UNews - David Hinger

ReSET on-campus resource a repository of innovative and effective teaching methods for all to access

trevor.kenney — Mon, 22 Apr 2024 16:27:24 +0000

What began as a working group focused on effective teaching methods during the pandemic has become an innovative resource to building a more inclusive post-secondary environment — and it’s open to teachers in all sectors of education.

ReSET (Resources to Support Excellence in Teaching), a collaborative effort to support excellence in teaching on campus, is a first-of-its-kind initiative led by academic staff and supported by the Teaching Centre at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge.

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses and public institutions were faced with restrictions to in-person gathering. ULethbridge was no exception. Academic course delivery pivoted to online instruction with an uncertain timeline as to when in-person classes could resume.

Specific focus was placed on teaching, particularly around accommodations, inclusivity and flexibility, explains Dr. Sheila McManus, history professor in the Department of History and Religion. Faced with these challenges, a taskforce of ULethbridge educators came together in 2020 to brainstorm ways to provide quality learning instruction in a blended environment. The initial goal was to create a plan for the Fall 2021 semester. Driven by the creativity they witnessed across the institution, the group agreed to continue the momentum.

"We wanted to seize the moment of heightened attention to teaching and create a baseline for excellence on campus," says McManus. “We all agreed to continue working to build something transformative for our colleagues, inspired by the excellence, innovation and inclusivity we had witnessed during the worst of the pandemic.”

David Hinger (BFA - Multimedia '03; MEd ’07), Executive Director of the Teaching Centre and Agility, says the original goal of the project was to highlight innovative teaching practices that were adopted during the pandemic.

“The ReSET project has become so much more under the leadership of Dr. McManus and the working group.”

What has emerged is a three-part project — defining the five features of excellence in teaching, sharing research to support these five characteristics, and an in-house repository of teaching resources. McManus says the ReSET project is unique to ULethbridge as it creates a shared baseline of language around teaching excellence and provides an open-access repository for academic staff professional development both internally and beyond.

“For a long time, there's been this notion that it’s harder to specify what excellence in teaching looks like. That's not true. We know what excellence in teaching looks like. It's actually very easy to define. So, we hammered out easy, accessible language for our colleagues,” says McManus.

The five features of excellence delve into the importance of caring about students and their success, inclusivity, adaptivity, and creating engaging learning environments and effective assessments. Each feature is supported by a research and resource list with suggested readings and videos.

The repository is a way to discover methods of “extraordinary teaching happening on this campus,” says McManus, and is searchable by various features. “If you want inspiration and ideas around assessments, course outlines or in-class activities, or if you’re new to teaching, or just want to see what your colleagues on campus are doing, we’re slowly building this repository of knowledge to draw from.”

Submissions to the in-house repository are being encouraged from ULethbridge academic staff to grow the resource base. Everything shared is protected under a Creative Commons licence as part of Opus.

“Whether it's a course outline, a really neat assignment that you did in class, or maybe it's a conference paper that you gave about your teaching, we're widely encouraging submissions from people,” says McManus. “Anything to do with excellence in teaching on this campus, if they’re willing to share.”

The nature of teaching can often be isolating, explains Hinger, so having an opportunity to share resources with like-minded peers can broaden the perspectives of educators and contribute to more successful outcomes for students.

“We don't typically spend a lot of time sharing with our colleagues what we're doing in our classrooms. This is an opportunity to share, which is really exciting,” he says. “It highlights for me the culture we have on campus as well, and that academic staff here are passionate about our students and passionate about teaching excellence.”

ReSET will be featured during two panels at the SPARK Teaching Symposium on April 24, 2024. At 11:45 a.m., members of the ReSET team will assist anyone wanting to upload their material to the repository. At 2:45 p.m., selected resources for first-year classes shared to the repository will be featured as part of a panel on teaching for retention.

