October 1, 2013; 1.5 hours

with Dr. Jennifer Lund & Nicole Hanson, Student Accessibility Services 

Much progress has been made to ‘level the playing field’ for Trent’s increasingly diverse student population. The partnership between Student Accessibility Services (SAS), formerly DSO, and faculty has led to greater recognition, concrete efforts, and more effective accommodations for students with mental health disabilities. Ongoing negotiations, between our office and faculty, are leading to new forms of access and cooperation. 

This interactive presentation will engage, challenge and introduce you to new possibilities for thinking about classroom practices and forms of assessment. 

Our goal is to support you to gain:

• More confidence accommodating students with mental health disabilities
• A better understanding of mental health disabilities 
• Strategies you can use

Active Learning/Peer Review using Blackboard -- Two Years Later

October 9, 2013; 1.5 hours
with Sarah Keefer, Professor, English Literature 

In November 2010, Jacqueline Murray (University of Guelph) led a workshop on Enquiry Based Learning (EBL), and presented research demonstrating that students who, as part of their course mark, are given strategy tools and the opportunity to review and assess one another's work autonomously, acquire skill-sets more rapidly and in a broader fashion than students who learn passively with all learning and assessment flowing only from instructor to class. 
This workshop lays out a demonstration of an experimental component of ENGL 2100 which Sarah Keefer has constructed, using a large-registration adaptation of the EBL model proposed by Jacqueline Murray.  In her EBL application, Sarah Keefer shows how a large workshop may be divided into small-group “pods” that interact in both face-to-face and virtual settings, retaining control of their own rating and assessments. Five times a term, these students first read and analyse a posted exercise, then share their findings in random small groups, and finally, during the next 48 hours, post individual compiled notes from these discussions within their discrete "pod" on Blackboard, reviewing and peer-assessing two of their podmates' posts using a simple scale, and providing commentary and rationale for each assessment. The course instructor monitors student input each week and, where needed, comments privately on individual posts, but only collects assessments at the end of each course section, altering the assessment-translation-to-grade results as little as possible: thus this learning strategy belongs entirely to the students who are responsible for all aspects of it. The results of each set are then posted on Blackboard Grade Centre for students to see at each term's end.
 

Online Assessments: SafeAssign + Tips and Pitfalls

October 17, 2013; 1.5 hours
with Mary-Jane Pilgrim & Kelvin Conrad, Distance Education

View the "Online Assessments: SafeAssign + Tips and Pitfalls" workshop resources

This workshop explores the Whats and the Whys of assessments, the differences between assessment types, and the types of questions that are available. Grading assignments will be demonstrated, including a brief look at rubrics. 

Online options for final exams and exam alternatives will be discussed.

The event will also include a demonstration of SafeAssign; the Blackboard tool for recognizing potential plagiarism in academic papers and encouraging original writing. Instructors will learn how to create a SafeAssignment, review student submissions, and promote academic honesty. 

Online Components & Blended Learning

November 1, 2013; 1.5 hours
with Mary-Jane Pilgrim & Lillian Chumbley, Distance Education

View the "Online Components & Blended Learning" workshop resources

Blended or hybrid learning, an instructional delivery mode in which instruction/course communication is conducted partly online and partly face-to-face, has emerged as one of the fastest-growing and most successful instructional models in delivering flexible learning options for today’s learners. Its ability to be customized to fit learners diverse needs and to be designed to accommodate a variety of content can place blended learning courses and programs in high demand.

Blended Learning is a safe way for instructors to explore teaching online without launching a fully online course, and it offers a way to meet Net Generation student expectations for a more technologically enhanced and pedagogically diverse learning environment.

This workshop is perfect for anyone who wants to learn how to move some elements of their in-person course to an online format. We will look at the different tools and methods for migrating content and activities to Blackboard and beyond while considering the pedagogical benefits to doing so.

Blending Live Lectures and Online Seminars: Prospects and Issues

November 8, 2013; 1.5 hours
with Professors Stephen Katz (Sociology) and Elaine Scharfe (Psychology)

View the "Blending Live Lectures and Online Seminars: Prospects and Issues" workshop resources

This seminar is presented by Professors Stephen Katz (Sociology) and Elaine Scharfe (Psychology) and reviews their experiences in teaching courses that blend live lectures with online seminars.   Items for discussion include: a) evidence for the enhancement of student participation, b) the challenges to integrate lectures, seminars and assignments, c) differential student skills in accessing online materials, d) what is sacrificed and what is gained when live seminars are eliminated, d) how to encourage and control online inter-student interaction, e) demarcating privacy boundaries online, f) integrating online seminar work with other Blackboard tools, g) student evaluation results regarding blended course structures. 

