The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of the design of a first year introduction to digital fluency course primarily for a library and information technology cohort at a Canadian university using an educational action research method and apply the findings to the second "question-plan-observe-evaluate" cycle of the action…

A recent scientific discipline, bioinformatics, defined as using informatics for the study of biological problems, is now a requirement for the study of biological sciences. Bioinformatics has become such a powerful and popular discipline that several academic institutions have created programs in this field, allowing students to become…

Grounded in the three-tiered transdisciplinary SLA framework of the Douglas Fir Group (2016), we explore how the concept of 'semiotic resources' may be integrated into CALL activity designs. Starting at the macro level, we discuss how language ideology may influence where to situate semiotic resources within initial design considerations. We next…

Written communication is essential to student success. Mindfulness exercises may improve thoughts and feelings that support written communication. These exercises are typically delivered to students in small groups such as tutorials. However, first year courses that develop written communication skills are often delivered in large classroom…

This article discusses strategies to decolonize the classroom through changes in course structure that place postcolonial scholarship into dialogue with emerging scholarship that seeks to unsettle settler colonialism. This pedagogical approach interrogates the very structure of traditional art history to critically explore how systemic…

Teaching and learning of many undergraduate science courses often remains confined within the boundaries of classrooms rendering learning of these subjects irrelevant and detached from students' lived experiences. Community-based experiential learning (CBEL) is one way to address this issue. This paper reports the development and implementation of…

Contribution: A semester-long, open-ended design project was implemented to promote intellectual development of first-year students while reinforcing event-driven/procedural programming principles. This paper describes this approach, and an evaluation strategy using Perry's model for intellectual development. The results show that students can…

Purpose: Delivery of sustainability-related curriculum to undergraduate students can be problematic due to the traditional "siloing" of curriculum by faculties along disciplinary lines. In addition, while there is often a ready availability of courses focused on sustainability issues in the later years of students' programs, few early…

Traditionally in Canada, attention to political or civic education has been at the primary- or secondary-school level. This study focuses on the place of civic engagement in introductory Canadian politics and government university courses in Canada by surveying instructors on their attitudes and approaches to civic engagement in the classroom.…

In recent years, the pressure for educators to cultivate civic participation among Canada's apathetic youth voters has been mounting. Between 1998 and 2007, a national wave of curriculum reform introducing or enhancing civic engagement education occurred at the secondary level. In this study, we explore the role and place of civic engagement in…

As an oral culture, Aboriginal ways of knowing and learning come through practice and practical application first, rather than through theory or text. For Aboriginal students, the Western methodological approach to learning theory first, poses a counterintuitive near insurmountable roadblock, particularly in science. This paper presents the…

For students, the early years at universities can be discouraging as they may face large classes, limited interaction with instructors, and a disconnection between the scholarly experience they might have expected to encounter and that which they in fact endure. In this article the authors describe a case study project (CSP) designed specifically…

We have undertaken an integrated and collaborative approach to developing foundational skills of students in a first year, Introductory Biology course. The course is a large lecture and laboratory course with enrollments ranging from 800-1000 per year. Teaching and Learning experts were brought into the course as weekly "Foundation Skills for…

Describes an introductory course required of all engineering students at the Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal (Canada). Discusses the design of the course, including its emphasis upon the facets of engineering careers, direct experience, and written and spoken communication. (TW)

The current status and frequency of nonmajor biology courses offered in colleges and universities in the United States and Canada were investigated. A random sample of 300 four-year colleges was sent a questionnaire and a request for copies of their syllabi for nonmajor biology courses and other nonmajor science courses. Of the 134 respondents,…