TiF 2021 Opening Session: Keynote Speech (recorded)
Teaching in Focus (TiF) 2021 Opening Session: Keynote Speech
As many of us know, delivering course materials in a virtual setting comes with plenty of challenges. For those working in teacher education, this situation has been particularly complex. Not only are education faculty shaping the next generation of teachers, we are preparing them to work in classroom settings, step into classrooms themselves; a challenge that is similar across many disciplines in higher education. Meeting the pedagogical needs of this year’s cohort of student teachers has required more than a simple shift to online lessons—it has involved a complete rethink of how to effectively deliver our program. Using teacher education as a lens, this talk will share my reflections on teaching and learning experiences during the global pandemic, the insights that I have gained, and the ways that I am reconsidering my teaching and learning practice.
Speaker: Andrea Webb
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TiF 2021 Closing Session: Closing Keynote Address (recorded)
TiF2021 Closing Keynote Address: Using Anti-Oppressive Pedagogies to Disrupt Power Relations and Honour Student Epistemologies
Speaker: Dr. Andrea Davis
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In her closing remarks, Dr Andrea Davis challenges us to critically examine our teaching practices through an anti-racist lens.
Welcome to My Online Classroom: My Experience with R
My Experience with R
A first year course in statistics involves descriptive methods, theory, and a lot of calculations. R software is an open resource adapted to statistical analysis. My goal was to introduce R software in my statistics courses, taught for the first time. I struggled finding ways to facilitate communication via Zoom. I had to find a balance in managing the course content and integrating R in it. I found flexibility in many students' dealing with a new software whereas I noticed resistance in others. Overall, it was a challenging and rewarding experience. However, I realized that much work is needed to improve the courses’ communication, content, and student engagement.
Presenter: Professor Samia Challal
Welcome to My Online Classroom: Opportunities for Informal Chatting
Opportunities for Informal Chatting to Create an Enhanced Learning Community
The heart of foreign language courses is communication, including speaking, cultural body language, and pronunciation, and remote learning was challenging at first as we had no guarantee to be able to interact “face-to-face”. Since JP1000, “Elementary modern standard Japanese,” takes the lecture-tutorial format, tutorial leaders have very limited opportunities to change the course dynamically, and none in terms of scheduling and content. Still, because of remote teaching, we had some freedom to be creative, and I was able to develop new ways of communication with/among students synchronously and asynchronously, considering students attending the class in different time zones.
One thing we miss in remote learning from students’ perspective is chatting about learning topics with peers during class. For language courses, developing close relationships among students is very important, as the topics could be personal, and it is possible for students to be nervous about participating without a safe environment in which to make mistakes, particularly at the elementary level. To make the breakout room time effective, I gave various tasks using Flipgrid and Google Doc activities, some in breakout rooms and some as a whole class. Students worked on the tasks with their peers in and outside the classroom. During and after the tasks, I focused on giving feedback to each individual: scaffolding in class as they wrote and giving comments after completion in-class or after class. By doing so, students talked in their target language about themselves much more and I learned about my students more individually than in usual years, and used the information, such as their favourite things and day-to-day news, in conversations with them.
For the coming year, I’ll refine the tasks and the use of breakout rooms so that students will have opportunities to speak in their target language, even more than in in-person classrooms.
Presenter: Professor Akiko Mitsui
Welcome to My Online Classroom: Teaching Clinical Nursing - Shifting Gears
Teaching Clinical Nursing: Shifting Gears
Nursing faculty quickly adapted their clinical teaching to screen-based learning due to the pandemic as placements were cancelled across the region. Learning in a clinical course, typically means students would actively care for a patient in the acute care hospital setting. But the safety of the nursing students and our faculty was a paramount concern which lead to the alternative plans for clinical learning in a virtual method.
Collaboration and leadership were demonstrated by faculty holding workshops on how to design their clinical conference times. Support was offered to both full time and part time faculty through Zoom based webinars. Best practices in teaching and learning were applied related to teaching with screen-based simulation with an emphasis on the debrief. Baccalaureate nursing students in the medical surgical, pediatric and mental health courses were affected by this change in learning. To replace the clinical practicum the software program called VSIM by Laerdal, Wolters Kluwer and CAN-SIM were used. Faculty would schedule clinical meeting times for 2 hours a week through Zoom, to debrief and review the core concepts. Standards to pass the course were set at completing all the simulations with a s score of 90%, post-tests at 100%, with 100% attendance and participation. Students at the end of the term were also to submit an e-portfolio of evidences of their learning. Various active teaching methods were used such as jigsaw, visual images, video clips an mnemonics. Research and ethical approval to survey the students was obtained and the students were surveyed regarding their experiences.
Overall students were satisfied and saw the benefits to learning such as it enhanced their clinical decision-making, and communication skills. Students recommended that screen-based simulations be used in conjunction with future clinical placements to support the acquisition of nursing competencies.
Presenters: Professor Brenda Orazietti, Professor Mavoy Bertram, Professor Kristine Pedernal, Professor Archana Paul
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Welcome to My Online Classroom: Virtual Escape Rooms in Nursing Education
Virtual Escape Rooms in Nursing Education
In response to the rapid switch to remote learning and the need to create learning environments that support clinical judgement, this presentation will describe the use of a virtual escape room to assess and evaluate students’ learning in an effective engaging virtual classroom environment.