Online Inquiry Pods: An Application of Enquiry-Based Learning in a Large Psychology Class

November 13, 2013; 1.5 hours
with Dr. Kateryna Keefer, Instructor, Department of Psychology

This workshop presents an adaptation of Sarah Keefer’s online “pods” model to a large Introductory Abnormal Psychology class. The model is built on the principles of Enquiry-Based Learning (EBL), where competence, responsibility, and community form the foundational ingredients of active learning. The Inquiry Pods are autonomous (i.e., minimal instructor involvement) online units of 3-4 peers, designed to create conditions that support these basic student needs. Four times during the semester, students engage in critical reflection of the target material in class (individually and in small groups), then post these notes in their Inquiry Pod and provide constructive feedback and assessment of one another’s work. The collaborative nature of these exercises creates an atmosphere of shared interests and mutual accountability, and the iterative process provides an opportunity to fully internalize the course material and to engage in mindful self-reflection (versus write, submit, and forget). Most importantly, the peer-review component fosters the sense of mastery and public accomplishment that accompanies this trajectory of positive growth. In this workshop, participants will have the opportunity to learn about the logistics of setting up and managing the Inquiry Pods, reflect on the demonstrated benefits and challenges of the model, and provide suggestions for further improvement. 

Strategies for incorporating active learning into your teaching

November 26, 2013; 1.5 hours with M.A. Xenopoulos, Associate Professor, Department of Biology

Active learning is a process whereby learners are actively engaged in the learning process rather than “passively” absorbing the material being presented. There is accumulating evidence that shows active learning increases student retention of course material and understanding of primary concepts. In contrast, passive teaching has not been found to enhance learning by students either in lectures, seminars, or laboratories. We will start the workshop by considering the definitions of active and passive learning and debating the pros and cons of active learning approaches. Following this discussion, I will present examples of active learning techniques that could be implemented into classrooms. The workshop will also include a discussion forum where participants will share their experiences of using active learning strategies in the classroom.
This workshop will have an interactive workshop format with presentations.

Meeting of instructors of first-year courses
December 5, 2013; 1.5 hours

This meeting will not have a set agenda, nor any formal presentations, rather, it will be an informal gathering of instructors who are interested in sharing their experiences in teaching first-year students.

Valuing Diversity

January 16, 2014; 1.5 hours

with Paul Elliott, Professor, School of Education and Professional Learning

Do you find that some students struggle to get the big picture? Concept mapping is a technique that enables students to make links between a range of concepts that may have been studied over several weeks or even months. It helps them to see that their subject of study is coherent rather than fragmented. It also allows them to rigorously test their understanding. All that is needed is a sheet of paper, scissors and glue or it can all be done electronically. As an added bonus, it can be a very effective form of assessment or even a way to plan your own teaching.

Teaching Sensitive Topics in Undergraduate Classrooms

February 13, 2014; 1.5 hours

With Dr. Melanie Buddle, Head, Gzowski College (moderator); Dr. Kristin Semmens, Guest Scholar, University of Victoria (panelist); Dr. Carolyn Kay, History (panellist); Dr. Kathryn Norlock, Philosophy (panelist); and Dr. Paula Sherman, Indigenous Studies (panelist)

Many topics of discussion are raised in undergraduate university classrooms that a student or group of students may find sensitive for particular moral or personal reasons; their religious views, their personal histories or level of comfort with graphic images, for example, may make some topics emotionally difficult to learn about, hear about, or see represented in slides or on film.

In some cases, the material being taught is difficult for all of us to contemplate, and as instructors we may find we are teaching subjects that are extremely sensitive for us as well as for our students. It is hard to talk to students in an open way while also respecting their various levels of discomfort (and our own) with topics such as residential schooling, euthanasia, or genocide.

How we approach these topics is one of many keys to effective teaching. The panellists will discuss their own classroom experiences with teaching sensitive topics and the context within which they raise these difficult subjects.  They will share some of their collective knowledge about how to effectively teach sensitive topics while respecting and empathising with the responses that students may have to what is presented.