher Journey](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2016/01/11/graduate-student-teacher-journey/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Noura Sheikhalzoor, Graduate Student, College of Pharmacy and Nutrition Teaching has been a rich and rewarding part of my graduate school experience. It added a new flavour to what I have been already doing in my program of courses and research. My teaching experience has taught me a lot on the technical - [Me and Program Evaluation](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/12/14/me-and-program-evaluation/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] I genuinely enjoy working as a Program Evaluator because the idea of efficiency and effectiveness genuinely appeal to me. In addition, being an applied and use-oriented person, the ability to use all my theoretical knowledge to help others is extremely fulfilling and appealing. Program evaluation allows for effective resource allocation, documentation of need, - [Indigenizing Education Series: Getting started …](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/12/07/indigenizing-education-series-getting-started/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] As an Indigenous educator, researcher, and scholar, academics have asked me more often about ‘how’ we, the collective we, can improve the situation for the First Nation, Metis, and Inuit peoples than ‘why’ we should do this? While I appreciate the recognition that something needs to be done, I am often taken back - ['Softwhere' in the Curriculum](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/11/30/1803/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Donna Beneteau, Departmental Assistant, Mining - Civil and Geological Engineering In the era of rapidly developing technology, an efficient use of words in the title seemed appropriate. “Software, where in the curriculum?” didn’t provide the same effect. This question is now something that I ask myself after developing an assignment for the - [Open Textbooks Provide Financial Savings and Pedagogical Benefits for Students](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/11/23/open-textbooks-provide-financial-savings-and-pedagogical-benefits-for-students/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Noreen Mahoney, Associate Dean, Students & Degree Programs, Edwards School of Business and Brooke Klassen, Director, Undergraduate & Certificate Programs, Edwards School of Business We have been instructors of Comm 119 Business Competencies for a number of years and the course has evolved significantly during that time. We are constantly adapting and - [Truth and Reconciliation – Call to Action for Educators](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/11/17/truth-and-reconciliation-call-to-action-for-educators/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Indigenous people and their communities have had a long and contentious experience with Western education. For far too long, schools and education were used as instruments to systematically dismantle Indigenous culture, their way of living and knowing. Generation after generation of children were taken from their homes, sometime forcefully, in the name of - [Single-Point Rubrics: Exceeding Expectations](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/10/27/single-point-rubrics-exceeding-expectations/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] As an Instructional Designer, I often speak on the value of assessment rubrics. There are many reasons why creating a rubric for each assignment, providing students with the rubric, and using the rubric while grading can be advantageous. Many of these reasons are highlighted in the video below, including: You write the same - [Open Textbook Integration Catching on at USask](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/10/19/open-textbook-integration-catching-on-a-usask/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] A year ago we ran a reprint of a blog post by Professor Eric Micheels who teaches in the College of Agriculture and Bioresource. As far as I know, Eric was the first instructor on campus to adopt an open textbook instead of having students buy a commercial textbook. He saved the students - [Talking with Students About Suspected Plagiarism: Ten Guiding Questions](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/10/13/talking-with-students-about-suspected-plagiarism-ten-guiding-questions/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] As assignments start to come in, this can be the time in the term when faculty notice what may be inadvertent or intentional plagiarism by students. Hopefully, you rarely encounter this yourself. But, if you do suspect plagiarism, how can you best proceed? Here’s what I would do… First, become familiar with the - [Why Mentoring for New and Pre-Tenure Faculty? Academic Success!](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/10/08/why-mentoring-for-new-and-pre-tenure-faculty-academic-success/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Dr. Jim Thornhill, Special Assistant to the Vice-President Research Mentorship of pre-tenure faculty is a key component to academic success. Sutherland and Peterson (2009) advocate from a national study conducted throughout New Zealand that early academic success of new faculty is determined by 3 factors: Prior training and experience of the new - [Complying with the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/10/06/complying-with-the-tri-agency-open-access-policy-on-publications/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Diane (DeDe) Dawson, Science Liaison Librarian, University Library The new Tri-Agency Open Access Policy on Publications came into effect on May 1st 2015. This policy applies to all grants awarded from that day and onward (exception: CIHR has had this policy in place since Jan 1, 2008). This blog post is intended - [What is the science behind your course design madness?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/09/28/what-is-the-science-behind-your-course-design-madness/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Fred Phillips, Professor, Baxter Scholar, Edwards School of Business As we begin another year, students are encountering some of the course design decisions made by their instructors. Some will be introduced to “flipped classrooms”, where students prepare by reading/viewing/responding to a learning prompt before it is formally taken up in class. Others - [Feedback in Marking - Some Tips for Efficiency](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/09/22/feedback-in-marking-some-tips-for-efficiency/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Feedback is one of the most important factors when it comes to improving student performance in a course. Yet many instructors would use words like tedious, grueling, or headache-inducing to describe the process of providing feedback to student work. If you are one of those instructors, consider integrating one (or more!) of the following strategies into your - ["If Not Us, Who? If Not Now, When?"](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/09/14/if-not-us-who-if-not-now-when/) - By Tereigh Ewert In Peter Stoicheff’s speech for the Presidential Announcement, he posed two questions that inspire the university’s efforts to decolonize and Indigenize our campus (July 9, 2015, http://www.usask.ca/presidentialtransition/). Emphasizing the urgency for action, he asked, “If not us, who?” and “If not now, when?” At the University of Saskatchewan, we have a growing - [Co-authoring Take 2: A co-authored post about co-authoring](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/09/01/co-authoring-take-2-a-co-authored-post-about-co-authoring/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Co-written y Carolyn Hoessler and Shannon Lucky, Library Systems & Information Technology Earlier this year I excitedly read Shannon Lucky’s post on Co-authoring from April 21, 2015 on Brain-Work, sparking a chance to respond, connect and collaborate. In our discussion about co-authoring we captured a wide range of questions to ask and strategies - [Too explicit? No such thing.](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/08/27/too-explicit-no-such-thing/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Following on Heather's post last week about the key (and required) elements of the syllabus at the University of Sasaktchewan, I wanted to add a point of emphasis that I think saves time, saves confusion, and may even save you some heartache. That point is: be explicit with your students about your expectations. - [Syllabus Requirements Updated in Academic Courses Policy](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/08/17/syllabus-requirements-updated-in-academic-courses-policy/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] There were a number of changes to the Academic Courses policy at the University of Saskatchewan this year, including several related to the syllabus. As such, I want to take this opportunity to remind our readers at the U of S about what must be in your syllabus regardless of your college or - [Teaching Goals, the Learning Charter, and the Fall Fortnight](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/08/13/teaching-goals-the-learning-charter-and-the-fall-fortnight/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] It’s hard to believe, as we sit on a 30+ day, that the fall term is coming up fast! It is even warm in my office today as I write. (And for those of you who have stopped by on other days and needed to put on a jacket, you know how hot - [Practice Problem Sets: Issues of Timing and Mixing](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/03/02/practice-problem-sets-issues-of-timing-and-mixing/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] While looking for resources for a faculty member in the sciences who was interested in incorporating more problem sets into her lectures to increase student engagement, I came upon a 2007 article by Rohere and Taylor, appearing in Instructional Science. This article describes two experiments where particular timing and mixing of mathematics practice - [Evaluating Presentations With a Little Help From My (Citable) Friends …](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/02/23/1723/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler Individual and group presentations provide great opportunity for students to share what they have learned with peers and an efficient and feasible way of marking for instructors. That being said, how do you grade them? I, and I’m pretty sure you too, have experienced the full range of presentations - [Undergraduate Research: Co-Publishing With Students](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/02/18/undergraduate-research-co-publishing-with-students/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Jason Perepelkin, Assistant Professor, College of Pharmacy and Nutrition Passive listening and dumping information on exams doesn’t give students the depth of learning and experience that lasts beyond the scope of a course. Having students engage with practitioners and specialists and in a real world environment helps students learn more deeply; chasing - [Developing ePublications](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/02/11/developing-epublications/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Adrienne Thomas and Wayne Giesbrecht (Media Production) With discussion surrounding open resources, this is a good time to talk about actually developing epublications and ebooks. For the past 3 years, Media Production (formerly eMAP) has been working with faculty and content creators to realize epub resources. With each new project, we have - [What is Digital Citizenship?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/02/09/what-is-digital-citizenship/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Many teaching and learning conversations include notions of developing and fostering citizenship for our teachers and our learners in our respective disciplines and fields and in society. Citizenship can be such broad territory. One way to focus it further is to discuss Digital Citizenship. If you’re still stumped, let me point you to - [What It Means to Be an Ally](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/02/04/what-it-means-to-be-an-ally/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] As we have recently come out of a week of sessions at the University aimed at making our campus a safer place for gender and sexual diversity and we enter Aboriginal Achievement week I am reflecting on what it means to me to be an ally. Use of the term ‘ally’ in relation - [Connecting Ideas for Innovation](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/01/21/connecting-ideas-for-innovation/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Connecting Ideas for Innovation When do your great ideas come to you? Where do your great ideas come to you? Is it when you’re alone in your office or lab? How about when you’re out for a walk?< Are you sure about that? Steven Johnson, the author of How We Got to Now, Everything - [Authentic Assessment](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/01/14/authentic-assessment/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] I think of authentic assessments as ways for students to demonstrate knowledge and understanding in a public way. What makes assessment authentic for me is that students do something to show what they know in a public way that benefits a wider community than the one person assigning a grade. The posters that - [Mental Illness, Disability, and the Inclusive Classroom](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/01/12/mental-illness-disability-and-the-inclusive-classroom/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Adam Pottle, Graduate Fellow In its Campus Climate survey report, which was released in November 2014, the University of Saskatchewan identified a number of areas it needs to improve in terms of making students feel safe and comfortable. The survey summary, which can be found at http://www.usask.ca/ipa/documents/Assessment/Surveys/2014_campusclimatesurvey_summaryreport.pdf, reports that [s]ome students in - [Flexibility is Key When Teaching Online](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/01/07/flexibility-is-key-when-teaching-online/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] As the new year and new term kick off, I’m facing a great deal of time in front of a computer for the next few months. I’m co-teaching Introduction to Learning Technologies for the GMCTE, which includes a blended face-to-face and online component for on-campus registrants and a purely online open course for - [Serendipity](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2015/01/05/serendipity/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] This past term, the day after the Dean of the College of Arts and Science Peter Stoicheff”s acoustic guitar noon-hour concert, I got two recommends for new and up-coming recording artists. Stella Swanson is my second cousin. Her grandmother sent me a link to the interview she did with CBC radio and one - [Feedback to Improve Teaching](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/12/17/1674/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] This fall I taught my first for-credit university course. I have plenty of previous teaching experience in the K-12 system and non-credit workshops/courses offered through the GMCTE, but this was the first-time teaching paying university students. I was feeling some apprehension and added pressure. With this pressure in mind (and wanting to provide - [Nominating an Outstanding Teacher: Why and How?