The Virtual Escape Room is based on the concept of cooperative gameplay and encourages participants to work together to achieve a common goal. Virtual escape rooms have been used by other disciplines to promote active learning and cooperative problem solving. We will review how escape rooms offer a virtual space for students to engage in active learning by finding clues and solving puzzles based on course content, foster communication and collaboration, and to demonstrate clinical judgment. Guidelines for developing and implementing virtual escape rooms will be provided. We will share examples of virtual puzzles aimed at different learning styles that facilitate priority-setting, clinical reasoning, and problem-solving skills to help develop clinical judgment. A demonstration of how students would use the answers to the various puzzles to unlock the virtual room will be shared with attendees.
Debriefing is incorporated in the escape room experience as a valuable place for students to reflect on their experience, analyze how they reached decisions as a team, and assess areas for further development and review. The virtual escape room game is an innovative and interactive learning activity that nurse educators can implement to help reinforce clinical knowledge, teamwork, communication, and assess and evaluate nursing student emerging clinical judgment. Lessons learned from the implementation of Virtual Escape Rooms will be shared with attendees.
Presenters: Professor Kristine Pedernal RN, MScN, CCNE, CCCI; Professor Andria Phillips RN, MScN, CCNE, CCSNE
Welcome to My Online Classroom: Sustainable Assessments and Flexible Journaling
Sustainable Assessments and Flexible Journaling: Two Experiments from 2020 to 2021
This year I included a sustainable assessment in a Graduate course, part of the M.Ed program. Students wrote book reviews which have been collated on a website. All books have a connection to Education, mainly Higher Ed in the genre of Campus novel. I also experimented with Milanote for student journals. The platform provides flexibility in use of images, texts - any file. The students rose to the challenge and produced some amazing results - which they are willing to show you.
Presenters: Professor Celia Popovic, Alessandra Di Simone, Kerry Greco
Welcome to My Online Classroom: Elements of the Perpetual Course Model
Elements of the Perpetual Course Model
Over the last 3 years I have been working through the AVPTL's office with Dr. Michelle Sengara to develop the 'perpetual' model of an online course. This involves setting up an asynchronous course where students are able to progress at their own pace. This involves use of a number of Eclass features to structure the course. The course also has a significant element of using best practice pedagogies, particularly in light of the fact than such a course will have minimal direct contact with and between students.
Three key element are: 1. The competency model and measurement of skills like communication and critical thinking, in particular using a standard rubric through out the course so students can assess their progress in different areas over multiple assignments. 2. The peer feedback. This was done using a recently developed peer grading software, with AI elements to improves the process. This also allowed for more effective use of TA time. 3. The latest iteration removed any exams, having a number of smaller assessment and a final major project where students submitted 4 assignments that each addressed the relationship between their topic and the different units in the course. These then form the basis of the final submission. These 4 assignments were peer reviewed by other students with the same topic for their major project.
Presenters: Professor Mary Helen Armour
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Welcome to My Online Classroom: Oral Presentations of Scientific Articles
Oral Presentations of Scientific Articles in the Virtual Classroom: Opportunity to Deepen Understanding and Strengthen Language Skills
As part of a 3000-level psychobiology course taught in French in the Department of Psychology at Glendon, students are usually asked to write an essay about the neurobiological mechanisms underpinning a topic discussed in class, and identify the particular contributions of a recent scientific study to the knowledge base on this topic. This year, as a precursor to the written component, I asked students to give a 10-minute oral presentation on the scientific article they had selected for their written essay.
The goals of introducing an oral presentation to the course were to increase interactivity in the online platform, decrease reliance on examinations as an assessment method, and give students the opportunity students to practice their French skills, which has been a challenge for some during the pandemic. This activity yielded many benefits. It provided a structured opportunity for instructor and peer feedback. This seemed particularly important in a virtual classroom where they are fewer opportunities for informal discussion and feedback, especially in students who are intimidated about reaching out to make an appointment with the instructor. In addition, the oral presentation required students to dissect more systematically the different sections of the scientific article to be able to convey clearly its ideas and meaning to the class. It improved the quality of their final written essays, which generally showed greater depth of understanding.
Finally, it was an opportunity to get students to showcase their learning in a non-written way and work on their oral skills in French. Interestingly, many students reported feeling less intimidated about presenting online than they would have in front of a real-life classroom so this activity had the added benefit of building students' confidence in their oral skills in a low-key setting.
Presenters: Professor Genevieve Quintin
Welcome to My Online Classroom: Welcome to University 101
Welcome to University 101: A Gamified, Remote Learning Experience!
University 101 was designed in response to COVID-19 as a remotely-delivered, team-delivered course. A pilot was first offered in Fall 2020 to direct-entry, high school students in the Faculty of LA&PS. Guided by York University’s Student Success Framework and Alf Lizzio’s Five Senses Model of student success (2006), the course aims to help first-year students effectively transition to university both academically and personally. It seeks to achieve this by building students’ connections with peers, and by strengthening their development of academic literacies and transferable skills.
Our pre-recorded presentation will provide a tour of University 101’s virtual classrooms, focusing on gamification (i.e., the application of game design elements, dynamics and framework) as an effective approach to eLearning. In their assessments University 101’s effectiveness, students indicated that their learning experience was enhanced by the course’s gamified approach to teaching skill development. By allowing students to earn experience points (XPs) rather than grades through the completion of activities and assignments (both required and optional), gamification provided the foundation for a more engaging course delivery while facilitating students’ achievement of the course’s learning outcomes. Our gamified approach enables us to consider how we can innovatively transform our virtual classrooms to motivate students to learn foundational skills, and encourage them to reflect upon their learning as a journey of personal and academic growth.
