Concurrent Session 1

Tuesday, April 29
12:20–1:15 pm ADT

These sessions will be offered in a dual delivery format.  The following presentations will take place online, but with dedicated collaborative spaces available on the Dalhousie campus for those who want to attend in person. 

Virtual Room 1

Viewing Room: Marion McCain Building, Room 1102

12:20–1:15 pm ADT

Connecting with Indigenous Ways of Knowing as Settler Educators
Interactive workshop (55-minutes)
Dr. Shawn Xiong, Dr. Kate Thompson (Dalhousie University)
Dr. Bhuvinder Vaid, Bettina Boyle (Capilano University)
Monica Palkowski (McMaster University)

The quote “we did go blind, … blind but seeing, blind people who can see, but do not see” (José Saramago, 1995) captures a blindness beyond physical sight—one of unacknowledged truths. This idea is relevant to the truth and reconciliation process in Canadian Higher Education, particularly in addressing the historical injustices faced by Indigenous peoples, especially from residential schools. Many institutions “see” surface-level issues but fail to engage with the deeper implications of systemic injustice, cultural erasure, and trauma. This disconnect is often seen in the use of land acknowledgements without meaningful action. J.P. Restoule’s concept of “benign resistance” explains how settler educators’ mixed emotions (hope, guilt, hesitation) may mask privileges that unintentionally shift the responsibility for reconciliation to Indigenous peoples.
This session will explore how settler educators can take responsible actions to engage with Indigenous knowledge without burdening Indigenous communities, reflect on our learning journeys, and identify realistic strategies for decolonization.
Keywords
Decolonization, Collaboration, Indigenization, Wholistic Pedagogy, System Thinkings

Virtual Room 2

Viewing room: Marion McCain Building, Room 1130

12:20–12:45 pm ADT

12:50–1:15 pm ADT

The Last Workshop - A Tool for Course, Curriculum, and Program Evaluation and Evolution
Research presentation session (25-minutes)
Dr. Erin Styles (she/her), University of Toronto

Recognizing that the last class of the term is often not very productive, I have searched for ways to make the last class meaningful. In this presentation, I describe the Last Workshop, which serves to obtain real-time course evaluations and to drive course evolution. This approach generates honest and actionable feedback from students, and can be used in the context of many types of courses, across disciplines, and with any level of study.
The Last Workshop is grounded in an overarching goal of open collaboration and partnership with students that aims to disrupt the notion that “teachers teach” and “learners learn”. It centres the idea that students themselves are the best source of constructive critique, innovative adaptations, and updates in the context of their own educational experience, and has been highly successful in creating bridges between students and faculty, and between the students’ individual and collective experience and their ability to impact and create change within the framework of that experience.
Keywords
Student voice, participatory design, metacognition, course evolution, course evaluation

Student Experiences with ‘Choose your own Adventure’ Assessments Designed for Multiple Means of Engagement, Representation, Action, and Expression
Research presentation session (25-minutes)
Dr. Spring Farrell (she/her), Dalhousie University and Dr. Les T. Johnson (he/him), Dalhousie University

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) provides a framework to create accessible and authentic learning experiences. Designing options to engage with course content (with multiple means of engagement and representation) and flexibility to demonstrate their learning (by multiple means of action and expression) increases accessibility for diverse groups of learners. ‘Choose your own adventure’ assignments were designed for students to explore course content in relation to their future profession, work collaboratively with peers, and practice giving and receiving constructive feedback (aligning with the UDL guidelines surrounding authenticity, emotional capacity, and sustaining effort). The aim of this study was to explore students’ perceptions of these assignments, designed with UDL in mind. Students were invited to share their experiences via online survey or focus group. Preliminary findings from students will be presented, and session participants will be invited to discuss the perceived benefits and pitfalls of providing options and the agency to choose.
Keywords
UDL Authentic assessments Student agency Peer learning Building community

Virtual Room 3

Viewing room: Marion McCain Building, Room 1116

12:20–12:45 pm ADT

12:50–1:00 pm ADT

1:05–1:15 pm ADT

Teaching and Learning with the Maple League of Universities: Creating Communities Across Borders
Practice session (25 minutes)
Juan Carlos López (he/him), Acadia University; Matea Drljepan (she/her), St. Francis Xavier University; Toni Roberts (ze/she/he/they - any pronoun), Mount Allison University; Erin Austen (she/her), StFX University

The Maple League of Universities is a consortium of small liberal arts universities formed in eastern Canada, the Teaching and Learning Committee offers accessible activities (e.g., free programming; online delivery, or a combination of in-person and online). Participating in the organization of these activities has helped us build relationships within and between institutions, and how we achieve our institutional missions and academic goals. In this session, we will describe the rationale behind the activities we offer, their impact, our experience of this novel consortium, and the way in which our participation has shaped our approach to navigating our different roles in higher education.
Keywords
Virtual, online, collaboration, accessibility, faculty development.

ASSURE model and Narrative Learning as a Pedagogy for Collaborative Online Course Design
Roundtables (10 minutes)
Dr. Saurabh Dey (Dalhousie University)

The ASSURE model framework supports instructional design (Clymer, 2007; Heinich et.al., 2002), and Narrative Learning strengthens learner engagement (Wasson et. al, 2020; Fisher et. al, 2006). These models are brought together as a pedagogy for designing a collaborative online course for higher education and working professionals. In the years following the COVID-19 outbreak, online instruction has become more popular (Daniel, 2020), and several technologies are introduced to transform the learning environments (Atmojo, 2023; Rajabpour, 2021). This evolving perspective needed dynamic shift in course delivery and conventional teaching practice. This research highlights a collaborative online course design that incorporates synchronous, asynchronous, and technology components for improving learning, and minimizing cognitive load. Furthermore, this research aims to employ narrative learning, such as audio storytelling, simulation, case-studies with scaffolding to ensure engagement, and maximum learner retention. This suggested method can serve as a model for developing any kind of online course.
Keywords
ASSURE, narrative learning, online pedagogy, scaffolding, worked-examples

Beyond the Textbook: A Tale of Collaborative Open Educational Resource Development
Roundtables (10 minutes)
Dr. Kerrianne Ryan (she/her) Dalhousie University, Annie Grigg (she/her), Queens University

Non-presenting author: Debra Grantham (she/her), Dalhousie University

Open access to materials and resources contributes to accessibility and equity in education by permitting use or alteration of free materials to meet users' unique teaching and learning needs. Open Educational Resources (OERs) provide opportunities to engage in creative collaborations and share not only materials, but educational practices freely with diverse users. Although open textbooks are gaining popularity, developing a complete textbook may cast an intimidating shadow. We often overlook our potential to contribute to the library of OERs in smaller, more manageable ways. As university educators, we frequently encounter gaps, then develop activities, materials, or resources to address them, but these usually remain in our own classrooms. Further, our students often share insights that remain unexplored or under-supported because we do not happen to teach the classes that would most benefit from resources developed to meet those needs. In this 10-minute online roundtable, we will describe our student-as-leader journey to develop an OER comprising commentary, case studies, and questions that can be used or adapted to embed practical ethical decision-making in biology curricula. Our story highlights connections within the learning experience, collaboration between and beyond those who teach, and important motivators for communicating knowledge and ideas beyond the academy. The OER development process allowed us engage learners, teachers, and critical consideration of community in the practice of collaborative design. What possibilities could OER development hold for you?
Keywords
Open Educational Resource, Case Studies, Educational Resource Development, Collaboration, Students-as-Partners

Virtual Room 4

Viewing room: Marion McCain Building, Room 1198