Beyond the Comfort Zone: Embracing Risk-Taking in Today's Engineering Classroom
Wednesday, June 5th, 2024
REGISTRATION OPENING SOON!
Keynote Presentations
Author, Provost, and Dean, Warren Wilson College, Asheville, NC
Risky Teaching: Harnessing the Power of Uncertainty in Higher Education
This workshop explores how university faculty and staff from across the institution can work within and through uncertainty to increase student engagement, strengthen learning, enhance career readiness, and build connections and capacity in the community. We will explore risk-taking inside and outside the classroom for faculty and students, practical examples, and innovative teaching methods and approaches to maximize student engagement and learning. Opportunities for discussion and interaction will exist throughout as we investigate how to help our students and ourselves thrive in a complex, unscripted, world where the answers are not always readily known and yet the consequences matter.
Speaker Bio
Dr. Jay Roberts is Provost and Dean of the Faculty at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, North Carolina—a federally designated work college and a school with a longstanding reputation for leadership in experiential learning. Previously, he spent twenty years at Earlham College in Indiana as a Professor of Education and serving for seven years as the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs. Jay is a Fellow with the American Council on Education and served for four years as a Teagle Teaching Fellow with the Great Lakes College Association.
Jay’s research and scholarship focus on engaged pedagogy, experiential learning, and place-based learning. He is the author of three books: Risky Teaching: Embracing the power of uncertainty in higher education (2021); Experiential Education in the College Context: What it is, how it works, and why it matters (2016); and, Beyond Learning by Doing: Theoretical currents in experiential education (2011), all published by Routledge Press.
Jay gives talks and workshops on engaged pedagogy and experiential learning at schools, colleges, and universities nationally and internationally including recent engagements with the University of Alabama, Northeastern University, Boise State University, and the University of Maine. Jay currently serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Experiential Education.
Jay received his B.A. in Anthropology from Lawrence University, an M.Ed. from the University of Virginia, and a Ph.D. in Education from Miami University.
Associate Dean and Professor, University of Toronto Mississauga
Learning from Failure in STEM Classes: Practical Strategies and Potential Caveats
Learning from failure is a core component to education, however it is not often deliberately taught in university courses. There has been a dramatic increase in advice to “fail forward” in the higher education context, however the corresponding structural and sustained supports are sometimes lacking. In this interactive session we will dive into the science of learning and explore what we know (and what we don't know) about how to support students in learning through failure. We'll look at innovative strategies for teaching students to embrace, learn from, and bounce back from failure in the STEM context.
Speaker Bio
Dr. Fiona Rawle has a Ph.D in Pathology and Molecular Medicine and is the Associate Dean, Pedagogical Development and Scholarship, at the University of Toronto Mississauga, and a Professor, Teaching Stream, in the Dept. of Biology. Her research focuses on failure-driven learning, the science of learning, and public communication of science. She has received numerous awards focused on teaching, including the 3M National Teaching Fellowship. Dr. Rawle routinely gives science of learning workshops across North America, and is also a member of the University of Toronto's TIDE group (Toronto Initiative for Diversity & Excellence), through which she gives lectures and workshops on unconscious bias, equity, and diversity.
Past Events
2023 ELATE Annual Teaching & Learning Conference:
Assessment in Engineering Education
May 26, 2023 | 09:15 am – 03:30 pm
Overview
The Enhancing Learning and Teaching in Engineering (ELATE) initiative was pleased to host its Annual Teaching and Learning Conference on Friday, May 26th, 2023 from 9:15 am – 3:30 pm. The conference theme was Assessment in Engineering Education.
Keynote Presenters
Jerry G. Huff Chair in Innovative Teaching, Associate Professor in Ron and Jane Graham School of Professional Development, College of Engineering University of Saskatchewan
Presentation Title: Competency Based Assessment: What it is and why you should care
Faculty Member – Instructor of Professional Practice and Design, Price Faculty of Engineering, Centre for Engineering Professional Practice & Engineering Education, University of Manitoba
Presentation Title: Teaching Teamwork in Engineering: Models, Practice and Assessment
Detailed Keynote Bios and Presentation Details
Prof. Sean Maw
Dr. Maw is the Jerry G. Huff Chair in Innovative Teaching in the College of Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan’s Ron and Jane Graham School of Professional Development. A graduate of Waterloo’s Systems Design Engineering program, he completed his PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Alberta and then engaged in sports science and engineering at the Olympic Oval in Calgary for several years before taking a teaching position in Mount Royal University’s Engineering Transfer Program. From there he moved into the Huff Chair at USask, where he redesigned the Engineering Entrepreneurship program and then co-led the redesign of USask’s First Year Engineering Program. Dr. Maw teaches a range of First Year courses, as well as senior Design courses, and graduate courses in Engineering Education. He is the PI for the RADSAT-SK Cubesat, launching to space on June 3, 2023, and his current research interests include curling physics, competency-based assessment, engineering employment trajectories, and the use of VR in engineering education.