Presenters: Professor Anita Lam, Professor Natalie Neill, Professor Amy Kwan, Professor Ahrong Lee, Professor Heejin Song, Professor Maggie Quirt
New Practices I Will Carry Forward: Creating an Applied Example: Terribly Tough!
Creating an Applied Example: Terribly Tough!
ADMS 2511 Management Information Systems is a required course for the School of Administrative Studies Bachelor of Commerce. Our students have always had difficulty with the example-writing tasks in their midterm examinations. This difficulty was somewhat hidden in recent terms when the midterm had both a written portion and a multiple-choice portion. This term, however, students were aghast at the “low” average for the take-home midterm and could not be consoled by the high averages of their other assignments. Accusations of bell curving were flying. Pre-COVID, I offered individual one-hour appointments to help students assess their midterm exams in preparation for the final.
We now needed an additional tool to aid our students. So, I took 13 answers to one of the midterm questions and created a “Try Out Grading” assignment. Students use our criteria (relevant to the case and theory while differentiating) to evaluate the answers. The answer guide shows why (or why not) each of the answers earned a grade using the criteria and explains how the answer could be improved. The purpose of this assignment is to help students see how to build a better example by looking at good, poor, incomplete or incorrect answers of their classmates to help avoid the common mistakes of: using repeated examples, vague or brief terminology, concepts not clear or not relevant, wrong concepts addressed, or missing examples. In class, we used to do this task by having students work in groups to provide answers that we could all look at and learn from together.
With this assignment, I hope to provide some of that same feedback in written form. This presentation will examine this assignment and its role within the course to assist other faculty in examining the resources that they provide to their students.
Presenter: Professor Ingrid Splettstoesser Hogeterp
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New Practices I Will Carry Forward: Online Formative Assessment Tools
Online Formative Assessment Tools to Gauge Teacher Candidate's Comprehension of Course Content
This presentation will provide participants with a series of examples of formative assessment tools that were used in synchronous remote learning courses in Literacy, Drama and Pedagogy that helped to provide insight into Teacher Candidates' comprehension of course content. A review of the tech tools used, the focus of the tasks, and an explanation of how they were implemented will also be provided.
Presenter: Professor Claire Holland
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New Practices I Will Carry Forward: Utilizing the Backchannel
Utilizing the Backchannel
The asynchronous classroom is, in many ways, daunting. How do we, the instructors, ensure student engagement when we can't guarantee any sort of set schedule? How does the lack of physical proximity to students affect the ability to built rapport—both between student and instructor but also between students themselves? Within these challenges, however, have been opportunities to open up new channels of communication with and between our students—channels that I argue should be enabled within the in-person lecture hall, studio, and lab. In this presentation, I will share how I implemented these technologically-mediated backchannels and provide examples of how they might be brought into the post-pandemic classroom.
To begin, I will explain how I used synchronous tools during my Zoom lessons and studio critiques. In particular, Zoom Chats, breakout rooms, and collaborative notes documents helped me encourage students who might not normally participate in class to share their important thoughts with their colleagues. Next, I will highlight my use of Perusall, a collaborative reading platform, along with the aforementioned collaborative notes document to help students who are not able to attend synchronous sessions keep up with course content. Both of these tools became important ways to bridge the synchronous and asynchronous learners, but I plan on using both after our return to in-person learning.
I will finish with a provocation and a prompt. The former suggests that we need to be very careful choosing the platforms we use for these pedagogical techniques, especially as we prioritize student privacy and trust. The latter asks conference participants to share not only their own techniques, but their fears about implementing the synchronous backchannel. I hope this will result in a fruitful discussion about how to create a more inclusive and trusting classroom space for our students.
Presenter: Professor Gabi Schaffzin
New Practices I Will Carry Forward: Engaging Students through an UnEssay
Engaging Students through an UnEssay Project
In the fall (2020) semester, I noticed that fewer and fewer students were engaged in my course. Going forward, in the winter of 2021, I decided to create a semester-long creative project for students to ensure that they did not lose their interest in my class. I decided to tap into the creative, and suggested that students worked on an Unessay throughout the course, resulting in virtual conference in the end of the semester.
The goal of this assignment was to work as a group and create some sort of product students could give to a family member or friend to explain what they have learned in the course. The end product could be almost anything - a comic, a podcast, a painting. It just could not be a standard essay. There are multiple steps in the project, each scaffolding students' work and adding up to the final grade. In this pre-recorded presentation, I will explain how tapping into students' creativity worked to sustain their interest and combat zoom fatigue. I will also share some examples of the UnEssays created by students, students' feedback on this assignment, and some challenges that I faced as an instructor.
New Practices I Will Carry Forward: The Importance of Building a Community
The Importance of Building a Community of Learners
Because I believe that courses of study need to meet the learning needs of students, so they are seen, heard, and honoured; I have explored online resources with the support of IT at York to engage the learner. The important theme of my exploration of online ideas has been to build a community of learners to support the research that students need to interact with the course content to construct the own knowledge and understanding to make the learning theirs.