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/12/15/nominating-an-outstanding-teacher-why-and-how/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] There are a number of reasons to reward and recognize outstanding teaching at our university. Teaching awards can encourage the further development of expertise, and validate the energy and hard work that goes into teaching. Teaching awards can also foster a sense of community and help to build collegial relationships. The process of - [Crafting Artful Teaching](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/12/10/crafting-artful-teaching/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] I’ve been a teacher since I was 6 years old and I still absolutely grin when I see a class that is well-structured and flows with lots of student and instructor excitement and enthusiasm that is “on purpose.” When the class time flies by, things are “accomplished,” there’s action, and “learning” is palpable, - [Where Do You Get Your Examples?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/12/08/where-do-you-get-your-examples/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] I recently interviewed Leah Ferguson, faculty member in Kinesiology, about how she chooses the examples she uses to illustrate concepts in her first year KIN class… This might surprise you at first but then it’s an “of course!!” What a way to make research real, build a sense of collegiality, highlight what's going - [Website Launched as Hub for All Things Open at USask](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/12/01/website-launched-as-hub-for-all-things-open-at-usask/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] We've been posting a lot on this blog lately about all of the open initiatives happening at the University of Saskatchewan, as well as initiatives elsewhere that are available to faculty and graduate students at our university. There's been the adoption of an open textbook for a class of 100 students, the piloting - [If It's Too Good to Be True: The publishing edition](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/11/26/if-its-too-goood-to-be-true/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] At the end of June this year, I did something all graduate students look forward to doing: I uploaded the final, defended and amended version of my MA thesis to the University of Saskatchewan’s Electronic Theses and Dissertations site. Then, only two days later, I received an email from a company offering me - [What A Good Leader Does to Enable Good Teaching](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/11/24/what-a-good-leader-does-to-enable-good-teaching/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Jay Wilson, Department Head and Associate Professor, Curriculum Studies & Fellow at the GMCTE As a result of a number of encounters this week my thoughts turned towards the important role of leadership in educational institutions. Here I will share the reasons why I think leadership is valuable. The thoughts are not - [College of Education Adopts Use of ePortfolios](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/11/19/college-of-education-adopts-use-of-eportfolios/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Tim Molnar, Assistant Professor, College of Education The College of Education recently implemented an electronic portfolio system (ePort) called Mahara™. This open source ePort emerged from a collaborative venture funded by several post secondary institutions and government bodies in New Zealand. In Maori mahara means “to think, thinking, or thought.” Our intentions - [Adopting Open Textbooks Online Workshop](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/11/17/adopting-open-textbooks-online-workshop/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] BCcampus is offering a free, online four-week workshop for those interested in adopting open textbooks or just interested in learning more about them. The workshop sessions will run from January 12 - February 6, 2015. Each week will have a new topic including: What is open? What is an open textbook? Creative Commons - [There Are No “Dumb” Questions, But There Are Intelligently Guessed Answers](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/11/12/there-are-no-dumb-questions-but-there-are-intelligently-guessed-answers/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] The weather turning colder, the snow starting to fall, the days becoming shorter and people more busily bustling around are sure signs that “the most wonderful time of the year” on our campus is fast approaching: final exam season. Few, if any, types of questions appear more prolifically on final exams than multiple - [Who’s in Charge? You or the Room?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/11/05/1616/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] ISSoTL 2014 was held this past October in Quebec City. I was attracted to the conference not just because of the theme (“Nurturing Passion and Creativity in Teaching and Learning”) but also because of the location—I had not been to Quebec City before. I walked from the Hotel Claredon, reputedly the oldest hotel - [Twitter As A Catalyst for Science](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/11/03/twitter-as-a-catalyst-for-science/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Jorden Cummings, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology In May I had the pleasure of participating in a symposium at the annual Association for Psychological Science (APS) conference entitled Social Media as a Catalyst for Psychological Science. (The organizer of that symposium, Cedar Riener, wrote a great summary of our symposium - including - [GMCTE to Offer Intro to Learning Technologies Course Through Canvas](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/10/29/gmcte-to-offer-intro-to-learning-technologies-course-through-canvas/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] In the fall of 2013 I was preparing to offer a new course through the GMCTE on learning technologies for instructors at the U of S. The cap on the course registration, given that it was a blended online and face-to-face course, was set at 15. Since we are advocates of open education - [Creativity and Innovation: An example with Soil and Art](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/10/27/creativity-and-innovation-an-example-with-soil-and-art/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] For the past ten years, Dr. Ken Van Rees has been incorporating visual art as ateaching tool in his soil science field courses SLSC 898 and 480. Van Rees, of the Department of Soil Science, was recognized earlier this year by the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education and Desire2Learn’s Innovation - [It's Course Design Not Entertainment: A visit from John Boyer](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/10/22/its-course-design-not-entertainment-a-visit-from-john-boyer/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] On October 7, we had the pleasure at the University of Saskatchewan of welcoming John Boyer from the Geography Department at Virginia Tech to speak with us about his innovative and increasingly acclaimed approaches to teaching large classes and his approaches for motivating learning and designing assessment. Recordings of his talks are available - [USask Professor Adopting Open Textbook](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/10/20/usask-professor-adopting-open-textbook/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Eric Micheels, Assistant Professor, Department of Bioresource Policy, Business and Economics The following post was written by Eric Micheels of the University of Saskatchewan and was originally published on his blog on October 6, 2014, under the title, The Economic of Economics Textbooks. It is reprinted here with his permission. A few - [Open Access Week is October 20-26, 2014!](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/10/15/open-access-week-is-october-20-26-2014/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Diane (Dede) Dawson, Science Liaison Librarian This year marks the eighth annual Open Access Week – an international advocacy event that seeks to promote and raise awareness about open access (OA) and several closely related areas such as open education and open data. So… what is open access? “Open Access (OA) literature - [Defining Shared Thresholds for Dealing with Academic Dishonesty](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/10/08/defining-shared-thresholds-for-dealing-with-academic-dishonesty/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] The Academic Misconduct Policy at the University of Saskatchewan recognizes that as instructors, we often are in a great position to judge the severity of an act of dishonesty and to situate that act in the context of our course. The informal procedures available through the U of S academic misconduct policy set - [John Boyer touches Down on Tuesday at the U of S](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/10/06/john-boyer-touches-down-on-tuesday-at-the-u-of-s/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Sometimes, the time is right to reach into the past for a “re-post”. Now is such a time to look again at the February 24, 2014 post by Susan Bens since we are in the wonderful position to be hosting John Boyer at the U of S on Tuesday, October 7. He’ll be - [The Academic Dishonesty Redirect: Be Explicit, Know your Policies, Assess Authentically](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/10/01/the-academic-dishonesty-redirect-be-explicit-know-your-policies-assess-authentically/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] At the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching Effectiveness, when faculty and instructors ask us about academic integrity, we will inevitably steer the conversation to three main values: the value of being very explicit with students about the rules you expect them to follow the value of understanding the rules of your home department - [Creativity? Teamwork? Tips for Effective Creative Collaborating](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/09/29/creativity-teamwork-tips-for-effective-creative-collaborating/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] At a recent Leadership Conversation we focused on creativity as it pertains to collaborative projects. We based our discussion on ideas from the book Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull who was one of the founders and is the current President of Pixar Animation. (For those of us who didn’t read the book, we - [Open Textbooks Easily Available Through BC Project](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/09/22/open-textbooks-easily-available-through-bc-project/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] There has been a growing amount of talk around the U of S, and higher education in general about open textbooks. These are digital textbooks that are freely available to learners and customizable for instructors. Textbooks are expensive, something particularly clear to first year university students. This fact has had a shift toward - [A Lesson In "Not Imposssible"](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/09/17/a-lesson-not-imposssible/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Each year about this time I start to imagine what if this year things were different. The possibilities of lively discussions, great feats of learning, and engaged students arise with excitement and then that doubting voice drifts in… But what if it was not impossible? What if the needs I perceived in my - [wâhkôhtowin: 2014: Linking Kindred Sprits](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/09/12/wahkohtowin-2014-linking-kindred-sprits/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Tereigh Ewert and Jeff Baker The Beadwork Committee, of the College of Education at the University of Saskatchewan, had a vision for a national conference that would bring together “kindred spirits” to unpack decolonization and kindle Indigenization processes and methods to transform educational practices. This vision is coming to fruition from September - [GMCTE To Host Annual Celebration of Teaching](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/09/10/gmcte-to-host-annual-celebration-of-teaching/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] The Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching Effectiveness will host the annual Celebration of Teaching in recognition of the past academic year’s award-winning teachers on Friday September 12. At this year’s Celebration, the Sylvia Wallace Sessional Lecturer Award and the Provost’s Outstanding Teaching Awards will be presented. The Celebration will take place at the - [New Research Guides at the University Library: LibGuides2 Update](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/09/08/new-research-guides-at-the-university-library-libguides2-update/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Shannon Lucky, Information Technology Librarian As we enter a new Fall semester the University Library has launched a major update to our Research Guides. These guides, built on the new LibGuides2 platform, are carefully curated selections of discipline and course specific resources combined with information on how to conduct research, writing skills, - [Peer-to-Peer Writing Feedback: That's what friends are for!](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/09/03/peer-to-peer-writing-feedback-thats-what-friends-are-for/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Peer-to-peer writing feedback is a process by which students judge other students’ written work and produce and provide feedback to them and then, in turn, also receive feedback on their own work. By feedback, I mean commentary of a formative kind: that is, students have the chance to consider and incorporate the feedback - [How Do We Define Success in an Open Course](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/08/25/how-do-we-define-success-in-an-open-course/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] A version of this post was originally published on Heather Ross's blog on June 24, 2014. In June I attended the Society for Teaching and Learning In Higher Education (STLHE) conference in Kingston, Ontario. As part of the conference I presented, along with Nancy Turner and Jaymie Koroluk (University of Ontario Institute of Technology), - [Problem Solving = Great! But what kind of problems are our students really learning?