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Scholarship of Teaching & Learning (SoTL) Projects

Learn about current and past Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) projects by Faculty of Science Instructors.

InstructorScholarship of Teaching & Learning (SoTL) Projects
Andrew McEachernAs part of an AIF grant, I worked on improving the student experience in a first-year mathematics course for the health sciences.
Andrew SkeltonI worked on two Scholarship of Teaching & Learning Projects:

1. First-Year Experience (interactive learning modules, to be posted on eCampus Ontario)
2. A comparison between paid and course-credit Supplemental Instruction (PASS) programming
Banafsheh Hashemi PourAs part of research team at York University with myself, Anthony C.K. Leung, Dan Reynolds & Stanislaw Jerzak, we designed and tested a new team learning assessment process for a first-year physics laboratory test. We wrote a paper on analyzing and interpreting these results. The article is:

Anthony C.K. Leung, Banafsheh Hashemi Pour, Dan Reynolds & Stanislaw Jerzak
‘New assessment process in an introductory undergraduate physics laboratory: an exploration on collaborative learning’ Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, October 12, 2015
Eduard FurmanI designed and tested virtual reality experiments to support education in risk management.
Iain MoylesI co-developed a wiki for math exam solutions while I was at University of British Columbia. The wiki was developed with pedagogy in mind in that it provides hints to students and tries to help them obtain the solution themselves before going to see the full solutions. Furthermore, the solutions themselves are very detailed so students can use them as a learning tool for the material.
We collected various analytics on the website such as time from page loading to clicking solution. The wiki is still maintained to some extent (though not to the same level).

My co-developers and I also wrote a paper analyzing and interpreting some of the data we got from the wiki.
Jade AtallahI have worked on three Scholarship of Teaching & learning Projects:

1. Program-Level Learning Outcomes Establishment for Cell & Molecular Biology
2. An interdisciplinary approach to higher order teaching & learning in genetics
3. The effect of Increased Realism in Depicting Biological Processes on learning cell and molecular biology
Joel ZylberbergI designed and implemented a new course on Deep Learning for Physicists.
Lisa RobertsonI published an article in the IJHE regarding course modifications in response to the pandemic (DOI: 10.5430/ijhe.v10n7p96).

I was an author on a recent publication in conjunction with colleagues at the University of Guelph regarding “Frequency, topic, and preferences: Tracking student engagement with several modalities of student–instructor contact in a first-year course” (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/2211-5463.13315).

I am also currently serving as a committee member for an MSc Thesis at the University of Guelph: “The scientific & educational benefits of using citizen science projects as experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate students.”

In addition, at the University of Guelph I was involved in research with my graduate students.

Project 1: “Students and (test) Anxiety: Does Collaborative two-stage testing really reduce student anxiety?”
Project 2: “Learning outcome development for a graduate program. Unfortunately neither of these projects were published.”
Logan DonaldsonApril 2012 to April 2014: I held two AIF grants ($40k each) to run a first year learning community in genomics and personal medicine open to any science student.
Mary-Helen ArmourI have surveyed students in my online course about their experience and development of online course delivery (perpetual course model).
Pam SargentI worked on developing and implementing a resource-neutral, blended course model in a first-year calculus course. View the publication.

I also co-authored a paper on different pedagogical training pathways for math TAs at a large public research university. This used an autoethnographical research methodology to analyze the pedagogical paths of three recent graduates through written reflection. View the publication.

I have also recently submitted a paper that explores a team-teaching model as a means for graduate student development as instructors (to appear, hopefully!).
Patrick B HallI have worked on the following SoTL projects:

1. I worked with a former undergraduate student to produce a visualization of the Moon soon after its formation. Learn more, and view “Simulating the Phases of the Moon Shortly After Its Formation”, Noordeh, Hall & Cuk 2014, The Physics Teacher, 52, 239-240.

2. I worked with another former undergraduate on a demonstration of Martian gravity on Earth: “Demonstrating Martian Gravity”, Pirkola & Hall 2015, Physics Education, 50 (6), 643-645
Roger R LewI co-authored a paper on Introducing interdisciplinary science to second year undergraduates in a Current Topics in Biophysics course. See: https://arxiv.org/abs/1504.06557
Stanislaw JerzakI worked on the following SoTL projects:

1. Terrana, A. C. K. Leung and S. Jerzak*, Can. J. Phys. 95.2, 210-208, 2017. “Use of online resources by physics students in Canada: A cross-sectional study.”

2. S. Jerzak*, M. George, International Journal of Engineering Education, 32, 6, 2585-2596, 2016. “LabVIEW for Data Acquisition and Instrument Control in an Introductory Physics Laboratory for Engineers.”

3. C. K. Leung, A. Terrana, and S. Jerzak*, Can. J. Phys. 94, 9, 913-919,2016. “Students’ opinions on the educational value of physics laboratories: A cross-sectional survey.”

4. A. C. K. Leung, B. Hashemi-Pour, D. Reynolds, and S. Jerzak*, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 42, 169-181, 2015. “New assessment process in an introductory undergraduate physics laboratory: an exploration on collaborative learning.”
Tamara KellyI created, developed ISCI (Integrated Science) program, and studied whether students learned better this way than siloed courses, and also if we could increase interest in joint FSc programs.
Tanya Da SylvaI have worked on multiple SoTL projects including:

1. Qualitative and quantitative research of impact of course design on student learning for multiple leadership development courses (currently for Fall 2021 launched redesign of BIOL2040 – Genetics; with T. Kelly).

2. Successfully competed for an eCampus Sandbox initiative to introduce virtual labs (Labster) into a non-majors biology course as a lecture-integrated active learning component and studied impact (2018-2019).

3. Currently collaborator on a multi-institutional EDI focused biology teaching SSHRC grant to improve equity in university-level science courses to research need and build better supports for all students, especially those who are historically or currently underrepresented.
Tihana MirkovicI am planning on creating a study out of the data analysis and data visualization initiative that I have designed in CHEM 3000/1. More details on that can be found in the Narrative document that I submitted, or in the recording posted by TiF 2022.
Vera PavriMy colleague (Stephanie Domenikos) and I are working on a pilot project that includes teaching students basic skills to aid them in their first-year university experience. We hope that this will increase retention rates within the Faculty. We already do this for the annual Faculty of Science summer module series but want to expand this across first year programs in different science departments.