Fall/Winter 2019
Help On Demand A new approach to Teaching & Learning Support Around the World Humber’s Global Summer School provides new opportunities for students Ask NEXT Advice on embracing tech in your classes and reaching disengaged students
HUMBER’S POND REVITALIZATION PROJECT BRINGS COMMUNITY PARTNERS TOGETHER See page 19 for the full story
TABLE OF CONTENTS Fall/Winter 2019
FALL/WINTER 2019, ISSUE 13
A SPECIAL THANK YOU FOR YOUR CREATIVE CONTRIBUTIONS: This issue of NEXT was created with the help of students from Humber’s Professional Writing and Communications program. Nathan Whitlock, Editor, Humber Press Kristin Valois, Editorial Assistant, Humber Press Heidi Marsh, Director, Scholarship of Teaching & Learning Dekel Chui and Andrea Chan, Graphic Designers, Teaching & Learning Support
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Humber Press 205 Humber College Blvd. Toronto, ON M9W 5L7 HumberPress@humber.ca humberpress.com @HumberPress
Welcome to NEXT 5
Editor’s Note
What’s NEXT?
On request, this document is available in alternate formats. Please call Teaching & Learning Support at 416.675.6622 Ext. 5040.
PHOTO: HUMBER PR AND MARKETING / JULIAN KLIMCZYK
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Meet the Teaching & Learning Secondees
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The Teaching & Learning Support Team Goes On-Demand
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The NEXTcast Q&A: Jennifer Gordon of Humber Galleries
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14 Global Teaching and Learning
Experiential Learning
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The New Global Summer School Program
The Virtuous Circle of Service Learning
NEXT Scholarship
Focus on Faculty
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Faculty Discuss Attending a SoTL Conference
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Ask NEXT
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TIF Stories: Collaborative Writing
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Faculty Awards and Honours
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Faculty Publications and Activities
Sustainable Teaching 19
The Humber Pond Project
Teaching and Learning ➧ Theory and Practice ➧ Applied Research and Scholarship ➧
Learn more, get updates and find out how to submit:
jipe.ca
WE HAVE MOVED!
Effective September 17th, the Teaching & Learning and Digital Learning Teams have temporarily relocated to LX104, North Campus. Faculty Support and Blackboard Workshops: J230, North Campus Professional Learning/ SoTL Workshops: F202, North Campus Visit our new Teaching & Learning (humber.ca/teachingandlearning) website for the Fall 2019 Workshop Calendar.
WELCOME TO HUMBER
EDITOR’S NOTE
“SOMETHING REALLY POSITIVE”
THE HUMBER POND—WHICH LIES JUST downhill from the North Campus’s new parking garage, and was created a few decades ago to capture water run-off—is an idyllic area, with tons of trees, ducks, turtles and solitude. But all that natural beauty hides a secret: for years, the water has been polluted. As Kristin Valois relates in her story on page 19, that secret was discovered by elementary schoolchildren testing the water as part of a Humber Arboretum nature program. The state of the Humber Pond’s water spurred the Arboretum and its partners to create a multi-phase plan to not only restore the site, but to improve it, and to transform it into a kind of “living laboratory” and outdoor teaching space. Multiple Humber programs are involved, and more will engage with the project as it continues to move forward. “We took something that was a problem, and turned it into something really positive,” says Alix Link, the director of the Humber Arboretum. NEXT magazine exists to promote and celebrate exactly this kind of vision at Humber. In this issue, you can read about the very successful new Global Summer School program, which gives students a chance to network with international colleagues and clients, while learning about leadership, design, creativity, new technology and
more (page 12). You can read about a group of Humber professors who took their research to Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education conference this past June (page 14). You can read about how the Humber Galleries are developing and implementing a new plan to become more directly engaged with faculty and students (page 10). You can read about Curricular Community Service-Learning, wherein students work with real-world clients or become involved with real-world issues, in order to provide benefits to a larger community (page 22)—exactly the kind of approach upon which the Humber Pond Revitalization project is founded. Enjoy reading about all the ways our faculty, staff and students are pushing postsecondary education forward. (And if you’re at the North campus and looking for a quiet spot to enjoy this issue, we know just the place.) *Oops: In the Winter/Spring 2019 issue of NEXT magazine, we mistakenly listed recent PWC program grad Laura O’Brien as one of the Ask NEXT authors, instead of fellow grad Kirsti Granholm. The error was corrected in the online version of the magazine. (Laura’s actual story can be read on page 24 of this issue.)
PHOTO: HUMBER PR AND MARKETING / JULIAN KLIMCZYK
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WHAT’S NEXT?
Meet the Secondees TEN FACULTY MEMBERS FROM ACROSS THE COLLEGE RECENTLY BEGAN THEIR SECONDMENTS WITH THE FLA’S TEACHING & LEARNING SUPPORT DIVISION. Shirantha Beddage plans to assemble a series
Shirantha Beddage, Faculty of Media and Creative Arts
Philip Burge, Faculty of Social and Community Services
Nicole Chuchmach, Faculty of Business
Marcin Kedzior, Faculty of Applied Sciences and Technology
of Teaching Toolkits in the area of Digital Fluency, both for Music faculty and Humber at large. The toolkits will address assessment/evaluation/marking and/or using specific technologies to enhance student learning. These toolkits are being created in Panopto, with the intent of building Blackboard modules and Panopto playlists for faculty.
Shirantha’s approach to teaching, in a word: “Ownership.”
