The Laurier Teaching Podcast

2023 Early Career Excellence Award recipient Lisa Kuron from Laurier's leadership program discusses her student-centered teaching approach which emphasizes being a 'guide on the side', utilizing classroom space creatively for diverse learning experiences, and instilling excitement about learning right from the first class. Lisa highlights the importance of creating a sense of belonging using strategies to get to know her students and build community, shares ice-breaking exercises and relationship-building techniques and reflects on co-teaching.

Laurier's Donald F. Morgenson Awards for Teaching Excellence honour those who, through their commitment to exemplary teaching, have made significant contributions to the educational experience of Laurier students. Learn more about award-winning teaching at Laurier.

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2023 Hoffman-Little award recipient Hind Al-Abadleh from Laurier's Chemistry and Biochemistry Department discusses integrating science with societal and environmental issues, employing effective strategies for large classes, and promoting a multidisciplinary approach to problem solving. She reflects on her approach to self-care, how she helps students build patience and perseverance, and discusses the importance of bringing diverse talent into the Sciences and inspiring them to ask visionary questions.

Laurier's Donald F. Morgenson Awards for Teaching Excellence honour those who, through their commitment to exemplary teaching, have made significant contributions to the educational experience of Laurier students. Learn more about award-winning teaching at Laurier.

Discover more from Teaching Excellence and Innovation at Laurier

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2023 Staff Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, Anne-marie Joy Henry from Laurier International shares the travels that have taken her across Canada and around the globe. These foundational intercultural experiences deeply inform her approach in her current role at Laurier, where she engages students in rich discussions of complex issues in the classroom and supports their preparation for international study. Anne-marie shares strategies she uses to guide conversations and cultivate a more open, insightful, and reflective educational journey that emphasizes the transformative power of curiosity and diversity.

Laurier's Donald F. Morgenson Awards for Teaching Excellence honour those who, through their commitment to exemplary teaching, have made significant contributions to the educational experience of Laurier students. Learn more about award-winning teaching at Laurier.

Discover more from Teaching Excellence and Innovation

Download the episode transcript.

2023 Innovation in Teaching recipient Jonathan Finn, from Laurier's Communication Studies department, reflects on how his unique self-tracking pedagogy not only fosters ownership among learners but also encourages reflection beyond the classroom. Jonathan helps students to co-create their learning environments and personalise their learning, and discusses how low-tech innovations and getting students off screens can be powerful for creating deep and meaningful reflections and connections in the classroom.

Laurier's Donald F. Morgenson Awards for Teaching Excellence honour those who, through their commitment to exemplary teaching, have made significant contributions to the educational experience of Laurier students. Learn more about award-winning teaching at Laurier.

Discover more from Teaching Excellence and Innovation

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2023 Sustained Excellence in Teaching recipient Tracy Snoddon, from Laurier's Economics department joins Debora VanNijnatten, academic director of Teaching Excellence and Innovation to discuss her efforts to connect with students individually and create an impactful and supportive learning environment, emphasizing real-world applications, active teaching approaches, and centring care in her classroom.

Laurier's Donald F. Morgenson Awards for Teaching Excellence honour those who, through their commitment to exemplary teaching, have made significant contributions to the educational experience of Laurier students. Learn more about award-winning teaching at Laurier: https://bit.ly/award-winning-faculty

Find out more about Teaching Excellence and Innovation at Laurier: https://bit.ly/m/tei-team

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Shauansea Brown in Laurier's Communication Studies department discusses how she creates an environment where students can have difficult conversations safely by building trust and a collective care ethic in her classroom. Dr. Brown discusses how she encourages students to bring their lived experiences into her course. She also helps students unpack and discuss new ways of seeing and understanding, creating a supportive framework that gives students the responsibility for taking care of themselves and each other.

