CELTalks

Monday, June 5Have you ever thought of doing (or doing more) international service and community development? Would you like to spend time shoulder to shoulder helping others while learning and appreciating another’s culture and way of life? This fall Christina Cederlof from the Education and Skills Training (ESTR) program went to Peru to give support to a school in the outskirts of Lima with Developing World Connections (DWC). Come see what going on a DWC service trip is like. Joy Demsey with DWC will also share how you can get involved with established and sustainable projects in Nepal, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Kenya, Cambodia, India, Philippines, and/or Peru.

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Tuesday, May 23Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT have provoked many questions about academic integrity, including questions about what constitutes cheating and how to manage our classrooms in this new moment. But that’s not the only ethical question plaguing the choice to use AI, which has environmental, labour, and equity implications. In this CELT talk, we’ll explore the difficult conversations – and hopeful ones! – that come when we think about teaching alongside artificial intelligence. We’ll explore opportunities to embrace the possibilities of AI and strategies for an assessment practice that keeps it at bay. And we’ll share resources to plan for what comes next.

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Tuesday, April 18: Students are workers and the conditions of faculty and staff are reflected in the conditions of students themselves. In the context of disability, human resources and accessibility services both tend to focus on legal compliance and limiting institutional liability, not systemic change or the rights of the marginalized. They exist to control access to the perceived “scarce resources” of accommodations. But if students were really getting what they needed structurally, they wouldn’t have to go through an accommodations process. It would just be a given of how teaching and learning were done. The neoliberal capture of higher education is only intensifying, and so this reality is not going to change any time soon, so then what can be done until the revolution comes?

In this talk Dr. Mitchell reflects on the relational nature of teaching in the context of neurodivergence both inside and outside the classroom. Given how many faculty and staff have justifiably felt the need to hide their disabilities, this robs neurodivergent students of the ability to imagine possible futures for themselves and be in educational spaces where their needs are understood by people who share some of those needs.

Thursday, March 30: Frederic presented a solid basis to begin an autonomous exploration of the potential use of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to create inclusive classroom practices for all diverse learners. The session followed a simple structure that addressed the key “Why? What? How? What next?” concerns of participants: Why do we need UDL and how is it changing the way we approach inclusion in the post-secondary classroom? What is UDL?  The resources available to instructors about UDL are now abundant and tackling them can be daunting.  The session offered a beginner’s guide to exploring resources and strategies. How does one plan and begin a rigorous and effective use of UDL in one’s courses?  What are the essential initial steps of this inclusive design reflection? What next?  How does one fit personal explorations around UDL within departmental policies, existing collaborations with colleagues, and institutional practices?  How does one scale up individual UDL initiatives within faculties?  {Video coming soon.}

Wednesday, February 1: Land acknowledgements are a time for you to reflect and draw on your knowledge of the local Indigenous peoples and the traditional lands of a place. Respectful land acknowledgments involve a process of reconciliation and acknowledgement of the displacement of Indigenous peoples. Indigenous peoples have always honored guests, as well as their hosts when visiting other nations and communities. To honor and show gratitude is a sign of respect. To enact meaningful change and build positive relationships is time for all of us to do the same.

Wednesday, September 21: Ann Cheeptham, TRU’s first 3M National Teaching Fellow, will share her strategies for applying for the award, including selecting what stories and examples to include, evidencing teaching effectiveness and educational leadership, and selecting reference letter writers. These strategies are also applicable for other teaching award applications, for performance review portfolios, and for tenure and promotion applications.

Wednesday, December 15: Language is intrinsic to the expression of culture. As a means of communicating values, beliefs, and customs, it has an important social function and fosters feelings of group identity and solidarity. It is how culture, traditions, and its shared values may be conveyed and preserved. Every time a language dies, so does an expression of human experience like no other. The United Nations Decade of Indigenous Languages begins in 2022. First Nations representatives from British Columbia joined more than 500 participants from 50 countries in Mexico City in February 2020 to discuss a roadmap for the Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022-2032). At least 40% of the 7,000 languages used worldwide are at some level of endangerment. Indigenous languages are particularly vulnerable. One of the world’s top “language hotspots” of endangered languages is the heart of British Columbia it is the home to 34 distinct languages and seven language families. Together these account for more than 60 per cent of all Indigenous languages spoken in Canada. We urge leadership, educators, and communities to develop an appreciation and understanding of the significance of Indigenous languages and to support comprehensive plans to be put into immediate actions for Secwepemctsin, St’át’imcets, Nłakapamxcín Nuxálk, Tsilhqot’in, Dakelh and Nsyilxcən languages because it will contribute to language revitalization and contribute to sustained Indigenous identity, and culture.