In my ongoing online teaching, I am continuing to successfully use 3-5 minute takeaway summary videos, team-building activities, and the Padlet and Zoom platforms to build a community of learners. Using Padlet, Zoom learning groups, and short 3-5 minute videos to recap the takeaways for that class, gives us time to learn together and get to know each other in the online Zoom environment. For my 15 presentations, the following examples will be shared. On-Line teambuilding ideas to support building safe respectful risk-taking learning environments. Padlet Interactive Input lessons leading to students constructing their own meaning, understanding, and internalizing the content for subsequent application. Zoom Collaborative group discussions (practicing Norms of Collaboration) 3-5 minute class learning take away summary videos ( rather than recording the whole zoom class).
Presenters: Professor Janette Holmes
New Practices I Will Carry Forward: Engagement in the Higher Education Classroom
Engagement in the Higher Education Classroom
In July of 2019, I joined EduCATE, a community of practice-based research group on the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and I started working on a project on the topic of “student engagement” in the higher education classroom. Now, with a whole a year of online teaching, learning, and collaborating under my belt, I am ready to share my experience at this conference.
In this short presentation, I reflect on new practices I will carry forward with a focus on student engagement and, also on experiential education, mainly in the online environment but also applicable to in-person learning. Some of the highlights include community building, a task-based pedagogical approach, creative assignments, and engaging teaching strategies that promote collaboration, creative thinking, communication, and creativity.
Presenters: Professor Mara Reich
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New Practices I Will Carry Forward: Collaborative Teaching Online
Collaborative Teaching in the Online Environment
Effective Engineering Communication (ENG2003) is a 2nd year course for students in the Lassonde School of Engineering. Enrollment exceeds 350 students with four sections and four corresponding instructors. The course includes flipped content given prior to weekly lectures, weekly quizzes, group activities during lectures and tutorials, assignments, term projects, and a 10% test conducted at the end of the semester.
Prior to this year, each section was taught by different instructors in separate classrooms. For the Winter 2021 semester, the four instructors decided to conduct a trial with full integration combining all sections and resources into one large class. The individual course sites on eClass were merged to facilitate this transition. A Discord server was also created to provide a sense of community and allow students to ask questions outside of class. The instructors rotated duties for each weekly synchronous lecture. One instructor was tasked with primary planning and execution. A second instructor was tasked with secondary support. The remaining instructors provided additional moderating and assistance when required. The weekly lecture was supported by flipped content posted in the prior week. Each lecture began with announcements and a brief review of the flipped content and quiz. This was followed by discussions with emphasis on input from all four instructors and Q+A with students. A live Kahoot quiz was introduced in this course for the first time and conducted each week with a prize for first place. Each lecture ended with one or two small-group activities for students conducted in breakout rooms.
The presentation will discuss the lessons learned from this collaborative approach to teaching and learning.
Presenters: Professor Kevin Gingerich, Professor Stephen Mattucci, Professor Reza Rizvi, Professor Tarek Rashwan
New Practices I Will Carry Forward: A Guide to Guided Notes
A Guide to Guided Notes
The virtual classroom invites course directors to rethink how students can engage with lecture material. In adapting my courses to the online environment, what I focused on is the fact that there is no "front of the room" in virtual space. Where, formerly, there would be a PowerPoint projected onto a screen and students clicking away to take notes on a separate device, these two points can now be combined into one -- which is to say, by foregoing the visuals of PowerPoints and lecture videos that simply recreate the divisions of the physical classroom in online space, course directors can instead opt primarily for audio-based lectures and put the functions PowerPoints used to serve directly into the platform on which students take notes.
In this pre-recorded talk, I focus on the technique called "guided notes" and how I have deployed it in classes at three different study levels. In their most essential form, guided notes follow the structure of a lecture, helping students to focus their attention by cuing them to listen closely to fill in crucial information as they go. Importantly, my use of guided notes has also allowed for other innovations in interactive and collaborative learning made possible through Google Docs (where students jointly work towards comprehension of a lecture topic). Therefore, in this talk, I will demonstrate what guided notes are and how they can be used in ways that optimize virtual space, clarify student focus, permit student interaction, and encourage student collaboration in their learning.
Presenters: Professor Tyler Totten
New Practices I Will Carry Forward: Making Stats PASSable
Making Stats PASSable, More Peers Less Fears, Peer to Peer Learning in an Online Environment: 3 Students and The Lessons They Learned as PASS Leaders
The Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) program is a high impact practice that has been shown to enhance academic success. Based on a Supplemental Instruction (SI) model developed at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the PASS program (aka SI) is offered at Calumet and Stong Colleges with the aim to improve students’ academic performance, enhance their study skills and perceptions of their abilities, and provide PASS Leaders with an opportunity to develop leadership skills.
There are several factors that make this program unique; peer-led, non-remedial and focuses on active participation. This presentation will demonstrate how three Peer Leaders who support statistics courses in the Department of Psychology adopted in-person PASS principles and practices to engage students in an online environment. PASS Leaders observed that many students taking statistics courses expressed having math-related anxieties, and they mitigated this fear by creating an online environment that promoted fun, active engagement and a focus on teamwork. Through self-reflection prompts and collaborative problem-solving activities, students steered their own learning process. The three PASS Leaders will reflect on their experiences and share academic skills and strategies that they incorporated into their sessions to further complement and enrich the student learning experience. Furthermore, they will share their perspectives on how their sessions kept students motivated to learn by fostering a sense of community and belonging during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A staff member and the College Heads will discuss how effective online practices highlight the opportunity for the expansion of similar peer-facilitated services across campus as a valuable supplement to class lectures in a post-pandemic world that promotes student success and equity.
