Blog - Teaching and Learning Services

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Blog: The cure against the plague of plagiarism

By Olga Makinina, Contract Instructor, School of Linguistics and Language Studies It is this time of the term when course papers are due, and most of our students desperately cram through the night for the deadline. It is no wonder that even the best of them tend to be less careful. It might be... More

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Blog: Reflections of a new sign language contract instructor – Part 2

By Jessica Lynch, Contract Instructor, School of Linguistics and Language Studies Part 2: The first weeks Walking into the classroom on the first day of class was intense. It was the first time teaching my own class, and I was both excited and nervous. I had prepared and practiced my lecture, created a presentation... More

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Blog: Be Less Helpful?

By Kevin Cheung, Associate Professor, School of Mathematics and Statistics In this day and age, improving student retention is among the most important priorities of many universities in Canada. Never have there been so many forms of student assistance available on campuses everywhere. For example, at Carleton alone, there are the campus-wide... More

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Blog: Connecting the dots between mindfulness, listening and thought in higher education

By Rebecca Bromwich, Instructor, Department of Law and Legal Studies Contemporary educational wisdom generally accepts that the instructional mode of didactic lecturing is not an ideal way to help students learn. I tend to agree, which is why, in preparing for my large classes, I’m working hard to find ways to engage hundreds of... More

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Blog: English 4115: ‘Those beck’ning ghosts’

By: Hugh Reid, Adjunct Research Professor, Department of English Language and Literature I spoke in my last blog about the ordeals, efforts and struggles of solving the 200-year-old mysteries contained in the books from the Carleton Special Collections, which we examine in English 4115. And I also told of the excitement in the labour... More

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Blog: Reflections of a new sign language contract instructor

By Jessica Lynch, Contract Instructor, School of Linguistics and Language Studies Part 1: Before the first class Joining the workforce after having been a full-time student for as long as I can remember is a little scary. Like any other major event or decision in life, it comes down to you finding a fit... More

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Blog: Reflections of a new sign language contract instructor

By Jessica Lynch, Contract Instructor, School of Linguistics and Language Studies Part 1: Before the first class Joining the workforce after having been a full-time student for as long as I can remember is a little scary. Like any other major event or decision in life, it comes down to you finding a fit... More

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Blog: “Professor, I need a B”

By Kevin Cheung, Associate Professor, School of Mathematics and Statistics Over the years, I have received numerous requests from desperate students asking for a better grade after the final grades were submitted. Almost always, students who made such requests simply didn't take the term work seriously. I wondered, if the grade was as important... More

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Blog: ESLA 1900: Learning by doing

By Olga Makinina, Contract Instructor, School of Linguistics and Language Studies ESLA credit courses are designed to help students whose first language is not English prepare for writing, reading, listening to lectures, and participating in discussions in their university classes. These courses go beyond a regular English as a Second Language... More

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Blog: ESLA 1900: Learning by doing

By Olga Makinina, Contract Instructor, School of Linguistics and Language Studies ESLA credit courses are designed to help students whose first language is not English prepare for writing, reading, listening to lectures, and participating in discussions in their university classes. These courses go beyond a regular English as a Second Language... More

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Blog: Community partnerships in teaching and research

By Peter Andrée Chair, CCEP, peter.andree@carleton.ca The videos below offer snapshots of some of the community partnerships being undertaken with Carleton faculty members. Professors Raggo, Knezevic, Merrett, Yssledyk and Van de Sande illustrate the dedication that Carleton professors are bringing to teaching and research partnerships.... More

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Blog: Democracy, pedagogy and productivity: Reflecting on inviting diverse experiences in

By Rebecca Bromwich, Instructor, Department of Law and Legal Studies Having taught part time for 10 years, I have come to teach full time at Carleton this year by way of a variety of other experiences. I was a graduate student in legal studies, and before that in women’s, gender and sexuality studies, a... More

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Blog: Facilitating learning from mistakes