Follow Shaunasea Brown on Instagram: @drshaunasea

Hosted by Alesha Moffat, educational developer

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Michael Woodford from Laurier's Faculty of Social Work discusses creating supportive and inclusive classrooms and campuses that support 2SLGBTQ+ students and faculty. Michael's research work on large studies like Thriving on Campus helps campus communities understand how to better support the needs of diverse 2SLGBTQ+ students in and beyond the classroom, and he shares strategies that listeners can use to build inclusive campus spaces and classrooms, along with ways to pre-empt and diffuse microaggressions. Hosted by Laurier undergraduate student Belle O'Neill. Resources discussed:

• Thriving on Campus
• Querying Higher Education
• The LGBQ Microaggressions on Campus Scale
• The NAME Steps for addressing microagressions
• SPECTRUM Centre in Waterloo
• OK2BME.ca
• Laurier's Bystander Training program
• The Laurier Pride Guide for faculty and staff
• Learn more about Brantford's Queersphere and Waterloo's Rainbow Centre

Laurier faculty, staff and students can explore recorded programming and resources about microagressions in the classroom and inclusive teaching strategies on Connect.

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Steve MacNeil from Laurier's Chemistry and Biochemistry department discusses his journey from a blended and flipped classroom into scaffolding a metacognition co-curriculum throughout his courses to help students reflect not only on what they know, but on how they learn. Steve talks about how techniques like collaborative testing and IF-AT cards have deepened students' learning in his courses, why it's necessary to scaffold students through new pedagogies, how instructors can start building metacognitive components into their courses, and how a metacognition co-curriculum can help instructors navigate academic integrity alongside generative AI tools.

Explore Steve's Work:

• Exploring the Influence of Multiple-Choice Test Formats on Student Performance | Wood, E., Klausz, N., MacNeil, S. (2022)
• Learning Task Inventories, Exploration of Optimal Conditions to Help Students Develop, Improve and Sustain Good Study and Learning Practices | MacNeil, S., Wood, E., (2014)
• The Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique (IF-AT) in a Large Enrollment Introductory Organic Chemistry Course | MacNeil, S. (2011)
• Learning Task Inventories (LTIs) in Introductory Organic Chemistry | MacNeil, S., Wood, E. (2013)
• Follow Steve on Twitter (@SteveMacNeil9)

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Faculty Mentoring Award recipient Paula Fletcher from Laurier's Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education joins Mary Wilson, vice-provost of Teaching and Learning, in conversation to discuss how she helps build confidence in students, the importance of faculty mentoring one another and the mentors who have shaped her journey.

Laurier's Donald F. Morgenson Awards for Teaching Excellence honour those who, through their commitment to exemplary teaching, have made significant contributions to the educational experience of Laurier students. Recipients are recognized for both long-standing and early-career excellence, for being classroom innovators and mentors, and for embedding internationalization into their curriculum and pedagogy.

Resources mentioned in the discussion:

• Laurier's guide to mentorship is available to Laurier instructors on MyLearningSpace by self-registering in "Best Practices in Mentorship"
• Explore Laurier's Researcher Handbook from the Office of Research Services
• Find out about the Laurier Graduate Enhancement Fund's projects and apply for funding
• Learn about the Sun Life Centre for Physically Active Communities (CPAC). More information about physically active programs like Movin' N Groovin'
• Discover the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at Laurier

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Staff Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning recipient Lydia Awuah-Mensah from Laurier's Career Development Centre joins Mary Wilson, vice-provost of Teaching and Learning, in conversation to discuss how she helps students reflect on their skill development, navigate transformative volunteer experiences and make meaning of the "Aha" moments in their lives.

Laurier's Donald F. Morgenson Awards for Teaching Excellence honour those who, through their commitment to exemplary teaching, have made significant contributions to the educational experience of Laurier students. Recipients are recognized for both long-standing and early-career excellence, for being classroom innovators and mentors, and for embedding internationalization into their curriculum and pedagogy.

Resources mentioned in the discussion:

• Connect with Laurier's Career Centre
• Read about Career Integrated Learning at Laurier
• Learn more about Laurier's Non-Profit Sector Experiential certificate
• HopeSpring Cancer Support Centre
• Further education support and appointments
• Memorial University's Career Integrated Learning Project | Rhonda Joy and Rob Shea

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