Curriculum mapping can be used to document, align, visualize, and assess curricular data, such as learning outcomes, assessment materials, instructional techniques, and student pre- and post-testing scores. A cross-disciplinary Curriculum Mapping Initiative currently underway at the University of Toronto Mississauga aims to: (1) develop guidelines…

Stemming from increased levels of participation and diversity of the student base and from growing scrutiny on the quality of university degrees, governments have begun establishing mechanisms to monitor and support quality in higher education. Faced with administrative quality assurance structures, academics often complain that little is…

The fourth cohort of 3M National Student Fellows explores the current state of our post-secondary education system across Canada and opportunities to further tune into practice in order to pursue an authentic and meaningful academic life. Six of the 2015 3M National Student Fellows propose recommendations for decision-makers at post-secondary…

This paper shares insights into how university faculty understand and integrate internationalization and global citizenship ideas into their pedagogical practices. The study worked with a broad base of faculty to come to an understanding of what it means for scholarship to embrace internationalization in teaching and then to explore ways of…

First-year university students are a diverse group of individuals with various abilities and needs. Failure of the university and its teaching faculty to meet the needs of first-year students may result in abandonment of the pursuit of a degree. This project informs instructors about the practices that strengthen a learning-centred approach and…

This paper describes the implementation of a peer observation program at the University of Victoria called the Lecture Club. The observers are not interactive during the class--they are the proverbial flies on the wall. The paper identifies the program as self-developmental, discussing the attributes of this learning-to-teach and peer-sharing…

Teachers and learners alike bring past experiences into present teaching and learning contexts. Group work is an experience that carries equal measures of joyful anticipation and mournful trepidation. Learners typically experience group work as an uneven distribution of time, competence, and accountability, and seem to have lingering memories of…

"Hop on the bus, Gus. Make a new plan, Stan." What are some techniques to hook or "lure" learners and to keep them motivated? Knowing the diversity of students, their interests, backgrounds, and preferred learning styles, no single technique will be successful all of the time. This paper describes a large number of ways…

This paper builds on an inquiry process initiated during a session at the 2008 Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education conference. The goal was to promote scholarly research on teaching, learning, and educational development in Canadian post-secondary institutions by identifying and prioritizing research issues, and emerging…

Can we effectively integrate Deaf students into our post-secondary classes before recognizing and listening to them? Studies indicate that Deaf students continue to struggle, be silenced, and experience isolation when mainstreamed. Deaf students, or second-language students, inevitably develop new identities once included; however, we cannot…

In our science learning and teaching environment, how often do we present science as a body of facts, or at best, a compendium of knowledge to which we can add more information, if we ask the "right" questions? In reality, the nature of science is significantly more complex, and the number of iterations we go through to resolve a given…

The student population in Canada's higher education institutions is becoming increasingly racially and culturally diverse. Canadian higher education has the obligation to build inclusive teaching and learning environments where the needs and aspirations of students from diverse cultures and backgrounds can be addressed in an equitable manner.…