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/08/18/problem-solving-great-but-what-kind-of-problems-are-our-students-really-learning/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler What learning are we really asking our students to demonstrate, and what are we saying actually matters through our assessments? Within statistics, exams require students to apply statistical procedure such as t-tests to questions e.g., is there a significant difference between boys and girls on self-confidence or neural activity - [Educatus Taking a Summer Hiatus](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/06/30/educatus-taking-a-summer-hiatus/) - Throughout most of the year a new post is added to this blog at least twice per week. We understand that many of our readers, as well as much of the staff at the GMCTE take some time off in the summer. This summer, the Educatus blog will be taking off about six weeks before - [Students’ expectations are formed early](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/06/25/students-expectations-are-formed-early/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] I have been enjoying a series of blog posts written by the acclaimed UK based higher education researcher Professor Graham Gibbs (you can start with the first of the series here). The blogs have been drawn from a comprehensive publication called 53 Powerful Ideas All Teachers Should Know About, with one idea presented - [Defining Open Access](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/06/23/defining-open-access/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Jeff Martin The Internet has transformed the ways in which academic research can be accessed. Researchers can now grant any person connected to the Internet unfettered access to their work at any time without cost. This free access is commonly called open access (OA). Open access is a property of a research - [Tamarind, Teaching and Undergraduate Research](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/06/18/tamarind-teaching-and-undergraduate-research/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] For the first time today, I tasted tamarind. I felt like I had discovered something so surprisingly delicious and interesting that I wondered why I had gone this long without knowing about it. This fruit’s benefits are wide-ranging and well known apparently—they just hadn’t been to me. I wasn’t introduced to it through - [Co-teaching, Co-writing, Co-learning: 5 amazing things that happened when I stopped talking](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/06/16/co-teaching-co-writing-co-learning-5-amazing-things-that-happened-when-i-stopped-talking/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler In 2014, I have co-taught a course twice, co-facilitated one workshop and one conference session, collaboratively wrote several papers (including based on my dissertation results), and learned a few things along the way. What happened when I traded in my solo controls for a tandem system? 1. I saw - [PhD Reform: A Speedier and Dissertation-Free Degree?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/06/11/phd-reform-a-speedier-and-dissertation-free-degree/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Not long ago, I began the arduous process of applying to PhD programs. I didn’t make it far. What stopped me was not a lack of desire to push learning further, to what most graduate students see as the logical end of journey that began with their first university class. I was stopped - [Be Authentic In Your Teaching](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/06/09/be-authentic-in-your-teaching/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Almost two decades ago, I spent four months interning as a teacher in a Grade 2 classroom. My supervisor was an interesting (some might say eccentric) middle-aged woman who believed that a good teacher needed to “compete with the effect of video games on children” by entertaining students in the classroom. She would - [Changing your life one “Tiny Habit” at a time…](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/06/04/changing-your-life-one-tiny-habit-at-a-time/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] About a month ago I ran across a great TED Talk given by BJ Fogg, PhD, director of the Persuasive Tech Lab at Stanford University. Fogg claims that, “When you learn my Tiny Habits method, you can change your life forever.” Well, it hasn’t been “forever” yet for me, but the changes I’ve made using this method have - [Modeling Courtesy: Thoughts about Campus Controversy and Maya Angelou](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/06/02/modeling-courtesy-thoughts-about-campus-controversy-and-maya-angelou/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] I’m reflecting on recent controversies over change of several kinds in my own campus community and finding myself slowly recovering perspective as time passes. (Although, I must say dear Educatus readers, that I remain astounded and saddened at the sudden loss of senior leaders at the University of Saskatchewan.) Time marches on and - [Lee Schulman Tells us to 'Break Bad' and Engage in SoTL](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/05/28/lee-schulman-tells-us-to-break-bad-and-engage-in-sotl/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] “Walter White is dead. Heisenberg is no longer someone of uncertain fate.” These were the opening words of Lee Schulman’s talk, Situated Studies of Teaching and Learning: The New Mainstream. Intriguing. What on earth could the main character of the television series Breaking Bad have anything to do with the Scholarship of Teaching - [Are You a Digital Immigrant? Probably Not](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/05/26/are-you-a-digital-immigrant-probably-not/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] About a decade ago I started hearing about this idea of “digital natives” and “digital immigrants”, terms coined by Marc Prensky (and frequently repeated by such speakers and authors as Don Tapscott) to describe generational differences between technology users. In his 2001 book Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants, Prensky argued that “Our students today are - ['Driving' the Lesson: The Pre-Assessment (Part I)](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/05/21/driving-the-lesson-the-pre-assessment-part-i/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] In my last post, I wrote about objectives and the value of pausing in the “everyday” experiences of learning. In a lesson, one place to really pause and pay attention is during the pre-assessment. This is the part of the lesson when instructors can assess what students already know and where students contribute - [Participatory Learning: Transfer so the ideas stick longer than popcorn on shoes](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/05/14/participatory-learning-transfer-so-the-ideas-stick-longer-than-popcorn-on-shoes/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] As Eric Mazur comments “You don't learn to play piano by watching someone else play” in his presentation about using peer instruction in physics courses. If we want the knowledge and skills we teach to be used later rather than wasting 30+ hours, learning needs to occur. http://youtu.be/rvw68sLlfF8 Instructors can be effective role - [Objectives: Pausing in the “Ordinary” Experiences of Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/05/12/objectives-pausing-in-the-ordinary-experiences-of-learning/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] When planning to teach, I like to create an overall road map that helps me discern not only where I’m headed but reminds me of where I’ve been and the places I stopped or struggled along the way. Let’s face it, almost all teachers have some degree of “content-itis.” We love information, and - [Risk Taking in Teaching](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/05/07/risk-taking-in-teaching/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] I had the extreme pleasure of attending a panel conversation as part of the 4th Annual SoTL symposium last week. Panel members were Dr. Murray Drew from Agriculture and Bioresources, Dr. Jay Wilson and Dr. Michelle Prytula from Education, Dr. Daniel Regnier from St. Thomas More, Philosophy, Dr. Tracie Risling from Nursing and - [Objectives: Drum Roll Please…and setting a high bar together](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/05/05/objectives-drum-roll-pleaseand-setting-a-high-bar-together/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler Once students and I know what the class knows pre-assessment, I share the draft objectives listed on a screen and together revise them. The objectives are not just my talking points, they represent the skills, knowledge and value I will be expecting of them in future assessments, what they - [Pre-Assessment: Saving time, gaining buy-in and setting the stage](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/04/30/pre-assessment-saving-time-gaining-buy-in-and-setting-the-stage-2/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler Although BOPPPS model suggests discussing objectives before pre-assessment, I often start with a quick polling activity. What I do… I poll students through a quick show of hands of where they are along a continuum of confidence or competence in today’s topic. I stand in a corner at the - [Bridge-in/Intro: Setting the scene for active learning (Part II: A template)](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/04/28/bridge-inintro-setting-the-scene-for-active-learning-part-ii-a-template/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] In my previous post, I used the analogy of an opening scene (Footloose) to illustrate the role that the bridge-in plays in setting up expectations for further learning. To plan and facilitate active learning, I use a BOPPPS lesson plan template that I’ve modified slightly from resource provided through the Instructional Skills Workshop - [Bridge-in / Intro: Setting the Scene for Active Learning (Part I: An analogy)](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/04/23/bridge-in-intro-setting-the-scene-for-active-learning-part-i-an-analogy/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Most teachers use the bridge-in as a means to introduce their lessons in an engaging way, build capacity and motivation to learn, or garner students’ attention or interest. I view the bridge-in as an opportunity for students to actively learn and participate in my class. This post builds on Carolyn’s analogy that the - [Undergraduate Student Engagement Underpins Success of Indigenous Philosophy Class](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/04/21/undergraduate-student-engagement-underpins-success-of-indigenous-philosophy-class/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] How can a European educated, non-Aboriginal philosopher effectively and ethically teach a course on Indigenous philosophy? For Dr. Daniel Regnier, professor and department head of philosophy at St. Thomas More College, the answer to this question was to set aside a traditional approach to teaching in favour of collaboratively designing and teaching Phil - [Lynda.com Open to All at U of S](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/04/15/lynda-com-open-to-all-at-u-of-s/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Lavonne Cloke Have you ever wanted to learn new software, design or business skills to enhance your personal or professional goals but don’t have the money for expensive courses? U of S faculty, staff and students now have the opportunity to fully access thousands of unlimited, free tutorials, seven days a week, - [Bridge-In / Intro: Creating an Opening Scene](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/04/14/bridge-in-intro-creating-an-opening-scene/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler The smell of popcorn wafts by, the lights dim, the audience stills, the screen darkens then comes to life…ready for a movie? Cues signal the activity we are about to engage in and prepare our minds and bodies. We look, listen and wait for cues that tell us to - [Course Design Institute Being Offered as 'Flipped' Workshop](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/04/09/course-design-institute-being-offered-as-flipped-workshop/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] For several years, the GMCTE has offered the Course Design Institute (CDI), a four to five-day intensive workshop that walks instructors through the development or redevelopment of one of their courses. This May, the CDI we be delivered in an entirely different format than in the past by “flipping” it to provide participants - [4th Annual SoTL Conference to Be Held at USask](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/04/07/4th-annual-sotl-conference-to-be-held-at-usask/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] I am extremely pleased to promote and encourage participation in the 4th annual Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) symposium. The day will be strengthened by a diversity of perspectives so we welcome all who would like to attend, no experience of undertaking SoTL is necessary. The event will be held on the - [Learning Not to Learn?