Ideas Lounge

Coffee, tea & muffins

Ideas Lounge

The Last Class: Gathering Meaningful Student Feedback on Your Course

Michele Wellsby, Rylen Earle

I previously attended an ADC workshop on 'Creating a Last Class with Lasting Impact'. One idea from this workshop that resonated with me was an activity called ‘the last class critique’ (Bleicher, 2011). The purpose of this activity is to encourage students to think critically about their learning and provide meaningful feedback that can help shape the course for future students. The past two years I have taught a fourth-year Psychology course and in the last class I have students complete a similar activity: students move in groups through stations and reply to prompts to provide feedback and ideas on course readings and assignments. In this presentation I will describe how I set up this activity and share examples of student feedback and how I have used this feedback to make course revisions. I will be joined by a former student who will speak about her experience participating in this activity.

Visualization Classroom (EL 1441)

Stories for Littles - Student Created Books about Mental Health Disorders

Carrie Scherzer, Danielle Harvey

In this presentation, we will be sharing our experiences as both professor and student editing and adding content to a website to disseminate information about children’s mental health disorders. The information comes, in part, from the Atypical Child Development (PSYC 4451) class at MRU. Students in that class create storybooks intended for pre-literate and early reader children about different disorders, and through the support of a Teaching and Learning Enhancement Grant in 2025-2026, a Psychology student has been working alongside the course instructor to update a website (previously created with the support of a TLEG in 2019-2020) to have these books reach the intended public audiences. The student will speak to her experiences working on editing the books, updating the website, and being the voice and face of the books’ recordings. Further information about how this assignment came to be and came to life will also be explored. 

Ideas Lounge

Stop Writing Essays in Comment Boxes: Feed-Forward Strategies for Student Learning Using the CUPS Model

Alysia Wright

Faculty often spend significant time providing detailed feedback that students struggle to interpret, apply, or carry forward into future learning. This session introduces the CUPS model, a practical framework for designing feed-forward strategies that are clearer, more purposeful, relationally supportive, and sustainable across disciplines.

Drawing on faculty development and feedback co-design work at MRU, the presentation explores common challenges such as feedback overload, scope creep, student disengagement, and the hidden labour of commenting. Participants will examine practical examples of feedback redesign across teaching contexts and consider how the CUPS model can support more effective, usable, and sustainable approaches to student learning. The session is designed for instructors, staff, and educational developers interested in practical strategies that move beyond “more comments” toward more meaningful learning conversations.

Visualization Classroom (EL 1441)

Inquiry into information and professional readiness: How effective are mock scenarios for criminal justice students?

D. Scharie Tavcer, Leanna Ireland, & student

This roundtable examines the scholarship of teaching & learning as an intervention in criminal justice education, asking how justice can be taught in ways that challenge rather than reproduce dominant legal assumptions. In a field where SoTL research remains limited (Palmer, 2020), we explore immersive, practice-based pedagogy through two parallel mock trial videos— one in a mainstream Canadian courtroom and one in an Indigenous courtroom—presenting the same case through contrasting legal philosophies, values, and power structures. Guided judicial commentary makes visible the hidden curriculum of justice systems and invites critical reflection on cultural and educational norms (Laiduc & Covarrubias, 2022). Preliminary findings from a quasi-experimental study comparing video- and transcript-based learning conditions will prompt discussion of applied knowledge, professional identity, and student resistance.

Ideas Lounge

De-mystifying Oral Assessments through Visual Storytelling

Sara Smith, Beth Richardson

In our experience working with independent research students in the Biology Department at Mount Royal University, students have repeatedly shared their anxieties concerning interactive oral assessments (IOAs, e.g., presentations, defences, oral exams). Some have even cited IOA anxiety as a major barrier to engaging in courses that include experiential learning elements. IOAs are an essential part of the undergraduate research experience and are becoming increasingly popular in non-research coursework due to concerns around generative artificial intelligence in written assessments. Our pilot project in the Department of Biology explores visual storytelling to reduce anxiety prior to assessments by using audiovisual and written resources. These resources are designed to mirror the concept of visual storyboarding, an accessibility tool that was originally developed to support people with autism spectrum disorder in decreasing anxiety around visiting unfamiliar locations. In this presentation, we will share our experience so far, challenges, successes, & future directions.

