Teaching and Learning Enhancement Grant Recipients
2019 Recipients
A Proven Approach to Supporting Indigenous Community Empowerment
Anne Johnson, Robert M. Buchan Department of Mining Engineering
CTL Support is sought to fund development of two lessons:
- Community Visioning – Supporting Community and Indigenous Economic Development Models
- Collaborating with Local Governments for Inclusive Development
within MINE 803, Engagement for Community Development, an online course.
Expertise to develop this curriculum content is unavailable at Queen’s. Funding will permit collaboration with NetPositive, a registered charity that works with communities to help them articulate their values and aspirations, and to develop plans for sustainable, culturally relevant and affirming local economies.1 NetPositive will provide students with a practical approach to community empowerment. NetPositive will also share the experience and insight from communities they have supported, with a focus on Indigenous groups in Canada.
This course contributes to Reconciliation by providing concrete, practical ways future professionals can support Reconciliation and approach cultural difference with respect and empathy.
Introductory Computer Science Mentorship Program
Wendy Powley, School of Computing
Learning to program can be challenging and intimidating, especially for young women who feel they don't belong in a male-dominated field. Creative Computing (CISC 110) is a course designed to entice women to try computing for the first time. 60% of the class is female. Although inspired by the course, however, many do not continue to take further courses. The goal of this peer-mentoring project is to provide students with individualized assistance in the form of active learning, code walk-throughs, detailed written feedback, and personal support to solidify their knowledge and boost their confidence. The mentorship program will also foster leadership and further the School's equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) efforts. The goal is to increase the number of students (particularly women) who continue in Computer Science after taking CISC 110 and to train students to educate and mentor in an inclusive and sensitive manner.
GeroCast: Using Podcasting to Deliver Living Cases in Gerontology Education
Mohammad Auais, School of Rehabilitation Therapy; and Lucie Pelland, School of Rehabilitation Therapy
Podcasting is an emerging e-learning tool in education that are disseminated on the internet and played on computers and handheld devices. Recent evidence suggests that Podcasting enhances student experience and outcomes. Learning Context: We will develop a case-based group project for a physiotherapy gerontology course using podcasts to present a series of ‘living cases’. Podcasting was chosen for its effectiveness, popularity and accessibility. Methods: We will develop a variety of living cases with seniors from the community and then create podcasts. The podcasts will be assigned to student groups to work on through the course and then present findings. Evaluation: Student learning outcomes and experiences will be evaluated with a survey. Priority Alignment: Queen’s Teaching and Learning Action Plan has identified the development of university-wide support for e-learning as one of fifteen recommendations. Applicability: The living case podcasts will have broad applicability to other aging and/or health courses at Queen’s.
Decolonizing Opera: Micro-Internships as Experiential Learning
Coleen Renihan, Dan School of Drama and Music
Opera is an inherently colonized genre, and its history of misogyny, racism, and exclusion has been harshly (and rightly) critiqued, particularly following the rise of the #metoo #blacklivesmatter and #idlenomore movements. It is also, meanwhile, being re-visioned by many creative Canadian composers, directors, and performers as a site of transformation and change. In this project I propose what I am calling a “Micro-Internship” innovation in my MUTH332: Opera Practicum course that would allow students to learn how and why some of Canada’s most exciting arts entrepreneurs are using opera for social transformation in 2019. In addition to innovating the curriculum by teaching students about opera’s potential for decolonization, and by giving them a unique opportunity to analyze and evaluate this in practice, this project also serves as a pilot project that considers the problem of how to frame and capitalize on a unique form of experiential learning in the arts.
Simulations, Role-Play and Long-form Scenarios: An emerging experiential learning opportunity to teach through complex issues
Kathryn Fizzell, Experiential Learning Hub; and David Skillicorn, School of Computing
Simulation-based exercises are attracting growing interest from faculty and staff who want to add experiential learning components to their courses or programs. This project explores simulations that involve presenting students with a specific situation and problem, and assigning them roles that require them to work together to develop tactics and strategies for responding in positive ways. Simulation-based exercises are a way to bring real-world scenarios into the classroom, creating unique hands-on learning opportunities for students. To support faculty and project coordinators in using this form of experiential learning, the EL Hub, in partnership with the School of Computing, will conduct background research on pedagogical strategies related to simulation, role-play and long form scenarios to create practical resources and materials for supporting their design and delivery. These materials will be piloted through a long-form scenario table-top cybersecurity training exercise being delivered by the School of Computing to students in the new NSERC CREATE Cybersecurity Graduate Training Program and promoted to other faculty and project coordinators through the EL Hub website and workshop presentations.