Presenters: Agata Stypka, Rupkatha Basu, Gary Bold, Gennaro Quintieri, Professor Mazen J Hamadeh, Professor Jennine Rawana
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Something Worth Pondering: How Do You Successfully Transition?
How Do You Successfully Transition a Health and Wellness Program to 10,000 Students Virtually?
York University has identified supporting health and wellbeing as a strategic priority across all faculties in the 2020-2025 University Academic Plan. Calumet and Stong Colleges (CCSC) provide student success programming for undergraduate students in the Faculty of Health. Both Colleges are committed to promoting health and wellness by developing initiatives and training on mental health and wellness and advocating for a healthy lifestyle through optimum nutrition, healthy eating and physical education. The Health and Wellness program at CCSC takes a holistic approach to supporting students in the Faculty of Health. Guided by the Body, Mind and Heart evidence-based framework, the Colleges facilitate hands-on-workshops, themed events and program specific initiatives that address health topics such as nutrition, physical, sexual, intellectual, academic, occupational, financial, environmental, emotional, social and spiritual health.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the program operated out of the Wellness Lounge located in Calumet College 129 where students often stopped by to pick up health resources and participated in facilitated wellness activities. Additionally, CCSC partners with affiliated student clubs in supporting student success and wellbeing for Faculty of Health students. Peer Leaders from affiliated clubs facilitate various wellbeing events and activities throughout the year. This panel will include Peer Leaders, CCSC Health and Wellness staff and College Heads. With the transition to a virtual environment, the panel will discuss the highlights, successes and challenges in supporting health and wellbeing for the 10,000 students in the Faculty of Health on an online platform.
The session will begin with an overview of the Health and Wellness program, discuss how the program currently supports health and wellbeing, followed by Peer Leaders and CCSC staff sharing their experiences supporting health and wellbeing within their respective organizations and to the wider community.
Panelists: Abdulkhader Mohammed, Sonika Kumari, Ashim Sharma, Mahafarid Seddigh, Karen Rofaeel, Professor Jennine Rawana, Professor Mazen J Hamadeh
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Something Worth Pondering: Agents of Change
Agents of Change: Supporting Community-Oriented Student Initiatives in a Virtual Environment
York University has identified student success as a strategic priority across all faculties in the University Academic Plan 2020-2025. Calumet and Stong Colleges (CCSC) provide student success programming for undergraduate students in the Faculty of Health. Both Colleges are committed to an engaged student experience through high-quality and collaborative academic support, leadership development and recognition of achievement.
The Agents of Change program at CCSC supports the development and implementation of community-focused student initiatives. Students, often working in interdisciplinary teams, create their own personal, community-oriented, and health-related initiative – their very own “Agents of Change Project.” These initiatives address the social determinants of health within the community including, but not limited to, physical, mental, and sexual health. Selected projects receive funding from the Faculty of Health to help with start-up costs (up to $500) in addition to mentoring, training and networking support.
This panel includes Agents of Change Project Leads, CCSC staff, College Heads and key stakeholders. With the transition to a virtual environment, the panel will discuss how the Agents of Change program supported Project Leads in addressing community health issues and how Agent of Change projects were able to make an impact in the communities they were serving.
Panelists: Abdulkhader Mohammed, Kaysie Ngo, Dayana Davoudi, Rupkatha Basu, Gwyneth Campbell, Tatiana Espinosa, Mohamed Elghobashy, Julie Castle, Professor Jennine Rawana, Professor Mazen J Hamadeh
Something Worth Pondering: Student-Centric Curriculum Design
Student-Centric Curriculum Design
Calumet and Stong Colleges (CCSC) aim to inspire learning, leadership and citizenship among students, predominantly those affiliated with the Faculty of Health. Since 2015, CCSC have embarked on a strategic vision to build and sustain the leadership training opportunities of students in the context of post-secondary student success programming (Leadership Exploration and Development - LEAD). This panel will highlight the leadership training curriculum offered at the Colleges and how it was adapted and delivered in an online format.
Since April 2020, 545 students completed one of the following training programs: Emerging Leadership Training (ELT), Foundational Peer Leadership Training (FPLT), and Advanced Peer Leadership Training (APLT). Developing and delivering online training programs reinforced the Colleges’ commitment to student-centric design. Current and previous Peer Leaders played a significant role in the design, development, implementation, and delivery of ELT, FPLT, and APLT. All student participants had an opportunity to complete a survey after attending each training and the feedback was reviewed, considered, and often incorporated into the next iteration of the training program. This panel discussion will demonstrate how student engagement in the curriculum design process ensured the learning experience was relevant, timely, and responsive to the needs of the students.
One promising practice that will be highlighted during this panel is the importance of creating a safe space for students in an online environment. Since April 2020, the LEAD team has dedicated a portion of the training for students to reflect on and discuss topics such as the pandemic, mental health, and wellness, the Black Lives Matter movement, academic honesty, and their experiences learning in an online environment.