Campus-wide effort prepares ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ for onset of new-look Fall 2020 semester

trevor.kenney — Tue, 08 Sep 2020 17:00:03 +0000

The way in which the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge will deliver its courses may be new, but as the Fall 2020 Semester begins this week, students can expect the same high-quality learning experience from one of Canada’s top-rated universities.

When classes open on Wednesday, Sept. 9, the majority of course delivery will be via an online format. Anticipating this would be the case, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ made the decision in late May to commit to providing the most complete online experience as possible to students and used the summer months to prepare.

“I’m proud of how our units from across campus have come together and collaboratively worked to support our faculty members so that they can be in the best position to present a great experience to our students,” says U of L President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Mike Mahon.

The Teaching Centre played a big role in preparing faculty members for the challenge of online courses, designing a number of tutorials and webinars aimed at enhancing online engagement. The Fit for Online: An Online Teaching Bootcamp, gave faculty members advanced strategies for teaching and student learning online, addressing issues such as how to build community and create student engagement, designing assessments and facilitating online learning.

“We also created and continue to offer a number of Shoptalk workshops on online teaching and learning,” says David Hinger, executive director of the Teaching Centre. “Our faculty members have really come together to support one another as we make this shift. Many created videos and FAQs for their colleagues and others have hosted Community of Practice Zoom sessions that cover everything from online assessment strategies to how to teach large classes or social sciences and humanities courses online, for example.”

For students, undergraduate and graduate, there is no denying the U of L experience will differ from what was before, but every effort has been made to ensure they still feel connected to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community.

“We’ve worked hard to create an online experience that will give our students the academic rigour they expect from a U of L education, as well as the personal and supportive relationship with their instructors,” says Dr. Erasmus Okine, provost and vice-president (academic). “There are new platforms that allow our students to connect with their professors and with one another. It’s important to feel that connectedness, something that has been a hallmark of a U of L education and something that will remain.”

That means finding new ways to offer the valuable support systems that nurture students throughout their academic journey.

“Student Affairs and many other teams across the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ have worked together to ensure students will continue to benefit from a full range of top-quality support services, including counselling, health services, study spaces, tutors and learning strategy support, and more,” says Kathleen Massey, the associate vice-president (students). “Some supports will be offered exclusively online and others will be offered both in-person and virtually. As well, online learning strategy sessions have been offered to students throughout the summer to help prepare them for online courses this fall.”

The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ realized a robust participation rate in its virtual New Student Orientation sessions, and had excellent uptake from students for its preparatory academic advising Zoom sessions.

Meanwhile, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s Information Technology Services team was busy transitioning the Moodle learning management system to new hosting in the Alberta Learning Management Cloud. Moving Moodle to the cloud will improve the student experience by making this important service more robust, resilient and responsive to the increased demand online learning will create. Participation in this consortium of Alberta post-secondary institutions, backed by Amazon Web Services (AWS) which powers some of the largest sites on the Internet including Netflix and Amazon.com, also supports improved collaboration and efficiencies of scale within Alberta post-secondary which is critical in current fiscal times.

The IT Services team also migrated all students to the Microsoft Office 365 email, calendar and collaboration platform this summer, alongside existing faculty/staff accounts. Having students on the same platform as faculty simplifies collaboration inside and outside of classes which is especially important in a semester that is being delivery mostly online.

Some in-person and experiential courses will continue in the fall term, everything from laboratory-based science courses to fine arts studio courses and health sciences offerings such as nursing and addictions counselling. As well, nearly 300 students will be living in residence on the Lethbridge campus.

A new phone app, uLethbridge Safe, has been designed as a mobile safety application that provides quick access to numerous services and information for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ community. One of its main features is a COVID-19 daily health check, required for anyone entering campus buildings, as well as a Safe Walk feature that can be used regardless of location.

“It will be different in some respects but the majority of what we do and have always done will still be taking place,” adds Mahon. “Students will still have access to all the supports they have come to know, and we are pushing ahead with new initiatives as well.”