Freehand Sketching for Design Ideation in Mechanical Engineering
Roshni Rainbow, Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering; and Brian Surgenor, Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
Freehand sketching promotes creative problem solving, spatial visualization, ideation, and communication, all which are critical in engineering design. While mechanical engineering students are introduced to sketching and computer aided drawing during their first year, there remains a challenge of integrating the concept of freehand sketching to engineering design education to promote visual thinking and the design process. It is our hypothesis that improvements in students’ freehand sketching abilities will foster creativity and innovation in engineering design; here, we propose to continue to improve mechanical engineering students’ skills in basic freehand sketching through the implementation of sketching workshops and assignments into the second-year mechanical engineering section of APSC200: Engineering Design and Practice.
ELEC 280: Fundamentals of Electromagnetism
Muhammad Alam, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Engineering Laboratories are vital to the quality of engineering education, in an era of high speed evolving the technology. Yet, these labs activities need constant reviewing and updating to meet the industry needs and to keep graduates up-to-date with what's happening in the real world and to provide them with an edge to compete in the workforce. The main objective of instructors in engineering is always to create new active learning experiences that engage students in engineering as a profession.
Development of an Ethnocentrism Measure: Better measures fueling better advocacy and cultural sensitivity outcomes in a transformative global health observership
Jennifer Carpenter, Global Health; Eleftherios Soleas, OPDES; Nicholas Cofie, OPDES; Mikaila De Sousa, Global Health; Jenna Webber, Global Health
Global Health placements are a transformative learning opportunity for students to become advocates and develop cultural sensitivity. To ensure that these goals are being met, reliable measurement tools are a necessity to make the most of this innovative form of education. We propose the development of a contemporary cultural sensitivity instrument based on real student-reported scenarios as a part of a portfolio of measures to be taken in a pre-post-test evaluation design. This evaluation aimed at evaluating and improving the efficacy of our program. Our work will be transferable across many kinds of observerships and placements at Queen’s and beyond.
Online Critical Enquiry Modules: Building a Flipped Classroom
Rosemary Lysaght and Gail Woodbury, School of Rehabilitation Therapy
The flipped classroom is a pedagogical approach that involves online learning as homework along with active learning activities in the classroom. Emerging evidence supports this approach in enhancing student experience and outcomes. Learning Context: A first year inter-professional occupational therapy/physical therapy course will be redesigned to develop a series of flipped classroom experiences to facilitate the learning and teaching of critical enquiry methods. Enhancement: Online learning activities including critical enquiry modules, case studies and quizzes will be developed along with interactive, team based lab activities. Brightspace, onQ, will be used to host the online components. Evaluation: Student learning outcomes and experiences will be examined using quizzes, an integrated program exam and student and faculty surveys. Priority Alignment: Queen’s Teaching and Learning Action Plan has identified the development of university-wide support for e0learning as one of fifteen recommendations. Applicability: The generic critical enquiry modules that are part of the online homework will have broad applicability to other critical enquiry courses at Queen’s.
Development of Online Radiology Modules: Medical Imaging to Promote Comprehensive Anatomical Understanding
Alexandre Menard, Department of Radiology; and Chloe DesRoche, Department of Computing
Medical schools have reduced the quantity of classical cadaveric dissection to teach human anatomy. There is a need for quality self-directed online modules that utilizes diagnostic imaging (CT scans/ MRI) to modernize anatomy teaching. We propose to continue our work on the creation of diagnostic imaging based online modules for musculoskeletal and abdominal/pelvic anatomy. These modules would be shared with other medical schools, and possibly other Health Sciences related programs here at Queen’s.
Qlicker: An open-source clicker developed for and by students
Ryan Martin, Department of Physics, Engineering Physics & Astronomy
Qlicker is an open source in-class response system (“clicker”) that we will enhance and evaluate using this grant. Queen’s computer science students developed a working prototype during the 2016-2017 academic session. Because the system was developed with pedagogy as a priority, it includes features not provided by commercial solutions. For example, in order to increase learning, students can contribute questions to the system that faculty can then use in class. Qlicker was designed so that it could be easily integrated into onQ with the long term goal of a University-wide adoption. This grant will support the deployment and evaluation of Qlicker to a small number of classes during the 2017-2018 session. Along with funds from the Department of Physics, the grant will be used to support personnel to maintain, enhance and evaluate the performance of Qlicker during the trial period (both as a learning enhancement tool and the technical aspects).
