Elements of strength-based pedagogy are evident in current practices being implemented in Canadian schools as well as internationally. Classroom teachers appreciate the importance of creating a positive learning environment for students where the latter feel a sense of belonging, choice, and self-efficacy toward their learning (Deci & Ryan,…

In this paper, we propose a model for cultivating trust through academic development programming involving Universal Design for Learning (UDL). A scaffolded design called 5R (Relevance, Reposition, Relationships, Reciprocity, and Reallocate) of academic development is described as it relates to the role of starting conversations and the eventual…

This study evaluates an innovative three-sided approach to classroom debate aimed at fostering critical thinking beyond adversarial argumentation. In an undergraduate Food Justice course, two teams presented arguments "for" and "against" pre-defined resolutions, while a third team explored areas of convergence and divergence at…

Purpose: This project engaged faculty, students, alumni and staff in re-visioning their university's learning, teaching and research framework. An extensive consultation process allowed participants to explore, discuss and critically reflect on effective practice. Design/methodology/approach: This action research project provided a process for…

In recent years significant emphasis has been placed on staff and students as partners in higher education in order to address issues of engagement and transferable skills. However, the concept covers a wide range of meanings. On the one hand it can refer to module feedback questionnaires. At the other extreme it can include student input in…

Assessment is one of the thorniest aspects of teaching for creativity. Nevertheless, research suggests there is tremendous potential for nurturing creativity through assessment. This article identifies how music educators can leverage assessment for learning (formative assessment) as a powerful tool for cultivating creativity within a variety of…

Human Rights Education exists as an implementing entity of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Scholars such as Andre Keet and others have criticized the dissemination of universal rights through education because it covets Western ideology over local ethical and epistemological constructs. Using Tibbitts' revised typologies of Human Rights…

This paper describes the development of a three-phase approach our team of educational developers finds useful in curriculum projects in our Teaching and Learning Centre. Informed by the literature on the importance of flexibility and iteration (Knight, 2001; Wolf, 2007) and an orientation towards Appreciative Inquiry (Srivastra & Cooperrider,…

Recent curriculum policy changes in British Columbia (BC) require that educators in all subject areas--including music--embed local Indigenous knowledge, pedagogies, and worldviews in their classes. Yet facilitating such decolonizing cross-cultural music education activities requires knowledge that music educators may not currently possess. We use…

This pilot study examines users' perceptions of Bande à Part, a music application designed for learners of French. The technology acceptance model (TAM) was adopted to investigate users' perceptions of the app's usability and potential for second language (L2) learning. The model's two constructs, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use,…

Background: Outdoor education (OE) should be understood in place, time, and culture because it is not a universal teaching approach. We currently know little about what constitutes the "Canadian ways" of doing OE or what students gain from the experience. Purpose: Our goal was to (a) identify the underlying factors guiding OE programs in…

Geography educators have long taught anthropogenic global climate change (AGCC) using geospatial data, visualizations, analysis tools and models. We examined the attitudes of teachers at secondary schools, research institutions, colleges and universities tasked with teaching using one such technology. We designed a seventeen-question online survey…

While educational development has long been aligned with organizational development in the literature (Berquist & Phillips, 1975; Gaffe, 1975), in practice this link has faded with time. Schroeder (2011) has recently asserted that given the broad-based changes in teaching and learning that are taking place at universities, it is important that…

This paper addresses one of the major confusions in the study and practice of problem-based learning today, namely the use of the term "problem-based learning" to refer to both the small-group tutorial method pioneered by McMaster University and Maastricht University in medical education, and the problem-oriented project-work method…

In this paper I share my understandings of an elective outdoor environmental education course, a significant component of which was a field school. I helped develop this course at the Canadian university where I work as an academic, with the field school conducted on the island of Kaua'i in Hawaii. The paper describes the university field school…