Panelists: Agata Stypka, Angelina Batac, Parisa Zargham Boroujeni, Professor Mazen J Hamadeh, Professor Jennine Rawana
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Something Worth Pondering: Training Peer Tutors to Check for Understanding
Training Peer Tutors to Check for Understanding
Calumet and Stong Colleges’ (CCSC) Peer Tutoring Program is a free, one-on-one academic service provided by well-trained, upper-year student leaders to help students understand challenging course content and develop learning skills. Run collaboratively by the Faculty of Health’s School/Department-based student clubs and CCSC, Peer Tutors offer academic support in an accessible and welcoming environment.
As part of a revamped training process, Peer Tutors were introduced to a structured six-step Peer Tutoring Session. Firstly, Peer Tutors introduced themselves, checked in with the Tutee, and provided a disclaimer that it was the Tutee’s responsibility to fact-check all information discussed in the session. Secondly, during Pre-Assessment Peer Tutors inquired about the challenging content for which the Tutees were seeking support, what was their base knowledge, and co-established goals for the session. During the Session Facilitation, Peer Tutors took an individualized approach providing space for Tutees to determine the format of the session. The Peer Tutors worked with the Tutees using various learning strategies to facilitate learning and understanding of the content. A crucial step in the Peer Tutoring session is the Post-Assessment where the Peer Tutors asked open-ended questions or introduced a short activity, such as a one-minute summary. Post-Assessment activities assess if the Tutee understood the topic. Peer Tutors would clarify information, review if goals were met, and create a plan for a follow-up session. During Closure, the Peer Tutors would thank the Tutees for attending the session and invite them to complete a feedback survey. Lastly, Peer Tutors would engage in a guided Self-Reflection to ascertain areas of strength and skills to strengthen in their session facilitation.
Whether future sessions return in-person or continue virtually, this model has become the standard for all Peer Tutoring sessions across the Faculty of Health. Audience members will have an opportunity to ask questions live.
Panelists: Bayley Tepperman, Serah Seo, Ravina Sankar, Melissa Castro, Pooya Golestan-Moghaddam, Stefanie Fiore, Professor Jennine Rawana, Professor Mazen J Hamadeh
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Something Worth Pondering: Virtual Group-Based Peer Mentoring
Virtual Group-Based Peer Mentoring to Strengthen a Sense of Community and Belonging Amongst Incoming Students
Calumet and Stong Colleges’ Peer Mentoring program connects all Faculty of Health first-year and transfer students to upper-year students who help support the transition into university. All incoming students are matched to a Peer Mentor who connects with them via email and live Zoom sessions in the months prior to their first term at York.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the challenges faced by students who began their academic journey at York this past year is the isolated nature of studying online from home, as opposed to being on campus surrounded by peers. Meeting others can be challenging in the age of Zoom where all communication is planned and intentional. Previously, the Peer Mentoring Program placed a heavy emphasis on the mentee-to-Peer Mentor relationship by offering drop-in hours and one-to-one appointments. Recognizing the obstacles of meeting peers in an online environment, we explored group-based sessions facilitated by Peer Mentors in an effort to build a sense of community and connectedness amongst incoming students. The first session was a Meet-and-Greet where incoming students could meet with their Peer Mentor prior to Orientation to receive tips for success from an upper-year student, ask questions, and connect other first-year students in their program.
Over 300 incoming Faculty of Health students attended a Meet-and-Greet session, sharing positive feedback and expressions of appreciation and gratitude. Group sessions continued throughout the year on a variety of topics including academic support and study strategies, resource sharing, health and wellness, and social gatherings. One-to-one appointments continued to be available for students wanting to meet individually with their Peer Mentor.
Panelists: Bayley Tepperman, Amaka Ekenkwo, Baraa Mohammed, Peyman Moghimi, Kelly Ong, Professor Jennine Rawana, Professor Mazen J Hamadeh
Click to view the 'Virtual Group-Based' panel discussion!
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Something Worth Pondering: Creating a Virtual Space for Course Representatives
Creating a Virtual Space for Course Representatives to Support their Classmates: A Panel discussion with Students, Staff, and Faculty
The Course Representative Program is a Calumet and Stong Colleges Student Success Program. Course Representatives work collaboratively to support course directors and academic programs, as well as share university resources with their peers. Course Representatives are well-trained students enrolled in Faculty of Health courses who make weekly class announcements to encourage their classmates to engage in their own personal and academic success, liaise with classmates and the course director to improve students' learning experiences, and organize unfacilitated study groups to promote healthy study strategies.
The Course Representative program shifted to a completely online format this year. In synchronous classes, the Course Representatives presented the weekly 3-minute presentations live via Zoom. In asynchronous classes, the Course Representatives posted pre-recorded videos of the presentations to their eClass course shells. This year, participating course directors created “Student Success” discussion forums on their eClass pages to provide a space where Course Representatives could connect and engage with their peers. The eClass forum was used to: a) Share the weekly presentations, b) Advertise upcoming unit, departmental, College, and university-wide events, c) Poll classmates to determine time slots to schedule unfacilitated study sessions, d) Provide a space for students to collaborate academically and share resources.
Data from 13 of the Fall 2020 term courses showed that nearly 70% of all students enrolled in the courses accessed the discussion forum at least once. In the Winter term, Course Directors activated the forum subscription feature (providing an opt-out option), notifying students when new content was posted. Data from the Winter 2021 term will be forthcoming. Study session data will also be shared.