Inquiry in the Physics Laboratory
Rob Knobel and Bei Cai, Dept. of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy
Science experiments in undergraduate courses serve a number of learning purposes – from teaching technical skills, to communicating science, critical thinking and data analysis – all are important regardless of the scientific discipline involved. However many experiments were designed to demonstrate phenomena – to show that the concepts covered in an associated lecture course exist in the “real world”. In Physics 350 and Engineering Physics 353, many such experiments have become merely “cookbook” style activities, where students follow a recipe and attempt to observe and confirm the equations taught in class. These activities do not prompt meaningful learning and tend to lead to disengaged students. We propose to redesign ENPH 353 and PHYS 350 to emphasize a half-course experimental group project – students will propose, design, carry out and report on an experiment of their own emphasizing modern physics. This project, and the associated student reports and presentations, will address the desired learning outcomes of the courses. But merely throwing an open problem to the students isn’t enough: we want well motivated, well-done experiments that help students stretch to ambitious goals. To do this, we will hire two learning assistants who will help transform the courses, and measure the effect of the course transformation through objective measures. The first half of the courses will have carefully designed activities to instill skills and attitudes in the students that lead to a successful – and less stressful – project in the latter half of the courses. With this grant we will design these activities, emphasizing both the quantum nature of matter and the instrumentation needed to measure it.
Developing an Active Learning Library for Peer Instruction of Introductory Biostatistics
Michael A. McIsaac, Dept. of Public Health Sciences
The Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE) project made several recommendations for statistics education that align perfectly with Peer Instruction (PI), an instructional method that focuses on ‘teaching by questioning’: PI was designed to stress conceptual understanding and foster active learning, and the think-pair-share strategy promotes peer-review, self-evaluation, and timely formative assessment; the software tools available for PI lend themselves to the incorporation of statistical technologies for analyzing and visualizing problems involving real data.
However, initial implementation of PI is challenging because its success depends on good question design. Other science disciplines (physics, in particular) have the advantage of online banks of freely-shared questions designed for PI. This project will create materials for the implementation of PI in EPID 821: Introductory Biostatistics. These materials will be assessed in terms of their impact on student engagement and conceptual understanding. Both the materials and the findings will be shared widely.
Learning From Each Other: Exploring New Models in Student-Faculty Dialogue
Dr Shannon R. Smith, English Literature, Bader International Study Centre
In his landmark treatise on radical education, The Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1980), Paulo Freire advocates dismantling the hierarchy of authority found in most university classrooms in favour of creating a more equitable setting, where students and faculty learn from each other. This project seeks to explore new models for student-faculty dialogue about the undergraduate learning experience. Three Collaborators with research interests in student experience, critical pedagogy, and faculty professional development will support a maximum of four Student Participants in their design and delivery of a professional development workshop for Bader International Study Centre (BISC) Faculty delivered as part of an established faculty workshop series. Student Participants, Collaborators, and BISC Faculty workshop attendees will be Surveyed about their experiences and the results will be disseminated through: a presentation at the BISC Festival of Ideas Research Conference, a short, co-authored report delivered to the BISC Curriculum Committee, and a co-authored journal article submitted to the Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs or a similar title.
Gendered and Colonial Violence: Beyond ‘Awareness Raising’ and toward experiential education using applied drama and collaborative materials development
Dr. Aaron Franks, Cultural Studies Program and the Centre for Indigenous Research Creation (CIRC); and Dr. Lindsay Morcom, Faculty of Education, Aboriginal Teacher Education
The two-year research project Gendered and Colonial Violence: Beyond ‘Awareness Raising’ and toward experiential education using applied drama and collaborative tool creation (Beyond ‘Awareness Raising’) pursues the potential for self-guided learning in collaborative environments through performance and respectful engagement with Indigenous cultural protocols. Focusing on three threads, ‘flipped’ and engaged learning spaces, Indigenous cultural safety, and the gendered and colonial dimensions of social justice education, Beyond Awareness Raising is inspired by a Queen’s Native Student Association production of the play The Hours That Remain, which explored the crime of missing and murdered Indigenous women through an intimate and familiar setting.
