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Newsletter Contents

• Save the Date for Celebrate! 2022 (and watch for our Call for Proposals) 

• Navigating Student Accommodations and Creating Accessible Learning Environments
• Exploring Active Learning
• Academic Writing Group
• Rethinking Research Assignments
• Writing Meaningful Exam Items

• Winter Speaker Series on Impact and Transformation in SoTL
• Book study: Promoting Social Justice through the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, edited by Delores D. Liston and Regina Rahimi

• Using Google Forms in Blackboard

• What is Active Learning?

Announcements

We're excited to announce Celebrate! Teaching and Learning at MRU will return on May 4th & 5th, 2022. Join us for a blend of virtual and in-person sessions celebrating the many contributions to teaching excellence and learning achievements by MRU's faculty, staff and students.


Are you interested in being involved in the Celebrate! committee to bring this awesome event to our campus?  Please contact Christian Cook (clcook1@mtroyal.ca) by Monday, February 7. 

Watch for the Call for Proposals - coming soon.  Visit mru.ca/celebrate for more details.

Upcoming ADC Workshops

ADC workshops this semester are offered in person and/or virtually. You will be provided with a Google Meet link (if applicable) and any other instructions needed for your session with your registration confirmation, or by email prior to the session start time.  

You can view available workshops and register for workshops here:
current list of upcoming workshops. (See also: calendar view). 

NEW!!!  Access our ADC Events and Workshops calendar to add upcoming workshops or events to your own calendar.

Follow us on Twitter and stay up-to-date on upcoming workshops and other ADC news!

Navigating Student Accommodations and Creating Accessible Learning Environments

Do accommodations and accessible learning ever feel like a journey into the unknown? Access & Inclusion Services and the Academic Development Centre have teamed up again to answer all your questions! To keep this session short and sweet, we ask that you please come prepared with your questions after reviewing the Academic Accommodations Faculty Handbook and/or the Academic Accommodations Faculty Handbook (for Virtual Deliver). 

Facilitators: Alicia Woloschuk (Access & Inclusion Services) and Andrea Phillipson (ADC)
When: Wednesday, February 2, 10:00am - 10:30 am

Series: Exploring Active Learning

Whether teaching remotely or face-to-face, active learning is an ever-present topic in teaching and learning. However, the question remains:  How can we go beyond a surface approach to active learning?  Exploring Active Learning is a four-session series where participants will explore active learning concepts, principles, and strategies. 

**Although one session has already taken place, interested faculty members are welcome to join the current group.

Facilitators: Luciano Santos and John Cheeseman
When: All sessions in this series take place on Wednesday afternoons from 1:00pm to 2:30pm as follows:

1. Overview to Active Learning - Completed
2. Active Learning Strategies - February 2
3. Applying Active Learning Strategies - February  9
4. Closing the Circle - February 16

Series: Academic Writing Group

Head into the weekend on the “write” note this winter by giving concerted attention to your scholarship on Friday mornings. During each 3.5-hour writing session, we will dedicate the first 30 minutes to an online, synchronous discussion about writing approaches and strategies. In the remaining time, participants will write independently in a location of their choice, with the opportunity to book a consultation with a writing specialist.
 
Facilitator:  Andrea Phillipson
When: Fridays, February 4 - March 25, 9:30 am - 1:00 pm
            (Join any time until March 25)
      
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Rethinking Research Assignments

How are your students engaging (or not) with the sources they cite in their research assignments? Approaching assignment design with an appreciation for students' strengths and experiences with online information sources can help encourage more meaningful engagement with information and develop students' digital literacy and critical thinking skills.
 
Facilitator:  Sara Sharun
When: Wednesdays, February 9 & 16, 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm 

Writing Meaningful Exam Items

Exams can be helpful in assessing not only retention of knowledge, but also some higher-order thinking skills. However, for it to happen, proper planning and design must be employed. In this workshop, we will explore some of the considerations and strategies needed to design exam items that assess higher-order thinking skills.

Facilitator: Luciano Santos 
When: Wednesday, February 10, 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm
            Thursday, February 11, 10:30 pm - 12:00 pm 

Winter Speaker Series on Impact and Transformation in SoTL

Guest speaker: Brad Wuetherick, Associate Provost Academic Programs and Teaching and Learning, University of British Columbia Okanagan

Drawing on their extensive experience as a researcher and institutional leader, Dr. Wuetherick will explore how the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning can impact the meso and macro levels of post secondary institutions.
 