Philip Burge Besides offering one-to-one and on-demand consultations on a variety of topics (e.g., enhancing interprofessional learning opportunities and differentiated assessment of students) and hosting Writing Groups or Scholar’s Cafés, Philip’s main aim will be to help guide and evaluate an innovative project on enhancing Universal Design for learning at Humber.
Philip’s approach to teaching, in a word: “Integrative.”
Nicole Chuchmach Nicole’s focus during her secondment is primarily centered on online teaching and learning. She developed the Teaching in a Digital World certificate, and currently teaches all three of these courses. She provides support for faculty and staff who are teaching online, and facilitates workshops on how to do so effectively.
Nicole’s approach to teaching, in a word: “Authenticity.”
Marcin Kedzior is creating a graphic toolkit that investigates the ways that tangible places (classrooms, furniture layout, relation to nature) and intangible elements (habits, rituals, performances, expectations) impact things like student motivation and class discussion. As a “Sustainability Champion,” he is also co-editing and contributing to the Journal of Innovation in Polytechnic Education (JIPE) on innovation in sustainable solutions.
Marcin’s approach to teaching, in a word: “Experiential.”
Kristina Lisk As a secondee, Kristina will be
Kristina Lisk, Faculty of Health Sciences and Wellness
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collaborating with the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) team to help members of the Humber community develop and execute teaching and learning research projects and she will also be involved in hosting dedicated writing sessions and Scholar’s Cafés.
Kristina’s approach to teaching, in a word: “Accessible.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
Josephine Mazzuca will support faculty
Josephine Mazzuca, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Innovative Learning
considering or engaged in Teaching Innovation Fund projects, and provide one-on-one consulting as well as a variety of on-demand sessions related to research. She will also conduct SoTL research to better understand the role of student research assistant positions as learning experiences.
Josephine’s approach to teaching, in a word: “Curiosity.”
Christine McKenzie will be offering resources,
Christine McKenzie, Faculty of Social and Community Services
training and coaching to faculty who want to engage community or industry as a part of their class assignments. This is known as Curricular Community Service Learning (CCSL), an experiential education method in which course learning outcomes, community needs and research objectives are met through active community involvement and thoughtful reflection. For more info, see page 22.
Christine’s approach to teaching, in a word: “Participatory.”
Susan Murray will be developing materials for
Susan Murray, Faculty of Media and Creative Arts
faculty who want to incorporate experiential elements into their courses and curricula, and developing resources to support the professional development of part-time and partial load faculty. She will also be co-leading the on-campus writing group to support the completion and dissemination of scholarly work.
Vidya Rampersad’s main focus is to use the
Vidya Rampersad, Faculty of Health Sciences and Wellness
Sustainability Development Goals (SDG’s) as a framework to guide discussions, professional development and develop toolkits to assist in aligning teaching and learning practices with Humber’s vision and commitment to sustainability.
Mike Wells is doing research into ways to support Mike Wells, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Innovative Learning
faculty to teach digital fluency across the curriculum. Once he has completed his research into current best practices around teaching this skillset, he will be creating toolkits and giving presentations to faculty.
Susan’s approach to teaching, in a word: “Active.”
Vidya’s approach to teaching, in a word: “Water.”
Mike’s approach to teaching, in a word: “Maybe circus?”
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WHAT’S NEXT?
THE TEACHING & LEARNING SUPPORT WEBSITE PROVIDES ACCESS TO ITS MANY ON-DEMAND MODULES.
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WHAT’S NEXT?
Help On Demand A NEW APPROACH TO FACULTY SUPPORT FROM THE TEACHING & LEARNING SUPPORT TEAMS By NEXT staff
WAITING IS SO LAST-CENTURY. In 2019, if you want to watch a movie or TV show, you search for where it’s streaming. If you need to rent a car, you book it online. If you’re hungry but don’t have any groceries in the house, you order dinner with a delivery app. Technology has put us in charge of our schedules, and has (mostly) done away with the old ways of queuing, being added to wait lists, and running around to accommodate inconveniently timed appointments. Given that reality, the Teaching & Learning Support team is taking a new approach to the ways in which they engage with and assist Humber’s faculty members. Starting this fall, they have implemented an on-demand system that allows faculty in need of some timely teaching advice or assistance to book a one-on-one session with a member of the support team or with one of the faculty secondees. [See page 6] Groups of faculty can also book larger sessions on the topics of SoTL Research, Teaching Excellence, Digital Fluency and Inclusive Design. These sessions can be customized and built to accommodate the group’s particular schedules. Faculty can also request other topics, and new support modules are being added all the time. “The Teaching & Learning Support team is always looking to enhance their offerings to best suit the needs of their faculty,” says Mark Ihnat, who heads up Digital Learning. “The newly launched on-demand support modules provide our faculty with customizable, innovative, educational development options that suit their diverse teaching and learning needs.” Faculty who are looking for support can visit humber.ca/teachingandlearning/
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WHAT’S NEXT?
The NEXTcast Q&A IN THIS EXCERPT FROM A RECENT NEXTCAST EPISODE, JENNIFER GORDON, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRE FOR CREATIVE BUSINESS INNOVATION & GALLERIES, DISCUSSES THE NEW MANDATE OF THE HUMBER GALLERIES By NEXT Staff
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WHAT’S NEXT?
Jennifer Gordon, director of the Centre for Creative Business innovation Galleries
Jennifer Gordon, Director of the Centre for Creative Business Innovation & Galleries [This excerpt has been edited for clarity and length.]