This month will see the launch of Career Bridge: Centre for Work-Integrated Learning and Career Development, a new initiative designed to elevate work-integrated learning opportunities for students.

“First and foremost, with every decision the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ has made, the health and safety of our students, faculty and staff has come first. Public health protocols are built into every experience,” adds Mahon. “While it may not look like business as usual, our researchers are still pushing the boundaries with their work, our students will be challenged and rewarded through their class experiences, and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ will continue to be a major contributor to the economic and cultural vibrancy of southern Alberta.”

President's Awards celebrate outstanding service

trevor.kenney — Fri, 06 May 2016 19:58:50 +0000

The President's Awards for Service Exellence were handed out at the annual Long Service Awards & Retiree Recognition celebration on May 4, 2016, and once again they reflect some of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's most outstanding individuals and teams.

The award winners are listed below.

Teaching Centre Staff - Team

Said to be one of the most positive and upbeat places on campus, the Teaching Centre is home to a team that consistently provides exceptional service and support to those who teach at the U of L. Committed to customer service and creating a sense of ‘home’ on campus for instructors, the Teaching Centre is a highly valuable, yet rarely celebrated, resource that enhances the teaching experience and the impact our teaching staff has on students.

The Teaching Centre staff form a powerhouse; each member performs a crucial role to support the whole. First point of contact Jill Payant organizes events, triages questions and concerns; provides administrative assistance and all other duties as assigned; Bernie Wirzba and Victoria Holec strive to improve the effectiveness of learning environments; John Kometz and Alyssa Di Rocco support and keep Moodle and other technologies running; Tyler Heaton evaluates and supports classroom technologies; Brad Reamsbottom organizes events and works collaboratively with Glenda Martens to develop the many publications of the Teaching Centre such as the ‘Light on Teaching’ Magazine; Todd Doucette's work in video production has expanded the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s reach into the broader Lethbridge community through his Ed Talks TV show airing regularly on Shaw; Doug Orr and Jeff Meadows' work with faculty, graduate students and instructors to provide support for their teaching; and David Hinger’s remarkable leadership empowers those he works with to take initiative and go above and beyond their job requirements. This is a group of individuals fully dedicated to teaching excellence and customer service.

This remarkable team provides exceptional service to the community, works together to help advance one of the central functions of this university, and is committed to innovation and leadership. All this is done with a spirit of professionalism, enthusiasm and genuine passion for this institution.

Rosemary Howard - APO

A proud ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge graduate, Rosemary Howard (BASC ‘73) began working full time in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Library in January of 1973 and shortly thereafter moved into the Interlibrary Loan department.

Rosemary has led the interlibrary loan team at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ for more than 40 years. She works diligently to find research, articles and books for students and faculty members. Rosemary is known for her ability to acquire the “almost impossible” for members of the university community. She has requested and received interlibrary loans for very rare and difficult-to-locate materials, found titles in foreign languages, and found and requested items from libraries all over the world. Rosemary is quite the detective; it is a rare request that goes unfilled. She can track down incomplete citations, make sense of improper bibliographic information and find items that have been mis-shelved for years. She leaves everyone with the feeling that she and her team did everything they could to meet the research request.

The technology in libraries has changed dramatically since the 1980s. This is no less true than in the field of interlibrary loans. From a world of paper catalogues, fax machines and postal mail, to one that employs integrated systems to deliver content directly to email inboxes, Rosemary has moved with the times. Through all the changes, she has adapted and evolved with the environment — learning and mastering the new technologies critical to successful outcomes in her work to become one of the best in her field.

Jadranka Smiljanec - AUPE

As a housekeeper with Housing Services for 30 years, Jadranka (Jay) Smiljanec is an unsung hero who demonstrates an inspiring work ethic and positive attitude. She truly cares for the students who live in residence, and takes on physically demanding tasks to ensure the health and well-being of our residents. Her efforts have a direct impact on the reputation of our institution, and are deeply connected to resident satisfaction and success.