By Kevin Cheung, Associate Professor, School of Mathematics and Statistics “You learn from your mistakes.” The wisdom contained in these words is rarely under dispute. However, how one goes about setting up an environment that facilitates learning from mistakes is readily up for discussion. Students can only learn from their mistakes if they... More

Friday, October 2, 2015

Blog: English 4115: Solving 250-year-old mysteries

By: Hugh Reid, Adjunct Research Professor, Department of English Language and Literature It is a course without a prescribed reading list, without distinct seminar topics to discuss, with many problems and mysteries to solve, without any guarantee that the problems and mysteries will be solved or resolved. And it spends most of its time... More

Friday, October 2, 2015

Blog: English 4115: Solving 250-year-old mysteries

By: Hugh Reid, Adjunct Research Professor, Department of English Language and Literature It is a course without a prescribed reading list, without distinct seminar topics to discuss, with many problems and mysteries to solve, without any guarantee that the problems and mysteries will be solved or resolved. And it spends most of its time... More

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Blog: Goodbye local cable television, hello world!

By Jeff Cohen, Assistant Director, CUOL As you may have heard, Carleton University has stopped airing recorded courses on local cable television after 37 years of service. Although Carleton University OnLine (CUOL) will no longer be available on Rogers Ottawa Digital Cable, we are very excited to announce that the CUOL channel will be... More

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Blog: Check out the CU Testing Centre

By: Leanne Barber, CUOL Office Administrator You may already be aware of the Student Centre located in D299 Loeb Building, but did you know that CUOL offers another service from that location? The Carleton University Testing Centre (CUTC) provides ‘Grade A’ service to various professional institutes (90+), universities and colleges across the... More

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Blog: Stricktly Speaking with John Strickland

In the inaugural edition of Stricktly Speaking, John Strickland, IMS Assistant Director, describes how using classroom technology is a lot like learning to drive for the first time and provides his take on the importance of IMS' one-on-one classroom... More

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Blog: Check out the CU Testing Centre

By: Leanne Barber, CUOL Office Administrator You may already be aware of the Student Centre located in D299 Loeb Building, but did you know that CUOL offers another service from that location? The Carleton University Testing Centre (CUTC) provides ‘Grade A’ service to various professional institutes (90+), universities and colleges across the... More

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Blog: Reflecting on STLHE 2015

Allie Davidson, the EDC’s ePortfolio Analyst, attended the 2015 STLHE conference in Vancouver, British Columbia. She asked Carleton staff and instructors who attended the conference what was one thing they learned from their experience at STLHE. Find out what they had to say in Allie’s video... More

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Blog: Reflecting on STLHE 2015

Allie Davidson, the EDC’s ePortfolio Analyst, attended the 2015 STLHE conference in Vancouver, British Columbia. She asked Carleton staff and instructors who attended the conference what was one thing they learned from their experience at STLHE. Find out what they had to say in Allie's video... More

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Blog: “Scientific proof” that lecturing is ineffective

By: Maristela Petrovic-Dzerdz, EDC Instructional Designer Have you seen this image? If you are in the field of education and have been attending presentations and conferences in the past three years, you probably have. The presenters often use it to make a point about ineffectiveness of lectures. I decided to search for a source... More

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Blog: Spotlight on innovation

By: Kirk Davies, EDC Educational Technology Development Coordinator From June 3-5, Algonquin College hosted the Advancing Learning 2015 Spotlight on Innovation conference. This conference aims to share the experiences of educators across the province in the areas of educational technology, the Internet and engagement. The first keynote speaker,... More

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Blog: Should we retire the term ‘Learning Styles’?

By: Maristela Petrovic-Dzerdz, EDC Instructional Designer ”Drop the term ‘styles.’ It will confuse others and it won’t help either you or your students.” – Howard Gardner, The Washington Post Op-Ed, 2013. In 1983, psychologist Howard Gardner proposed a new theory, of multiple intelligence. We have all run into this list:... More

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Blog: Should we retire the term ‘Learning Styles’?