Thursday, November 18: The purpose of the Indigenous Education | Educational Developer is to enable all educators, faculty, staff, and sessional instructors to develop their individual potential and to acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to support the integration of Indigenous Knowledge into curricula. This CELTalk will address the perspectives and accomplishments of Indigenous peoples. The goal is to ensure that TRU is a welcoming and safe environment for Indigenous students, staff, faculty and community members and that programs and strategies reflect the institutional commitment to engaging Indigenous perspectives. Integrating Indigenous Knowledge benefits not only Indigenous students but all students, teachers, staff members, and community members involved or impacted by Indigenization. Through collaborative work we can build relationships and be accountable to Indigenous communities in support of self-determination through education, training, and applied research. This info session is a prerequisite to an optional 2 hour face-to-face workshop that will provide participants an guided opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills attained through this CELTalk.  Details will be provided at the CELTalk.

Tuesday, November 9: Join Brenna from the LT&I team to talk about how podcasting can help your research practice reach a broader audience and meet the emerging tri-council expectations of knowledge mobilization. We'll talk about examples of successful podcasts, the genre of scholarly podcasting, and how to get started.

Tuesday, October 26: In the Winter 2021, faculty from across campus engaged in a new Strategic Assessment of Institutional Learning (SAIL) pilot. Using faculty-developed institutional rubrics, faculty evaluated the extent to which students are achieving Critical Thinking and Investigation, Social Responsibility, and Lifelong Learning in ILO-approved courses. During this presentation, faculty members will share their experiences, as well as recommendations for a regular process whereby program faculty collect, reflect on, and act as appropriate on meaningful data regarding student learning and the achievement of institutional learning outcomes.

Wednesday, September 29: For generations, the Indigenous Peoples have lived as a self-governing and self-sufficient people in harmony with their environment that has met all their needs. Education was a process of living according to values and beliefs that formed the basis of the skills and knowledge sought that ensured the development of healthy, balanced individuals, families, and communities.

Tuesday, May 18: Q: What do an ESTR Instructor, a Reference Librarian, Coordinators of Educational Technologies and Innovation, and a Coordinator of Learning and Faculty Development have in common?  A: A deep commitment to student learning! As with most programs at TRU, the ESTR students made the shift to online learning and were unable to do their fall in-community practica: instead, they engaged in skill development in their safety bubble.  To broaden and enrich these experiences, small groups of students and their instructor had regular, structured consultations with a Reference Librarian. These sessions were, like all of the other content from the course, delivered virtually. While the technology and design of the course were ultimately the responsibility of the instructor, the development of both were supported and facilitated by the faculty development opportunities and one-on-one support offered by  Educational Technology Coordinators and a Coordinator from TRU’s Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT). In this session, we will share how our individual contributions built a whole that was greater than the sum of its parts.  Then, we will explore how to preserve the best of our discoveries and learnings from this past year and ask:  How we can hold on to the good things from this year as we prepare for a return to campus?

April 22, 2021: Come learn about how you can incorporate experiential, project-based learning into your courses! TRU faculty have access to the Riipen platform which helps higher education educators easily launch, manage, track and report on project-based learning happening in the classroom. In this session you will learn about how short-term project-based engagements complement existing work-integrated learning (WIL) and experiential learning (EL) programs by providing opportunities for emerging talent to engage authentically with companies year-round before they complete their degree. The Riipen platform enables students and companies to connect with project-based learning in a fast-evolving workforce where organizations and educators are looking for innovative ways to prepare today’s learners for the demands of tomorrow’s workplace. Project-Based Experiential Learning offers students the opportunity to work on projects from industry, embedded into their curriculum and facilitated by an instructor.