Visualization Classroom (EL 1441)

Decolonizing student-faculty partnerships through the 7Rs

Rafaelle Peñas, Richard Hayman, Joshua Hill, Erika E. Smith, Aliya Jomha, Emma Duke, Linh Bui

The students-as-partners (SaP) movement aims to transform higher education, but it often overlooks Indigenous perspectives and relational accountability. This session introduces our 7Rs Framework (Respect, Reciprocity, Responsibility, Relevance, Relationships, Representation, and Reflection) developed collaboratively by Indigenous and non-Indigenous students and faculty.

By weaving together established scholarship with Indigenous worldviews using a Two-Eyed Seeing approach, this framework reimagines partnership for classrooms, research, and beyond. We will explore how these seven principles disrupt traditional academic hierarchies and move toward a more decolonized approach to co-creating knowledge.

Whether you are a student seeking a stronger voice, a faculty member reimagining your pedagogy, or an administrator championing equity, this session offers a principled foundation for building authentic, respectful, and inclusive campus partnerships. Join us to explore how we can collectively bridge Western and Indigenous ways of knowing to enhance research on teaching and learning.

Ideas Lounge

Seeing Oneself in the Learning: Reconceptualizing Mathematics Teaching and Learning Identity

Sarah Hamilton

This presentation addresses the critical challenge of creating spaces for all learners to see themselves in the learning they undertake in PSE. Using the examples of the fragile relationship that many pre-service teachers (PSTs) encounter with mathematics, it discusses the experiences of PSTs in the math courses they take in the B.Ed. program at MRU. 

Students will share their personal relationships with mathematics, and how instructional approaches that included “low-floor, high-ceiling" games, reframing mathematics as an art, and reflective free-writing reconceptualized their identities as mathematics learners and educators.

I will present pedagogical practices to support this work and how my instruction has evolved to address the vital question of how to design learning spaces where every learner sees themselves reflected as a capable thinker? This includes a shifting perception that embraces mathematics teaching as an equity practice for students to see themselves reflected in their learning. The presentation explores approaches that prompt PSTs to reconceptualize their identity from math-avoidant to math-empowered. 

Immersion Studio (EL 3345)

Beyond the Essay: Arts-Based Pedagogies and Deeper Learning in Contemporary Childhood Studies

Maureen Cullen, Chelan McCallion

In Winter 2026, two sections of CHST 4204: Contemporary Issues in Childhood Studies experimented with replacing traditional essays with multimodal, arts-based inquiry projects. Students critically explored complex social issues affecting children and youth through visual metaphor, material engagement, and narrated artist statements. Insights gathered from this experience revealed the potential of arts-based pedagogies to deepen critical thinking, strengthen student voice, and foster more relational, process-oriented learning.

In this presentation, we will reflect with students on the pedagogical shifts, challenges, and emerging possibilities of integrating art as a legitimate form of knowledge production in undergraduate education. We will share examples of student work, discuss the role of multimodal assessment in an era of AI-generated writing, and consider how arts-based pedagogies may create richer opportunities for engagement, meaning-making, and transformative learning. Student collaborators may join the presentation to share their experiences.

Ideas Lounge

Beyond the Signature: Making Your Group Contract More Meaningful

Amy Yoshida, Silvia Rossi

In many group assignments, instructors require students to sign a team contract or charter as a way of keeping students accountable to their peers. Some students take the contract seriously, but others sign and forget. In recent years, the Writing and Learning Strategists in Student Learning Services have been collaborating with faculty partners in new ways to support the design of group project assignments, optimize team contracts, and co-facilitate in-class activities to help students think more deeply about their responsibilities to their teammates. In this session, we’ll share three key elements of the team contract we’ve been using, and participants will have a chance to try out one of the activities we do with students in our in-class session. 