Panelists: Bayley Tepperman, Parmin Rahimpoor-Marnani, Mohamed Elsayed Elghobashy, Nada Mostafa, Nour Nader, Professor Maxwell Barranti, Professor Jennine Rawana, Professor Mazen J Hamadeh
Click to view the 'Creating a Virtual Space' panel discussion!
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Teaching in a Time of a Pandemic: Les murs ont des yeux
Live Performances in Times of COVID - Les murs ont des yeux
Our video trailer is a student theatrical production that was performed using Zoom and streamed live on YouTube. With actors working at a distance from home, this show combined live action performances with animated illustrations and elements of a pre-recorded video project. We used an innovative approach to lighting, computer programming developed by students which allowed for the performers' personal computer screens to be used as the only lighting source while being accessed from a main computer at Theatre Glendon.
This production was part of a final course project for DRST 3640 Art dramatique : Texte et production, with help from students of DRST 3205 : Shadows and Fog.
Presenters: Professor Dino Goncalves, Professor Duncan Appleton
AIF Featured Talks: Using Online Tutorials to Introduce Psychology Students to R
Using Online Tutorials to Introduce Psychology Undergraduate Students to R: Lessons, Learnings, and Takeaways
This project aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of online tutorials (https://remindery.info.yorku.ca/) designed to scaffold undergraduate psychology students’ learning of the syntax-based statistical software, R (R Core Team, 2021).
The goal of this project was to understand students’ perceptions of and experiences with the tutorials, their effectiveness in teaching R, and their impact to student attitudes about statistics and statistical software. Participants were recruited across seven introductory statistics classes in psychology in the Fall 2020 semester. Participants completed a baseline survey about their attitudes toward statistics and statistical software before taking the three online tutorials providing basic knowledge of using R to calculate statistics (e.g., mean, median, variance, etc.). Participants then completed a knowledge test assessing their abilities with R following the tutorials as well as a post-tutorial survey again assessing their attitudes toward statistics and statistical software, and their perceptions of learning R through the tutorials.
Results generally support the effectiveness of the tutorials. Students demonstrated working knowledge of R after completing the tutorials, with 63.5% scoring a C+ (65%) or higher on the knowledge test and 52.6% scoring at least a B- (70%). Students also reported the tutorials to have been an effective way to teach the basics of R (e.g., “the tutorials were a good use of my time,” “the tutorials taught me an important skill/knowledge, etc.). Attitudes toward and anxiety about statistics did not improve over the course of the study, nor did attitudes toward statistical software increase. However, students did report increases in their perceived knowledge, skills, and capability to use statistical software from pre-to-post tutorial. This study supports the use of an e-learning approach to introduce undergraduate students to statistical software, knowledge that is built upon in later years of study in the psychology program.
Presenters: Professor Jodi Martin
AIF Featured Talks: Integrating First-Year Experience Programming
Integrating First-Year Experience Programming into a Large Introductory Mathematics Course
The gold standard of First-Year Experience (FYE) programming is the First Year Seminar, which has been extensively researched and identified as a high-impact practice. At many institutions, however, such seminars are far less common. An alternative model is to integrate FYE content into the academic curriculum. Challenges of curricular integration of FYE programming include cost-effectiveness, sustainability, student buy-in, instructor buy-in and loss of efficacy due to pedagogical restrictions.
We will present results from the first two years of a pilot study investigating the integration of FYE programming into a first-year introductory mathematics course. In Phase 1 (Fall 2019), 236 students enrolled in one section of a first-year introductory mathematics course were given the opportunity to complete up to five FYE activities and were formally rewarded with a final course grade re-weighting proportional to the number of activities they completed. In Phase 2 (Fall 2020), the activities were redeveloped based on student feedback and made available to 251 students enrolled in the same course. Students were formally rewarded with 5% of their final grade to complete up to 5 activities. In Phase 3 (Winter 2021), programming was expanded to 1124 students in a second-semester first-year engineering mathematics course, where activities were embedded in traditional assessments, rather than as standalone topics within the course.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the cost and benefit of maintaining the high-impact nature of such programming while embedding into the curriculum. We will present the results of a student survey and grade analysis that analyzed the student cost and benefit, demonstrated which activities were associated with stronger academic performance and suggested using activity completion timelines as a potential Early Alert metric.
Presenter: Professor Andrew Skelton
AIF Featured Talks: CVRRICULUM Program: Benefits and Challenges
CVRRICULUM Program: Benefits and Challenges of Embedding Virtual Reality as an Educational Medium in Undergraduate Curricula
The CVRRICULUM Program was an AIF-funded, IRB-approved proof-of-concept study investigating the feasibility and impact of incorporating Virtual Reality (VR) technology as a novel teaching medium across a number of York University courses.
Since the release of more affordable, portable, and easy-to-use VR systems, there has been renewed interest in using this technology in education, as an alternative to traditional learning. VR provides high-fidelity simulated environments that create a feeling of presence, effectively allowing the user to immerse themselves in (1) a virtual environment which creates opportunities for Experiential education (EE), for example through nursing clinic-placements, and in (2) someone else’s experience, which can be a useful tool in empathy-building, for example by taking the perspective of a patient/ caregiver. Despite the many benefits and affordances of VR, widespread adoption in post-secondary education has been limited, and gaps remain in the provisioning of detailed guidelines for implementing this technology in curricula.