NEXT: That’s the space right by the Starbucks.
NEXT: As I understand it, the Humber Galleries are getting revamped a little terms of their mission. What do you see as the new mission for the galleries?
Jennifer Gordon: Exactly. There’s a very large wall behind there. On that wall, we currently have a group showing of photography students’ pieces. We’re planning on having an interactive mural piece go up January, and we’re looking at bringing in a mural artist who works with garbage. So, we’ll be working with the Sustainability team and the Facilities team, and then students, faculty and staff can all interact and help build this. It’s not a specific gallery-owned space, but we are programming that wall and behind it so that it looks exciting and shows off all the great work that the students are doing here.
Jennifer Gordon: That’s a question that’s super interesting right now, because we don’t have a formalized mission or mandate at this point in time—which I personally find very exciting! We’re going to be working with faculty and students and surrounding communities to sort of see what their needs are, and respond to them. We don’t want to come in and say, “This is going to be the mission and this is the mandate.” We want to promote student, staff and faculty artworks, and we’re looking to help everyone to view the galleries as more than just a closed white box or a physical space. Instead, we want the Humber family to help everyone to see the campuses themselves as canvases that we’ll be working with. NEXT: But there are still physical spaces that are yours that are called “the galleries,” is that right? Jennifer Gordon: Yes: the physical space we have pavilioned to us right now is the L Space Gallery in the L building on Lakeshore Campus. The former North Space Gallery has become a shared space for events, one entire unit of space as opposed to having a gallery sort of dividing up that space.
NEXT: Looking to the future, are there things you would love to see happen? Jennifer Gordon: Right now, we’re working with some external partners to bring in an artist-in-residence. It’s in its nascent stages right now. We’d love to be more involved with things like Nuit Blanche and Doors Open and the Toronto Biennial of Art and any other type of celebrations that happens in the local neighbourhoods. My door’s always open for people to come by if they have an idea or they want to know if something is possible. Come by and chat with me. If there are some changes you’d like to see, I’d love to hear that as well. soundcloud.com/humbernextcast
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GLOBAL TEACHING AND LEARNING
Bringing the World to Humber HUMBER’S NEW GLOBAL SUMMER SCHOOL PROGRAM ENCOURAGES STUDENTS FROM ALL OVER TO EMBRACE A CURIOUS MINDSET By Kristin Valois
EVEN AFTER MOST CLASSES ENDED in April, learning opportunities didn’t stop at Humber. This past year, the college welcomed well over a hundred participants in Humber’s inaugural Global Summer School program, which offers eight academic courses for both domestic and visiting students during the month of July. Supported by all six academic faculties, the program allows students from around the globe to engage in experiential, project-based learning—while experiencing all that Toronto has to offer. ILLUSTRATION: SHUTTERSTOCK / JANNOON028 & ARTISTDESIGN29
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GLOBAL TEACHING AND LEARNING
For many visiting students, coming to Humber over the summer was their first exposure to Canada. Marc Bryan Pacheco Punan, a visiting student from Far Eastern University in the Philippines, enrolled in the Systemic Design for Social Innovation course. “It’s been an eyeopening experience,” he says. “It’s kind of a new and different course, and challenges you to look at things from multiple perspectives.” Getting those multiple perspectives was a key part of the experience, according to Punan. “You’re immersed with people from different backgrounds and cultures, so you’re not limited to look at things in the way you always have,” he says. “You’re open to other ways of solving problems.” Humber professor Naeema Farooqi agrees. Farooqi is passionate about teaching the Social Media course in the summer school program, which boasted the largest enrollment, with nearly 50 students. Farooqi’s class was filled with field trips, guest speakers, presentations and intensive group work. “It’s so important in a global economy
to cross-pollinate, make these connections, and network,” she says. Farooqi says the connections that students make with one another while working closely together in class are often out of pure interest and curiosity—not just “networking” for the sake of it. “With a curious mindset, you end up learning so much from each other. And that’s a big part of what makes this program so meaningful,” she says. It doesn’t hurt that course activities like group work strengthen the type of interpersonal and soft skills that employers are often looking for. Farooqi’s lived experience pursuing international education makes her uniquely suited to be a part of the Summer School program. “This experience gives you those transferable skills that make you a global citizen. You can relate to more people,” she explains. Farooqi says teaching the Social Media course this summer has left her inspired. “With programs like this,” she says, “we bring the world to our Humber students.”
It’s been an eye-opening experience. It’s kind of a new and different course, and challenges you to look at things from multiple perspectives.”
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“There’s Always Something to be Learned”
PROFESSOR KAREN WHITE PRESENTS HER RESEARCH AT THE STLHE 2019 SAPES CONFERENCE POSTER SESSION IN WINNIPEG.
HUMBER FACULTY SHARE THEIR EXPERIENCES OF ATTENDING THIS PAST SUMMER’S SOCIETY FOR LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION CONFERENCE By NEXT staff
CONFERENCE PHOTOS COURTESY OF STLHE/@STLHE_2019 (TWITTER)
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I think anything where you put it out in the public is good because it forces you to up your game. PROFESSOR MARK STOIKO WITH HIS RESEARCH AT THE STLHE 2019 SAPES POSTER SESSION IN WINNIPEG.
How did you end up going to the conference?
some insight into innovation in teaching and learning. I presented the first phase of the results at the Humber Showcase conference and it went over quite well, so I was invited to continue that research and do a poster presentation at the STHLE conference.
