“The electronic or digital portfolio is an ideal format for collecting evidence of student learning, especially for those outcomes not amenable or appropriate for standardized measurement. Additionally, ePortfolios can facilitate student reflection upon and engagement with their own learning across multiyear degree programs, across different, and across diverse learning styles while helping students set and…
Trauma-informed practices are not new in education, yet it appears we still have work to do when it comes to creating a compassionate community for all. The impacts of trauma on our students and on the university community as a whole are longstanding issues, but the events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic really served to highlight…
Introduction In any given classroom, students range from “here for the credit” to “here to learn as much as I can” with the majority lying somewhere in the middle. While there will always be students who are unable to engage, there are many who can be enticed towards deeper participation when given the opportunity. Open…
Now that we are in the endemics, I am certain that most educators have at least created one video either through a conferencing tool like Zoom or Big Blue Button, a talking-head video with a webcam, or a voiceover of a PowerPoint presentation. But have you ever thought how your learner engages with this content?…
One of my most enduring memories from my undergraduate years is a reading break project I participated in during my first year. I was assigned to a team of science students who would be volunteering in an elementary school in Vancouver’s Strathcona neighbourhood, close to the Downtown Eastside. I remember feeling surprised when I saw…
When seeking to expand your theoretical inspiration for teaching, it is sometimes hard to know where to start; and whether a theory you are exploring is applicable to the design in general, or better suited to specific stages in the selection, creation or delivery of content. This is something every instructor must decide for themselves…
As we enter each new semester, we look forward to greeting our students, anticipating their journey of learning and development, hopeful for what our students will achieve. In the midst of that hope, our expectations may be tempered with our knowledge, gained from past experience, that some of our students may not succeed. If only…
“Do I really have to buy the textbook?” That question echoed in my ears in my first semester of teaching at KPU. I lost count of how many times students would ask me if they really had to buy the textbook. Each time I answered “yes,” I felt uncomfortable. The textbook was expensive (around $100),…
You have a team project in your course this semester. Should you encourage students to form their own teams? Or should you put them into groups? Will it make any difference in the overall outcome of the project? As you consider your decision, you might imagine the possible results of each scenario. If you put…
In previous posts on Creative Learning, I summarized the spiral process of creative learning and the 4P’s: Projects, Passion, Peers and Play by Mitchel Resnick. In this post, I would like to contextualize some strategies that you can use to foster creative learning. Don’t forget to check out this open online course: Learning Creative Learning…