When: Tuesday, February 15, 12:00pm - 1:20 pm 

Book Study:
Promoting Social Justice Through the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning,
edited by Delores D. Liston and Regina Rahimi

Liston and Rahimi’s (2017) edited book explores the value base of SoTL, addressing the potential for it to contribute to social justice in the academy. This book study will review a selection of chapters from the edited book, providing participants examples of studies that have addressed this topic from multiple perspectives.

Book available electronically here.

Facilitators: Dr. Cherie Woolmer and Dr. Chris Ostrowdun
When: Mondays, 10:00 – 11:30 am, February 14, 28, March 14, 28, April 11, and 25

Using Google Forms in Blackboard

Although Blackboard has a built-in survey tool, the results only show the anonymized results. 

Some instructors prefer to use Google forms linked from their Blackboard sites because it produces a useful spreadsheet. It’s even possible to show the results to students. 

Also, you can visit our complete suite of Sandbox resources.

If you find you need more assistance than our online resources provide, please email us at sandbox@mtroyal.ca, or if you have an urgent time sensitive issue, call us at 403.440.7002.

What is Active Learning?

The ADC has been exploring the concept of active learning (AL) with MRU faculty through its Active Learning Initiative (ALI), since 2017.  In this time, the initiative has supported faculty in designing highly engaging learning environments, developing strong learning communities in the classroom, and leveraging the impact learning spaces have on the learning process. We have also noticed several factors that might impact the adoption of active learning approaches to one’s teaching. One of these factors is the possible misunderstanding around defining what active learning actually is.

One of the earliest definitions of AL is offered by Bonwell and Eison (1991), who describe it as “strategies that involve students in doing things and thinking about the things they are doing” (p.2).  Ideas of embodied activity, critical thinking, and metacognition quickly come to mind. Nevertheless, this is quite a broad definition, making it hard to translate it into real practice.  Another widely used definition is offered by Felder and Brent (2009), who define AL as “anything course-related that all students in a class session are called upon to do other than simply watching, listening, and taking notes.” (p.2).  Sadly, this definition has been interpreted by some as a criticism of lecture as a mode of instruction, who consider lecturing a form of passive learning. However, Isemonger (2020) presents an eloquent argument founded on the premise that all learning is active, including that originated from lectures.  The fact that AL strategies can  be used during lectures provides further evidence that AL is not anti-lecture.

Another compounding complication resides on the difficulty in defining AL due to how different pedagogical practises are used across disciplines. Scholars in the AL field use and interpret discipline-specific language in different ways in an attempt to define AL; however, it is still possible to provide some generally accepted definitions and to highlight distinctions in the use of common terms (Prince, 2004, p.223).  Hartikainen et al., (2019, p.6) conducted a review of the literature surrounding AL and found that AL is a broad concept, most often referring to student-centred instructional methods that promote students to be actively involved with their learning. Therefore, AL is more a concept of instruction than it is a concept of learning (Hartikainen et al., 2019; Prince, 2004; K. D. Snyder, 2003).  In a separate review of the AL literature, Drew and Mackie (2011, p.459) defined active learning as any and all activities likely to be experienced by students in formal education, for example, reading, writing, listening, discussing, and problem solving through individual, peer, collaborative and cooperative activities, including using resources inside and outside the classroom.

Snyder (2003) offers what can be considered the most elegant definition of AL which addresses both the active and passive attributes found in the AL debate, “Active learning involves students doing something and taking the lead in thinking about what they are doing. It requires students to take a participatory role in learning, rather than adopt a receptive, passive posture in their educational investment.” (p.161).  Regardless of the definitions offered here, the spirit of AL is exposed through the notion of students ‘doing’.  Learning is best achieved through the individual’s active participation in the practice of their discipline of study.

If you wish to explore AL in more depth, consider registering for one of the ADC’s AL offerings that will be offered both in Winter and Spring.

Bonwell, C., & Eison, J. (1991). Active Learning: Creating Excitement in the Classroom. Office of Educational Research and Improvement. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED336049.pdf

Drew, V., & Mackie, L. (2011). Extending the constructs of active learning: Implications for teachers’ pedagogy and practice. Curriculum Journal, 22(4), 451–467. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585176.2011.627204

Felder, R. M., & Brent, R. (2009). Active Learning: An Introduction. ASQ Higher Education Brief, 2(4), 1–5.

Hartikainen, S., Rintala, H., Pylväs, L., & Nokelainen, P. (2019). The concept of active learning and the measurement of learning outcomes: A review of research in engineering higher education. Education Sciences, 9(4), 9–12. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9040276

Prince, M. (2004). Does Active Learning Work ? A Review of the Research. Journal of Engineering Education, 93(July), 223–231.

Snyder, K. D. (2003). Ropes, poles, and space: Active learning in business education. Active Learning in Higher Education, 4(2), 159–167.