11:15 am - Viz Lounge

Innovative Learning Spaces at RLLC

Sarah Stephens, Kerry Harmer, John Cheeseman, Luciano Santos 

Opened in Fall 2017, the Riddell Library and Learning Centre is a state-of-art facility that houses many specialized teaching and learning spaces. In this panel presentation, we will focus on three of such spaces: the Maker Studio, the Visualization Lounge and Classroom, and the Active Learning Classroom. Panelists will introduce the spaces, comment on what each space affords in terms of teaching and learning, and highlight how instructors have taken advantage of the spaces’ affordances to facilitate learning among students. Participants will then discuss how they can use these spaces for their teaching. 

11:15 am - EL 1441

Online Tutorials: A Flipped Classroom Approach

Gerry Landreville

Much has been written about the flipped classroom which typically describes the model of moving the lecture portion of the class outside the classroom and homework into the classroom. In this presentation, you will discover the many advantages to utilizing the flipped classroom model for both students and instructors. We will learn how moving from a passive learning style to a more active [ or interactive ] form allows for greater classroom collaboration and peer problem-solving. You will also learn about how the role of the instructor changes with this new model. Come see how technology can provide opportunities to learn through activities! 

11:15 am - EL 1451B

Visual Note-Taking

Linda Jennifer Neilson 

How to use Visual Note-taking to improve your Learning Outcomes. This presentation will explain how I use creativity to successfully engage my students - VNT works particularly well when lecturing on difficult concepts and theories. I will first explain why I began doing VNT and how it has transformed my classes in a positive way. I will then discuss my process: 

• How I prepare for the VNT lecture - what topics may work - how to decide.

• What information I give to my students to help them prepare. *What I expect my students do before the presentation.

• How to set parameters for the talk and their work.

• What I do on the day of VNT.

• How to grade your students’ work.

I will also show the work that has been created in my classes and explain what has worked and what has not worked. 

1:15 pm - Viz Lounge

Facilitating Learning: The Student Experience   

Catharine Lindland

In post-secondary institutions, students play a crucial role in contributing to the success of their peers. By sharing knowledge, experience, and personal strategies, students help others navigate the transition to university, learn challenging course content, and develop practices to get the most out of their post-secondary education. In this presentation, MRU students will share their experiences of contributing to the learning and success of their peers. This panel will feature students who have worked with Student Learning Services as Learning Peers, Peer Mentors, and workshop facilitators, both for the student-led Editing Your Grammar workshops and the Iniskim Student Success workshops. Each of these roles offers student leaders the opportunity for self-reflection as they explore their own academic journeys. The panelists will discuss the training and guidance they received while undertaking these roles, the insights they have gained while working with other students, and how these leadership experiences have contributed to their own development as learners. 

1:15 pm - EL 1441

Caring About Student Self-Care  

Patricia Kostouros, Deb Bennett, Kandi McElary

Effective teaching and learning in the post-secondary context requires teachers to concern themselves with more than academic expectations. As students enter the university system, it is easy for them to become overwhelmed and taxed. Student wellness and its impact on academic success requires attention. Students can engage in meaningful ways and experience better mental health when we attend to, and provide tools for managing stress.

As members of the educative community who were already concerned about student wellness, we saw an opportunity to use an existing stress reduction and resilience building tool as a part of our course curriculum. The Breathing Room™, is an award winning mental health program developed by the Canadian Institute for Natural and Integrative Medicine that was adopted by our university and is available on the Wellness Services webpage. We recently completed a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning study exploring the impact of the BreathingRoom™ when used as a teaching and learning tool. Currently in our second SoTL study, we are exploring additional self-care tools that can be utilized in our courses. 

During the session we will share how we have integrated self-care tools within our curriculum and what we have learned from students. Student experiences using the BreathingRoom™ will also be shared. This session will offer participants the opportunity to collaborate and discuss ways to support and foster student wellness in their classrooms and communities.

1:15 pm - EL 1451B

Open Educational Resources, Teaching and Learning Mathematics 

Pamini Thangarajah

Removing financial barriers to undergraduate education is crucial, and the creation of open educational resources (OER) will directly help. And not only would the resources developed benefit the students as they are taking the class, but also by making the material open, it could be used by other faculty and students, not only at your institution but beyond. In an appreciation of my financially unburden educational experience, I have explored what I can do to help the students to access the required learning materials. There is no open text(s) available that can be used for these courses. To this end, I have created the resources in an open educational environment. In this session, I will be walking you through my experience of creating and using open educational resources for a mathematics course at the Mount Royal University, Calgary. 