Revisiting the play in a new series of workshops with Indigenous education students, the project will maximize the potential for embodied, experiential learning for multiple targeted student and educator communities at Queen’s and beyond. Experiential learning, diversity and Indigenization are not waiting to be developed—they are waiting to be shared.
Community-Supported Learning in LLCu 295: Indigenous Digital Media
Dr. Jennifer Hardwick, Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures (Indigenous Studies Program)
LLCu 295: Indigenous Digital Media is a seminar course which explores the relationship between digital media and Indigenous cultures in North America. As part of the course, students must produce a public-facing final media project that engages with course material and the broader community. With the intent of supporting students in their final projects and deepening and expanding Indigenous Studies and Digital Humanities (DH) networks at Queen’s, LLCu 295 will pilot a mentorship model that incorporates experts and knowledge keepers into curriculum. Five mentors with practical experience in DH and/or Indigenous ways of knowing and learning will be asked to give a guest lecture, hold an open office hour, and attend a final showcase of student projects. Students and mentors will be surveyed about their experiences and results will be disseminated via the Centre for Teaching and Learning, the Aboriginal Council of Queen’s University, and the Digital Pedagogy Institute of Ontario.
Re-thinking Pedagogy in International Relations in an Era of Globalization and Disruption
J. Andrew Grant, Political Studies; and David J. Hornsby, University of Witwatersrand
Development of a Library of Online Learning Modules for Biology Students
Barb Vanderbeld, Biology
Online Anatomy Modules: Building a Flipped Classroom
Catherine Donnelly, Rehabilitation Therapy
Peer Instruction Meets Team-Based Learning: Integrating Labs
James Fraser, Physics
Collaborative Practice: Introduction and Application through On-Line Modules and Experimental Team Learning Events in Health Science Students
Rosemary Brander, Anne O’Riordan, Denise Neumann-Fuhr, Office of Interprofessional Education and Practice; Lindsay Davidson, Pediatric Orthopaedics; Sheila Pinchin, Faculty of Health Sciences
Film 110
Dorit Naaman and Clarke Mackey, Film and Media Studies
OT843 Web-Based Quiz Module
Susanne Murphy and Philip Wong, School of Rehabilitation Therapy
TUMBLR and Microwriting: Enhancing Written Communication through On-Line Peer-Learning
Jill Scott, Languages, Literatures and Cultures
Developing an Auditory Bank of Pediatric Cardiac Sounds and Phonospectographs
John Smythe and Aleksander Meret, Paediatrics
Ongoing Development of Undergraduate Statistical Resources and Formal Evaluation Tools
Mark Kelly, Department of Biology
Late Roman Coin Identification Using Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI)
Dr. George Bevan, Assistant Professor, Classics
Interactive learning videos to enhance teaching and learning within OT 843 – Physical Determinants of Occupation
Susanne Murphy, Lecturer, Occupational Therapy Program
The Queen’s Pedagogy Commons
Aaron Mauro, English Language and Literature
Multimedia Content, Laboratory Enhancements, and Interactive Simulation Software for Courses in Digital Logic and Computer Architecture.
Dr. Naraig Manjikian, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Valerie Sugarman, Computer Engineering (Undergraduate student)
This project involves enhancements to improve learning outcomes for two core courses in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: ELEC 271 Digital Systems and ELEC 274 Computer Architecture. These courses are also taken by students in certain program options of Math and Engineering, Engineering Physics, and Mechanical Engineering. There are three main aspects to the project: multimedia content on course concepts and practical applications, custom simulation software to model digital logic and computer system behavior as a learning aid, and new laboratory exercises for use with new equipment based on programmable logic chips. The multimedia content consists of diagrams, animations, and examples with narration to explain and illustrate concepts in digital logic and computer organization, narrated tutorials on use of computer-aided design software and digital laboratory hardware, short presentations by practicing engineers, and narrated site visits to engineering companies to show the development and use of digital systems. Each presentation is no more than five minutes in length, and is either available to students through a streaming server for independent learning or intended for display in lectures to increase student interest and engagement. These enhancements are being used in the two courses during Fall 2011 and Winter 2012.
Interprofessional Teaching and Learning Online Module: Educational Strategies for Enabling IPE and Collaborative Practices
Nancy Dalgarno, Curriculum Developer, Office of Interprofessional Education and Practice
The Hyper-Collaborative Contemporary Canadian Literature Project
Marc Andre Fortin, Department of English Literature
A pilot test of the turnitin.com PeerMark system in KNPE 225 and POLS 391: Evaluating students ability to fairly grade and the educational value of the peer review process.