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/04/02/learning-not-to-learn/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler We teach so that students engage in actions to continue to learn including completing assignments, readings and answering questions in class. But does our teaching increase such behaviours or decrease them? One lens, psychology of learning, suggests we likely do both. Unlike classical conditioning’s focus on reflexes such as - [Curating your Experience – What an ePortfolio can do for you](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/03/31/curating-your-experience-what-an-eportfolio-can-do-for-you/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] I recently spent some time on a project to move a learning log used by a non-profit organization to track the progress of their young participants into an online environment. I have since learned a lot about the various tools available to create and publish such documents online, but I remained curious about - [Open Textbooks - An Instructor's Perspective](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/03/26/open-textbooks-an-instructors-perspective/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Karla Panchuk This post originally appeared on the blog Petragogy on March 23, 2014. I’ve wondered before about the feasibility of creating an open textbook for introductory physical geology. I got as far as sketching out some of the ideas and stopped when it became clear that a lot of work would be involved. - [2014 Higher Ed Horizon Report Released](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/03/24/2014-higher-ed-horizon-report-released/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Every year the New Media Consortium (NMC) and EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative release a series of reports on what they see as the coming trends in learning technologies. One such report looks specifically at higher education and the 2014 edition was recently released. While the report has always included what these groups see as - [High Impact Teaching Practices](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/03/19/high-impact-teaching-practices/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] NOTE: There are ten high impact educational practices that reportedly increase student success. You can access that list and brief description at https://www.aacu.org/leap/hip.cfm, http://www.uwgb.edu/outreach/highimpact/assets/pdfs/kinzieHO2012.pdf, or watch this short 6-minute video: http://youtu.be/mv6yTkFOB-o For the back-story—the elements that make these high impact practices check out http://us.tamu.edu/Faculty-Administrators/High-Impact-Learning. A summary is provided here: High impact practices have - [Why You Should Consider Lecture Capture](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/03/17/why-you-should-consider-lecture-capture/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] "Lecture Capture describes technologies instructors can use to record voice and data projector content and make those recordings available digitally" (ICT University of Saskatchewan). At the University of Saskatchewan, many rooms are equipped to allow instructors to easily record their live lectures and distribute these recordings to their students. Now that I’ve defined what lecture - [Communicating Expectations: The Course Syllabus & First Day of Class](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/03/12/communicating-expectations-the-course-syllabus-first-day-of-class/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] This post was originally published on the GSR 989: Philosophy and Practice of University Teaching blog on February 28, 2014. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the course syllabus and the impression it gives students on our first day of class. Personally, I like to think of the syllabus as a map - [Effective - By Design](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/03/10/effective-by-design/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] I just observed in a large first-year class that has incorporated an undergraduate research experience. Today one third of the class attended to work on operationalizing their research questions into items for a survey in their small groups. Last week I observed a whole group lecture. The differences are notable: On lecture day, - [Using Google Hangouts to Bring in Guest Speakers](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/03/05/using-google-hangouts-to-bring-in-guest-speakers/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] This post was originally published on Heather Ross’s blog on February 28, 2014. I’m considering myself very fortunate that I’m the instructor for Introduction to Learning Technologies. I get to meet with students in the blended cohort. I get to communicate with participants in both groups through email, Twitter, Facebook and Google+, and - [WOW!! Polar Bears, Tundra, Teams AND Learning…](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/03/03/wow-polar-bears-tundra-teams-and-learning/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Ryan Brook teaches Animal Science 475.3 Field Studies in Arctic Ecosystems and Aboriginal Peoples and about 120 students have taken the course in the ten years he has been teaching it. Ryan has spent twenty summers on the Hudson’s Bay coast. Here is the course description: This field-based travel course will provide hands-on - [GMCTE Resources - Our Staff Picks](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/02/26/gmcte-resources-our-staff-picks/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Over the years, we at the GMCTE have been collecting resources about all aspects of teaching and learning. The collection includes a library, copies of Bridges newsletter, a blog, social media and a large section of our website. That is a fairly long list of resources and, unless you have a specific idea - [What? A Menu of Assessment Options?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/02/24/what-a-menu-of-assessment-options/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] I have recently come upon a few interesting ideas about the conditions we create for assessment in higher education, especially with respect to deterring academic dishonesty. Standing out to me right now is a 2013 book I’ve been reading by James Lang titled “Cheating Lessons.” This book provides inspiration, encouragement, and practical advice - [Four Student Misconceptions About Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/02/12/four-student-misconceptions-about-learning/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] The main section of this blog post is a reprint of an article from Faculty Focus by Maryellen Welmer. It follows a brief introduction by Nancy Turner. I thought readers of this blog would be interested in the article reprinted below on common student misconceptions about learning. These points are usefully discussed openly - [Where Are You From?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/02/10/where-are-you-from/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Colleen Charles Academically speaking, when you first meet a professional on campus, you state your name, job title and credentials accordingly. However, for First Nations people, and I speak for myself as a Woodland Cree, Treaty Six Territory, from the Lac La Ronge Indian Band, La Ronge, Saskatchewan, I have been raised - [Visual Note Taking As A New Way of Listening](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/02/05/visual-note-taking-as-a-new-way-of-listening/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Text notes are not the best method of note taking for many students. Some do better simply listening and taking it in, while others thrive on visual representations of what is being said. I just watched Giulia Forsythe at Brock University describe her visual note taking. The video is about 4 minutes long and - [Pedagogy First When Selecting Learning Technologies](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/02/03/pedagogy-first-when-selecting-learning-technologies/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] I teach the Introduction to Learning Technologies course from the GMCTE. In the past, I’ve also taught a similar course for undergraduate students in the College of Education and over the past several years I’ve given a number of workshops on to the topic. I always give the same one bit of advice - [Shall I Google That For You?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/01/29/shall-i-google-that-for-you/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] A vital skill for faculty and students alike is to make effective use of search tools. Google is used millions of times every minute yet most folks are using only a tiny fraction of Google's ability. In particular, when we wish to use Google for supporting our scholarly work, there are particular strategies, - [Indigenous Voices Program is Built for You](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/01/27/indigenous-voices-program-is-built-for-you/) - By Tereigh Ewert A ground-breaking program, almost unique to post-secondary institutions in Canada, is offered through our own Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching Effectivness: Indigenous Voices. In its final of three years of PCIP funding, we have been able to develop, pilot, and now deliver campus-wide this staff and faculty program, free of charge. The - [Catching a Falling Star or Lost in Outer Space? That’s what feedback is for!](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/01/22/catching-a-falling-star-or-lost-in-outer-space-thats-what-feedback-is-for/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler What would it be like to wait for 31 months before finding out if you were on your way to success or have burst into flames? The European Space Agency had such a wait to hear how its Rosetta space mission to study a comet is going, hearing this - [Finding Our Footing With Our Communities](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/01/20/finding-our-footing-with-our-communities/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] With Susan Bens Some time ago our Centre received a suggestion to tailor one of our increasingly known and appreciated Course Design Institutes specifically for those aiming to incorporate community-engaged learning. A team of us came together to begin that process and it’s fair to say we struggled to find our footing. After a - [What Do We Mean by 'Open'?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/01/15/what-do-we-mean-by-open/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] As I wrote about in an earlier post, the GMCTE is launching what we believe is the first “open” online course from the University of Saskatchewan. Introduction to Learning Technologies is being offered simultaneously to both a small blended cohort (mostly online, with five face-to-face sessions) and a much larger open group of - [Thanks GSR 984: Thinking Critically](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/01/13/thanks-gsr-984-thinking-critically/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Colleen George I am a graduate student. Like many graduate students, I spend my days in front of my computer writing, editing, analyzing, and checking Facebook. Working to complete a graduate thesis has taught me many things: self-discipline and commitment, organization, and writing skills; but I found that as I moved further - [Curriculum of Fractal Beauty](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/01/08/curriculum-of-fractal-beauty/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler What image of our discipline are we sharing with students or with colleagues as we start a new term? Are we sharing glimpses of the beauty that intrigue and motivate us? Just as lecture is a piece of the course, each course is embedded within a program, and each - [Supporting Your Flipped Classroom with Open Resources](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2014/01/06/supporting-your-flipped-classroom-with-open-resources/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] We’ve talked about flipped classrooms in this space before. In a nutshell, flipped classrooms involve taking the regular lecture style content out of the classroom and assigning it as homework prior to coming to class. The majority of the time, this involves having the students watch videos, often created by the instructor, to - [GMCTE to Launch First Open Online Course From USask](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/12/18/gmcte-to-launch-first-open-online-course-from-usask/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] On January 21, 2014, the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching Effectiveness (GMCTE) will launch the first open online course (OOC) from the University of Saskatchewan, Introduction to Learning Technologies. This course, aimed at novices, will invite participants to explore pedagogically informed use of blogs, podcasts, social bookmarking and a host of other tools, in addition - [Variations on Think Pair Share](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/12/16/variations-on-think-pair-share/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] In preparing to teach about active learning methods this week, I came across an interesting variation of think pair share developed by Johnson, Johnson, & Smith (1991) called Formulate Share Listen Create. If you aren’t familiar with it, the think pair share is a versatile activity that can be done in many creative - [Taskforce Identifies Gwenna Moss Centre Programs as "Candidate for Phase Out"](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/12/13/taskforce-identifies-all-gwenna-moss-centre-programs-as-candidate-for-phase-out/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] The University of Saskatchewan is currently engaged in a program prioritization process, known as TransformUS. Two task forces were struck in April 2013 - one looking at academic programs and one looking at support services. The programs of the Gwenna Moss Centre were analysed along with nearly 400 other support services representing every - [On Returning to Saskatchewan](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/12/11/on-returning-to-saskatchewan/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Last Wednesday I arrived in Saskatoon, permanently relocating from London, England to take up the post of Program Director at the Gwenna Moss Centre. This is a return to Saskatchewan for me (BSPE 1994) and a new adventure for my British family. I have been asked several times over the past week how - [Got the Group Project Blues?