1:55 pm - Viz Lounge

Leading From Wherever We Are  

Miriam Carey, Natasha Reynolds, Scott Hughes

Almost four years ago, Miriam Carey (a Professor in Economics, Justice, and Policy Studies) had the opportunity to attend a leadership course with a unique focus on the ontological rather than the epistemological development of leaders (or, if you prefer, empowered human beings!). At the time, she was contemplating how to introduce this material to faculty colleagues, and has subsequently offered this course to three classes of students (approximately 100 students) in a GNED foundation course as well as two groups of staff and friends of the Student Affairs and Campus Life (SACL) division (60 persons). This winter term, this leadership course is being offered to colleagues in Continuing Education (45 persons). 

Miriam has been joined in this new conversation about leadership by staff colleague Natasha Reynolds (Manager, Operations and Administration, Residence Services) and faculty colleague Scott Hughes (Assistant Professor, Department of Education), both of whom completed the faculty development training last summer, Creating Course Leaders. We have created a cross-divisional collaborative team dedicated to increasing access to this course for whomever is interested in exploring its potential. We have also been encouraging interested staff and faculty to join us at an academic offering of the leadership course at UCLA late this July in which the faculty development programme will also be offered. In short, we want to extend and deepen this leadership experience within MRU and invite other like-minded colleagues to join us in leading from wherever you are.  

1:55 pm - EL 1441

Mindfulness in Academic   

Nicole Libin

The rate of undergraduate students reporting feelings of “overwhelming anxiety” and “overwhelmed” in general are 65.5% and 91.2% respectively. We want our students to focus and concentrate but we rarely give them tools for how to do that. We ask our students to think critically but often fail to recognize that their stressors and anxiety overwhelm any ability to see what’s in their own minds, a prerequisite for critical thinking.

The practice of mindfulness is about seeing that there are two things happening in every moment: what's happening and my relationship to what's happening. We often cannot change the former but if we can see it, we can choose how to be with it and that makes all the difference. In class, mindfulness is about helping students see how they are relating to their work, their peers, their stress, and mostly, their own minds. Mindfulness primes students to be able to learn. It also fosters less reactivity, less stress, more empathy and emotional regulation, and less anxiety–all of which students desperately need.

This presentation, which arose from the positive reports of students themselves, will showcase how incorporating mindfulness into a course can transform an academic requirement into a life changing experience. We will explore simple mindfulness practices and relevant discussion, tools students can use both in the classroom and beyond. The session will share ways to move beyond academic delivery in the classroom to foster resilience and mental well-being. 

1:55 pm - EL 1451B

How I Focus Students on Their Learning Rather Than Their Marks   

Todd Nickle

In past years, students' obsession with grading has been observed to interfere with their focus on skill development (Schinske & Tanner, 2014). Specifications Grading has been offered as a method to bring the focus back to the skills instead of the grades (Nilson, 2014).

I have moved my curriculum to modules, some of which are "Core" (they must be accomplished in order for the student to pass with a grade of C- or better) and the remainder are modules that are accumulated for other important (but not critical) skills needed in later courses. The goal of specifications grading is to provide a letter score based on the number of modules the student has demonstrated satisfactory ability in, not on a threshold of marks garnered from an aggregate of assignments.

Modules are presented up to three times; once passed, the student need not complete the module again in class. The course ends with a comprehensive final examination which adjusts the score up or down depending on whether the student still has the skills from the modules. 

This course design has both students and the instructor focus on disciple skills. This eliminates negotiations about points allocation and rounding because the simple question we focus on together is "Can you do this task, and if not how can we find ways to help you achieve this?" 

11:55 am - Viz Lounge

Well-being in the Classroom: Sharing Knowledge at MRU

Erica Roberts and Laura Henderson 

Mount Royal University consistently receives extraordinarily high student ratings and often shows up on national lists of highly recommended post-secondary institutions. We know that we have professors across all areas of campus who are going above and beyond to support MRU students academically and personally. A new campus initiative aims to engage faculty and students to share the strategies and processes that foster a sense of well-being in the classroom and extend to the entire campus community. The goal of this 20 minute presentation is to share some background research on the importance of well-being in the classroom and to discuss the upcoming process that Mount Royal University will be engaging in to learn and promote this critical area. 

11:55 am - EL 1245 (Maker Studio)

Modularizing Academic English  

Anita Chaudhuri, Anita Hibbard, Rebecca Shinduke

In this roundtable, we discuss the successes and challenges of piloting a new program. We briefly present the theoretical underpinnings of our project on modularizing the Academic English program. We will present a brief overview of the newer approaches to language teaching and learning; how project goals and objectives are established; the procedures that need to be followed when initiating programmatic changes; curriculum mapping and materials development. The following questions will guide discussion at this roundtable:

1. The beginning: What are the pre-planning stages when conceptualizing a project?

2. The middle: (a) How does one determine the scope of a project? (b) Piloting is a measured approach that allows one to navigate newer pedagogical approaches. What are these measures? What if plans do not work out the way they were envisioned?