Dr. Brendon Gurd, Assistant Professor, School of Kinesiology and Health Studies
Development of an online information Literacy Toolkit for Inquiry-Based Learning
Dr. Corinne Laverty, Head, Education Library
Multimedia Content, Laboratory Enhancements, and Interactive Simulation Software for Core Courses in Digital Logic and Computer Architecture
Dr. Naraig Manjikian, P.Eng., Assoc. Prof., Dept. of Elec. and Comp. Eng.
Valerie Sugarman, Computer Engineering (Undergraduate student)
This project involves enhancements to improve learning outcomes for two core courses in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: ELEC 271 Digital Systems and ELEC 274 Computer Architecture. These courses are also taken by students in certain program options of Math and Engineering, Engineering Physics, and Mechanical Engineering. There are three main aspects to the project: multimedia content on course concepts and practical applications, custom simulation software to model digital logic and computer system behavior as a learning aid, and new laboratory exercises for use with new equipment based on programmable logic chips. The multimedia content consists of diagrams, animations, and examples with narration to explain and illustrate concepts in digital logic and computer organization, narrated tutorials on use of computer-aided design software and digital laboratory hardware, short presentations by practicing engineers, and narrated site visits to engineering companies to show the development and use of digital systems. Each presentation is no more than five minutes in length, and is either available to students through a streaming server for independent learning or intended for display in lectures to increase student interest and engagement. These enhancements are being used in the two courses during Fall 2011 and Winter 2012.
Blended Learning: Pathway to Collaboration
Nancy Dalgarno, Curriculum Developer, Office of Interprofessional Education and Practice
OT 852: Group Theory and Process -Video Project
Megan Edgelow Adjunct Lecturer, Occupational Therapy Program , School of Rehabilitation Therapy
Initiative on creating a wiki-page for research in the biological sciences: a first step towards integrated technology in scientific research.
Dr. Colin Funk, Professor of Physiology, Professor of Biochemistry
Exploring two blended-learning approaches designed to integrate disability theory and occupational therapy practice.
Margaret Jamieson, Associate Professor, Occupational Therapy Program, School of Rehabilitation Therapy
Enhancing the Learning of Queen's Physical Therapy Students during Clinical Education: A pilot project using video-conferencing to support the collaborative clinical placement model
Trisha Parsons Assistant Professor, Physical Therapy Program, School of Rehabilitation Therapy
Coursecasting for FILM240X: Popular Culture Studies
Dr. Sidney Eve Matrix, Department of Film and Media
Revise and Redesign of School Law and Policy
Dr. Benjamin Kutsyuruba and Dr. Ruth Rees, Faculty of Education
Harmonization of Case Based Learning in Graduate Education
Catherine Donnelly, School of Rehabilitation Therapy
Integrated Learning Guide for Organic Chemistry
Dr. Natalie M. Cann, Department of Chemistry
Creating a Virtual Commons: Re-thinking the Approach to Teaching POLS 110
Dr. Catherine Conaghan, and Jonathan Rose, Department of Political Studies
Creation of an Expert-Moderated Wiki: The Beginnings of What Will Replace Reference Textbooks
Dr. Kathleen Norman, School of Rehabilitation Therapy
Embodied Pedagogy
Dr. Dia Da Costa, Global Development Studies
The Internet Lab: Promoting Student Engagement in Developmental Psychology
Dr. Stanka A. Fitneva, Department of Psychology
Knowledge Translation Course
Margaret B. Harrison, Christina Godfrey, Marianne Lamb, School of Nursing
This project developed and evaluated a unique course to be offered by Queen’s within the Council of Ontario Universities Programs in Nursing. The intent of NURS-898 is to build on Nurse Practioners’ (NP) experiential knowledge. In addition to the core competencies required by primary health care nurse practitioners, students had opportunities to develop broader based skills in critical appraisal and research inquiry. They engaged in a major project to develop an evidence synopsis in a substantive practice field using established methodologies within the science of synthesis. Our plan is to fully utilize the resources we have developed over the past few years at the School of Nursing with this new educational opportunity through our work with the Queen’s Joanna Briggs Collaboration and the international Cochrane Library.