Ian McIsaac (FB): Humber’s SoTL team invited me to submit an application to Patricia Belli (FHSW): Myself and a couple go to the conference and present the of colleagues—Amanda Baskwill and Katie research that I had been doing with them. Billard—we came up with a different way My research was about using what’s called to evaluate students in a particular setting. experiential software in my Principles After that study was completed, we were of Management course and comparing asked to go and present at the conference. it, in terms of learning outcomes, to the Mark Stoiko (FB): I guess it’s a little over experience students get from directly two years ago that I did my first Teaching interviewing someone in the industry. Innovation Fund project. Since then, I’ve I’ve been to events where people are completed a second one, and then an presenting their experiences, but mainly add-on, which, technically speaking, they’re just sales conferences or something. became a third one. Typically, when I So this is really the first event of this nature, attend pedagogical conferences, I present an educational conference, where I go a paper. This time, Heidi Marsh (Director, and where I present to my colleagues or Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) my peers. asked me: “Have you ever done a poster at Karen White (FAST): I had embarked on a a conference?” I said no. She says, “Well, big research project where I reached out to why don’t you try it?” a bunch of former students and surveyed them about what they remembered of a particular course I had taught them. It allowed me to do a longitudinal study, which is a pretty unusual method for trying to get
Karen White, Faculty of Applied Sciences and Technology
Mark Stoiko, Faculty of Business
Ian McIsaac, Faculty of Business
Patricia Belli, Faculty of Health Sciences & Wellness
CONFERENCE PHOTOS COURTESY OF STLHE/@STLHE_2019 (TWITTER)
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What was it like to be there? Karen: It was great—I don’t have a ton of academic conference experience, so I was really relieved that I was doing the poster format, which allowed me to do my work ahead of time. It was rather like a big science fair, but I’ve also done a few conferences where nobody comes to your talk, and that was scary. So I wasn’t that nervous. I’d never done a poster before, but it was really interesting. Mark: It proved to be a very valuable experience. You get the opportunity to have one-on-one discussions with many people, as opposed to presenting your paper, where they act as an audience, and they take it in, and they may ask you half a dozen questions, and then your time is up. The poster session itself was a great learning experience for me. Ian: Honestly, it wasn’t that much different than teaching a class. I only had 20 minutes, so the hardest part was filtering it down to just what was important for them to know. You find out [what the reception is] at the very end when people come up to you and ask you questions, and you have a little knot of people around you, asking you questions and to elaborate and contributing ideas and add-ons to what you’ve talked about. So, I felt it went very well. Patricia: Unfortunately, I was the only one [from my research team] able to go, but it was still a great experience. Aside from Showcase, I’d never presented anything to such a large group of people, so I was a little intimidated. But I was really happy with the way the presentation went. I actually had a few people approach me afterward and ask if we could sort of chat at another time about how we came up with the idea, because they had been thinking of applying a similar idea in their program. And so that was kind of flattering, which was nice.
What impressions did you come away with? Mark: It certainly made a contribution to my getting to know and understand other instructors, and our common appreciation for the scholarship of teaching and learning. This STLHE experience was, you sit with people for two or three hours at a time, and you get to know them much more quickly and readily.
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PROFESSOR KAREN WHITE’S RESEARCH AT THE STLHE 2019 SAPES CONFERENCE POSTER SESSION IN WINNIPEG.
Ian: I think anything where you put it out in the public is good because it forces you to up your game. What the presentation has done is sort of started me down the road of thinking where I want my research to go. This was an educational conference, so you come out of that wanting to deepen the experience for the students, and deepen your own understanding and ability to improve the learning experience for your students. Patricia: Going there and sitting in on a presentation about the execution of something that we had been kind of playing with, I was like, wow—it was really encouraging to know that we can take our ideas and apply them, and that other people had been doing it with really good results. And so yeah, I think it’s a great experience. There’s always something to be learned. Karen: There is an incredible rise in my confidence. I know that I’m doing things that are recognized and on par with what everyone else is doing. It’s so validating. And the fact that Humber has such a great SoTL program, and it’s all scaffolded and supported along the way. It’s a great experience. And you do meet people. It’s funny: when I was in the room with all of the conference posters set up. I was on a big display and my poster was pinned on one side of the board. When my board partner got there, I looked at him and I said, “Oh my gosh, you look familiar.” And he said, “So do you.” We’re neighbours on the same street in Toronto! So I was able to chat with a neighbour who is an educator. I didn’t even know!
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TIF Stories: Collaborative Writing By Orville Burke and Kristin Valois
The Teaching Innovation Fund allows participating faculty to conduct research into a particular idea related to the scholarship of teaching and learning. Each issue, we profile a successful TIF applicant—getting to know the project, the process and the person behind both.
AT HUMBER, FACULTY AND STAFF strive to ensure the classroom environment works for a highly diverse student population. However, non-native English speakers can often face additional challenges. No one understands this more than Department of English faculty who teach the college’s English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses. As the name suggests, the courses are designed to help non-native English speakers develop their reading and writing skills. These courses help students process information critically, communicate ideas clearly and participate in their communities more actively. Professors Jennifer Winfield and Jessica Freitag teach ESOL courses at Humber, and recently completed a research project (supported by the Teaching Innovation Fund) that provides valuable insight into possible approaches that can assist ESOL students improve critical communication skills.