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/12/09/got-the-group-project-blues/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Last week I gave my students back their group project assignments. They actually did quite a superb job, across the board. I asked them to provide me with comments on their own contribution, using a rubric I developed that was my adaptation and a shorter version of the American Association of Colleges and - [Beauty II: Defining the Big, Bold and Beautiful](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/12/04/beauty-ii-defining-the-big-bold-and-beautiful/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler Getting lost in the beauty of our discipline and sharing it with our students raises the challenge of what to cover within the limited time of our course or program. With all that is beautiful about our discipline, what do we focus on? One approach is to focus on - [An Update on Open Courseware at the U of S](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/12/02/an-update-on-open-courseware-at-the-u-of-s/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Last year we ran a blog post about the Open Courseware (OCW) initiative which is a joint venture of ICT, SESD and the ULC at the U of S. This portal offers a gateway to every course offered at the UofS and provides a space where instructors may choose to open up course information - [Experiencing and Embracing Controversy in the Classroom](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/11/27/experiencing-and-embracing-controversy-in-the-classroom/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Students in the leadership classes I have taught report general personal discomfort with conflict. They also report enjoying (and learning from) engaging classroom discussions. Providing students with a debating experience in class responds to both quite nicely. My post today is about a teaching strategy I have successfully used twice now, called “structured - [GMCTE YouTube Channel Filled With Open Resources](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/11/25/gmcte-youtube-channel-filled-with-open-resources/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] The Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching Effectiveness, as a unit, is a proponent of "open" resources in education. We've created a number of digital and print resources that we've added Creative Commons licenses, we opened all of the content from our Introduction to Teaching Online course (another course will be open starting in - [Adopting 'Institutional Humility'](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/11/20/adopting-institutional-humility/) - By Tereigh Ewert As a U-15 institution, we have a remarkable opportunity before us: we can be leaders in many ways. I would like to suggest that one of these ways might be by adopting and communicating 'institutional humility.' The recent draft of “Vision 2025: From Spirit to Action,” provides us with an excellent opportunity to - [Seeing the Beauty](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/11/18/seeing-the-beauty/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler There is something exciting, captivating and intriguing when working through an analysis and seeing the ideas crystalize or flip through the writings of colleague and see the connections to other papers, and to other ideas. The experience of excitement, in my case over a well-selected and implemented statistical analysis - [Self-Belief and Student Success](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/11/13/self-belief-and-student-success/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] I’m sure we’ve all had the experience of not performing to our potential at given points in our life due to anxiety, illness, the physical environment or just because we were having an off day. The importance of context on our ability to perform should not be underestimated. One factor that can greatly - [Dean Stoicheff Speaks on the Value of an Arts and Science Degree](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/11/06/dean-stoicheff-speaks-on-the-value-of-an-arts-and-science-degree/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] The College of Arts and Science at the University of Saskatchewan is unique in Canada, bringing under a single college governance structure, 21 disciplinary departments ranging from fine arts and humanities to social and natural sciences. The extreme diversity in disciplinary areas, along with the rich potential for interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary programs within - [GMCTE Welcomes New Program Director](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/11/04/gmcte-welcomes-new-program-director/) - [social_share/] The Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching Effectiveness is pleased to welcome our new Program Director, Nancy Turner. Her role, which she assumed on November 1 involves strategic leadership of the Centre and leading and contributing to institutional initiatives to enhance learning and teaching. Nancy has returned to Saskatchewan after a decade working in London - [Being Enthusiastic About So-Called Mundane Stuff](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/10/30/being-enthusiastic-about-so-called-mundane-stuff/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler My higher education teaching journey began as an upper-year undergraduate student teaching evening sessions about APA formatting: A seemingly dry topic about commas, alphabetical order of last names, single versus double space etc. As a necessity for undergraduate psychology paper, students’ motivation for signing up seemed to be extrinsically - [The Course Design Process](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/10/28/the-course-design-process/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] If you have made it through one or more university degrees, it is likely that you have wondered why some courses appeared almost entirely unplanned, while others were highly structured and obviously planned well in advance. If you have ever been a teaching assistant or an instructor, it is likely that you thought - [What's In a Name? Pronouncing Students' Names Correctly](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/10/23/whats-in-a-name-pronouncing-students-names-right/) - By Tereigh Ewert What’s in a name? For all of us, I would argue, our name is deeply connected to our very identities. There are often stories around how we came to have the name we do, perhaps we’ve been named after a beloved family member, friend, or important person, perhaps it’s a name we’ve - [You've Got Teaching Problems? This Site Has the Answers!](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/10/21/youve-got-teaching-problems-this-site-has-the-answers/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] When I was recently scouring the Internet for good teaching resources, I came across an exceptional site. The Solving a Teaching Problem webpage from the Eberly Center: Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation takes teachers through three steps to find practical solutions to teaching problems. As I walk through the process, Step 1 asks - [Turkey Dinner Causes University Student Career Planning! What’s the relationship?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/10/16/turkey-dinner-causes-university-student-career-planning-whats-the-relationship/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] A career counsellor once told me that appointment requests by first year university students increase dramatically after the Thanksgiving weekend. She knew from talking with many of these students, that it had been conversations with parents that weekend that had led to their making of appointments. Students (and parents of students) care deeply - [Fair Dealing, Contracts With Publishers and Linking to Journals](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/10/09/fair-dealing-contracts-with-publishers-and-linking-to-journals/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Charlene Sorensen The Copyright Act contains a clause that allows for "fair dealing" in formal educational settings. This means that a non-substantial portion of a published work can be re-distributed to students enrolled in a class provided that neither password protection nor digital locks are circumvented. Non-substantial roughly means an article from a - [Being More Efficient](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/10/07/being-more-efficient/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler “efficient |iˈfiSHənt| adjective (esp. of a system or machine) achieving maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort or expense (of a person) working in a well-organized and competent way [ in combination ] preventing the wasteful use of a particular resource” --(New Oxford American Dictionary”, 3rd Edition, 2010, Oxford - [How's the View? Four Lenses for Looking at Your Curriculum](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/10/02/hows-the-view-four-lenses-for-looking-at-your-curriculum/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] While paging through a recent addition to our in-house library at the GMCTE by Blackmore and Kandiko, I encountered a reference that I find quite helpful for understanding why it is important to view curricula from different perspectives. The work referenced is by Basil Bernstein who was a sociology of education scholar in - [Using Google Forms for Student Feedback](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/09/30/using-google-forms-for-student-feedback/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] My colleague here at the GMCTE, Kim West introduced me to integrating formative feedback into my classes. Through this I get some valuable feedback from students about my teaching and the course in general, and it goes a long way in helping to build rapport between me and the students. Following Kim's lead I - [Recipe for SoTL](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/09/25/recipe-for-sotl/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler Many a metaphor is used to make new ideas feel more familiar. I’m an avid baker, so I wanted to share this alternative sweet way of seeing the elements and processes involved in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). Let me know if you've got something cooking. 1 cup - [When 'Better' does not equal 'Easier'](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/09/23/when-better-does-not-equal-easier/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] Often conversations about active learning eventually come around to discussions around “push back from students” and comments about resistance to “doing more work” in class and that students don’t like to work harder. I wonder about that. I wonder if students might feel better about doing more work if they knew that this - [When in Doubt, Write it Out!](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/09/16/when-in-doubt-write-it-out/) - [social_share/] [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler When I mentioned university teaching, a friend of mine told me the story of sitting in a class for many weeks diligently reading the textbook about “z-scores” and listening to the professor talk about “cee-scores”, only to realize a few weeks in that the two terms both referred to - [Why 'Student Learning Objectives'?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/09/11/why-student-learning-objectives/) - [social-bio] So why is a curriculum development person commenting about learning objectives—the unit of planning that occurs at the individual lesson level? Usually you’d hear me going on about program goals and outcomes, and graduate attributes—the big picture! I wanted to highlight the importance of having clear, explicit learning objectives because it is all of - [Curriculum Change in a Time of Transformation](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/09/09/curriculum-change-in-a-time-of-transformation/) - [social-bio] This piece was previously published in the GMCTE publication Bridges. As the University of Saskatchewan wrestles with program prioritization and all academic programs are thoroughly scrutinized, analysed, and criticized, there is a temptation to hunker down, do nothing, and wait for better times. Academic units have just completed a major self-assessment of their core - [The Importance of Technology Integration Across a Program](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/09/04/the-importance-of-technology-integration-across-a-program/) - [social-bio] At the recent EdMedia conference in Victoria, BC, I noted a recurring theme around the integration of learning technologies. Many people were talking about the ongoing issue of these technologies being used in a course here and there as opposed to being integrated across programs. There are a number of problems with this approach - [A Shared Language](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/08/28/a-shared-language/) - [social-bio] Recently the topic of “consistent language” came up during a lunchtime discussion here at the Centre. What was the difference between a “course” and a “class?” Our director, Jim Greer recommended the University’s 2011 nomenclature report. The report defines a course as: the smallest formally recognized academic unit of the curriculum is the course - [Assessment For Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/08/26/assessment-for-learning/) - [social-bio]“Students can, with difficulty, escape from the effects of poor teaching, they cannot (by definition if they want to graduate) escape the effects of poor assessment.” (Boud, 1998)Think back to your experience as an undergraduate. How did you decide what to focus on in the hours outside the classroom? What drove your priorities in selecting - [What Do Automobile Engines and Educational Innovation Have in Common?