Teaching Days

All sessions take place in-person

Creating Time and Space to Rediscover the Joy of Learning

1-1:50 p.m. | TI 118/120

Presenter: Cari Din

Participants in this session will learn about the genesis and purpose of the reflective journalling resource the 3M National Teaching Fellows co-created in 2024 called: Creating Time and Space to Rediscover the Joy of Learning. Participants will receive their own copy of this companion during the session and spend time discussing and exploring ways to integrate this resource with their teaching and learning practices.

Steps towards Decolonization: Un-grading and gamification as a strategy for engagement and mental health

1-1:50 p.m. | TI 160

Presenters: Houston Peschl, Rosalynn Peschl

The session includes an experiential activity—an empathy-building game designed to simulate the barriers faced by marginalized populations in accessing education. Participants will assume new personas and navigate a gamified journey that highlights systemic privileges and inequities. This interactive exercise, tested and refined across multiple educational levels, demonstrates how gamified pedagogy can create a safe, engaging, and impactful approach to teaching diversity and fostering empathy.  The workshop concludes with a reflective exercise using the DEAL model (Describe, Examine, Articulate Learning), enabling participants to process their experiences and articulate actionable insights for integrating diversity, empathy, and decolonization into their own teaching practices.

Leveraging AI hallucinations in making summative and formative student assessments

1-1:50 p.m. | TI 110

Presenter: Jacob Lamb

Dr Lamb will start with sharing his use of MS Co-Pilot in his assessments in ENCI575 Transportation Engineering II, and use in extra-curricular student activity of a Jeopardy-style quiz game for transportation engineering. Participants are then encouraged to try this out for themselves for a course they are scheduled to instruct; with this tool being useful for both summative student assessments and to make mock-exams, flashcards, and other such student supports.

Please bring a laptop with access to Microsoft Co-Pilot (or GenAI of choice) to fully participate in the session. 

Making a big class feel small

2-2:50 p.m. | TI 140/148

Presenter: Glenn Dolphin

Large lecture courses are not ideal learning environments. Research shows that characteristics of the large lecture environment (student anonymity, transactional nature of teaching and learning, etc.) diminish student engagement. Team-Based Learning (TBL) is a strategy that helps to make large classes feel small. It gives students a small group of team-mates to rely on and fosters, in that student, a sense of responsibility to the rest of the team. This sense of responsibility makes it more likely the student will engage with the course. Collaborative teams also introduce a dialogic component to instruction which is necessary for effective learning. This workshop will explore the advantages and challenges associated with TBL in large classes, how to implement TBL into your large lecture course, and how to manage group grading using ITP metrics for student and team evaluations.

Rubric Swap – Refine, Reflect, Revise

2-2:50 p.m. | TI 110

Presenter: Kathryn Blair, Lin Yu

Rubrics for course assignments are more than just evaluation tools—they’re a roadmap for student success. A well-crafted rubric clarifies expectations, empowers students to take ownership of their learning, ensures fair and consistent assessment, and provides useful feedback. But designing a rubric that is both clear to students and practical for instructors can be challenging. Vague language, inconsistent criteria, or misaligned expectations can lead to confusion, frustration, unfair grades, and even grade disputes between instructors or TAs and students. In this hands-on workshop, participants will: • Explore key principles of designing a rubric that is clear, learner-centered, and inclusive. • Discuss how language, and structure around grading can impact student motivation and success. • Apply these strategies by collaborating with peers to review and refine rubrics in a feedback exchange. By the end of the session, participants will leave with actionable ideas to enhance their rubrics so that all students can take a more active role in their own learning. 

Please bring a hard copy of a course rubrics for review and feedback. 

From GenAI to Genuine AI: Building Trust and Communicating Transparency

2-2:50 p.m. | TI 118/120

Presenters: Lorelei Anselmo, Garrett Beatty

Join this engaging session where we explore communicating GenAI with students and instructors. Discover how students are utilizing AI for research, creative projects, and problem-solving, and learn strategies for fostering open communication around AI use. Participants will explore practical techniques for instructors to invite discussions about AI, creating a safe space for students to share their experiences, challenges, and ideas. The session also highlights methods for students to proactively discuss their AI use with instructors and seek feedback, ensuring clarity in expectations and academic integrity. Through interactive discussions and hands-on activities, attendees will leave with actionable approaches to integrate AI into their courses while establishing effective channels of dialogue between students and instructors.

Please bring a laptop in order to participate fully in the activities.

Breathe new life into your assignments: Practical steps for adding more realism, cognitive challenge, and evaluative judgment

10-10:50 a.m. | TI 118/120

Presenter: Kim Grant

How can we move from cookie-cutter assignments that are uninspiring to complete and boring to grade?  Think about what excites you in your field or discipline!  Whether you’re looking to make a small tweak or do a major overhaul, this workshop will give you some new ways to think about your assessment design. We will highlight the principles of authentic assessment then provide plenty of time for you to start applying practical strategies to enliven your existing assignment.  