E-Learning Modules for Resident Physicians relating to the CanMEDS Physician Competency Framework
Mala Joneja, Rupa Patel, Shayna Watson, School of Medicine
The funds provided by the grant assisted with the creating of video clips for on-line teaching modules. The grant provided funding to hire a professional videographer. Video clips were taken of local Queen’s University educators who are seen as ‘champions’ or role models for particular roles. It was hoped that including local educators would have a greater impact on resident learners here at Queen’s University. Learners would have the opportunity to engage in further conversation with these teachers. To date two modules have been completed: “CanMEDS Introduction” and “CanMEDS Collaborator”.
Exploiting the Potential for Complex Learning in an Adult Neurorehabilitation Course for MScOT Students
Michelle Villeneuve, School of Rehabilitation Therapy
The overall purpose was to re-design teaching and assessment strategies in order to enhance opportunities for complex learning in OT844 (Cognitive-Neurological Determinants of Occupation). This instructional design project integrated face-to-face and multimedia learning activities to support complex learning for two units of study. The goals of this project included:
To develop video-based case studies of actual clients with cognitive-neurological conditions along with face-to-face learning activities that would scaffold whole-task learning for case analysis.
To develop multimedia learning modules as worked-out examples to support and scaffold student learning for: selecting, administering, scoring, and interpreting the results of standardized cognitive evaluation tools.
To support these goals the available funds were used to re-structure the content to provide opportunity for case-based learning using authentic problems from clinical practice around available video-based case studies and to complete each of the modules as a finished product for 4 of the 11 standardized cognitive-perceptual evaluation tools currently available at Bracken Library.
The Perk Station – Hands-on Surgery Experience for Students
Gabor Fichtinger, Computer Science
The grant helped build a novel teaching tool called Perk Station surgical navigation system and introduce it to undergraduate courses at Queen’s University.
The purpose of this tool was to:
Introduce students to practical biomedical engineering applications. In particular, provide experience in computer-assisted surgery in affordable and reproducible lab environments.
Enhance understanding of concepts learned in class through hands-on practical experience.
Entice students to advanced studies in biomedical technology.
The Perk Station has been presented in various demonstrations and outreach events. Experimenting with the Perk Station appeared to be a profoundly novel and exciting experience for students who had an opportunity to use it. Many of them seemed to have been energized to learn more about the potentials of computing and engineering in medicine. The Perk Station has been integrated into laboratory modules of the CISC-330 and COMP-230 courses. With the Perk Station, students perform needle based surgery with virtual reality navigation. They plan surgeries through a computer interface by calculating target locations, tool trajectories and other critical parameters. They perform the surgical intervention on anatomically realistic test objects (called phantoms) and evaluate accuracy relative to the surgical plan. The apparent simplicity of the Perk Station should not belie the depth and breadth of engineering research leading to the system. Since receiving the grant, our research team has produced six publications and has secured significant external research funding.
The Efficacy of a Video-Based E-Teaching Tool in Medical Student Education
Vladimir Kratky, Department of Ophthalmology
One of the most common stresses that medical students face is the vast amount of information that they have to absorb in a relatively short time. We have undertaken to run a project formally comparing the learning retention of key points in an educational video on the ‘Triage Competency of Eyelid Lesions in Ophthalmic Plastic Surgery. The initial results of a small pilot project are very promising, showing a significant improvement in test performance after watching a short video. We plan to expand this prospective trial to include a full class of medical students (about 100 subjects) and to evaluate their learning retention on ‘difficult-to-teach’ topics in clinical practice. Furthermore, these video clips will be posted on-line to allow students ready access at any time.
The Assessment of Engineering Student Engagement and Development through Community Service Learning
Brian Frank, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Skills like creativity, communication, and information literacy are critical in most programs in higher education. These skills can be developed well through student-directed experiential learning strategies, like service learning projects, which motivate inquiry, develop management skills, and provide a connection to the community.
Every year first-year engineering students tackle problems in a design project course, APSC-100: Practical Engineering Modules. Community service projects were introduced into this course in the 2005-2006 academic year, and greatly expanded in successive academic years. Currently the majority of the 650 first-year students are involved in some sort of community service project. Anecdotally students indicate that the projects encourage creativity and develop the ability to communicate with clients. This study was undertaken to examine more rigorously the impact of service learning projects and provide data for further improvement.
This study is using student self-reports about engagement and skill development, and an instrument developed to assess design cognition, to compare the outcome of client-based projects, particularly service learning projects, with non-client based projects. This will then be used to assess the contribution of community service learning projects to professional skill development.