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/08/21/what-do-automobile-engines-and-educational-innovation-have-in-common/) - [social-bio] Recently, someone recommended that I read "Design Research for Sustained Innovation" by Carl Bereiter. Although, the article was published in 2002, I found it to be very relevant today. The premise of the article is that, "innovative practices seldom win out against those with a long evolutionary history" (p. 321). This is not only - [The Academic Honesty Bonus: Another Advantage of an Aligned Curriculum](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/08/14/the-academic-honesty-bonus-another-advantage-of-an-aligned-curriculum/) - [social-bio] In my role as a Curriculum Development Specialist, I get to talk with faculty about their programs and the many reasons to examine and renew curricula in higher education. In recent months, another advantage to an aligned curriculum has come to mind for me: academic honesty. I posit that the three following relationships hold - [New Bridges and Curriculum Renewal](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/08/06/new-bridges-and-curriculum-renewal/) - [social-bio] On the opening day of Saskatoon's new bridge, my son insisted that we check it out. I am so glad he did!!! All the inconveniences of the past few years have come together so elegantly linking parts of the city that seemed so far apart before. What use to be at least a 30-minute - [Learning Through Osmosis](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/07/31/learning-through-osmosis/) - [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler The phrase “learning by osmosis” conjures ideas of sleeping with a textbook or sitting near the smart students. What about in the classroom? Lecturing while students passively listen is like letting the difference in osmotic pressure between the students’ brain and the instructor’s brain (or the classroom air) be the - [To Be, or Not to Be (an Academic)](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/07/24/to-be-or-not-to-be-an-academic/) - [social-bio] Now that I am (finally) nearing the end of my MA in Philosophy, I face the student’s dilemma: What now – work or more school? Work is certainly an appealing option, since being a broke student sucks. However, meaningful work is hard to find. Pursuing a PhD is worth it intrinsically, and can (actually) - [Craving Creating Time](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/07/10/craving-creating-time/) - [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler To what extent are our tasks and our days predictable, or our decisions clear-cut? The days of police, firefighters or emergency medical personnel are unpredictable, but so is anyone who has their door, phone or email open to their colleagues, students and the rest of campus. As we manage meetings, - [Marginal Revolution University Joins the Online Education Arena](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/07/03/942/) - [social-bio] Marginal Revolution University (MRU) is named after a successful blog called ‘Marginal Revolution’ that is updated daily by George Mason University development economics professors Tyler Cowen and Alex Tabarrok. Cowen and Tabarrok founded MRU. The blog’s title should give most readers a pretty good idea about what sort of commitments Cowen and Tabarrok bring - [Observations From a Returned Prairie Girl](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/06/26/observations-from-a-returned-prairie-girl/) - By Carolyn Hoessler This month marks a full year since arriving on the banks of the South Saskatchewan River. After growing up in the Red River Valley area of Manitoba and spending over a decade in Ontario, I was back to the Prairies. In arriving here, I came to a land familiar in landscape but - [Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI) and Reflective Teaching](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/06/19/teaching-perspectives-inventory-tpi-and-reflective-teaching/) - [social-bio] One of the activities we do in GMCTE’s Introductory Instructional Skills course is the Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI) to help participants define what “good teaching” looks like to them. Five different perspectives related to teaching are reflected in the TPI. Most people hold one (maybe two) dominant teaching perspectives; many also have a “back-up” - [Formative Feedback For Improving the Teaching and Learning Experience](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/06/12/formative-feedback-for-improving-the-teaching-and-learning-experience/) - [social-bio] In January of 2012 I taught my first university level course in the College of Education. It went "OK", but not great. I had a good rapport with many of the 24 students, but no overall sense of connections with the class as a whole. Some of the comments on the SEEQ at the end of - [Weeds, Cheating and Success](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/06/03/894/) - [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler I remember pulling weeds in a vegetable garden and coming across a strong healthy canola plant whose seed must have drifted in from the neighbour’s field. Was it a weed? If it had grown in the field then it would be considered a strong specimen, but what about in a - [Gather Data, Take a Timely Look, and Make Change](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/05/28/gather-data-take-a-timely-look-and-make-change/) - [social-bio] Recently, I read Fetterman, Deitz & Gesundheit's 2010 article on using empowerment evaluation to renew a medical curriculum. The Stanford University School of Medicine engaged in a process of collecting data about their courses and providing that data back in a timely fashion to faculty and directors who engaged in reflection and discussion to - [TLt 2013 Brings Ideas Together](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/05/23/tlt-2013-brings-ideas-together/) - [social-bio] The University of Saskatchewan and the Gwenna Moss Centre hosted this year’s Teaching and Learning with Technology conference on May 1 and 2. The theme was "Making IT Mainstream: Everybody's doing IT," focusing on “the mainstream integration of learning technologies at both the level of the institution and individual instructor; what is working and - [So You’re Thinking of Flipping your Class: We Can Help](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/05/21/so-youre-thinking-of-flipping-your-class-we-can-help/) - [social-bio] Perhaps you’ve been hearing rumblings about flipped teaching. Maybe you even read my post about it in December (What is Flipped Teaching?). If you haven’t heard of it, flipped teaching is, “the process of moving lecture content from face-to-face class time to before class by assigning it as homework. This allows for more interactive - [Reflecting On Your SEEQ Course Evaluations](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/05/15/reflecting-on-your-seeq-course-evaluations/) - [social-bio] Most of us dread, or at the least, have mixed feelings about receiving feedback on our teaching, especially from standardized course evaluation tools such as the Student Evaluation of Educational Quality instrument (SEEQ). However, many new insights may be gained by continuously reflecting on our actions as teachers and by opening ourselves up to - [Mind the Gap: Learning Communities, Transitions, and Educational Enrichment](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/05/13/mind-the-gap-learning-communities-transitions-and-educational-enrichment/) - [social-bio] By Erin DeLathouwer “What kind of job can I even get with an x degree?” I’ve heard this question again and again in my time as the program coordinator of learning communities, and I suggest that the anxiety that motivates this question comes from the fact that transitions are hard. For first-year students, for - [Anything But ...](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/05/08/anything-but/) - [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler Not exams. Not this example. Not that textbook again…Anything but that! Our rejection of a particular method or medium for teaching may be motivation enough to try something new. However, “Not ____” just rules out a single direction, leaving open all other possibilities. Deciding between the many alternatives involves setting - [Looking Back, Moving Forward](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/05/06/looking-back-moving-forward/) - [social-bio] As the academic term draws to a close and after my marking is complete, I find myself looking back over the semester, determining which learning activities went well and why, the teaching goals I set forth for myself, where I succeeded and fell short, and what I should do differently the next time I - [We Are All Treaty People](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/05/01/we-are-all-treaty-people/) - By Tereigh Ewert In the fall, the office of the VP Teaching and Learning began offering treaty education to faculty and staff at the University of Saskatchewan. Each month, a cohort of people engaged in an online module, and then their learning culminated in a three-hour face-to-face session with a Traditional Knowledge Keeper who further - [Richness of Research on Active Learning: Let’s Stand on the Shoulders of Giants (or at least Other Educators)](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/04/29/richness-of-research-on-active-learning-lets-stand-on-the-shoulders-of-giants-or-at-least-other-educators/) - [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and scholarship of teaching and learning research promote the benefits of active learning, student engagement, and faculty-student interaction with courses that challenge students, shake them out of the passive listener role, and engage them in collaboration with peers to improve student academic - [Syllabus Template Developed For Use at U of S](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/04/24/syllabus-template-developed-for-use-at-u-of-s/) - [social-bio] The syllabus is probably the most important document that you will provide your students during a class. It ideally conveys the learning outcomes, information on the methods of assessment, contact information for the instructor, time and locations for labs, required and supplemental readings, exam information, and other important details about the class. The University - [Backchannels In Education](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/04/22/backchannels-in-education/) - [social-bio] If you have attended a conference in the past year, then you probably at least heard about the conference’s “backchannel”. Essentially, a backchannel is a conversation that is taking place during an event, alongside the main activity or presentation. At conferences, this often takes place on Twitter by attendees using a hashtag for the - [With Great Power ...](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/04/17/with-great-power/) - [social-bio] I am a regular reader of University Affairs. I always find it an interesting place to hear about what is making news in Canadian higher education. In particular, I like looking at the 'most popular articles' section just in case there are articles that I should pay attention to that I have somehow missed. - [The Use of Wordpress for a Course Website](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/04/15/the-use-of-wordpress-for-a-course-website/) - [social-bio] One of my favourite parts of my job is having the opportunity to teach pre-service teachers in an undergraduate course in the College of Education. I teach ETAD 470 - Design and Use of Online Resources. This course covers the pedagogical and technological aspects of using things like blogs, wikis, podcasts and other types - [Is the Unexamined Program Really Worth Offering?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/04/10/is-the-unexamined-program-really-worth-offering/) - [social-bio] As we are being invited to take a vigorous look at the programs we are offering, I can’t help but wonder, haven’t we always been doing that? I mean, really, in this information age with new perspectives and burgeoning bags of “what we know” bursting at the seams on every possible topic, can we - [Grades: Something to Lose, Something to Gain](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/04/08/grades-something-to-lose-something-to-gain/) - [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler At the start of each course, the syllabus outlines the assessments on which students’ marks will be based. Through this document, a rubric given with the assignment, or after receiving the marked up pages, students learn how we have chosen to grade. Specifically, they have learned if we are focused - [Academic Integrity and the Roles Students Play: The Student as Moral Agent](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/04/03/academic-integrity-and-the-roles-students-play-the-student-as-moral-agent/) - [social-bio] This is the final post in a series of four about metaphors revealed in students’ discussions of academic honesty and dishonesty. The four metaphors presented in this series do not represent mutually exclusive understandings and can overlap in their meanings. Not all students in my study expressed the same meanings or, if they did, - [Canadian Student Blogs About Finland](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/03/27/canadian-student-blogs-about-finland/) - [social-bio] If you are curious about the student experience of higher education in Finland, which has been a hot topic in the news lately, I highly recommend you read this blog. It is written by Irene Smith, a Canadian and former undergraduate Peer Mentor from the U of S, who is currently studying at the - [What is CAT 1.0?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/03/20/what-is-cat-1-0/) - [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler So what is “CAT” beyond our nickname for our Curriculum Alignment Tool? It is an online software for academic programs and instructors to fill in information about your courses, connect those courses within a program, and review what you are teaching your students. Designed as one approach to gathering data - [Registration Open For TLt 2013](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/03/18/registration-open-for-tlt-2013/) - [social-bio] The 2013 Teaching and Learning with the power of Technology (TLt) Conference will be held this coming May 1 and 2 at the University of Saskatchewan. This year's theme is "Making IT Mainstream: Everybody's doing IT". With ubiquitous use of smart-phones, tablets and laptops by students and faculty the days of speaking of educational technology - [Academic Integrity and the Roles Students Play: The Student as Trainee](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/03/13/academic-integrity-and-the-roles-students-play-the-student-as-trainee/) - [social-bio] This is the third in a series of four posts about the ways students positioned themselves when discussing matters of academic honesty and dishonesty in my doctoral study. The metaphor of trainee described below, could also be conceived as the student as investor in or consumer of higher education. The overarching idea I gleaned - [Are Learning Outcomes Corrosive? Isn’t it About How You Frame Them?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/03/11/are-learning-outcomes-corrosive-isnt-it-about-how-you-frame-them/) - [social-bio] A recent article in CAUT Bulletin (January 2013) by Frank Furedi discussed the corrosiveness of learning outcomes. As I read through the author’s comments and opinions, I returned to the same questions of: “Isn’t it about how you frame learning outcomes? Shouldn’t the conversations be about how learning outcomes contribute to the learning process? - [Developing CAT 1.0](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/03/06/developing-cat-1-0/) - [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler When I first arrived at the GMCTE one of the first curriculum development projects I got involved in was the curriculum inventory tool. Initially called Currimap, it was in its initial feedback and trial stages and still growing: over the next few months, feedback from colleagues and faculty led to - [Academic Integrity and the Roles Students Play: The Student as Competitor](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/03/04/academic-integrity-and-the-roles-students-play-the-student-as-competitor/) - [social-bio] This is the second in a series of four posts where I present the metaphors I recognized as being in use in students’ discussions in my doctoral study of students’ understandings of academic honesty and dishonesty. These metaphors can be treated as lenses students appeared to use to see themselves in the university, to - [Signal or Noise: what do I really want to assess?