Join us for an insightful episode with Dr. Jennifer Poole, an Associate Professor of Social Work at Toronto Metropolitan University and a Teaching Fellow at the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. Dr. Poole shares her groundbreaking research on grief in educational settings, drawing from her extensive experience and personal journey. We explore her use of circle methodology to create spaces for storytelling and healing, and discuss practical strategies for educators to acknowledge and address grief in the classroom. This episode is a heartfelt exploration of grief literacy and its critical role in teaching and learning.

In this episode, we explore the integration of Indigenous perspectives into psychology education with guests, Dr. Becky Choma, a social and political psychology professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, and graduate students Anik Obomsawin and Jaiden Herkimer. They discuss the purposeful process they undertook to begin developing a new course on Indigenous Peoples and Psychology, which is being designed to address the impacts of colonialism on psychological research, teaching, and practice. The conversation covers the importance of collaboration with Indigenous scholars, the challenges of decolonizing academic curricula, and the need for ongoing support and relationality in these efforts. The episode offers valuable insights into how psychology can evolve to better include Indigenous knowledge and perspectives.

Read the transcript: https://tinyurl.com/ycydyumd

Join hosts Chelsea Jones and Curtis Maloley as they dive into the world of open education and digital technology with Dr. Bonnie Stewart, a keynote speaker at the 2024 TMU Learning and Teaching Conference and associate professor at the University of Windsor. In this episode, Dr. Stewart shares her insights on generative AI, reflecting on her initial skepticism and her current views shaped by decades of experience in educational technology. They discuss the Gartner Hype Cycle, the ethical implications of AI in education, and the potential for both transformative and problematic impacts. Dr. Stewart emphasizes the need for educators to engage with AI thoughtfully, balancing innovation with a critical understanding of its effects on students and teaching practices. This episode is a must-listen for educators navigating the complexities of AI in the classroom.

Read the transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yckaxcsa

The climate crisis affects students and educators alike, and requires complex solutions that draw upon expertise that transcends disciplinary boundaries. In this episode, Dr. Matthew Hoffmann and Dr. Christine Bolus-Reichert discuss a course they co-teach at the University of Toronto on Climate Futures, which brings together students from the disciplines of Political Science and English to engage in an imaginative process that offers new ways to connect with politics and to respond to climate change at both practical and personal levels.

Speaker Bios:

Matthew Hoffmann is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto Scarborough and co-director of the Environmental Governance Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. He teaches classes on international relations, global governance, and environmental and sustainability politics. His research on decarbonization, climate change and environmental politics has been published in 4 books and over 50 journal articles and book chapters. He also regularly contributes to media outlets such as The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, and The Conversation and is the chair of the board of directors for the environmental NGO, Green Economy Canada.

Dr. Christine Bolus-Reichert is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Toronto. Christine Bolus-Reichert’s research centers on Victorian and neo-Victorian literature, especially ballads and romances; literary architecture and literary landscapes; and fantasy and science fiction. She is the author of The Age of Eclecticism: Literature and Culture in Britain, 1815-1885 (The Ohio State University Press, 2009), which focused on two broad understandings of eclecticism in the period—one understood as an unreflective embrace of either conflicting beliefs or divergent historical styles, the other a mode of critical engagement that ultimately could lead to a rethinking of the contrast between creation and criticism and of the very idea of the original.

Read the transcript: http://tinyurl.com/4nsypsu5

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Maureen Connolly about the value of dissonance in post-secondary learning and teaching. A 3M National Teaching Fellow, Dr. Connolly discusses how her pedagogy focuses on cycles of change: changing knowledge, changing methods of learning and teaching, and a learning environment that is designed to move students out of habitual behaviors and habits of thought. The emergence of Generative Artificial Intelligence is also a moment of dissonance for both educators and learners, and Dr. Connolly offers advice for thinking through how we might respond to the challenges that it occasions.

Speaker Bio:

Dr. Maureen Connolly is a renowned Canadian educator and 3M National Teaching Fellow. She is Professor of Physical Education and Kinesiology at Brock University, and Director of the Brock-Niagara Centre of Excellence in Inclusive and Adaptive Physical Activity.