In November 2019, our team ran a faculty development workshop that aided instructors to adapt a written-assignment into a VR-deliverable for their upcoming winter-2020 semester. A mixed-methods approach, including observations, reflections, interviews, and a focus group, describes feedback from both instructors (n=5) and students (n=19) on the use of VR in the course. In this talk we will describe the implementation process, report the identified challenges, and provide suggestions that should improve subsequent offerings.
Findings suggest that VR is a good tool for teaching empathy, and for creating opportunities for EE, but that additional work is needed to make its implementation into curriculum more efficient and effective. Our team addressed raised challenges by creating a set of resources available on the CVR-website (https://www.yorku.ca/cvrprogram/). We are actively collaborating with the York library to create a community-of-practice among enthusiasts so that the necessary resources will be sustained and scaled in the future.
Presenters: Professor Lora Appel, Professor Eva Peisachovich, Professor Don Sinclair, Professor Vlad Luchnikov
Click to view the 'CVRRICULUM' presentation!
Download a transcript of the 'CVRRICULUM' presentation (script TiF2021 Dr. Lora Appel.docx)
AIF Featured Talks: The Human Rights Praxis eBook
The Human Rights Praxis eBook
The project focuses on supporting The Centre for Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion (REI) learner cohorts through the dissemination of experiential education activities using Simulated Person Methodology (SPM), based on its effectiveness from prior research and ongoing program evaluation techniques. Our team has developed an eBook as a proactive professional skill-building tool for faculty, students and staff groups. REI facilitates a series called with Respect, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (REDI) training each academic year, which is grounded in the legal framework of the Ontario Human Rights Code and emphasizes the value of campus community members championing equity, diversity and inclusion principles. The eBook features case scenarios and workbooks to support learning about Human Rights and apply this eBook as an experiential education approach to teaching and learning.
Presenters: Professor Eva Peisachovich, Professor Lisa Brown, Professor Marian MacGregor, Professor Christine Sinclair
AIF Featured Talks: Using an Adaptive Online Learning Environment
Using an Adaptive Online Learning Environment to Assess and Improve First-Year Math for Economics
Two instructors share their findings on integrating an adaptive online learning environment, ALEKS, into a first-year math for economics course. The award-winning software includes an AI tutor that creates a unique learning path for each student. More than 600 enrolled students had the benefit of using ALEKS this academic year. Many of these students reported that the software increased their self-confidence. Their reported experience is supported with a statistically significant correlation between student activity on ALEKS and student scores on a calculus test later in the course.
Presenters: Professor Karen Bernhardt-Walther, PhD; Mauri Hall, PhD Candidate; Professor Robert J. McKeown, PhD, CFA
AIF Featured Talks: Bringing Canadian Culture into the ESL Classroom
Bringing Canadian Culture into the ESL Classroom: Connecting Students with Communities in the Context of Remote Learning
Playing a leading role in the Canadian and international institutional contexts, York University responds to the pandemic crisis rapidly by transforming all courses to an online learning platform. This AIF-funded project arrives timely to explore new literacy practices in motivating and engaging ESL students in remote learning through inclusive pedagogical approaches that incorporate multimodalities, experiential educational (EE) learning opportunities, and student-centered knowledge mobilization events in a redesigned EAP course “Thinking about contemporary Canada”.
This video-presentation discusses how innovative language tasks and assignments could enhance students’ academic trajectories and success: 1) The course introduced multimodalities in remote learning by inviting renowned scholars to present in webinars in which students benefitted from important insights of experts and representative voices of community members. During the webinar question-answer sessions, students exchanged knowledge and perspectives on relevant topics pertaining to anti-racism strategies and voices of immigrants, racialized and minoritized communities. 2) The course designed EE learning activities through a virtual fieldtrip to the Woodland Cultural Center in which students enriched their knowledge of indigenous community and fostered intercultural understanding through a rich dialogue with community partners. Students then worked on a blog assignment reflecting on their most striking experience about residential schools and replied to peers’ blog entries to share critical views. 3) The course ended with a synchronous virtual conference at which students presented in panels sharing their research inquiry project based on their findings, expertise and experience they have gained from the webinars and community visit. Students showcased their visual outline and final project and actively interacted with wide audience.
This presentation concludes with implications highlighting the effectiveness of multimodal practices, EE components and student ownership in learning that validate and affirm ESL students’ pre-existing knowledge, engage them in meaning-making processes, and empower them linguistically, culturally, and intellectually in the new learning space.
Presenters: Professor Jacqueline Ng, Professor Heejin Song, Professor Olga Makinina
Welcome to My Online Classroom: Maximizing Peer-to-Peer Engagement
Maximizing Peer-to-Peer Engagement in the Remote Environment
My presentation walks participants through the e-Class website of an advanced course in health policy. The course originally included multiple active-learning, student-centred activities (e.g., flipped classroom and jigsaw team teaching). Given Covid-19, all of them were adapted to a remote learning environment. The adaptation was driven by the goal of maximizing opportunities for students to interact with one another. This goal led to significant revisions of virtually all course activities and assignments.
I will focus on three salient ones - replacing minute papers with discussion forums, incorporating Google Documents during synchronous activities (e.g. jigsaw classroom), and transforming a major policy analysis assignment, “Shop for insurance in the USA”, from a paper to be submitted to the instructor to an interactive blog built upon “Database” that allowed students to engage with one another’s work.
Presenters: Professor Claudia Chaufan
Click to view the 'Maximizing Peer-to-Peer Engagement' presentation!