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/02/27/signal-or-noise-what-do-i-really-want-to-assess/) - [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler “The essential requirements of a course/program are the knowledge and skills which must be acquired or demonstrated in order for a student to successfully meet the learning objectives of the course/program.” (University of Saskatchewan policy) When I was in undergrad, I thought I was a good student. I would - [PLN (Personal Learning Network): What, Why, and How?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/02/25/pln-personal-learning-network-what-why-and-how/) - [social-bio] Do you work in a specialized field? Do you work in a small department? Do you ever wish you had colleagues that you could share ideas with or someone to b­­­­ounce teaching ideas off of? The answers to these questions are expectedly “yes” for most faculty members. One way to address these questions is - [Academic Integrity and the Roles Students Play: The Student as Subject](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/02/21/academic-integrity-and-the-roles-students-play-the-student-as-subject/) - [social-bio] This post is the first in a series of four. My posts largely draw from the insights I gained by conducting a doctoral study of students’ understandings of academic honesty and dishonesty. In my analysis, I noted that students used, indirectly and directly, four metaphors to describe their sense of their role, place or - [Digital Citizenship for the U of S Community](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/02/19/digital-citizenship-for-the-u-of-s-community/) - [social-bio] In my recent post on the basics of educational technology I mentioned a bit about what not to put online. "Never post anything online that you wouldn't want your boss, mother or grandchildren to see. Facebook is not private. Twitter definitely is not private. Even email can end up in the hands of the wrong person (have you - [Student Evaluations of Teaching: What are we really measuring?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/02/13/student-evaluations-of-teaching-what-are-we-really-measuring/) - [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler with Sheryl Mills On the recent CBC Early Edition podcast, the issue of what standardized testing was really assessing was raised. I find a similar concern arises with student evaluations of teaching. The debate of the validity and meaning is not new, but recent findings further suggest that when asking student - [Tap into Students' Desire for a Fair Incentive Program](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/02/06/644/) - [social-bio] In the December 5, 2012 issue of University Affairs, Roslyn Dakin offered a range of ideas about how grading impacts learning. Reading Dakin’s article caused me to reflect on some of what I learned from the senior undergraduate Education students who participated in my doctoral study of students’ understandings of academic honesty and dishonesty. - [Why Program Goals?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/02/04/why-program-goals/) - [social-bio] I hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch this short video about the importance of goals as the foundation for the architecture of your programs. If you have any questions about program goals—or house renovations—let’s be in touch. http://youtu.be/96SkOkMynXQ - [Planning or Re-Designing a Course: Where to Begin](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/01/30/planning-or-re-designing-a-course-where-to-begin/) - [social-bio] You have a new course to plan or are planning to re-design a current course. Where do you begin? The place where you should begin is technically called a front-end analysis, but could be thought of as the pre-planning you do before you actually start lesson planning. The first step involves exploring what it - [Students Prefer Good Lectures Over the Latest Technology in Class?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/01/28/students-prefer-good-lectures-over-the-latest-technology-in-class/) - [social-bio] An article appearing in January’s University Affairs indicated that students prefer a good lecture over technology in the classroom. The article states ‘university students prefer the “old school” approach of an engaging lecture over the use of the latest technological bells and whistles in the classroom’. I have not read the full report of - [Getting Started With Educational Technology](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/01/23/getting-started-with-educational-technology/) - [social-bio] For a number of years I've given workshops to faculty (both at the U of S and my previous institution) and I teach an undergraduate course in educational technology. Regardless of the group that I'm speaking with, I always give the same few points of advice and thought it appropriate to share them here. - [A Topic We Avoid: Teaching for the Success of Students with Psychiatric Disabilities](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/01/21/a-topic-we-avoid-teaching-for-the-success-of-students-with-psychiatric-disabilities/) - [social-bio] By Tereigh Ewert I was teaching a class of graduate student teachers this fall, and we were discussing a perennial concern: classroom management and student misbehavior. I wanted them to consider what motivated classroom disruption and misbehavior. We covered unintentional disruption, attention seeking, power challenges, and maliciousness. Then I suggested a cause that - [The Power and Confusion of Metaphors and Analogies](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/01/16/the-power-and-confusion-of-metaphors-and-analogies/) - [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler Personally I enjoy a good metaphor and a good analogy. Just link statistical correlations to dancing partners or history to a play and my interest is peaked. Metaphors, similes, and analogies are about relationships (see 1:45 minute into this definition video for more details). Analogies and metaphors allow the unfamiliar to - [Bridges, Obstacle Courses, and Snowdrifts: What are we building for our students?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/01/09/bridges-obstacle-courses-and-snowdrifts-what-are-we-building-for-our-students/) - [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler In my day… (or so the story starts), we had it tough. Whether that difficulty involved walking uphill in knee-deep snow, punch cards or hours in dusty stacks, there was something that challenged us as students. Now as educators we get to decide where we build obstacle courses so students - [wāskamisiwin: ‘Growing in awareness’](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/01/07/waskamisiwin-growing-in-awareness/) - By Tereigh Ewert and Jeff Baker In 2011, the wāskamisiwin staff and faculty development series was created through collaboration among the Gwenna Moss Centre and the Colleges of Education, Nursing and Medicine. The goals of this series contribute directly to the University’s commitment to Aboriginal Engagement, and include generating increased awareness of the historical roots - [Call Opens for TLt 2013](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2013/01/02/call-opens-for-tlt-2013/) - [social-bio] The 2013 Teaching and Learning with the power of Technology (TLt) Conference will be held this coming May 1 and 2 at the University of Saskatchewan. This year's theme is "Making IT Mainstream: Everybody's doing IT". With ubiquitous use of smart-phones, tablets and laptops by students and faculty the days of speaking of educational technology - [Happy Holidays](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/12/06/happy-holidays/) - [social-bio] Educatus will be taking the rest of December off, but will be returning the first week of January. From all of us at the GMCTE, have a very happy and healthy winter break. - [What is Flipped Teaching?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/12/03/what-is-flipped-teaching/) - [social-bio] Flipped teaching is a new instructional method that has risen with the proliferation of high-speed Internet connections. Flipped teaching is the process of moving lecture content from face-to-face class time to before class by assigning it as homework. Often this involves students watching lecture videos prior to coming to class. Why would you want - [The Value of Timely Feedback](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/11/28/the-value-of-timely-feedback/) - [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler “It's a challenge to try and be flexible… If we can't do something when it needs to happen, then its timeliness is gone and we've missed the opportunity.” - Gordon Knoble* When the outcomes and assessment strategy for assignments have been plotted and we know what feedback students will receive, - [Philosophy for Children: Experiential Learning at the U of S](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/11/26/philosophy-for-children-experiential-learning-at-the-u-of-s/) - [social-bio] Philosophy in the Community of Saskatoon Philosophy as a discipline is often thought of as an individual pursuit. However, it is my view that philosophy has always been about connecting with others, as shown by Philosophy in the Community, which has been offering public lectures off-campus for eight years. Philosophy can engage diverse audiences, - ["Hey Students! I Care; Be Aware": An Academic Integrity Researcher's Approach to Teaching](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/11/21/hey-students-i-care-be-aware-an-academic-integrity-researchers-approach-to-teaching/) - [social-bio] Having read and thought about students’ understandings of academic dishonesty, students’ responsibilities, and our own as teachers, I am very intentional about how I present my expectations and commitment to academic integrity in my teaching practice. Here are some principles I strive to follow: Create and foster student-teacher familiarity—I tell students about myself and - [The Complexity of Meaningful Learning Outcomes](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/11/19/the-complexity-of-meaningful-learning-outcomes/) - [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler I was reminded this week of the similarity between designing a research question and writing a learning outcome. In undergraduate research the most common challenge is determining the appropriate scope for a research question. Not too broad, such as what causes addiction or what is the role of kings? Yet - [The Recipe of Adult Education in Today's Reality](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/11/13/the-recipe-of-adult-education-in-todays-reality/) - [social-bio] Is there just one essential ingredient in the field of adult education or should it be considered as one essential process of adult education? Can a recipe be perfected with just one ingredient, or is it a mixture of many: social movements, history, lifelong learning, technological impact, diversity, the recognition of differing learning styles - [Google Docs for Teaching and Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/11/07/google-docs-for-teaching-and-learning/) - [social-bio] Google Docs have been around for about five years now and it “…is a free, Web-based office suite and data storage service offered by Google within its Google Drive service. It allows users to create and edit documents online while collaborating in real-time with other users” (Wikipedia) I originally found Google Docs to be - [Learning to Teach "My Way"](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/11/05/learning-to-teach-my-way/) - [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler Every so often I return to the question I first thought about when I started teaching my first lab: Who am I as an educator? I remember attending a workshop early in my career about using humour in the classroom. With a sense of humour tending towards puns and irony - [Remind 101: Text Messaging for Instructors](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/10/31/remind-101-text-messaging-for-instructors/) - [social-bio] How do your students do the majority of communication? The obvious answer is text messaging. Students seem to live on their phones and always have them with them; I think that we need to use this to our advantage! Remind101 is a free service that was designed for K-12 teachers, but can easily be - [Instead of a MOOC, How About a SOOC?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/10/29/instead-of-a-mooc-how-about-a-sooc/) - [social-bio] This post was originally published on Heather Ross's blog on October 3, 2012 There’s been a lot of talk about MOOCs lately. I’ve even written a couple of posts related to them here and here. We were talking about them during a recent staff meeting and the term SOOC came out of my mouth. - [Teaching Online: A Practical Guide](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/10/25/teaching-online-a-practical-guide/) - [social-bio] The Book Ko, S. & Rossen, S. (2010). Teaching online: A practical guide (3rd ed.) New York, NY: Routledge. The target audiences of this book are post-secondary instructors and instructional designers. It is extremely thorough and covers three main topics of Getting Started, Putting the Course Together and Teaching in the Online Classroom. Getting - [Questions to Ask When Assessing Our Own Teaching](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/10/22/questions-to-ask-when-assessing-our-own-teaching/) - [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler Solving a puzzle involves selecting, viewing, planning, and placing many pieces in order to see the full image. Answering questions of how well do I teach, how is this activity going, or what should I do differently next time, entails a similar set of four phases. As each instructor is - [Connecting with People and Skills as a Graduate Student](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/10/17/connecting-with-people-and-skills-as-a-graduate-student/) - [social-bio] People go to grad school for a variety of reasons, including the desire to learn more about something they fell in love with as an undergrad. Regardless of their reasons for being there, most grad students must consider how they will pay the rent when their funding dries up and they graduate from an - [To Extend or Not to Extend: Is it an Academic Integrity Question?