August 2024
2024-25 AVPA SoTL Grant Award Recipients AnnouncedRecipients of the 2024-25 Associate Vice-President (Academic) Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Grant were recently announced. Three projects received funding to support teaching and learning focused research that will enable our understanding of students' experiences and other factors that affect their learning outcomes. Please join in congratulating the successful applicants: The Power of Play: An Investigation Into Experiential Play-Based Learning in the Post-Secondary Context
The Impact of Academic Curriculum on Students' Social Networks, Engagement, and Well-being
Language Education for Social Justice
More information about the AVPA SoTL Grant can be found on the Office of Teaching and Learning’s website.
Recordings & Resources AvailableScaling Courses for Increasing Student EnrollmentThank you to everyone who joined us earlier in July and August for our Scaling Courses for Increasing Student Enrollment sessions. Want to rewatch a session, revisit a handout, or view the recordings and materials for sessions you were unable to attend? Use the button below to access the recordings and resources.
Leveraging GenAI for Teaching WorkshopsInterested in integrating Generative Artificial Intelligence into your teaching and learning practices? Access resources and recordings that explore common AI tools, enhance course design, develop AI use policies, rethink assessments, and empower both instructors and students in online courses. These sessions offer practical strategies to help educators effectively incorporate AI into their teaching practices. Use the button below to access the recordings and resources.
Leveraging Educational Technologies to Support Communication, Grading, and FeedbackInterested in learning about tools and technologies that can support communication, grading, and feedback in larger classes using tools such as CourseLink for grading and communication, PEAR for peer review, and Gradescope for both exams and written assessments? Use the button below to access the recordings and resources.
Keep an eye on our newsletter, LinkedIn page, and Events calendar for upcoming sessions and registration information. Meet our New Team MembersJoin us as we welcome two new Team members to the Office of Teaching and Learning and the University of Guelph.
Use the button below to learn more about Cara, Marsha and the rest of our team.
Registration Reminder: A Pedagogy of Kindness Book ClubDuring the Fall 2024 semester, the Office of Teaching and Learning will be hosting an in-person and virtual book club to discuss A Pedagogy of Kindness (Denial, 2024). Book club discussions are open to all University of Guelph faculty, staff, and instructional staff (including teaching assistants and sessionals). At each meeting, book club members will take part in a facilitated discussion of one chapter of the book and discuss your thoughts, questions or share experiences from their own classes. Register by September 17th. Space is limited.
Registration Open: Teaching Assistant WorkshopsAre you a new Teaching Assistant (TA) at the University of Guelph? Are you an experienced TA looking to enhance your skills in teaching and grading? Join us in September for a series of virtual workshops for undergraduate and graduate Teaching Assistants to help prepare you with the teaching-related skills, knowledge, and tools you’ll need to be successful in your TA roles. Faculty and instructors: Please share this information with your TAs and graduate students!
OTL Hiring Work-Study Students for Fall 2024Did you know OTL employs several undergraduate and graduate students throughout the year? We’re currently looking to hire new work study students to join the OTL team as Educational Development Resource Assistants and Educational Development Curriculum Assistants! Students in these positions work alongside an educational developer to support curriculum development, resource creation, conduct teaching and learning research, and support OTL events. Here’s what one of our recent work study students Sakhi Sanghvi shared about her time working as an Educational Development Resource Assistant in Summer 2024:
Specific job details and application requirements for the Educational Development Resource Assistant (Job ID: 128069) and Educational Development Curriculum Assistant (Job ID: 128071) positions are available to students on the Experience Guelph website. If you know of a U of G student who is looking for a work study position related to higher education teaching and learning, we encourage you to direct them to these postings on Experience Guelph. Application Deadline: September 02, 2024
New! UDL Guidelines 3.0Version 3.0 of the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Guidelines was officially released on July 30. UDL was created by CAST, a 40-year-old organization that applies learning sciences to reduce barriers and make education more accessible to all learners. In this new version of the guidelines, CAST consulted with international educators in primary, secondary, and post-secondary sectors. CAST sought to update the guidelines to acknowledge learners’ diverse identities, to foster belonging, and to strengthen collective, interdependent, and learner-centred pedagogical approaches. Furthermore, Version 3.0 encourages educators to acknowledge and understand how systemic biases create barriers to equitable learning. For example, in revising the guidelines, CAST asked how educators can consider the value of forms of expression of learning that have been historically silenced or ignored. Overall, the guidelines aim to raise awareness of biases in curriculum and course design as well as teaching practices. A side-by-side comparison of the previous Version 2.2 to Version 3 demonstrates how, through several years of consultation and development, CAST has enhanced the UDL guidelines. If you seek guidance on integrating aspects of UDL into your teaching and course design, please reach out to our Educational Developer Christopher Laursen at laursenc@uoguelph.ca.
Meet an Educational Developer
Educational Developer, Indigenous Knowledges and Pedagogies What pathway did you take to your career as an Educational Developer? She:kon! Hello! My name is Cara Loft and I am the Educational Developer, Indigenous Knowledges and Pedagogies from the Office of Teaching of Learning at the University of Guelph. I started my educational journey at Wilfrid Laurier University (WLU) with an Undergraduate Degree in Bachelors Health Sciences Program, minoring in Biology and Psychology. During my time at WLU, I worked as an Intern at the Indigenous Student Centre at the Waterloo Campus where I also began my journey as a Traditional Indigenous Hand drummer and Songkeeper. Afterwards, I attended Humber College for a Post-Doctoral Diploma in International Development, focusing on Community Development in Indigenous Communities. Through this program, I became an intern with Right to Play’s PLAY (Promoting Life Skills in Aboriginal Youth) Program where I helped facilitate arts-based programming with Indigenous youth in remote and fly-in First Nations communities in Northern Ontario. Realizing that Community Work was a growing passion of mine, I became the Indigenous Recruitment and Outreach Officer for the Office of Indigenous Initiatives at WLU. Within this role, I began to learn more about Indigenous communities' relationship with Post-Secondary Institutions and how to engage Indigenous community members. Following this wonderful working experience, I decided to move to work as an Administrative Program Coordinator for the Master of Social Work, Indigenous Field of Study Program at WLU. What interests you about teaching and learning? Within my Indigenous culture, we begin learning through observation at a young age. I began my formal work in teaching as a helper at Indigenous cultural workshops. Within my culture, being a helper is an important role that we will all take on at some point in our lives. However, I felt a dissonance between my traditional teaching & learning practices, and my Western teaching & learning practices. In using my inherent two-eyed lens, I aim to uphold Western ways of knowing, being and doing, alongside Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing. Decolonization of the classroom is my passion and I am interested in co-learning and positioning myself alongside other learners so that we can breakdown hierarchal systems of learning in the classrooms. I also enjoy moving outside of formal classroom spaces and onto teaching on the Land. My goal in teaching is to empower others to feel ownership over the connections they make with their knowledge generation. What advice would you give new instructors? Please be open-minded to new ways of knowing, being, doing and learning. Although working with different cultures, and cultural knowledge, can seem intimidating, it is uplifting work as well. There is the potential for social change when Indigenous ways of knowing being and doing are incorporated into postsecondary curriculum in a meaningful way. Use the gifts you have and don’t be afraid to be an Ally to Indigenous students, faculty and staff! OTL has joined LinkedInStay connected and informed by following our page for announcements about programming, workshops, resources, SoTL Snapshots, and all things related to Teaching and Learning at the University of Guelph.
For more teaching resources, to chat with an Educational Developer, or to unsubscribe to our newsletter, please visit our website at otl.uoguelph.ca or contact otl@uoguelph.ca.
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