Since joining the Housing Services team in 1986, Jay has witnessed tremendous growth and change at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. From one residence building with 200 students living on campus to seven buildings housing more than 1,000 residents, Jay continues to arrive every morning with a smile on her face and the resolve to tackle the never-ending task of keeping residence clean. Jay has been quoted as saying, “I do love what I do because of the ‘before’ and ‘after’. I feel so much better just seeing it all clean.”

When asked about working with Jay, colleagues all share similar experiences —they are warmly welcomed, respected and appreciated. Jay has provided both professional training and valuable life lessons with hundreds of housekeeping employees, and is a true constant in an industry with high turnover rates.

Jay truly cares for residence students and contributes positively to on-campus student life. She treats our students as her own family and treats our living spaces as if they were her home. She is a motherly figure and a tremendous role model for residents and Residence Assistants.

Jay is someone you meet and never forget. Between her naturally welcoming presence, her willingness to go out of her way to smile and say hello, and her highly sought-after baklava, she is integral to the residence experience and the Housing Services team.

Aaron Tamayose - APO

As manager of the Accommodated Learning Centre, Aaron Tamayose (BA ’09) serves students with enthusiasm, caring and open-mindedness. Aaron ensures students are connected to learning supports, receive necessary accommodations and have access to a myriad of funding resources. He works tirelessly to guarantee that all students supported by his team are treated equitably, with esteem and dignity.

Aaron is thorough, patient and compassionate; he is able to quickly assess when adaptations are needed in a variety of situations. His passion for assisting people is apparent when interacting with students of varying disabilities and mental health concerns. In fact, Aaron treats everyone — students, parents and employees — with integrity and respect regardless of circumstance.

A passionate alumnus, Aaron is deeply committed to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. From his determined quest for knowledge to his ambitious involvement with multiple committees and organizations, Aaron's professionalism and dedication to the U of L is exemplary. Some of the groups Aaron is involved with include: the People Plan, Disability Parking working group, multiple subcommittees for mental health programs, co-chair of the Harassment and Discrimination consulting group, and the anticipated Integrated Post-Secondary Experience Program.

In addition to the work arising from his position and his volunteer responsibilities, he is actively pursuing a master's degree in counselling psychology.

New SCALE-UP classroom may define future of active learning

trevor.kenney — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 22:05:45 +0000

A new learning experience has arrived at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge with the opening of the first SCALE-UP classroom, a student-centred and active learning environment space designed for student success.

The rooms feature d-shaped tables positioned around the perimeter of the classroom, each with access to a monitor that is mounted on the wall.

The acronym SCALE-UP refers to a Student Centred Active Learning Environment with Upside-down Pedagogies. What it means is a flipping of the way in which content is delivered and utilized, with the goal of promoting a classroom environment focused on active learning.

“Rather than using classroom time to deliver material to students, the SCALE-UP philosophy calls for the majority of the background reading to be done prior to class,” says David Hinger, director of the Teaching Centre. “By doing this, class time can then focus on engaging students in more active approaches through problem-based learning or group-based activities.”

The SCALE-UP room is designed to support these activities. The rooms feature d-shaped tables positioned around the perimeter of the classroom, each with access to a monitor that is mounted on the wall. Students can project their tables’ content onto the wall for the entire group to see, while an instructor, who is positioned at a centre station in the room, also has the ability to display content and can override all monitors.

Students commonly work in teams of three, but also engage in a larger group of nine. Roles, regularly rotated, are assigned within each team, allowing each student to contribute to the group dynamic in a different way.

The initial SCALE-UP room is serving as a pilot project that could shape the way future classrooms are designed. The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ is currently in the planning phase of the Destination Project, a transformational endeavour that features the construction of a new Science and Academic Building. The lessons learned from the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s first SCALE-UP room could create a blueprint for the design of classrooms in the new building.