ILLUSTRATION: SHUTTERSTOCK / COSMAA
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For the project, Winfield and Freitag surveyed more than 100 first-year students in two first-semester ESOL classes, with one treatment group each and one control group each. Their questions focused on the completion of two in-class communication tasks—the first, a summary assignment for a selected article; the second, a critical analysis of another article. For the first task, each researcher assigned the treatment class to work in groups of four, while students in the control class were instructed to summarize the article individually. For the second task, Winfield and Freitag switched the groups, so that the students who were previously working as a group were not working on their own, and vice-versa. The research results indicated student performance was higher for those working in groups—at least when it came to the summary assignment. However, the results of the critical analysis assignment were less conclusive. In terms of increasing students’ writing performance, there was no statistical significance. “The critical analysis task had a lot of room for interpretation,” Freitag explained. “There was a lot more discussion. Our theory was that students could have used more time to negotiate opinions and get down to the actual writing.” Freitag said qualitative data showed students recognized group work helped improve their language skills and communication skills overall. “This really came out in the student comments,” she said. “We also noticed [with ESOL students] they tend to respond to group writing because it helps them to fill in the language gaps of each other.” Right now, relatively little is known about the impact of collaborative writing on student learning outcomes. “There is some research, but there is definitely room for more work,” Winfield said. “Especially about the impact of [different strategies] on writing quality in Canadian classrooms.” The two professors have both completed their Masters in Linguistics; they say the research provided an opportunity to test theories that suggest meaning is socially constructed through interactions between individuals. Winfield and Freitag have presented their detailed findings at several conferences, including the College Association for Language and Literacy at Centennial College in May and at the Annual Conference of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STHLE) in Winnipeg this past June.
Our theory was that students could have used more time to negotiate opinions and get down to the actual writing.
Jennifer Winfield, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Innovative Learning
Jessica Freitag, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Innovative Learning
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SUSTAINABLE TEACHING
A LIVING LABORATORY HUMBER’S POND REVITALIZATION PROJECT IS NOT JUST ABOUT IMPROVING WATER QUALITY—IT ALSO BRINGS COMMUNITY PARTNERS TOGETHER, CREATES RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS AND HELPS PROVIDE A SPACE FOR ALL TO ENJOY By Kristin Valois
PHOTO: HUMBER PR AND MARKETING / JULIAN KLIMCZYK
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SUSTAINABLE TEACHING
CITY OF TORONTO STAFF MEMBER TEACHING HUMBER STUDENTS AND LOCAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS HOW TO PLANT TREES.
ORIGINALLY CREATED IN THE 1980S to collect run-off water from the college’s North campus, the Humber Pond is getting a new lease on life, thanks to a multidisciplinary project that is proving beneficial for students, faculty and a whole bunch of wild animals. The Humber Pond Revitalization Project began a few years ago, when a group of elementary school students enrolled in a nature program through the Humber Arboretum tested the pond’s water quality as an activity. Jimmy Vincent, Coordinator of Education, Camps and Community Outreach, brought the initial testing results—which weren’t good—to Arboretum Director Alexandra Link. The results were then confirmed with the help of the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA), one of the Arboretum’s
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community partners. The official TRCA sample results were “juicy, and not in a good way,” Link says. The water was polluted, and posed risks for the health of the community and wildlife. Link brought the issue to the Arboretum’s partners: Humber College, the TRCA, and the City of Toronto. “We thought, let’s take this problem, re-imagine it, and turn it into a showcase for sustainability,” Link says. “Let’s turn it into a learning space. Let’s improve natural features of the pond, and create social gathering spaces for our community members.” The seed was planted—and the Humber Pond Revitalization Project began to grow. The revitalization, now in its second phase, has three distinct parts.
SUSTAINABLE TEACHING
Let’s turn it into a learning space. Let’s improve natural features of the pond, and create social gathering spaces for our community members. HUMBER STUDENTS AND LOCAL COMMUNITY MEMBERS PLANTING TREES
C OMMUNITY PARTNERS TAKING A GROUP PHOTO
Phase 1, completed in September 2019, focused on reconstruction of the pond to improve the water quality and wildlife habitat. Phase 2, which began this past summer, includes the construction of a wetland area, the installation of trails and benches, and the planting of native trees and plants. Students in the Landscape Technician program will help with some design elements, and with ongoing maintenance of the pond project. “It’s essentially a restoration project for them,” Link says. Planning for Phase 3 has just begun. Its focus will be on the pond’s island, which, ideally, will be used as a classroom and as a social gathering space for students and community members. Early Childhood Education program faculty and staff have been involved in the re-imagining of the island space.
The entire site will also continue to act as a living lab. Civil Engineering Technology students will monitor water quality and share data with community partners like TRCA. “Students can also access data that TRCA has on other parts of the river,” Link says. “It’s very much a project that showcases the power of partnership.” Link says everyone involved in the project is really excited about the project’s progress and the possibilities it holds for the future. “We took something that was a problem, and turned it into something really positive,” she says. “Together, we’re turning real-world problems into solutions.”
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EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
H UMBER STUDENTS GAINING HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE.
The Virtuous Circle of Service Learning CURRICULAR COMMUNITY SERVICELEARNING IS A BLEND OF TEACHING AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT THAT ENHANCES STUDENT ENGAGEMENT By Maya Shah and NEXT staff PHOTO: HUMBER ASSET BANK
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IT HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY COMMON for professors to build experiential learning into assignments. Having teams of students help real-world clients develop a new app, a marketing strategy, or even a fitness regimen is a great way to make classroom content more concrete and deliver on course outcomes in an authentic way. It also allows learners to enjoy the satisfaction of creating something real, and to get feedback on their work that goes beyond what can be included in a Blackboard assessment. Curricular Community Service-Learning (CCSL) adds an extra dimension to these kinds of experiential projects and assignments by encouraging students to engage with their community. Author and educational consultant Barbara Jacoby, in her book Service-Learning in Higher Education, defines service learning as “a form of experiential education in which students engage in activities that address human and community needs together with structured opportunities for reflection designed to achieve desired learning outcomes.”
EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
Christine McKenzie, who teaches in the Community Development Degree for Humber’s Faculty of Social and Community Services (FSCS), sees CCSL as a way to create assignments that “respond to community and industry needs as well as student learning outcomes.” Service-learning can be incorporated in a lot of ways. A web design course, for example, could partner with an NGO to create a stronger online presence. A communications course could assist a community support group to complete a grant application. In a course McKenzie teaches that focuses on human rights, she has the students choose a particular human rights issue, and then create materials to present to the broader Humber community via booths set up around the North campus. The students give people information about the issue and ask them to sign a petition. Following that, each student writes a short reflective essay about the experience. McKenzie sees the public engagement as critical to students’ understanding of the human rights issues they study. “After that assignment, the students’ ability to articulate the importance of human rights
The benefits of CCSL tend to compound, as it establishes “strong, sustainable collaborations with industry, community, international and alumni partners that create unique learning experiences for our students and reciprocal benefits for our partners. is much greater, because they are facing a broader audience than if they are doing an in-class presentation or writing a paper that only I’m going to read,” she says. “It gets them fired up in a way that a regular assignment may not.” The benefits of CCSL tend to compound, as it establishes “strong, sustainable collaborations with industry, community, international and alumni partners that create unique learning experiences for our students and reciprocal benefits for our partners,” says McKenzie. In other words, CCSL is a form of learning in which students can not only do well, but do some good at the same time.
Christine McKenzie, Faculty of Social and Community Services
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FOCUS ON FACULTY
Ask NEXT WE TACKLE SOME OF YOUR TRICKIEST TEACHING ISSUES By Ana Clara Neumann and Laura O’Brien
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I have been using PowerPoint for years, and although it is a great tool, I don’t think it catches my students’ attention anymore. What can someone like me, who often feels about as tech-savvy as your average goldfish, do to “tech up” my classes a little more? We’ve all been there: going into class with some cool presentation slides, only to discover that the students view PowerPoint as roughly equivalent to the gramophone. Fortunately, there are lots of small ways to tech up your classes—and you don’t have to be Tony Stark (RIP) to do so. InsertLearning (formally called DocentEDU) is an extension that can be added to your Chrome web browser, and turns any page on the internet into a lesson. The best part? It can be done in minutes. Let’s say you want your students to read an article from the Toronto Star. Using InsertLearning, you can select sections of the article that you want to highlight, add “personal notes” for your students to read, embed your own questions or reflection instructions in the end of the article, or add a link to any related content like a YouTube video or a podcast. It is a great way to enhance a student’s reading experience. Flipgrid is an amazing tool to empower students who might not always feel comfortable with contributing to in-class discussions. It is a phone app that allows a teacher to create a question or a prompt, which students can respond to with short videos. It’s a great way to get
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ILLUSTRATION: SHUTTERSTOCK / DARKO 1981
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students to talk about topics in their own time, without the pressure of having to come up with the right answer in class, while also allowing them to communicate with their peers in a new setting. AutoDraw is a tool that guesses which drawing you are trying to compose. After you draw something—like a tree or a house—on a blank screen, AutoDraw will give you a strip of professionally illustrated images to choose from, manipulate, and save. Images help us remember things and can make your message more fun and engaging. And remember: you don’t have to master it all at once! Trying just one small change with even one class will make your students more engaged, and might also make you feel refreshed or even invigorated as a professor. While innovating with technology can sometimes feel scary, it can also be exciting! Even if it’s a flop, your students will appreciate the fact that you took a risk and tried something new. Finally, know that you don’t have to go it alone: there are plenty of colleagues that are happy to share their ideas and strategies with you. And by the way: there are simple ways to make even Ye Olde PowerPoint presentations feel fresh. Get in touch for some on-demand help on doing exactly that: humber.ca/teachingandlearning/
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Motivation creates purpose. Finding what motivates your students can create the biggest impact on classroom engagement.