April 26, 2021: In this presentation, Manu Sharma will talk about her forthcoming book, Disruptive Learning Narrative Framework: Analyzing Race, Power and Privilege in Post-Secondary International Service Learning Experiences (co-edited by Drs. Manu Sharma, Andrew Allen and Awad Ibrahim, Bloomsbury Publishing), which provides a range of North American post-secondary critical short-term international experiences that are told by the university instructors who have taken and facilitated the learning of their students in international settings.  Each chapter reveals unique insights into the learnings that emerge after applying the Disruptive Learning Narrative (DLN) framework. Using insights from their own lives and those of the international shared experiences of their postsecondary students they have taken abroad, authors witnessed a need and call to address what the learning that comes from these critical international experiences does for our students when they return back to North America. Manu Sharma is an Assistant Professor at Thompson Rivers University in the Faculty of Education and Social Work, where she teaches foundational courses in the Masters of Education program.

January 22, 2021: Lorry-Ann Austin has been teaching in person since 2013 and in alternate delivery modes of delivery since March 2020. She prioritizes relational approaches to teaching and seeks to build community among learners, whether on campus or virtually. Lorry-Ann strongly believes learners have the most success when they are able to collaborate with peers and faculty in social contexts. In this CELT Talk, Lorry-Ann shares some of the strategies she developed to increase presence and build community in both synchronous and asynchronous ways during the pandemic. Her presentation will be followed by a larger discussion about how strategies might work in participants’ own contexts.

October 5, 2020: A 90-minute interactive session that provides you with options for EL at TRU, a template and steps for planning Outcome-Based Experiential Learning guided by national research, and practical examples and options that work within COVID and remote learning times.

March 3, 2020: Over the past 30 years Howe's teaching strategies have evolved but he continues to use effective pedagogies. As a result of teaching experience abroad, he became fascinated by comparative and international education (CIE) and now he teaches a CIE-focused graduate class. To address CIE and enhance student engagement and subject-area immersion, Howe employs a self-study of teacher education practices (S-STEP) and a critical friend via Comparative Ethnographic Narrative (CEN), a blend of reflexive ethnography and narrative inquiry. He will share the meaningful results of teacher-to-teacher conversations, reflections on feedback received from students, and e-journal reflections prompted by frequent conversations with his critical friend.

March 3, 2020: Coteaching is a way of teaching where two or more instructors work together to plan, teach and assess shared learning activities. “Sharing of ideas, experience and expertise lies at the root of coteaching” (Murphy, 2016).

February 5, 2020: “Paradoxes of Intellectual Autonomy: How to cultivate independent research” explores a tension between the purpose of teaching which is to empower students to direct their own thoughts and actions, and teaching methods, which authoritatively direct students’ thoughts and actions. I argue for less authoritative approaches, particularly in contexts such as supervising student research and upper level research projects.

February 5, 2020: Nicole is a member of the Faculty of Law at TRU ne Secwepemcúľecw, and the academic lead for the pilot programme to implement the TRC Calls to Action, especially Call #28 specific to law schools. This programme takes all first year law students to the former Kamloops Indian Residential School to learn about the history and legacy of residential schools and beyond to understand the colonial underpinnings of the Canadian legal system. All Upper year students participate in land-based learning days in Secwepemcúľecw, where they learn about indigenous laws, Crown-Aboriginal relations and indigenous rights, including international protections under UNDRIP. This year a learning day on urban indigenous issues and indigenous identity is being rotated into the programme. Nicole earned the 2019 TRU Award on Interculturalization for her work developing this programme and she will present on it at her CELT talk.

January 15, 2020: This CELTalk will be held in the TRUSU Lecture Hall.  There are dozens of educational websites, apps, and software packages available on the Internet which claim to help students and/or instructors. In this interactive CELTalk, TRU eLearning Coordinator Dr. Matthew Stranach will survey 20 of the most popular apps for higher education and then categorize these as “Good”, “Bad”, or “Ugly” according to their potential value for teaching and learning. Matt will use a Pecha Kucha format for the first half of the presentation, and will demonstrate some of the “Good” apps during the second half. For more information on learning technology offerings at TRU, please visit: https://trubox.ca/workshops/.