Competency Based Assessment: What it is and why you should care
By the end of this session on Competency Based Assessment (CBA), attendees will know how to define and describe CBA as well as the Constructive Alignment (CA) outcomes-based approach to teaching. CA is an increasingly popular approach to teaching and CBA offers a new way for many engineering educators to think about assessment in a way that fits well with Constructive Alignment. Together, these systems offer new opportunities across all aspects of engineering education, as well as professional certification and licensure. However, they also require shifts in our traditional ways of looking at teaching and assessment. In this session, the key principles and operational parameters of CBA will be discussed, potential costs and benefits of this assessment approach will be covered, issues regarding implementation will be shared, and references will be provided to the CBA literature for further consideration.
Prof. Nishant Balakrishnan
Nish (Nishant) Balakrishnan, P.Eng (he/him) is a teaching stream faculty member who has been with the University of Manitoba in a teaching capacity since 2015 with the Centre for Engineering Professional Practice and Engineering Education in the Price Faculty of Engineering. His primary role at the University of Manitoba has been teaching technical design courses, and he has developed or redeveloped many core and elective courses across the faculty via an interdepartmental cross faculty design teaching role. Through innovative course design, lab integration and curriculum/course design, Nish has integrated courses into the curriculum that guide students to apply both theory and praxis in manufacturing engineering and mechanical design to solve real-world problems and see the design process through from end to end. Through these experiences and course design that draws on the modern teaching practice and innovative pedagogy, students learn not only hands on skills but also many professional skills in a controlled and measured manner to create a holistic process of learning Engineering Design. His professional experience is primarily situated in Engineering Design (automotive, biomedical and applied robotics) and product design, and encompasses a broad mix of practical and theoretical engineering work. While being a full time faculty member, Nish also is a Ph.D. student in the University of Manitoba’s Graduate Specialization in Engineering Education – a novel program situated at the University of Manitoba and facilitated by the Centre for Engineering Professional Practice and Engineering Education. Nish’s research focuses on teamwork in Engineering programs, looking at aspects of course design, assessment, and the fundamental nature of teamwork in Engineering.
Conference Program
| TIME | ACTIVITY | PRESENTER(S) |
|---|---|---|
|
09:15-09:25 |
Opening Remarks | Dr. Laura Winer, Director of Teaching and Learning Services |
|
09:25-10:00 |
Why Assessment? | Dr. Amanda Saxe and Prof. Lawrence Chen, ELATE |
|
10:00-11:00 |
Competency Based Assessment Part 1 | Prof. Sean Maw, University of Saskatchewan |
|
11:00-11:10 |
Coffee Break | |
|
11:10-12:10 |
Competency Based Assessment Part 2 | Prof. Sean Maw, University of Saskatchewan |
|
12:10-13:00 |
Catered Lunch | |
|
13:00-14:00 |
Teaching and Assessing Teamwork | Prof. Nishant Balakrishnan, University of Manitoba |
|
14:00-14:15 |
Coffee Break | |
|
14:15-15:15 |
Teamwork Discussion Panel | Renée Pellissier, Yee Wei, Prof. Marwan Kanaan, and Claudia Flynn (Moderator) |
|
15:15-15:30 |
Closing Remarks | Prof. Roni Khazaka, Associate Dean (Academic), Faculty of Engineering |
2022 ELATE Annual Teaching & Learning Conference:
The Science of Learning
May 26, 2023 | 09:15 am – 03:30 pm
Overview
The ELATE (Enhancing Learning and Teaching in Engineering) team was excited to host its Annual Teaching and Learning Conference in May 2022.
In the keynote and workshop, participants learned about research-based teaching strategies to improve student learning, including retrieval practice, spacing, interleaving, and metacognition. Emphasis was placed on how to incorporate these practical strategies into existing teaching practices.