3. The end: What does transformative change in teaching and learning look like?

11:55 am - EL 1441

How to Improve Student Reading   

Karen Manarin

Faculty often complain that students haven’t read the required texts. Studies reveal that a shocking number of students don’t read. Yet faculty continue to identify reading as an essential skill for academic success, and sometimes try to compel reading through reading compliance activities with mixed results. This roundtable uses Wigfield and Eccles’ Expectancy-Value theory of motivation to provide a framework for talking about how to improve student reading. The facilitator demonstrates how to take an existing reading assignment and, with relatively little effort, increase the likelihood that students will read. With slightly more effort, assignments can be adjusted to emphasize more transactional modes of reading linked to deeper levels of comprehension. By the end of the roundtable, participants will be familiar with the motivational factors of reading, have talked about redesigning reading assignments, and have reflected on reading in their own contexts.  

11:55 am - EL 1451B

The Impact of Integrating Peer Delivered Wellness Messaging Into Curriculum

Rachelle McGrath and Glen Ryland

The Impact of Integrating Peer Delivered Wellness Messaging Into Curriculum Presenters: Dr. Glen Ryland (General Education) & Rachelle McGrath (Wellness Services)

This 20 min round table discussion will be facilitated by a faculty member and a member of Wellness Services to discuss the impact of integrating mental wellness into classroom practice and curriculum. The presentation will share the learned experiences of how integrating peer delivered wellness education in the classroom can have an effect on students and their well-being. UGST 1001 (“Effective Learning in the Undergraduate Context”) and 1002 (“Change, Challenge and Choice”) covers topics such as stress, effective coping, working well with others, effective decision making, and putting change in perspective, which all contribute to a resilient and well-rounded student. This session will also focus on the importance of information exchange and how data can empower students to empathize, reach out, and support students around various topics surrounding mental health and well-being. Finally, this session will also provide an example of how the action calls from the Okanagan Charter can be put into practice.

Specific questions to be facilitated during the roundtable include:

• Have you included peer delivered messages on student well-being in your courses?

• What have you experienced with peer delivered messages in your courses?

• How much time is appropriate to give in a course to peer delivered messaging on student well-being?

• In what other ways can health be embedded appropriately into classes or curriculum?

• Have you observed changes in student well-being and challenges in personal development as they advance in university?

• If so, how might peer delivered messaging on well-being be adapted to the course level? 

Recognizing MRU Faculty Who Promote Well-being in the Classroom

Parica Feser and Nafisa Sara (MRU Nursing 2216 Students) 

Mount Royal University (MRU) Nursing 2216 students, in partnership with Wellness Services, are engaging with roughly 60 MRU faculty members who have been recognized by MRU students for fostering an environment that promotes student well-being. Nominated faculty members are anticipated to complete an online questionnaire exploring their teaching practices. Subsequent telephone or in-person interviews will be offered to those interested in order to further explore this topic. This proposed poster will outline the findings of this research in hopes of highlighting different teaching styles and their impact on student engagement in learning and well-being. Our ultimate goal is to build a toolkit and be able to share this information with MRU teaching professionals and students to open a discussion that will bring change and promote well-being in the learning environment.  

Applying Appreciative Inquiry to Learning and Teaching

Nancy Doetzel

The presenter will examine how Appreciative Inquiry distinguishes itself from critical modes of research, learning and teaching by encouraging affirmative assumptions about people, organizations and relationships and by encouraging spiritual literacy. As a form of inquiry that focuses on presenting unconditional positive questions, Appreciative Inquiry sparks transformative dialogue and action within education.

In the presentation, participants will be introduced to Ludema, Cooperrider and Barrett’s approaches to Appreciative Inquiry and Peter Park”s triangulated epistemological perspective. They will also hear about opportunities to explore ways to examine data through a triangulated lens.

A main goal of this presentation is to heighten participant’s awareness of the transformative potential of scholarly inquiries, learning and teaching, which can give researchers and educators the self-confidence to engage in social change activities. Park refers to three forms of dimensions of power that can be gained from research: competence, connection and confidence. He states that it is through action that scholars truly learn how the world operates and how they can function with their minds and hearts within systems. Participants will hear about ways they can broaden their epistemological framework to include representational, relational and reflective knowledge. Participants will also have opportunities to share their experiences related to appreciative inquiry and action research. 

A Model for International Online Collaborative Learning

Brett McCollum

When you enter an organic chemistry classroom it isn’t uncommon to hear students talk about a chicken foot or moose antlers. However, they aren’t discussing the animals. Rather, they are using associated shapes as a replacement for the proper chemical names for the isopropyl and tert-butyl groups. This type of terminology, in which people use words that are functional in their local group but are incorrect, is know as interlanguage (Selinker, 1972). Interlanguage limits students’ ability to communicate as professionals, and hinders their transition into the workforce. To promote development of verbal chemistry language skills, while also facilitating an international experience for learners, second-year students at Mount Royal University worked with students at universities in Illinois and Minnesota to complete a series of collaborative homework assignments. This expanding network of universities is called INCLD: the International Network for Chemistry Language Development.