January 15, 2020: This CELTalk will be held in the TRUSU Lecture Hall.  How can we effectively cultivate a culture of excellence in teaching and learning and discovery? Using data and anecdotes I will share about the success of the first-year research experience (FYRE) and how this collaborative approach invigorated 2800 annual student enrolments and inspired dozens of faculty to wade more confidently into the field of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). We’ll touch on what of this approach might yield something of value for you and your teaching and scholarship.

December 12, 2019: What is a two-stage exam and how does it affect student learning? In what contexts can it be used? Learn how one instructor adopted two-stage exams with inspiring results.

December 12, 2019: This workshop will provide you with information about core sustainability competencies, and then will highlight the pedagogical tools you may already be using, to incorporate them into your courses.

November 27, 2019: Did you know that in BC, as many as 50% of beginning Early Childhood Educators leave the field within the first five years of work? This startling statistic has been a motivator for Laura, an Associate Professor in the School of Education. Just recently, thanks to provincial funding, a peer-mentoring project that originated in Kamloops has gone province-wide, with 19 locations. Come, hear about this peer-mentoring project that takes place within a community of practice and includes access to online support and timely professional development.

November 27, 2019: The Mind the Gap Program is an opportunity to bring together teachers from School District No. 73 and TRU faculty members to support idea sharing and the development of collaborative projects with the goal of sharing and spreading awareness and practice.  As the second year of the program begins, we examine feedback we received from past program participants to determine areas of success and suggestions for moving forward.

November 5, 2019: We will share the process of developing a field school from the perspective of a faculty member (with a good idea) and TRU World (with processes, timelines, and protocols). The talk will take participants from the early planning stages through to delivery and every step in between. Tools and resources for planning and executing a field school will be shared.

October 15, 2019: Possibly one of the most common phrases tutors use in the Writing Centre is, “you should really go talk to your instructor.” This is frequently met with unconcealed fear, and some combination of, “I don’t want to bother my teacher/if I ask questions, he/she will think I’m dumb/I’m scared”. As a faculty member, I strive for approachability: Talk to me. Let’s have coffee. Notice my strategically-placed personal photos of kids/hobbies/cats, indicating I’m a real person! However, if you’re like me, you might not have students queuing at your door during your office hours. Are you scary and unapproachable? Probably not. The Writing Centre is a space where students often feel comfortable sharing their frustrations with a peer tutor. In this CELTalk, I will share the most common causes for student confusion when it comes to assignments, and discuss how they can be addressed.

October 15, 2019: How can we effectively cultivate a culture of excellence in teaching and learning and discovery? Using data and anecdotes I will share about the success of the first-year research experience (FYRE) and how this collaborative approach invigorated 2800 annual student enrolments and inspired dozens of faculty to wade more confidently into the field of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). I’ll touch on what of this approach might yield something of value for you and your teaching and scholarships.

September 17, 2019: The decision to adopt Open Educational Resources (OERs) can be overwhelming. Where to start? Learn about the wide range of approaches (from small steps to giant leaps!) faculty can use to incorporate OERs into their teaching and learning activities . . . Learn about the path one instructor took to adopt OERs gradually over the past two decades, building both knowledge and confidence

September 17, 2019: This workshop will critique the standard categorical model of mental health/illness and the standard accommodation policies for insufficiently promoting access to, or engagement with, course material, and for placing additional burdens on members of equity-seeking groups. I offer an alternative continuum model, and an accompanying access+ policy which, together, are better-suited to meeting the goal of equitable, inclusive, and diverse classrooms.

April 9, 2019: Massive Open Online Courses (AKA “MOOCs”) have been offered by some of the world’s leading universities for more than a decade. Inspired by a Canadian model of online teaching practice, millions of students have studied in thousands of MOOCs generally free of financial cost or academic credit since 2008. Dr. Matthew Stranach of TRU Open Learning completed his doctorate on social presence in MOOCs. Matt will speak about lessons these kinds of courses can teach us about how to improve teaching and learning in fully online and in blended settings.

April 9, 2019: Exams don’t have to be stressful, and they don’t have to be summative assessments only. If you want to make the most of your students’ collaborative learning experiences and foster student metacognition, you might want to consider group testing, which is as much a learning experience as it is an exam. This kind of testing environment includes individual and group assessment, peer teaching opportunities, reflection and negotiation experiences, and, sometimes, instant feedback for students. How can all that happen in a single exam? Come to this CELTalk to find out!