“The objective of the pilot project is to research the effectiveness of this type of learning environment and to evaluate the learning experience for both students and faculty,” says Hinger. “This project will help to inform the type, size and number of classrooms that will need to be created and, as such, is an investment in the future of learning at the U of L.”

For more information on the SCALE-UP classroom and other experimental classrooms being researched at the U of L, visit the U of L Learning Environment Evaluation website.

Further insight is available by viewing the SCALE-UP classroom grand opening video.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ in transition to Moodle

trevor.kenney — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 23:07:19 +0000

You've seen the teaser advertisements around campus for months now – Moodle is most definitely coming. But what is Moodle, why is it on the way and how can we make the most of it?

The Moodle transition is the final stage of a Learning Management System (LMS) migration being undertaken by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's Curriculum Re-Development Centre (CRDC). It's a massive project that will see the U of L replace the Blackboard/WebCT environment it has been operating in since 1999.

"We're very excited about the move to Moodle," says David Hinger, director of the CRDC. "Moodle is a very powerful tool designed to do many of the things you'd want to do in a face-to-face classroom in an online environment. It really takes advantage of the blended learning theory of education as it allows instructors to put delivery of their content within Moodle, so that they can really take advantage of face-to-face time in class."

The move to Moodle was precipitated by changes within the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's previous LMS. The U of L had been using WebCT since 1999, but in 2005, Blackboard Inc. took over the company and has since ceased providing updates to the WebCT product. The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ therefore was forced to look at moving to a new LMS, whether it was to a Blackboard Learn LMS or some other product. A faculty steering committee was struck and Moodle emerged as a clear winner.

Hinger describes an LMS as, "an extension of your face-to-face course. It's a simple way to provide resources and activities, and to have an online presence for your teaching and learning needs."

The reasons the U of L decided to move to Moodle are many, including its design as a constructivist pedagogical model as opposed to Blackboard's content management system approach.

"Moodle is very much built the way educators sit down and design their courses," says Hinger. "It's very simple and intuitive, with a lot less clicking then what you'd do in Blackboard."

The steering committee also found that Moodle was the choice of incoming students, as more than 80 per cent of students had been exposed to a Moodle learning environment in high school. Add in the fact that it is an open source program that lends itself to customizable features, and Moodle seems like the perfect fit for the institution's teaching and learning needs.

"Being an open source program, if there are features that aren't there, we can build them," says Hinger. "If we identify unique needs for our faculty, we can build things within the Moodle environment to do what they need it to do."

The move to Moodle has already begun, with two courses used in the Fall 2010 Semester as part of a pilot program. Currently, 50 courses have been constructed in Moodle, utilizing the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's testing centre and including every manner of course, from art history to management. Feedback from instructors has been positive.

"Those who have had a chance to work with it so far have found it very user-friendly," says Hinger. "But we aren't going to throw instructors to the wolves, we're very committed to providing whatever support they need to use this product. A lot of instructors have looked at this as an opportunity to redesign what they are doing in an online environment and finding it a very valuable exercise. We'll assist them any way we can."

The CRDC will continue to support Blackboard/WebCT through the 2010-2011 academic year, with full implementation of Moodle scheduled for Fall 2011 and the 2011-2012 academic year.

To learn more about Moodle and the LMS migration process, go to the CRDC website at www.uleth.ca/crdc

GET THE FACTS

• The CRDC will be offering workshops to assist instructors with Moodle. As well, an online pool of resources is currently being created.

• The U of L is one of the first in Canada to move to this newest version of Moodle 2.0, which was just fully released in November 2010.

• The U of L previously had 640 courses (70 per cent) operating in Blackboard/WebCT, with over 6,000 students utilizing the program.

• Other features of Moodle include the ability to embed videos, moderate virtual chats and forums and conduct online exams.

UNews - David Hinger

ReSET on-campus resource a repository of innovative and effective teaching methods for all to access

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