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/10/15/to-extend-or-not-to-extend-is-it-an-academic-integrity-question/) - [social-bio] It was interesting to me in my discussions with students for my doctoral study that the matter of unwarranted or easily begotten extensions came up as a concern for academic integrity. Of course, I realize the students who volunteered to participate in my study on students’ understandings of academic honesty and dishonesty could have - [BE VOCAL: Characteristics of Successful Online Instructors - An Article Review](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/10/11/be-vocal-characteristics-of-successful-online-instructors-an-article-review/) - [social-bio] If I had to recommend just one article for instructors new to online education, it just might be BE VOCAL: characteristics of successful online instructors by John R. Savery (Savery, John R. (2005). BE VOCAL: characteristics of successful online instructors. Journal of Interactive Online Learning, 4(2), 141-152). In it, Savery describes many of the - [Organizing With Evernote](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/10/09/organizing-with-evernote/) - [social-bio] Sticky notes, notebooks, loose leaf, Word documents…we all have different ways of taking and storing notes. Many of us even have multiple methods of taking notes. Last fall I began experimenting with Evernote and haven’t looked back. Evernote is an application and also a website that is designed to take notes. You can easily - [Do We Give Them Fish, Teach Them to Bait a Hook, or Teach Them Ways of Deciding When, Where, and How to Fish?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/10/04/do-we-give-them-fish-teach-them-to-bait-a-hook-or-teach-them-ways-of-deciding-when-where-and-how-to-fish/) - [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler Reading articles and books is a regular part of my academic life, however I haven’t been reading them forever so at some point I must have learned how. The strategies such as skimming, selecting specific sections, quick annotation, and others improve my effectiveness. But it is not these skills alone, - [Ideas that 'Stick'](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/10/01/ideas-that-stick/) - [social-bio] The Book: Heath, C. and Heath, D. 2008. Made to stick: Why some ideas survive and others die. New York: Random House Why do we remember certain things, like the scary music from the movie Jaws, but forget others, like the name of that theory we learned in economics class years ago? Why is - [Open CourseWare at the U of S](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/09/27/open-courseware-at-the-u-of-s/) - [social-bio] Are you teaching a class this term? Would you consider opening some of your class resources to the public? Students thinking of taking your class next year could look up your notes to get a better idea of what to expect. People outside the university could find out more about what we do. Your - [Perplexed by Plagiarism – What Students May Not Know About Referencing Conventions](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/09/24/perplexed-by-plagiarism-what-students-may-not-know-about-referencing-conventions/) - [social-bio] Students, when asked what the purpose of referencing is in papers, are likely to respond “to avoid plagiarism.” Slightly less rule-bound and more educationally enlightened, some might say “to show where the ideas in my paper came from.” Now, while these interpretations may be accurate, they are incomplete and indicate a rather narrow view - [Reducing Confusion and Improving Teaching by Sharing Who We Are as a Discipline](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/09/20/reducing-confusion-and-improving-teaching-by-sharing-who-we-are-as-a-discipline/) - [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler The Book: The University and its Disciplines: Teaching and Learning Within and Beyond Disciplinary Boundaries. Edited by Carolin Kreber (2009). Routledge, Taylor and Francis* Each time I meet with individuals from across campus I am reminded how disciplines are not just collections of faculty, rather they encompass specific ways of - [Getting Started with Blended Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/09/18/getting-started-with-blended-learning/) - [social-bio] Blended learning, defined as using online tools to support face-to-face instruction, is a popular term these days in education. It can represent a very wide spectrum of ideas from posting lecture materials online all the way to holding some of your classes online. There are many possible benefits to employing blended approaches and with - [Diigo for Portable Bookmarks and Sharing Resources](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/09/10/diigo-for-portable-bookmarks-and-sharing-resources/) - [social-bio] For many years I did what most people do when I wanted to bookmark something online - I would save it in whatever browser that I was using and if I was away from my home computer I would email the link to myself. If I wanted to share the link with others I - [Do Students Know What Academic Dishonesty Is?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/09/06/do-students-know-what-academic-dishonesty-is/) - [social-bio] Students know that academic dishonesty is wrong and punishable. Students clearly understand some of the acts known to be academically dishonest, especially where intention to break known rules for a grade advantage is apparent, such as in exam cheating or purchasing papers on-line. At the U of S it is a requirement that teachers - [Schooling the World](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/09/04/schooling-the-world/) - [social-bio] What is the purpose of modern education? What do colleges, universities, and schools prepare the children of the world to learn how to do? In his blog, 2 cents worth: Teaching & learning in the new information landscape, David Warlick, a self-proclaimed “35-year vagabond educator,” both asks and responds to the following question in - [Do Teachers Hate Discovering Academic Dishonesty? Yes!](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/08/29/do-teachers-hate-discovering-academic-dishonesty-yes/) - [social-bio] In my reading, researching, writing and chatting about the topic of academic dishonesty over the past decade, teachers’ reactions to academic dishonesty can range from feelings of general disillusionment with students to feelings of personal affront by a specific student. Many struggle with questions like why would students do this, what could I have - [Debates as a Teaching Method or Course Format](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/08/27/debates-as-a-teaching-method-or-course-format/) - [social-bio] Recently, I did some reading on using debates as a course format. I had been familiar with using debates as an instructional strategy, but not as the actual format for an entire course. I was able to find a few examples of where this had been previously done, including the Genome 475 course at - [The Profession of Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/08/22/the-profession-of-learning/) - [social-bio] My title here at the Gwenna Moss Centre is officially “Instructional Design Specialist”; I apply my instructional design background to help faculty and instructors develop and improve their skills and abilities as teachers and course designers. However, I think of my “real” work as being more fluid and less prescriptive than the title suggests; - [An Open Letter to Canadian Universities](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/08/20/an-open-letter-to-canadian-universities/) - Guest Author, George Siemens The following post was written by George Siemens from the Technology Enhanced Knowledge Research Institute at Athabasca University. It is reprinted here with his permission. An Open Letter to Canadian Universities Dear Canadian Universities, You are, as the cool 4chan/Reddit kids say, about to get pwned. The dramatic entrance of elite - [Learning Styles Don’t Matter? Who Knew?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/08/16/learning-styles-dont-matter-who-knew/) - [social-bio] I blush as I confess that I’ve been guilty of it myself—I’ve promoted the notion of learning styles in my graduate teaching courses. In my defense, it has been with the purpose encouraging future faculty to consider employing teaching strategies beyond a (poor) lecture. Thinking back to my own days as a student, classes - [Copyright - Easing the Pain?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/08/13/copyright-easing-the-pain/) - [social-bio] Canada's new copyright bill has passed Parliament and Senate and there are several things instructors on our campus need to know. 1. What copyrighted electronic materials can I share with my students? Answer: share links, but if you are copying or uploading articles for students to access, make sure copyright is cleared (I.e. open - [Surface or Deep Learning?](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/08/09/surface-or-deep-learning/) - [social-bio] While I was reading Taking Stock: Research on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Executive by Lindblom-Ylänne, I found myself reflecting on my own learning and asking which of my experiences and courses led me to deep learning? Conversely, what types of activities that I as an instructor have employed have led to deep - [Making History With Technology in the Classroom](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/08/07/making-history-with-technology-in-classroom/) - [social-bio] Last December someone pointed me towards an article about John Boyer, a professor at Virginia Tech, and his intriguing uses of technology in his World Regions class. By the time the column about Boyer was published, he had already “used his viral YouTube tactics to lure actors Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez to present - [Naming Assessments by Our Intentions](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/2012/08/03/naming-assessments-by-our-intentions/) - [social-bio] By Carolyn Hoessler What's in a name? that which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet” (William Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet) If what determines the nature of a flower is its smell and not its name, then what determines the nature of an assessment tool is its use ## Pages - [Write? Write. Right.](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/write/) - Here is the place to compose, , and hone your fine words. If you are building this site, maybe edit this page to customize this wee bit of text. - [Test Wordpress Page](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/test-wordpress-page/) - Page content - [Name of page](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/name-of-page/) - [Sample Page](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/sample-page/) - This is an example page. It's different from a blog post because it will stay in one place and will show up in your site navigation (in most themes). Most people start with an About page that introduces them to potential site visitors. It might say something like this: Hi there! I'm a bike messenger - [Search](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/search/) - --> - [About](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/about/) - This is the official blog from The Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching Effectiveness (GMCTL) at the University of Saskatchewan. 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[transcription](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/transcription/) - [Transformative Skills](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/transformative-skills/) - [transparent assessment](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/transparent-assessment/) - [universal design](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/universal-design/) - [video](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/video/) - [WebEx](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/webex/) - [Wellness](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/wellness/) - [Wikipedia](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/wikipedia/) - [work for home](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/work-for-home/) - [worldview](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/worldview/) - [zoom](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/zoom/) - [UDL](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/udl/) - [Universal Design for Learning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/universal-design-for-learning/) - [Student Feedback](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/student-feedback/) - [outcomes-based assessment](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/outcomes-based-assessment/) - 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[participation](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/participation/) - [student choice and voice](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/student-choice-and-voice/) - [choice board](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/choice-board/) - [self-assessment skills](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/self-assessment-skills/) - [multiple choice](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/multiple-choice/) - [decolonization](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/decolonization/) - [(re)conciliation](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/reconciliation/) - [educational theory](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/educational-theory/) - [brain science](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/brain-science/) - [Neuroscience](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/neuroscience/) - [psychology](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/psychology/) - [New Quizzes](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/new-quizzes/) - [learning outcomes](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/learning-outcomes/) - [wellbeing](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/wellbeing/) - [learning enviorment](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/learning-enviorment/) - [prompt](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/prompt/) - [prompting](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/prompting/) - [generative AI](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/generative-ai/) - [Bing](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/bing/) - [Podcast](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/podcast/) - [storytelling](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/storytelling/) - [GenAI](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/genai/) - [b](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/b/) - [activelearning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/activelearning/) - [flexiblelearning](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/flexiblelearning/) - [flexibleclassroom](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/flexibleclassroom/) - [groupwork](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/groupwork/) - [instructionalstrategies](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/instructionalstrategies/) - [discussions](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/discussions/) - [educationaltechnology](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/educationaltechnology/) - [usasklteprinciples](https://sites.usask.ca/gmcte/tag/usasklteprinciples/)