Read the transcript: https://tinyurl.com/yt6zxymz

Ready or not, Artificial Intelligence is part of our classrooms, and we can only begin to predict its impact on learning and teaching in higher education. In this episode, we chat pedagogy, academic integrity, and AI anxiety with Dr. Lai-Tze Fan, Dr. Jan Frijters, and Allyson Miller.

Guest Speaker Bios:

Lai-Tze Fan's general research and teaching interests include interactive and digital storytelling, research-creation and critical making projects, systemic biases in technological design, media archaeology, the Anthropocene and sustainability, digital and “smart” culture, critical infrastructure studies, and the digital humanities.

In academic governance, they focus on fostering spaces of knowledge exchange and advocacy, especially through community collaboration. They serve as: an Editor and the Director of Communications for electronic book review, one of the oldest academic journals on the Internet; Co-Editor of the digital review; Advisory Board Member of McMaster University’s Centre for Networked Media and Performance (CNMAP); and member of the Steering Committee of MediArXiv: The Open Archive for Media, Film, & Communication Studies, among other positions.

Dr. Jan C. Frijters is a developmental and educational psychologist who divides his academic appointment between Brock University’s Department of Child and Youth Studies and Department of Applied Disability Studies. His research focuses on evaluating outcomes for reading interventions, along with more basic research into the genetic and brain dynamics involved in acquiring reading skill. His teaching focus is split between disabilities and quantitative methodology, including statistical applications in education and developmental psychology.

Allyson Miller is an Academic Integrity Specialist in the Office of the Vice Provost, Academic. With over a decade of experience supporting faculty instruction and student success, her passion for academic integrity stems from her deep belief in the value of learning.

Read the Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/c967pmde

In this episode, Dr. Rajiv Jhangiani discusses the role of Open Pedagogy in digital justice and digital education futures. From creating and assessing Open Educational Resources to navigating digital redlining, we critically cover a range of pedagogical practices meant to offer students more agency.

Guest Speaker Bio:

Dr. Rajiv Jhangiani is the Vice Provost, Teaching and Learning at Brock University in Ontario, Canada, where he directs the Inclusive Education Research Lab and is an affiliated member of the Social Justice Research Institute. The architect of Canada’s first zero textbook cost degree programs, his scholarship focuses on open educational practices, student-centered pedagogies, and ethical approaches to educational technology.

Read the Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/ycyuhnpc

In this episode, we speak to a teaching team behind "Connecting for Climate Change Action," a course that blends science with storytelling and student reflection to help students take action. Dr. Katrina Moser, Dr. Beth Hundey, Sara Mai Chitty and Serena Mendizabal relay student stories and tell us how they learned to do more than teach the science of climate change as they work together to expand the course's reach beyond Western University.

Read the Transcript: https://tinyurl.com/mrav3h4s

In recognition of Wellbeing Week at TMU, two professors discuss their research on how educators can be purposeful about fostering student wellbeing in the classroom. Dr. Krystal Nunes is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biology who is studying how students can develop the skill of resilience and learn to appreciate the importance of failure in the sciences. Dr. Dave Colangelo is an Assistant Professor of Digital Creation and Communication in the School of Professional Communication. His work focuses on the connection between creative assessment strategies and mental health. Both CELT Learning and Teaching Grant recipients, Dr. Nunes and Dr. Colangelo reflect on their research into the impacts of assessment choices and facilitation practices on student mental health and wellbeing.

Read the transcript: https://tinyurl.com/y38n5u64

In this episode, Brock University Acting Vice-Provost of Indigenous Engagement Dr. Robin Bourgeois explains what it means to bring “heart-centered” pedagogy to the classroom and beyond. From the position of a classroom “auntie” who invites students to make mistakes, Dr. Bourgeois reveals the magic of her heartful teaching and its wide, growing reach across universities and communities.

Read the transcript: https://tinyurl.com/ezb5dt9j