Archives: Blog

Monday, November 12, 2012

EDC Blog: He Said/She Said – Lessons Learned: Reflecting on Teaching

He Said (Joe Lipsett) Recently, I’ve led some Teaching Talks with teaching assistants on the value of reflecting about teaching. It’s a topic that’s close to my heart because it requires me to re-evaluate my approach to teaching, including the way I interact with and engage students, and how my teaching philosophy has changed... More

Monday, October 29, 2012

EDC Blog: What can those black marks on a multiple-choice response sheet tells us about teaching and learning?

By: Anthony Marini One of my roles as Senior Teaching Associate at the EDC is to consult with instructors around issues related to using multiple-choice test items in their assessment activities. As a faculty member with a focus on educational measurement and assessment, I have worked with many instructors in a wide range of... More

Monday, October 15, 2012

EDC Blog: Adoption of Plagiarism Prevention Innovations

By: Andrew Barrett As a relatively new member of the Educational Development Centre who is also trying wrap-up a dissertation in Instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University, I find myself wearing two hats. When wearing my Manager, Instructional Innovations hat, the shampoo bottle instructions version of what I do could be summarized as... More

Monday, October 1, 2012

EDC Blog: He Said / She Said – The Start of Term

He Said/She Said is a new recurring feature on the EDC blog. Throughout the year Joe Lipsett and Samah Sabra will tackle a number of topics from their positions as Teaching Development Associate/Educational Developer, as well as Contract Instructors (in Film Studies and Canadian Studies respectively). He Said (Joe Lipsett) For me, the first... More

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Fear of Failure, Assessment, and Community Support

By Samah Sabra As I close the door to the bathroom stall and hang up my jacket, I am struck by the words someone has scrawled across the wall. I and other users of this stall are reminded, or perhaps admonished since it is written in all-caps, to STOP FEARING FAILURE. Perhaps the person... More

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Learning Through Observation and Reflection: The Case for Lecture Clubs

By Samah Sabra At the beginning of May, I started a new position as an educational developer with the EDC. It’s difficult to convey my excitement about working at the EDC, but suffice it to say that I’m a total geek when it comes to discussing anything to do with learning and teaching. (My... More

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Are Exams Useless?

By Samah Sabra For those who don’t teach Spring/Summer courses, exams may be a distant memory by this time of year. Students wrote them in April and you already graded them, submitted final grades, and are possibly taking a break from thinking about teaching before planning courses for the Fall and Winter terms. Indeed,... More

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Innovation in Teaching and Learning

By Patrick Lyons When I think of innovation, I think of a change, an idea or activities that are new or different. Thinking of innovation in the context of technology is easy. The smartphone is innovative. Hybrid cars are innovative. The Internet is filled with innovative applications that change how we interact with information... More

Friday, May 4, 2012

Re-introducing Bloom’s Taxonomy

By Margaret Cusson Lately, I have been working on curriculum development through the Academic Quality Assurance process, whereby I am advising and working with units on the learning outcomes associated with their programs.  Through this work, I have had to pull out Bloom’s Taxonomy on multiple occasions.  Having worked in a teaching and... More

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Flipped Classrooms: Increased Accountability and Engaged Learning

By Kelly Holmes What is a flipped classroom? A flipped (or inverted) classroom is where students are assigned normal “lecture” materials to review on their own time or as part of the allotted class hours in preparation for the scheduled class. There are various methods of delivery but professors can assign readings, record their... More

Monday, March 12, 2012

Unlocking the Secret

By Patrick Lyons You may be familiar with Rhonda Byrne’s bestselling self-help book and film “The Secret”. In her book, she tries to convey that an individual’s success is built on the idea of thinking positively and optimistically. I don’t really want to discuss Byrne’s book or argue for or against her ideas of... More

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Academic Publishing and Writing Advice from the Thesis Whisperer Blog

I came across a great blog for Teaching Assistants or instructors who are writing Ph.D or Masters theses or for anyone who simply needs inspiration for ongoing academic publishing.  Dr Inger Mewburn‘s The Thesis Whisperer blog provides a ton of tips and great strategies for working in academia.  While there are too many great highlights... More

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