Students were assigned a partner from another university in the network and challenged to communicate over video chat to collaboratively solve problems for 6 weekly assignments in organic chemistry. By resolving the barriers that students encountered through online collaborative learning (McCollum et al., submitted), and identifying the benefits for professional identity (Skagen et al., 2018), INCLD has been demonstrated as an effective method for improving chemistry language skills among second-year organic chemistry students. In this session, we will discuss the network as a model for online collaborative learning in higher education and identify the steps to creating a network for your course. 

Spice up the Science (Classrooms)!!!

Ravdeep Batth

The traditional style of science education is highly instructional (and woefully uninspired!!!!). A pretty common idea about the nature of science is that scientists have to follow procedures without using any creativity. When in fact science is a highly creative process……unfortunately, science classes are not! At an institutional level, it is desperately needed to encourage science faculty with education specialties (also called as SFES) and the innovations in science classrooms. The data, however, shows that many faculty who conduct SoTL projects in science departments begin their education research careers with no training in SoTL. Eventually they find themselves working alone, with only a few colleagues who can nurture (or even understand) their efforts.

The change is needed at the every level: the curriculum, teaching methodologies and assessment techniques. This will create a new generation of adaptable professional scientists, doctors and engineers who are dynamic and better prepared to solve novel problems in their workplaces rather than being confined to acing rote tests in the classroom.

The presentation: Spice up the science (classrooms)!!! shares and highlights some of the innovative teaching approaches being employed in science classrooms at Mt. Royal University. 

Art Exhibitions and Visuality: New Tools for Innovative Teaching and Learning 

Carolyn Bjartveit and Michelle Briegel 

This poster explores the use of multimodal teaching and learning approaches in the post-secondary classroom, through the use of expressive visual arts, as an alternative to traditional written and oral academic assignments. The presenters will show how they brought together two discipline majors within the Bachelor of Child Studies Degree to share and celebrate students’ individuality and their knowledge of theories and practices through various media. By using art as a way to communicate with each other, students explored the spectrum of child and youth studies by way of visual, graphic, and symbolic languages. The artist/students expressed their beliefs and images of the postmodern child and child and youth care counsellor through visual works and mounted an art exhibition within the Child Studies and Social Work Department. Art show visitors viewed the students’ work and provided written feedback on the various projects.

This innovative and interactive teaching strategy increased student engagement, highlighted the importance of including visuality and the arts to support learning, and offered opportunities for students from different major streams to work together.

The presentation will include descriptions of students’ projects, the advantages and challenges of using the arts as visual tools for teaching and learning, assessment strategies, and the impact this mode of teaching had on the students, the presenters and their learning.  

My Undergraduate Experience in a Course Redesign in Athletic Therapy

Ben Lau and Mark Lafave

Introduction: The development of rhetoric behind “students as partners” (SaP) in academics is characterized by a relational process of collaboration between faculty and student in order to enhance the holistic learning experience (Matthews, 2016). Healey, Flint, and Harrington (2014) present a model that categorizes SaP research into four major types. Mercer-Mapstone et al. (2017) conducted a systematic literature review that identified curriculum design and pedagogic consultancy as the most prevalent type of SaP research within this model.

Purpose: This paper will capture my experience as an Athletic Therapy student participating in a partnered course re-design with our program coordinator.

Methods: I kept a journal of my thoughts and notes to reflect on both the re-design process and my experiences. Weekly meetings between the program coordinator, myself, and various academic support personnel were scheduled at the beginning of the Fall 2017 semester. A phenomenological framework was utilized to guide analysis of my reflections.

Results: The themes of challenge, involvement, and motivation were explored. Motivation was heavily correlated with both the themes of challenge and involvement.

Discussion: A shift from a timid and reluctant voice was found around six months into the project. Eventually, I gained a sense of comfort in sharing my voice when the course material transitioned from abstract to concrete: “As we’ve gone longer and longer into this project, and perhaps more importantly this experience, I’ve felt my role and input increase.” My motivation had a positive relationship to my increasing involvement throughout the course of the project. 

Shedding Light on Academic Procrastination: Individual Differences and a New Behavioural Measure  

Adam Spenrath, Hailey Allegro, April McGrath

Academic procrastination is a self-regulatory failure defined as the “voluntary delay of an intended study-related course of action despite expecting to be worse off for the delay” (Steel, 2007). The present study demonstrates the validity of a new behavioural measure of academic procrastination while exploring a number of additional variables related to procrastination. Differences in affective expectations between high and low procrastinators are discussed.