Q
I have some very smart, capable kids in my classes who seem a bit disengaged and who are underperforming academically. How do I engage them without seeming biased? This happens a lot: as you grow familiar with your class’s strengths and abilities, you might find yourself starting to focus on the students who are struggling. You do this with the best of intentions, but soon discover that another group of students—the ones whose abilities you had taken for granted a little bit—is starting to check out. How to fix this situation? The first thing to do is to avoid assuming it must be all your fault. Major life events, a student’s home life and/or financial situation, even their commute to school, can all contribute to lack of engagement. It is just as important to avoid making assumptions in the first place. It can be tempting to make quick conclusions about a student’s capability, performance, or future outcome. But every student is unique, and you will almost always be surprised. Once you’ve parked your assumptions, spend some time reflecting on what is happening during class time, since this is a logical place to make a change. Ask yourself, “What am I asking my students to do while they are with me?” and “What opportunities am I providing for them to get engaged?” and critically, “Is there anything I could do differently that may lead to a different learning experience for my students?” What tangible in-class solutions could you try, to recapture students’ involvement when they are distracted or disengaged? One option is to think about the expertise that exists in the room. As adult learners, your students come with a wealth of experience and knowledge. Finding ways to acknowledge that and allowing students to learn from one
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another can be a powerful way to integrate your ‘stronger’ students. Try opening a class session by asking students what they already know about the topic. Or, try a ‘jigsaw’ activity, in which students each become ‘resident experts’ on a topic, and then teach one another what they have learned. Another option is to have students serve as peer reviewers for one another’s work. Another option is to build flexibility into your curriculum and assignments. Sometimes, students may feel that they need more opportunities or want more options in their learning. What may seem like a simplification in an assignment can feel like a restriction for some students. Can there be flexibility in the ways that students are allowed to demonstrate their knowledge? Is the topic of focus something that could be negotiated? Allowing for some differentiation in the topic or format of an assignment can make course work more meaningful and relevant for students, which can boost intrinsic motivation and lead to better outcomes. Finally, be sure to offer plenty of opportunities and formats for students to follow-up or ask questions (out loud, one-on-one, or anonymously). Providing a safe and non-judgmental learning environment supports students who may feel bashful speaking up, whether or not they are struggling. Motivation creates purpose. Finding what motivates your students can create the biggest impact in classroom engagement. Think about what motivates you to teach: you may find that the two answers are one and the same.
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK / OLENA YAKOBCHUK
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The Winners Circle
HERE ARE SOME OF THE HUMBER FACULTY AND STAFF WHO HAVE RECENTLY BEEN RECOGNIZED AS LEADERS IN THEIR FIELD AND THEIR COMMUNITY
HUMBER’S PRACTICAL NURSE (PN) DIPLOMA and UNB/Humber Baccalaureate Nursing (BN) Programs have been awarded exemplary program approval status, receiving the highest approval possible. The College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO), Governing Council, has awarded the PN Diploma Program with Category 1 status. The Council also reviewed the mandatory approval indicators for the UNB/ Humber BN Degree Program. The results demonstrated exemplary scoring and the programs’ first time pass rates on their national registration examinations were well above the national average.
ILLUSTRATION: SHUTTERSTOCK / ANIMASHKA & VECTORKNIGHT
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Kristy Adams (FB) won the NISOD Excellence Award. NISOD is a membership organization committed to promoting and celebrating excellence in teaching, learning, and leadership at community and technical colleges. Hanadi Alnawab (FB) won the League for Innovation in the Community College Award for her work with Humber Online Solutions. Amanda Baskwill (FHSW) successfully defended her doctoral work at McMaster University, and earned the Ph.D credential. Dr. Baskwill conducted research which examined the construct of Professional Identity of Massage Therapists in Ontario. Under the guidance of Dr. Kelly Dore, Amanda completed a dissertation titled “It’s Complicated: An Exploratory Mixed Methods Study of the Professional Identity of Massage Therapists in Ontario.” David Bezmogis’ (FMCA) book, Immigrant City, was among the books short-listed for the 2019 Scotiabank Giller Prize 2019 and the Toronto Book Awards.
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Barbara Chyzzy (FHSW) successfully defended her doctoral study at the University of Toronto titled, “Mobile Phone Based Peer Support to Prevent Postpartum Depression among Adolescent Mothers: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.” Michael Freitas, Access Control Coordinator, Department of Public Safety, for receiving board certification as a Physical Security Professional (PSP) as conferred on him by the ASIS Professional Certification Board after having passed the required examination and meeting all of the certification requirements. Lara Johnston (FMCA) won Best Editing in a Feature Film for “Mouthpiece” at the 9th Annual Canadian Cinema Editors Awards. Darren Lawless, Dean of Applied Research and Innovation, was appointed to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). The Council sets the strategy and high-level policies for NSERC, with the goal of advancing research and development in Canada. Kristina Lisk (FHSW) was awarded the 23rd annual Educational Scholarship Grant from The International Association of Medical Science Educators to support her ongoing program of research.
Leanne Milech (FLA) was awarded the “Best Story by an Emerging Writer Award” in the Carter V. Cooper Short Fiction Competition. Nancy Simms, Director of the Centre for Human Rights, Equity & Diversity, received the Scholar’s Choice Award at the 8th Annual Black Star Movement Unsung Heroes Volunteer Awards. Doug Thomson (FSCS) was the recipient of the 2018 John and Suanne Roueche Excellence Award, given for exceptional teaching and learning and demonstrated leadership. Nicola Winstanley’s (FMCA) book, How to Give Your Cat a Bath, was a finalist for the 2019 Governor General’s Literary Awards in the Young People’s Literature—Illustrated Books category. The Willows, a forest nature program at Humber College, received the Edward Burtynsky Award for excellence in environmental inquiry. Louise Zimanyi (FHSW) received the award with Kaitlin Beard, Avneet Singh, Olga Rossovska (FHSW), Michael Carlucci, Jennifer Casale, Walter Garcia, Alessandra Silvestro and Lynn Short. It is the first time the award was presented to a group of educators, rather than one individual.