Please bring a current course outline or assignment guide to work on. 

Communication and Conflict: Tips from the Student Conduct Office

10-10:50 a.m. | TI 110

Presenters: Coming soon

Description coming soon!

Embedding an Academic Peer Mentor into Curricular Classes.

10-10:50 a.m. | TI 140/148

Presenters: Lisa Stowe, Kyla Flanagan

This interactive workshop introduces faculty to the transformative potential of the Academic Peer Mentorship program, a proven educational initiative with over 18 years of success at the University of Calgary. Participants will explore how undergraduate peer mentors can enhance student engagement, foster critical thinking, and provide unique insights into student learning processes. Through hands-on activities, instructors will identify course "pain points" where peer mentors can have the greatest impact, design meaningful mentor roles tailored to their teaching contexts, and establish appropriate boundaries for effective collaboration. Join us to discover how strategic integration of peer mentors can create dynamic learning environments while providing valuable development opportunities for both mentors and students. By the end of this workshop, participants will have developed concrete plans for incorporating peer mentors into their courses and connecting with program coordinators for implementation.

.gif use in Online Learning

11-11:50 a.m. | TI 110

Presenter: Alexis Handford

This session delves into the creative potential of .gifs as a digital visual language in online learning spaces. It will examine their role in enhancing educational experiences and fostering connections in virtual environments. Drawing on Ludwig Wittgenstein’s philosophy that words excel at literal communication but falter when conveying abstract ideas, the session highlights how .gifs can infuse text with visual emotion, enriching comprehension in digital contexts. The session will also include a hands-on demonstration where participants will have an opportunity to practice creating their own custom .gifs using mobile devices. 

Please bring your mobile device in order to fully participate in the session.

Practical Strategies for Creating Positive Learning Environments

11-11:50 a.m. | TI 160

Presenters: Patti Dyjur, Tyson Kendon

In this session you will brainstorm for ideas to foster positive learning environments collaboratively with other participants. Get ready to put your thinking cap on and bring your best ideas to cultivating community and modelling compassion! This will be a highly participatory session.

Considering UDL and EDIA Principles in Course Design

11-11:50 a.m. | TI 110

Presenters: Annette Tézli, J Overholser, Sumayra Ahmed

In this interactive session we will discuss and demonstrate how we incorporated Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Equity, Diversity, Inclusivity and Accessibility (EDIA) principles in the design of a mandatory social research methods class in the department of sociology. We taught the course both online and in person and will discuss the transferability of these strategies from one mode of delivery to another. Finally, we will discuss the impact of those strategies we observed, both the benefits but also some of the drawbacks. 

Understanding Bias in Artificial Intelligence and Understanding Student Understanding of Bias in Artificial Intelligence

1-1:50 p.m. | TI 140/148

Presenters: Jonathan Hudson, Janet Leahy, Tyson Kendon

Bias in artificial intelligence systems can be difficult to detect and to understand. Understanding how bias is propagated from people into these systems though data is particularly important for novice computer science students, particularly those who are beginning to learn about AI systems in depth. Understanding the relationship between people, data and bias can be helpful for everyone, especially educators. In this workshop we will tag data for a system and explore how bias in the tagged data propagates into the systems trained on that data. When novice computer scientists are introduced to this concept, a portion of their assessment is dedicated to reflecting on the implications of these propagations, and how bias exists within AI systems and the things that implies for the use of AI systems. We will the session by looking at how these reflections are framed for the students and with our own reflections on bias, ai systems and how students can learn about these. 

Please bring a laptop to participate in the tagging activity.

Strategies to Manage High-Enrollment Courses

1-1:50 p.m. | TI 110

Presenters: Chelsea Rozanski, Lars Petersen

Teaching a course with over 200 students? Wondering how you'll manage the grading, spark meaningful participation, or build connections in a giant lecture hall? In this interactive session, we'll share lessons learned from teaching a 400-student introductory course (ANTH203). We’ll explore practical, scalable strategies for designing diverse assessments, facilitating in-class engagement, and navigating the unique challenges of high-enrollment teaching. Participants will also collaborate to co-design an engagement plan tailored to their own courses.

Empowered and Experiential: Teaching and Learning at Nickle Galleries

1-2:30 p.m. | Nickle Galleries

Presenters: Michele Hardy, Marina Fischer

Did you know Nickle Galleries’ collections of art, textiles and coins are accessible for study and research? Join Teaching Award winning curators Michele Hardy (2019) and Marina Fischer (2018) for a dynamic behind-the-scenes tour of our collections with examples of collections-focused, out-of-the-box teaching and learning. Learn how deep looking, gentle handling, careful description and research of artifacts can provoke profound learning opportunities across disciplines. Handling ‘the real stuff’ offers students opportunities to engage their senses, experience materials and technology, and directly connect with past makers.

Please note that space in this session is limited.