This research is related to a broader initiative to investigate development of design skill cognition from first year to graduating year that was reported in presentations at the national engineering education conference in 2008 and 2009. The data from that study are being applied to assess the impact of service learning projects in first year.
Enhanced Professional Skills Instruction and Student Learning in Rehabilitation through the Integration of Technology across the Curriculum
Diana Hopkins-Rosseel, School of Rehabilitation Therapy
In collaboration with Paul Kasden, IBL-Internet Business Logic Inc., Alice Aiken, School of Rehabilitation Therapy, and Sarah Wickett and Matthew Thomas, Bracken Library, Diana Hopkins-Rosseel introduced an innovative teaching and learning strategy into the physical therapy curriculum by integrating a novel patient/client management software platform, IBL Clinic Server, across several courses in the curriculum. This program aims to improve the students’ written patient/client documentation skills, provide a platform for problem-based learning activities, promote future best practices through evidence-based client management, and expose students to current and diverse information technology rehabilitation. After completing an online tutorial, students documented their interaction with a volunteer at the Clinical Education Centre, and then compared their entries to other students who had interviewed the same volunteer as a peer learning method. Student response to the new technology has been positive. They have recommended that it be used in the curriculum on an ongoing basis.
Multimedia Course Design for FILM240: Media and Popular Culture
Sidney Eve Matrix, Department of Film and Media
The objective of this project is to enhance the student learning experience by designing stimulating multimedia lectures using award-winning advertisements from around the world. Grant funding allowed Professor Matrix to pay for a subscription and licence to a corporate advertising database (Adforum), and to pay for staffing costs to hire an undergraduate research assistance. This new course was a huge success. The retention rate was extremely high: of the 290 students who registered, 283 finished the course. USAT feedback indicated that students rated the course at 4.8 on a five-point scale in terms of excellence, and 55% of them specifically mentioned the multimedia lectures and use of visuals as particularly enjoyable and interesting. Final grades were higher than expected with a mean of 77% and students commented that the visual examples helped them when recalling content at exam time. Students were so engaged in the classes that the average attendance rate was 86% per class. Professor Matrix was nominated for two teaching awards.
SOCY223 Race and Ethnic Relations
Cynthia Levine-Rasky, Sociology
In an effort to engage students deeply in the topic of Race and Ethnic Relations (now called Race and Racialization), Professor Levine-Rasky created a poster component to her course. Students were assigned topics about which they had to develop a visual presentation of research for display to the Queen’s Community, the media, and the public. Following a hands-on training workshop for the students, the posters were designed and laid out electronically with PowerPoint and printed professionally. Topics included Phillippe Rushton and pseudo-scientific racism, white supremacist groups, Somalis in Canada, Filipino domestic workers, the 1907 Vancouver Race Riot, Muslim women, Roma in Canada, Aboriginal residential schools, the Sleeping Car Porter Union, racism in the criminal justice system, affirmative action policy and critical whiteness studies. Space was then booked in the John Deutsch University Centre, and invitations were issued across the university and to the general public. Guests were invited to view the students’ work, engage in discussion, and write comments about the event. The benefits for students were evident in the skills acquired including the ability to synthesize research to key textual and visual components. The event also instilled in the students a greater sense of social responsibility.
The Qscalpel Project: A Model for Developing Blended E-Learning Instructional Units for the M.D. Clerkship Curriculum
Lindsay Davidson, Orthopaedic Surgery; A Szulewski, School of Medicine; Elaine van Melle, Health Science Education; and David Pichora, Orthopaedic Surgery
Moving to a more student-centred learning approach, this team of educators hired a group of three students to develop content, based on existing surgical clerkship seminars in the Queen’s MD program. Modules were developed around a series of authentic clinical cases (such as Acute Hand Problems, Blood Transfusion, Skin Cancer, Common Eye Problems seen in the Emergency Room and Fluids and Electrolytes). Each was designed to explore some of the learning objectives described at the outset. Multimedia enhancements including photographs, illustrations and reproductions of imaging studies were included in the cases. Formative assessment with embedded feedback was included in each module as multiple choice and short answer questions, allowing students to assess their knowledge as they progressed through the module. Surgical clerks who worked through the modules and then completed a content-based quiz, scored 1.15 marks (out of 10) higher than the clerks who had attended the didactic seminar and completed the quiz. Focus groups revealed that the modules provided a consistent, accessible and flexible learning environment.