Visualization Classroom (EL 1441)

First-Year Mentorship - How Upper Year Students Support the Transition of FIrst-Years

Sarah Dunnet & students

We hear more and more that though students are surrounded by each other, they're feeling lonlier than ever. The First-Year Mentorship Program here at MRU pairs upper year students with first-year students in their desired program to support their transition into university. With a holistic and barrier free approach, meeting students where they are at, FYM supports students to build community, gain confidence in seeking support from services on campus as well as transforming their confidence in succeeding in university. Through facilitated workshops, programming and events both mentors and mentees learn life skills that can be used inside and outside of the classroom. Both mentors and mentees in this program share an increased sense of confidence in navigating university systems and asking for support,  professional skills and connection to the MRU community. Hear from the First-Year Mentorship Coordinator, Sarah Dunnet along with a mentee and mentor in the program who will share their personal experiences

Ideas Lounge

Reimagining Practicum: Connection and Reflection in Child and Youth Care Education

Chelan McCallion

This presentation shares the redesign of a second-year Child and Youth Care practicum course developed through collaboration and support from the Academic Development Centre (ADC). The redesign emerged from a desire to strengthen connection, reflection, and student well-being within practicum learning while supporting readiness for professional practice.

The practicum positions relationship as both a pedagogical foundation and a core Child and Youth Care competency. Weekly seminars were redesigned as intentional relational spaces where students reflect on field experiences, engage with peers and instructors, and explore the use of self in practice.

Students develop individualized learning portfolios aligned with Child and Youth Care competencies, gathering evidence of growth through reflection and experience. This process shifts assessment toward collaborative meaning making and shared accountability, reframing evaluation as a reflective and student-led process.

Visualization Classroom (EL 1441)

Students as Partners in Content Validation of a Systematic Observation Tool 

Kailee Lachance, Nadine Van Wyk

Two Mount Royal University students, from different departments, were hired as Research Assistants to explore the intersections of physical literacy and early music programs. These students, in conjunction with the Primary Investigator, underwent a rigorous content validation process to modify a systematic observation tool for early childhood music programs. Establishing consistency amongst observers is essential for research integrity and requires a demanding, iterative cycle of training and collaborative discussion.

For the students, the experience provided a steep learning curve in mastering inter-rater reliability. The team navigated the process through a continuous loop of joint coding, independent piloting, and intensive debriefing. As true collaborators, students’ diverse perspectives were seen as essential to the project’s success, directly shaping the tools' development and reinforcing its overall impact.

This session will demonstrate how a student-faculty partnership successfully collaborated to adapt a validated instrument into a specialized tool for early childhood music environments.

Ideas Lounge

In Treaty Relationship: ReconciliAction towards mutual flourishing

Joshua Hill

This presentation offers reflections on the In Treaty Relationship learning community as a step towards enacting reconciliation as a living and ongoing treaty relationship. Developed in partnership with Manyhorses High School and the Brown Bear Woman Centre, the initiative engaged MRU faculty in sustained learning with Tsuut’ina Elders, educators, and students through land-based experiences, art making, Elder storytelling, and campus visits. The design of the learning community foregrounded relationship and reciprocity as core pedagogical principles.A panel of faculty participants and Tssut’ina partners will reflect on the impacts of this learning community and share what we learned about relational pedagogy, university community partnership, experiential learning, and reconciliation. Further we will envision future possibilities for partnership towards enacting treaty relationship towards mutual flourishing. 

Visualization Classroom (EL 1441)

Building the Plane While Flying It: Preparing for a New Course

Robyn Madden

Preparing to teach a course for the first time is both exciting and challenging, particularly when instructors are balancing unfamiliar content, limited preparation time, and the pressure to create meaningful learning experiences. This 30-minute presentation explores practical strategies for preparing to teach a brand-new course with confidence and efficiency. The first half will focus on themes of teaching unfamiliar content, navigating imposter syndrome, time management, and balancing preparation with flexibility, followed by a 15-minute informal discussion where attendees can provide insights into navigating their own new courses. Through collaborative discussion and shared experiences, participants will engage in actionable ideas while reflecting on their own approaches to course preparation. This session is intended for new instructors, contract faculty, and educators seeking practical guidance or those interested in providing advice to others. All are welcome! 

Ideas Lounge

Using Indigenous Methodologies as a Caucasian Instructor

Katharin Pritchard

I will present the learnings I gleaned from embracing Indigenous knowledge and teaching methodologies in my teaching with my 4th year CHST capstone. I received a TLEG grant to support some of the methods I used, e.g. Elder presentations, visits to Indigenous landmarks, etc.. At least one student will share their learnings from being involved in this class.  