By: Maristela Petrovic-Dzerdz, EDC Instructional Designer ”Drop the term ‘styles.’ It will confuse others and it won’t help either you or your students.” - Howard Gardner, The Washington Post Op-Ed, 2013. In 1983, psychologist Howard Gardner proposed a new theory, of multiple intelligence. We have all run into this list: linguistic,... More

Monday, May 18, 2015

Blog: Tech talk

By Charles Singh, CUOL Operations Technician Several years before the turn of the last century, itv was at the forefront, dare I say, a pioneer in the delivery of university courses. A variety of disciplines were represented by some of the most dynamic and enthusiastic faculty members, and Carleton had a unique presence in our community and... More

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Blog: Behind the scenes of classroom design

By: Armand Doucet, IMS Maintenance Supervisor Every year around this time, when the halls are quieter and the campus clears out, IMS begins its intensive classroom upgrading schedule. This year, we are particularly proud to have the opportunity to participate in the development of two Active Learning Classrooms, expected to be ready for use... More

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Increase instructor visibility with a screen recording tool

By Haidee Thanda, EDC Instructional Design Intern Most online students (especially those who are successful) will tell you it takes focus and motivation to stay on top of their assignments in comparison to traditional classroom offerings. In fact, the ubiquity and flexibility of online learning in some situations can make it easier for students... More

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Blog: “I had no idea this existed…”

By Lisa Runge-Faubert, CUOL video editor/multimedia specialist “I had no idea this existed.” This is a common phrase heard by the techie types over here on the sixth floor of Southam Hall. Instructors, students giving testimonials for various in-house videos, and the odd person off the street (hasn’t happened yet but it’s just a... More

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Blog: Quality Teaching Time in Higher Education

By Andrew Robinson, Contract Instructor, Carleton University Department of Physics By “Quality Teaching Time”, I mean the time in the class when the learning process is effective for the student. Any experienced teacher can tell when the class is restless and wants to be out of the room. Epidemics of dropped pencils, fidgeting, squeaking... More

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Blog: Inactive Learning

By John Strickland, Assistant Director, IMS The modern classroom is a place where, even today, many of us sit still, sit quiet and learn. Ostensibly. For the past thousand years (or more), learning has happened in rooms with rows of tables and chairs all facing the front to listen to someone who will profess... More

Monday, March 2, 2015

Blog: Connecting the dots

By Maristela Petrovic-Dzerdz, EDC Instructional Designer On Feb. 19, a couple hundred of us attended Digital Learning Reimagined, the inaugural Chang School Talks conference at Ryerson University. It was advertised as an event geared towards exchanging “ideas and strategies to address the transformational changes occurring in academia and... More

Friday, February 27, 2015

Blog: Re-imagining digital learning….with re-cycled ideas

By Isa G, EDC Instructional Designer With the promising title of “Digital Learning Reimagined”, Ryerson University’s Chang Centre for Continuing Education held a small conference on Feb. 19 . Five speakers presented in 15-minute, TED-Talk style bursts, complete with red circular carpet and headset mic sans podium. The first official speaker,... More

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Blog: The state of e-Learning in Ontario

By Dragana Polovina-Vukovic, EDC Assistant Director (Acting) Last week, a few members of the EDC team travelled to Toronto for the 2015 Chang School Talks on e-Learning, a mini-conference organized by Ryerson’s G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education, and the Ontario Universities’ Council on e-Learning’s (OUCEL) annual meeting. While... More

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Blog: The state of e-Learning in Ontario

By Dragana Polovina-Vukovic, EDC Assistant Director (Acting) Last week, a few members of the EDC team travelled to Toronto for the 2015 Chang School Talks on e-Learning, a mini-conference organized by Ryerson’s G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education, and the Ontario Universities’ Council on e-Learning’s (OUCEL) annual meeting. While... More