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Out & About
HUMBER FACULTY HAVE ADVANCED AND SHARED THEIR KNOWLEDGE IN A VARIETY OF WAYS THIS PAST YEAR
PUBLICATIONS Kelly Cassano (FSCS) published “Introducing video enhanced reflective practice into CYC education” in Relational Child and Youth Care Practice. Daryl Culp (FLA) published a new book titled Deus in Machina: Does God Work Through Technology? Eufemia Fantetti (FLA) published a memoir titled My Father, Fortune-Tellers, and Me. The Humber Literary Review published its eleventh issue with under leadership of new editors Eufemia Fantetti (FLA) and David Miller (FLA). Nabeel Mandahawi (FB) along with his co-authors Mariam Bader, Omar Al-Araidah, and Al Theeb, published a book titled “A Study of Deficiencies in Teamwork Skills among Healthcare Caregivers using Total Quality Management.” Jennie Miron (FHSW) published “Searching Public Websites within Canadian Higher Education: Academic Integrity Tutorials” in Werklund School of Education Research and Publications; “Studies for Changing Societies: Integrity in Traditional Societies” in Studies of Changing
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Societies: Comparative and Interdisciplinary Focus (Special Edition), and “Academic Integrity Pledges: Acculturating Students to Integrity within Canadian Higher Education” in Canadian Perspectives on Academic Integrity. Soheila Pashang (FSCS) published “The Mental Health Impact of Cyber Sexual Violence on Youth Identity in International Journal of Mental Health & Addictions and “Entrapped Bodies: Illegalized Trafficked Youth in Canada” in International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. Heather Ramey (FSCS) published “Engaging diverse Canadian youth in youth development programs: Youthadult partnership and program quality” in Children and Youth Services Review; “Predictors of students success in Canadian polytechnics and CEGEPs” in the Canadian Journal of Higher Education, and “Why we should pay attention to the power of youth” in The National Post and The Conversation. Andrea Rutherford (FSCS) published “Pharmacology: Safe medication practice” in Developmental Disabilities in Ontario (4th ed.)
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Kerry Watkins (FSCS) published Evidence and Investigation, 2nd Edition and “Dealing Effectively with Suspect Ultimatums during Police Questioning” in Blue Line Magazine.
PRESENTATIONS Daniel Bear (FSCS) presented a paper based on his research examining young people’s decision-making about cannabis use to attendees at the 13th Annual Conference of the International Society for the Study of Drugs Policy. The conference was held at the Paris School of Economics. Jasteena Dhillon (FB) delivered the Keynote Speech at the United Nations Association of Toronto (UNACTO) Annual General Meeting at Toronto City Hall, where she spoke on rule of law and justice work in the field. Alyssa Ferns (FSCS) received the Best Presentation Award for her presentation “Developing conflict simulations to enhance student learning” at the CLUTE Institute on Technology in Education Conference in Barcelona, Spain. She also presented at the Society of Police and Criminal Psychology conference in September 2019 on the Toronto Police Services Neighbourhood Officer initiatives to a multidisciplinary group with the theme of “Working and Engaging in a Diverse World.”
Heather Ramey (FSCS) co-presented presentation posters “The Young Canadians Roundtable on Health: Promising practices for youth and adults working in partnership” and “Youth engagement and youth mental health in diverse youth populations” at Children’s Mental Health Ontario 2018 Conference in Toronto, and “What does generativity in youth look like? Youth and experts weigh in” at the Society for the Study of Human Development Biannual Conference in Portland, Oregon. Doug Thomson (FSCS) presented the TPS Neighborhood Officer Evaluation Project at the TPS Police Services Board Meeting and Safe and Inclusive Neighborhood Survey. 52 Division, Downtown Yonge Business Improvement Area. Caroline Variath (FHSW) presented “Standardizing Substitute Decision-Making Identification and Documentation” at the Canadian Bioethics Society Conference in Banff, AB. She also presented “Getting to Know Your Patient’s Substitute Decision-Maker” at Ethics Grand Rounds in Toronto, ON. Kerry Watkins (FSCS) presented “Statement Law and Regulatory Investigations: Crossing the Rubicon” at the Provincial Prosecutors Association Annual Conference in Orillia.
Rossie Kadiyska (FB) gave a guest lecture on sustainability framework in luxury fashion during her visit to the Copenhagen Institute of Design and Technology (KEA) to participate in a knowledge exchange and build collaborative opportunities. Barb Kennedy (FHSW) and team presented “Harnessing the Power of Community Health Nursing” at the National Community Health Nursing Conference in Saint John, NB. Jamie Lapeyre (FHSW) and Erin Mandel-Shorser (FHSW) presented “Intentionally Interprofessional” at the Southern Association for the History of Medicine and Science in Charlottesville, VA. Jennie Miron (FHSW) presented “A Deep Dive into Canadian College Policy: Findings from a Provincial Academic Integrity and Contract Cheating Policy Analysis” at the International Center for Academic Integrity in New Orleans, LA.
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NEXTcast is a new podcast about teaching and learning at Humber College. Hear from faculty and staff who are engaging learners, solving common teaching problems and bringing polytechnic education to a whole new level. New episodes drop every other week on Soundcloud and iTunes. soundcloud.com/humbernextcast bit.ly/HumberNextCast
It’s here. Humber’s new academic video streaming platform has arrived. Making videos just got easier with Panopto. Visit panopto.humber.ca to get started.
Tell us your story Humber NEXT is an amalgamation of the dynamic work that staff, faculty and students are producing. This is your magazine. You help define Humber, so let us produce your story. Share with us your exciting classroom experiences and innovative teaching techniques, and get a chance to be featured in NEXT. We want to fill pages with your vibrant content—with interviews, events, success stories, new technologies and new initiatives at Humber.
Promote what you’re working on. Speak about your passion for teaching. Share your teaching methodologies. Illustrate your experiences. Express what motivates you. Tell us what’s NEXT on the horizon at Humber. Submit your ideas to humberpress@humber.ca
humberpress.com @humberpress