Visualization Classroom (EL 1441)

Conduct and Care: Exploring the use of an Ethic of Care in Student Conduct Administration

Nicky Renault

Student conduct administration is often viewed through a lens of compliance and risk management. This session introduces a pioneering research project that seeks to shift the Canadian discourse away from a justice orientated approach toward an integrated ethic of care. By utilizing Clandinin and Connelly’s narrative inquiry approach, this research moves beyond binary responsible/not responsible outcomes to explore the lived experiences of student conduct administrators. This study addresses a critical gap in Canadian higher education literature, proposing a new theoretical framework that balances institutional accountability with relational empathy. Attendees will explore how stories of misconduct can serve as catalysts for growth and development rather than mere policy violations. While focused on student conduct administrators, these learnings may also benefit faculty members who are engaged in academic and non-misconduct conversations with students.

Voices in the Room: Peer-to-Peer Teaching for Deeper Engagement

Mackenzie Fraser

This lightning talk explores a pedagogical shift from traditional instructor-centred teaching to dynamic, in-class active learning assessments. Using two Child and Youth Care Counsellor courses as examples, such as a "Gallery Walk" analyzing family systems from the novel The Break by Katherena Vermette and a "Pair & Share" infographic on youth vulnerability, I will discuss how moving assessments into the classroom inspires a vibrant learning community. By creating space for student voice, these formats encourage integration of diverse perspectives, intersections of identity, and systemic reflection. This shift serves a dual purpose, as it mitigates concerns of AI use by emphasizing the importance of real-time creative application and communication, and it shifts assignments from strictly grading moments to meaningful learning milestones. Attendees will learn further how interactive formats allow students to draw on peer insights throughout courses resulting in deeper engagement, heightened creativity, and the development of essential professional skills through collaborative reflection and peer teaching.  

From Lecture to Discovery: Bringing Research into the Classroom

Jeella Acedo

This talk will describe the design and implementation of a Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) project in an upper-level biochemistry lecture class, where students explored molecules with putative antibiotic properties using freely accessible digital tools. The project integrated core lecture concepts into a cohesive, real-world research experience. The talk will focus on what was learned: students showed stronger understanding, greater confidence in working with data, and improved communication skills. It also highlights practical insights, including the importance of thoughtful group design and clear project structure. More broadly, this work demonstrates that integrating research into standard coursework can expand access to authentic learning experiences.

Signs, Symbols, and Learning: Educational Semiotics in the Classroom

Chiara Danili

Discover how signs, symbols, and cultural references shape learning in the classroom. This talk highlights the power of semiotics in second-language learning and introduces practical, innovative strategies that foster deeper understanding, engagement, and knowledge creation. 

Ideas Lounge

Learning together in the ADC Affiliates Program

Andrea Phillipson, Luciano Santos, ADC Affiliates

The ADC Affiliates Program provides faculty members with protected time and structured support to design and lead a faculty development initiative of their choosing. In the initial iteration of this program, Affiliates translated their teaching and learning expertise into programming and resources to benefit colleagues across disciplines, with projects ranging across classroom practices, assessment approaches, and shifting conceptions of faculty relationships with themselves, students, land, and communities. 

In structuring this program, ADC facilitators intentionally designed space for Affiliates to develop their topics and approaches in conversation with one another, but also to reflect on their own roles and identities as they facilitated conversations with other MRU colleagues. We anticipated that participants would engage the institution as change agents, modeling different ways of being and doing in the academy, but Affiliates have also described various ways in which their engagement has facilitated unanticipated outcomes.

Join us as we discuss the foundations of the ADC Affiliates Program and what Affiliates and ADC facilitators learned as we worked together to shape and improve the program design and implementation. 

Flexible Learning Lab (EL 2462)

Open Space Round Tables

Facilitated by Pattie Mascaro & Michelle Yeo

Step away from traditional slide decks and take control of the agenda. This dynamic roundtable session uses Open Space Technology (OST) to place the power entirely in attendees' hands. Bring your biggest questions, your unique insights, and your passion to drive the conversation forward.