March 28, 2019: Creating a sense of belonging in a learning environment is an increasingly popular topic among higher educational institutions around the world. Several studies suggest, creating a sense of belonging among learners is critical in terms of student engagement, academic success, and motivation. The purpose of this presentation is to explore the best practices of creating a sense of social belonging among learners in the virtual classroom and examine the benefits. Specifically, it will provide a literature review, anecdotes from colleagues, students, and the presenter. The findings will also allow practitioners to appreciate and enhance learning opportunities among adult learners. Finally, lessons learned, continuing challenges and guidelines for practitioners considering the development of such a model will be presented and discussed.

March 28, 2019: Kim teaches a graduate summer course in educational neuroscience in the M.Ed. program.  In a short period of time, both domestic and international students must learn the anatomy, physiology, and function of the brain, which can be a tall order in a compressed course. Using current brain research, Kim uses novel methods to teach challenging content and concepts.  Come for a fun session, playing with blocks, playdo, and full-body movement to experience these methods for yourself!

March 12, 2019: The presentation will provide an opportunity to learn about the Zone'In program created for classroom teachers by Occupational Therapist, Cris Rowan. All students, including adult learners, have diverse self-regulation needs, and postsecondary instructors are not alone when trying to maintain a high level of engagement with their students. Sensory dysregulation describes a state of over or under arousal and when a person is not able to successfully regulate or process environmental stimuli (Cheng, Boggett-Carsjens, 2005). The Zone’N program enables simple tools for sensory regulation, and provides a means for educators to help their students maintain engagement, be calm and alert in their learning, and have a high level of recall (Shanker, 2012, 2014). Adapting methods from K-12 special education and generalist classroom settings, Dr. Nan Stevens will demonstrate how even a lecture hall can become sensory smart for all learners.

March 12, 2019: Students say that they like Open Educational Resources (OERs) - such as open textbooks - because they save them a lot of money, but how do they feel about using them, compared with traditional printed resources? Open Learning faculty member and BCCampus OER Research Fellow Steven Earle will describe the results from his ongoing research into how students access and use OERs and what they like and don't like about that experience. He will discuss how we can use the student feedback to help us make open textbooks even better.

Feb. 12, 2019: In this talk, which is inspired by the teachings of elder Bob Cardinal from the Enoch Cree Nation and Dr. Dwayne Donald from the University of Alberta, I consider what “courageously holistic” teaching practices might be called for in these “ecologically sorrowful times” (Jardine, 2015, p. xv). I will reflect on the meaning of ecological contemplative practices in my work with Master of Education students at Thompson Rivers University, based on the recognition that students are not only intellectual beings, but also physical, emotional and spiritual beings. I will demonstrate examples of some of the arts-inspired ecological contemplative work that we do in our classes, such as daily poetry readings, listening circles, sharing food, “heart-tunings,” and creative assignments that weave story and place. Following Paul Wapner’s (2016) view that private contemplation may empower and enrich action in the public sphere, I will consider the potential impact of these holistic practices on students’ orientation towards social and ecological justice in their own work in the field of education.

Feb. 12, 2019: Otsin is the spirit of Gitxsan Peoples and reflects the Gitxsan nursing faculty member sharing the journey in the development of a unique third year nursing practice course. A context-based, student centered teaching pedagogy using a two-eyed seeing approach informs the development of the interdisciplinary Indigenous nursing practice course. The theoretical tenet of place is reconceptualized to reflect Indigenous communities and rural nursing practice. A metaphor of weaving together cedar strips reflects the journey workshop participants will experience in expanding their lens beyond the classroom walls to rural and Indigenous northern communities.

Jan. 21, 2019: In 2009 John Hattie published a ground-breaking meta-analysis that identified what does an effective learning environment in K-12 include? What does it not include? What is the % effect on student learning and well-being of the learning environment component? This meta-analysis is interesting to consider in all learning environments. It is not perfect — but it’s comparative nature makes it better than most of our information about effective learning strategies thus far. We’ll take a look at the research and consider what applies and what that implies in the higher education environment.

Jan. 21, 2019: Are your students reading the assigned readings? If not, why? How can we motivate students to read? This talk explores various reading strategies to meet the challenges of student engagement in reading while also encouraging relationship building and accountability.