The afternoon session consisted of an in-person strategy exchange forum led by members of the McGill Engineering teaching and learning community. Facilitators lead small-group discussions regarding hands-on instructional strategies and best practices. Participants had the opportunity to learn about and discuss these different approaches. The strategy exchange topics included:
- Cooperative Formative Assessments: Prof. Amin Emad (ECE)
- EDI & Teamwork: Faye Siluk, Renee Pellissier (E-IDEA) & Prof. Sidney Omelon (MIME)
- Flipped Tutorials: Prof. James Forbes (MECH)
- Lab Videos: Prof. Stephanie Loeb (CIVE)
- Lifelong Learning Assessment Strategies: Dr. Amanda Saxe & Rehab Mahmoud (ELATE)
- Online Assessments: Prof. Damiano Pasini (MECH)
Conference Program
| TIME | ACTIVITY |
|---|---|
| 09:00 - 09:50 | Keynote Dr. Pooja K. Agarwal; Zoom & Broadcast in EDUC 129 |
| 09:50 - 10:05 | Transition Break |
| 10:05 - 12:00 | Workshop Dr. Pooja K. Agarwal; Zoom & EDUC 129 |
| 12:00 - 13:15 | Lunch |
| 13:15 - 14:15 | Strategy Exchange Faculty of Engineering Facilitators; EDUC 129  strategy_exchange_descriptions.pdf |
| 14:15 - 14:45 | Discussion and Closing |
2021 Annual Teaching and Learning Conference
Blended Learning
To support instructors as they prepared for teaching the Fall 2021 semester, ELATE hosted several webinars as part of its Annual Teaching and Learning Conference in the topic of Blended Learning. There were several presentations on the principles of blended learning and assessment strategies, followed by a case study. Participants were introduced to the blended learning activities and assessments planner tool for making guiding decision-making with regards to course planning.
Principles and examples of blended learning
Monday, June 21, 2021, 1-3 PM
- Blended learning activities and assessments, presented by Carolyn Samuel and Adam Finkelstein
- Blended learning design: a critical solution for precarious teaching times, Meghan Marshall, Marianopolis College
- Implications of blended learning design on accreditation, Nasim Razavinia, Faculty of Engineering
The blended learning activities and assessments planner
Monday, July 12, 2021, 1-2 PM
Participants who used the blended learning activities and assessments planner to plan parts of their courses had an opportunity to engage in discussion with their colleagues and obtain feedback.
2020 Annual Teaching and Learning Conference
Flipped Learning
To support instructors as they prepared for remote instruction in the fall 2020 semester, ELATE hosted a series of webinars as part of its Annual Teaching and Learning Conference. The webinars focused on “Flipped Learning” and were given by Prof. Robert Talbert, Department of Mathematics at Grand Valley State University.
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Tier 1: What is flipped learning?
Monday, July 27, 2020
This is a 35 minute presentation followed by 15-20 minutes of Q&A, focusing on active learning and the basic ideas of flipped learning. Participants will be able to articulate the benefits of active learning and the conceptual framework behind flipped learning, as well as how flipped learning environments operate.
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Tier 2: Flipped learning design in seven steps
Mon, Jul 27, 2020
This is a 50-minute interactive presentation that builds off of the information in Tier 1 and focuses on the seven-step design framework*, along with a case study. Participants will be able to explain the seven-step design framework and explain how it can be applied to designing a lesson.
* R. Talbert and J. Bergmann, Flipped Learning: a Guide for Faculty Teaching Face-to-Face, Online, and Hybrid Courses. Bloomfield : Stylus Publishing, LLC, 2017.
(Note: The book is available as an eBook from the McGill Library. Sign in with your McGill account to access the book)
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Tier 3: Flipped learning design workshop part 1
Mon, Aug 3, 2020
This is a one-hour hands-on workshop for faculty to apply what they learned in Tiers 1 and 2 to complete a lesson using the seven-step design process. Participants will complete steps 1-3 of the seven-step design process on one of their own courses or one similar to it, and think through how the remaining steps would go.
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Tier 4: Flipped learning design workshop part 2
Friday, Aug 7, 2020
This is a one-hour hands-on workshop that completed the work started in Tier 3. Participants will produce a complete set of materials and plans for a single lesson designing using flipped learning principles
2019 Annual Teaching and Learning Conference
Team-Based Learning
The conference featured a workshop in the morning and an instructional strategy exchange in the afternoon.
Getting Started with Team-Based Learning, facilitated by Prof. Peter Ostafichuk, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of British Columbia.
Team-Based Learning (TBL) is an effective and powerful form of small-group learning. It harnesses the power of teams and social learning combined with accountability structures and systematic instructional sequences to let you achieve powerful results. Prof. Ostafichuk, who co-authored (with Jim Sibley) the book Getting started with team-based learning (Sterling, VA: Stylus. 2014. ISBN 978-1620361962), provided practical advice, suggestions, and tips to help us succeed in TBL classes and activities.
The strategy exchange was a forum where instructors discussed different teaching and learning strategies. Different instructors were on hand to describe in detail various strategies (in-class, assessment, etc.) used in their courses. Participants were given the opportunity to hear/learn about three different strategies from the following:
- Engaging students via an ‘interrupted’ case study by Prof. Marta Cerruti, Department of Mining and Materials Engineering
- Using poster presentations in engineering courses by Prof. Corinne Hoesli, Department of Chemical Engineering
- Two-stage exams involving individual and/or group work by Prof. Jovan Nedic, Department of Mechanical Engineering
- Engaging students via in-class group work by Prof. Agus Sasmito, Department of Mining and Materials Engineering
- Using team-based learning in engineering courses by Prof. Peter Ostafichuk, Department of Mechanical Engineering, UBC