Ideas Lounge

Using Padlet to Foster In-Class Engagement

Gini Weber

Padlet is a (free-tier) online tool that allows for real-time collaboration to a shared online board. This interactive presentation will walk audience members through 3 different types of Padlet boards and how they can be used. Pros (free access, interactive, real-time) and cons (max 3 boards, limited styles/structures) will be addressed, as well as a practical example of how this is integrated into one of my in-class sessions. Time permitting, we will also briefly discuss how Padlet can be used for student projects.

Visualization Classroom (EL 1441)

Community Service Learning and its Impact on Students and Community Partners

Alana Gieck, Karen Owen

This research explores what happens when students have the option of finding their own community partner for a Community Service Learning (CSL) assignment. This contrasts with the more common scenario in which instructors arrange community partners for individual students, small groups of students, or for an entire class. We invited students and their community partners to participate in a survey to find out what they think about this approach. In addition, we took this opportunity to ask students and partners if they believe CSL assignments create beneficial learning opportunities, foster motivation, and positively impact community partners.

Ideas Lounge

Beyond Prompt Libraries: Using AI Use Logs to Make Student Judgment Visible

Kris Hans

Prompt libraries help students ask AI tools better questions, but they often stop before the most important learning begins: evaluating, revising, rejecting, and explaining the output. This session shares a Group AI Use Log developed in MGMT 3210 — Business Communication Theory and Practice to make student AI use visible, accountable, and discussable in group assignments. The log asks students to document the purpose of AI use, representative prompts or exchanges, output summaries, what they kept or rejected, and reflections on how AI affected their work and learning. Drawing from research log practices, the session will show how a simple documentation structure can move AI conversations beyond disclosure and toward judgment, academic integrity, revision, and student learning. Participants will leave with a reusable template and practical considerations for adapting it across disciplines.

Visualization Classroom (EL 1441)

Students as Changemakers: Undergraduate Community-Engaged Learning

Cordelia Snowdon-Lawley, Barb Rallison

Join the Institute for Community Prosperity as we explore what it means to work alongside students, faculty, and community across a range of opportunities, including StartWork and the Catamount Fellowship. The Institute for Community Prosperity is a hub of systems learning, social innovation and community engagement on campus. We connect community knowledge and lived experience with academic learning to address complex social and ecological challenges. Faculty interested in exploring similar opportunities for community-engaged teaching and scholarship in 2026/2027 are warmly invited to join the conversation. 

Ideas Lounge

Reimagining Work-Integrated Learning in the AI Era

Yifei Wang

Artificial intelligence (AI) is accelerating higher education’s shift from knowledge transmission toward competency development, creating new demands for work-integrated learning (WIL). Current WIL models, typically structured around relationships among institutions, employers, and students, face increasing limitations. Placement decisions are often driven by institutional and employer priorities, leaving students’ career aspirations and professional identities underrepresented. At the same time, static program-to-occupation pathways fail to reflect increasingly non-linear career trajectories, while advisors face challenges personalizing WIL experiences at scale.

This presentation introduces an AI-driven, student-centered career navigation system designed to reposition WIL from a placement-focused process toward a meaningful, competency-oriented developmental journey. By integrating student voice, competency development, and labour market intelligence into a unified framework, the model aims to strengthen student engagement, career clarity, and professional identity formation. The presentation explores how AI can support more adaptive, scalable, and personalized WIL ecosystems aligned with evolving workforce and higher education needs.

Visualization Classroom (EL 1441)

StartWork as a Living Laboratory: Community-Service Learning, Applied Research, and Social Innovation at MRU

Amanda Williams, Barb Rallison, Hallie Vermette

This presentation explores how StartWork became a living laboratory for community-service learning (CSL), applied research, and interdisciplinary collaboration at MRU. Developed through partnerships between government, philanthropy, nonprofits, and MRU, StartWork supported refugees transitioning from Alberta Income Support into employment through an outcomes procurement model. Alongside the community impact, StartWork created opportunities for students and a research assistant to engage in systems mapping, qualitative research, policy communication, visual knowledge mobilization, and community-engaged scholarship across multiple courses and research activities. The presentation reflects on the opportunities and challenges of integrating live social innovation projects into teaching and learning environments and examines how experiential, public-facing work can deepen student engagement while contributing meaningful value to community partners and broader systems change conversations.