Nov. 27, 2018: In Indigenous settings there is time set aside for the protocol of introduction, where everyone shares who they are and where they come from. This situates people, but also allows time for connections and conversations that build on relationships. I always do this when starting any class (K-16) and anyone can use this strategy, which is a step towards Indigenization.

Nov. 27, 2018: Knowing that our students are not blank slates and aiming to invite and stir curiosity about the course content, led Jerome Bruner to define a strategy based on student inquiry called Concept Attainment. This approach to introduce students to new concepts draws upon inherent human curiosity into a problem solving approach where students explore the attributes of a concept before naming it. This structured inquiry approach helps bring meaning to new concepts and engages students to explore, explain and provide examples. I have used this strategy in classes from elementary school through to university to teach science concepts and the rules of grammar or citation. Students love it because it is an alternative to being passive recipients of concepts to fully engaged allies in the learning process.

Nov. 8, 2018: Assessment is one of the most important, yet elusive aspects of teaching and learning. Recent innovations in higher education pedagogy include student-centered teaching approaches, yet rarely is assessment aligned with these new paradigms. In this presentation, I will share implementation of peer and self-assessment in undergraduate and graduate courses and my reflections on lessons learned on the benefits and some of the challenges involved in implementing these forms of assessment.

Nov. 8, 2018: From an educator’s perspective, the myriad of the world views and experiences of students in the classroom provide opportunities for new ways of knowing, seeing, and experiencing the world. Place-based education has the capacity to extend the learning community beyond the parameters of the university and to bring Indigenous and non-Indigenous, domestic and international students onto the local landscape. By intentionally using place-based and intercultural pedagogy, this SoTL project draws on student reflections to investigate whether intercultural learning occurred through a place-based walking tour assignment.

Oct. 30, 2018: Over the last several years, 3D Printing has developed from a fringe and expensive technology accessible only to engineers, to a mainstream and widely accessible tool of endless possibilities for educators and everyone else. High quality 3D Printers can now be obtained for $1000 and user friendly software has almost eliminated the learning curve. However, to many, 3D Printing is still a mysterious technology that they do not know how to approach. Today we will examine the fundamentals of 3D Printing with an emphasis on Open Source printers and Open Access software.

Oct. 30, 2018: How a simple plastic brick can transform group interactions by generating real shared understanding amongst the participants.

Oct. 11, 2018: This year, classrooms in the Old Main building at TRU are being redesigned to allow for more flexibility in learning and delivery styles. This work has already taken place in some classrooms in the Arts & Education building. The focus of this CELTalk is to get direct feedback from instructors that have been using these spaces in A&E. You’ll hear some lessons learned in this journey towards more flexible and active learning. There will be two panels – one from the School of Education (where teacher candidates learn how to teach) and one from Modern Languages (where faculty are looking for active ways to promote language learning). The panels will share their successful strategies and learning opportunities for these spaces.

Sept. 27, 2018: Talking for a living can be challenging - especially for teachers, who have to speak a lot, five days in a row. Our vocal habits help make or break our instruction and greatly impacts our students' experience. We all know that teacher that is difficult to listen to, and we can't remember what they said. It comes down to presentation skills. Learn techniques and better vocal choices that can help your audience hear what you are saying and help them retain the information. Be heard, without hurting yourself.

April 5, 2018: This session looks at how to leverage already copyright cleared materials from TRU Library and create a reading list (required and supplemental) in Moodle without having to worry about violating copyright legislation.

April 5, 2018: Humans are now coming up against hard limits to our life on earth, and yet, through various ill-measured responses, we are effectively leaving the long-term ecological and social consequences to future generations. I consider how it is possible to cultivate more measured (Gadamer, 2004), yet always imperfect responses in these "ecologically sorrowful times" (Jardine, 2015, p. xv) through a heart-mind-ful and place-based pedagogy that is oriented towards diversity in ways of knowing and connecting with others, an openness to the unknown, and to respectful relations with humans and our more-than-human kin.

March 21, 2018: Technology has revolutionized the way we connect, communicate, and share information; transforming how educators approach teaching and learning in and out of the classroom. At Thompson Rivers University, we have been actively investigating the use of remote operation of scientific instrumentation for K-16 science students. We discuss our work providing access for real time analysis of real world samples and promoting remote instrumentation as "aOER's" or almost Open Educational Resources for the science laboratory.

