What’s your new year’s “teaching” resolution? Andrea C. Valente, Teaching Commons Tutor At the very start of a fresh year we face the same old question, ‘What’s your New Year’s Resolution?’ Whether it is a rhetorical question or not, it is here to remind us of old promises we annually make ourselves – exercising more […]
Beasts of York: A Cautionary Tale Quintin Peirce, English Department, LA&PS. Over the course of my post-secondary education, I’ve learned that my motivation is highest when I’m immersed in personally meaningful subject matter — that’s when the work is most pleasant and rewarding, and when my exploratory nature is most engaged. Of course, there are […]
Turning the lure of the laptop into a positive classroom experience There are ways to have technology serve the teacher’s goals. Paul Axelrod, Faculty of Education Please note this article was originally published on December 9th 2015 in University Affairs – http://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/in-my-opinion/turning-lure-laptop-positive-classroom-experience/ After more than four decades as a university student, professor and administrator, I retired […]
The Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) Justin Podur, Faculty of Environmental Studies I was perusing the Teaching Commons website early in the Fall 2013 term when I came across the Instructional Skills Workshop. Even though I have mixed feelings about workshops as a genre (my critique of workshops is analogous to Edward Tufte’s critique of powerpoint – there is […]
A quick #openscience #STEM diversity idea for assigning readings in courses Christopher Lortie, Faculty of Science I am about to dig in and begin teaching ecology (large, lower-level course) and experimental design (smaller, upper-year offering). The preceding hyperlinks lead to the blogs that I use to teach each course. I also use Twitter for announcements, and the students set […]
Teaching wheels – my new training wheels Franz Newland, Lassonde I may have had quite a few years in industry, and may be able to delude myself that I know lots about my technical discipline, but I am undeniably new to teaching. I am inspired by this new world I have stepped into, and excited […]
What is the ‘university experience’? By Maria-Palma Zito, 2nd year undergraduate student, LA&PS More often than not people associate the “university experience” with going away. Living on your own for the first time, being forced to do laundry and cook all by ones self. Whereas that is a great experience, I am compelled to believe […]
Designing effective online discussions By Yelin Su, Educational Developer, Teaching Commons Asynchronous discussion is one of the most commonly used instructional strategies in online teaching. Successful asynchronous discussion plays an important role and contributes significantly to collaborative knowledge construction. However, it is unrealistic to expect that a question posted in a discussion forum by itself […]
The future of academia Natasha May, Teaching Commons Hello. My name is Natasha May and I am an Educational Developer in the Teaching Commons. I have been a member of the Teaching Commons since they opened their doors. I was a graduate student when the Teaching Commons first started and had the opportunity to be […]
Why should you co-teach at York University? A candid snap shot from the trenches. Marc Husband and Tina Rapke, Faculty of Education The simple answer is that academic researchers recommend it and have identified co-teaching in higher education as an innovative strategy that enhances instructors’ pedagogical practices, and students’ learning (e.g., Bacharach, Washut Heck & […]