Ideas Lounge

"I Have an App for That!" Leveraging AI-Powered Mobile Learning in Acute Care Nursing Education

Angela Robertson

In the fast pace of acute care nursing education, bridging the gap between theory and rapid clinical decision-making is a constant challenge. This presentation explores how AI-powered mobile applications can deliver dynamic, multi-modal learning experiences right to students’ fingertips. By leveraging mobile-accessible AI tools, educators can deploy short micro-learning videos, interactive presentation slides, and educational games that transform complex concepts into engaging and accessible learning. Mobile app-based AI apps can provide students with an augmented learning experience that helps them to practice their nursing knowledge and reasoning while they develop confidence and competence in clinical judgment. Attendees will discover how integrating these mobile AI technologies shifts the educational landscape from passive learning to active, experiential engagement. Ultimately, this session offers practical strategies and examples of how leveraging mobile technology inside and outside the classroom can better prepare future nurses for the fast-paced realities of acute healthcare environments.

Visualization Classroom (EL 1441)

Co-Designing the Classroom: Students as Partners in AI-Enhanced Leadership Education

Leda Stawnychko, Amal Mouaouia, Ammar Ahmad,
Rida Ansariwith 

What becomes possible when students move from assistants to true partners in designing how they learn? In this session, a faculty member and her student partners share how they co-created a suite of AI-enabled role plays for a senior leadership course, supported by a Provost's Teaching and Learning Enhancement Grant. The role plays give students a psychologically safe space to rehearse high-stakes conversations — from a first professional job interview to a salary negotiation — receive immediate feedback, and interrogate their own choices through reflection. Presenters will demonstrate how generative AI can act as a live practice partner, and how authentic pedagogical partnership cultivates students' agency, confidence, and authority over the design of learning itself. Attendees will leave with a simple, transferable co-design protocol, concrete strategies for integrating Students-as-Partners and AI into their own courses, and reflective insights into what it takes to share authority with students.

Ideas Lounge

Understanding the new Student Accommodations Policy

Shelley Rathie, Chris Rogerson

Over the past years there has been marked increases in the number of MRU students requiring academic accommodations.  Last year there were over 2300 students requiring accommodations in more than 4700 different classes.   Additionally more students are requiring multiple accommodations which can add a layer of complexity in delivering innovative curriculum.   Over the past 2 years the work of the Academic Accommodations Working group and the Accommodations Policy Review Committee have been doing a lot of work to explore how the implementation of accommodations has been experienced at the classroom level.  Through extensive consultation and exploration of best practices there have been many lessons learned about how some misunderstandings and impacts of accommodations have been experienced in the curriculum delivery.  This session will explore the core themes identified through the MRU committee work over the past two years and share some information and innovations identified that can reduce the friction between innovative pedagogy and fulfilling our duty to accommodate. 

Visualization Classroom (EL 1441)

Co-Designing the Classroom: Students as Partners in AI-Enhanced Leadership Education

Cheryl Techentin, Maryam Lehmann 

The present study examined the effectiveness of the embedded WIL experiences in the Department of Psychology in facilitating the development of students’ career-readiness skills across the four-year degree program. One hundred and five students were asked to complete an anonymous survey delivered in Qualtrics on their experiences taking WIL courses across different course levels (first, third, and fourth years). Students were asked to rate their perceived competence on the seven NACE core competencies when entering each of the courses as well as upon completion of the courses. Frequency analyses revealed that students reported continued growth and development of each of the skills across the first-, third-, and fourth-year courses, however, the higher-level skills (e.g., critical thinking, leadership, and professionalism) were of particular importance in the upper-level courses. This presentation will focus on 1) the effectiveness of the embedded WIL approach in facilitating student skill development and, 2) the importance of scaffolding greater complexity and higher-level skill development into the projects associated with embedded WIL courses across the four-year program to maximize students’ opportunities to continue to develop their career-readiness skills prior to graduation. Overall, results of this study suggest that students enrolled in a program that cannot accommodate a full-term practicum or internship can obtain many benefits from embedding WIL opportunities in individual courses and, that by scaffolding these opportunities across different years of the degree, students will continue to develop their career-readiness skills and be better prepared to seek employment post-graduation.