March 21, 2018: Eleven academic divisions are working together to design, operationalize, evaluate and share practices aimed at increasing Indigenous advancement and the indigenization of TRU academic activities.

March 8, 2018: This presentation showcases an innovative student engagement activity in a fourth year microbiology elective course. The final project, a dinner fundraising event with students serving microbial fermented products, has led to community outreach and public engagement. This presentation took place as part of TRU's I-Days.

Feb. 6, 2018: A new BC provincial Matrix on the various forms of Experiential Learning (EL) in the Canadian Post-Secondary System are presented. Complementing this matrix review are the results of a TRU survey, cataloging the various forms of EL at our institution. If you love the Matrix and Stats-this session is for you!

Feb. 6, 2018: The research is clear: student well-being is strongly correlated with academic and personal success. Unfortunately, many students experience overwhelming stress and mental health concerns that can hinder their health as well as their academic performance. The good news is that the classroom environment and the positive relationships faculty can foster with students are a key component in nurturing student wellness. If you are curious about how faculty can cultivate classroom environments conducive to well-being, this talk is for you.

Jan. 26, 2018: A majority of social work students arrive in their undergraduate experience bereft of a depth of understanding and empathy of the experiences of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. This unknowing results in feelings of anger, resentment and finally guilt - this tension however reveals opportunity for the decolonizing instructor to shift feeling into action and reveal a path towards a decolonized heart-centered practice.

Jan. 26, 2018: Over the past three years, the Education and Skills Training (ESTR) program at TRU has integrated a unique project-based learning initiative into their Retail and Kitchen streams. The ESTR Kiosk has successfully provided students with cognitive disabilities with job specific training as well as creating a more accessible, visible and inclusive program on campus. Every year the project has grown in products, partnerships and sales which resulted in a need for an expansion. In Fall 2017, one of the existing classrooms in Old Main was transformed into a "cool" little market known for delicious soup and friendly service.

Nov. 30, 2017: In class smart phone surveys can be a great way to engage students and assess learning either pre or post lessons. Not only do students learn but we can learn a lot about them. Kyra leads us through the simplicity of mentimeter and invite others to share similar tools they may be using.

Nov. 30, 2017: Linking class room to career, learn how TRU students are transitioning from their degree to securing meaningful career employment. This micro-session shares recent research on the factors that influence this transition, offering insight on what TRU faculty, staff and administrators can do to support and further educate students on this monumental transition.

Nov. 17, 2017: What are Open Educational Resources (OERs) and why are they relevant to us as educators? How can OERs be used by faculty to improve/enhance/enrich the student learning experience and outcomes? What's out there? Where to start?

Nov. 17, 2017: How do you get started looking for OER? What resources and tools are available to help? What tips should you consider when considering OER? How can Brenda help you with integrating OER into your teaching, whether you want to just dip your toe into the world of Open Education by using OER images or videos or if you want to base your entire class on OER?

Oct. 30, 2017: Quick and easy tools that keep classroom practice fresh and effective. Discover how simple, everyday objects can be integrated into your teaching to keep students engaged, learning and on their toes.

Oct. 30, 2017: Place-based education proposes students and educators engage with their local community - culture, people, land, art. To be able to accomplish this educators may need to reconsider the colonial constructs of time and space.

Oct. 20, 2017: This talk demonstrates the use of H5P hotspots for adding a multimedia dimension to images you or students may use for presentations, digital assignments, Moodle resources.

Oct. 20, 2017: One of the most common issues students request help with in the Writing Centre is assignment interpretation. Join me for a presentation on creating clear, comprehensible assignment explanations and evaluative criteria.

Oct. 4, 2017: Since 2011, Tony Bell has been using videos to support his introductory accounting courses. Posted on YouTube, his videos have garnered over 4,000,000 views from around the world. This talk explores his experiences and advice in making and using video supplements. It also reviews the current literature on the best practices when it comes to making and using educational videos.

Oct. 4, 2017: This instructional strategy involves getting students working together using non-permanent vertical surfaces. It is based on research by Dr. Peter Liljedahl from SFU, and gets students learning actively and socially.