Are you hoping to try something new in your classroom? Check out these three new handout series from the Teaching Commons
By Katharina Pabst, Andrew Molas, and Robert Winkler
As educators, we are constantly looking for new ways to engage and support our students in the classroom. Just in time for the new semester, the Teaching Commons has released three new handout series focused on different aspects of pedagogy. These handouts provide valuable insights and strategies for educators looking to enhance their teaching practices.
The first series, “Best in Class“, offers a range of strategies for face-to-face instruction. This includes an overview of co-operative learning techniques, tips for assessment design, and guidance for creating an equitable and inclusive learning environment. The handouts provide concrete examples and tips for implementing these strategies in a variety of contexts, from large lectures to small seminars.
The second series, “Hyflex Toolbox“, focuses on how traditional, in-person activities can be adapted to a Hyflex context, where some students attend classes in person while others join online. The handouts provide user-friendly guidance on how to harness educational technology to accomplish learning outcomes and engage all students.
Finally, the third series, “Food for Thought,” provides a brief introduction to current pedagogical issues in an academic context. Each handout synthesizes the existing research literature into a compact review of the topic, and offers practical suggestions for further exploration.
We are already working on a fourth series, tentatively called “Crafting Bytes,” which will explore how you can use H5P (HTML 5 applications) to create interactive videos, e-books, and other types of rich content for your classes.
Whether you are new to teaching or a seasoned veteran, these resources are sure to provide valuable guidance and inspiration for your classroom so you can start 2023 off on the right foot! We are going to add new handouts every few weeks, so make sure you check out our website regularly.
If you are looking for more information on a particular topic but cannot find it among the existing handouts, please let us know via our suggestion box. We will do our very best to create relevant materials.
About the authors
Until moving to the Netherlands at the end of 2022, Dr. Katharina Pabst (she/her) was an Educational Developer at the Teaching Commons and the liaison developer for the Faculty of Science. Her role was to support the design, implementation, and evaluation of learning experiences at the faculty and course level with a focus on eLearning, internationalization, and the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SotL).
Dr. Andrew Molas is a Post-Doctoral Visitor at the York University Teaching Commons. His SSHRC-funded doctoral research focused on the role that empathy and narrative plays in our engagement with persons living with mental health challenges. More broadly, he is interested in raising awareness about the importance of mental health in hopes of fostering communities where stigma surrounding mental illness is minimized. Dr. Molas is the author of 11 scholarly articles, the recipient of over 30 scholarships and awards, and has presented his research at over 60 conferences across the globe. Dr. Molas previously served as the President of the Canadian Section of the International Association for Philosophy of Law & Social Philosophy (CS-IVR) and the President of York’s Philosophy Graduate Student Association (PGSA). He has also served as an executive member of the Canadian Philosophical Association’s Equity Committee, the York Collegium for Practical Ethics (YCPE), and the Canadian Society for the Study of Practical Ethics (CSSPE).
Robert D, Winkler is an Instructional Designer at Teaching Commons. He has specialized on designing, developing, producing, and facilitating technology-assisted – online, blended, and hyflex – learning experiences for over 25 years in post-secondary education and in the private and public sectors.