Author: Sara Kafashan

Sara Kafashan, PhD, has worked in post-secondary education since 2009. With a Master’s in Neuroscience and Cognitive Applied Sciences and a PhD in Applied Social Psychology, she has prior teaching experience within the field of Social Sciences. Sara brings a lens of equity, diversity, and inclusion, and a focus on wellness strategies, to teaching and learning. She has expertise in inclusive and accessible educational practices, including curriculum development, resource creation, and engagement with various campus stakeholders.

April 17, 2024

Teaching with Sign Language Interpreters (SLIs) or Interpreters in the Classroom

Reading Time: 4 minutes Introduction As of 2021, there are approximately 382,700 deaf and 3,827,000 hard of hearing people in Canada (Canadian Association of the Deaf, n.d.; Malkowski, 2021)....

Accessible Learning/Diverse Identities/Diversity/Equity and Inclusion/Teaching/Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

October 6, 2023

The Neurodiverse Classroom and Collaborative Work

Reading Time: 3 minutes What? The main purpose of this teaching tip is to assist educators in supporting neurodiverse groups in collaborating. So What? This is important because 1...

Accessible Learning/Diverse Identities/Diversity/Equity and Inclusion/Teaching/Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

September 29, 2023

Why We Wear Orange and Learn on the Land: National Day of Truth and Reconciliation

Reading Time: 4 minutes Author’s Acknowledgement This post has been written from the perspective of a first-generation settler, living on the traditional lands of the Attawandaron, Anishinaabek, and Haudenosaunee...

Decolonizing and Indigenizing Education/Diverse Identities/Diversity/Equity and Inclusion/Teaching

September 20, 2023

Responding to Discrimination and Harassment in Teaching

Reading Time: 4 minutes By: Dr. Sara Kafashan and Dr. Nasreen Sultana In our day-to-day work and teaching at Conestoga, we may come across a rare occurrence of harassment...

Diverse Identities/Diversity/Equity and Inclusion

September 6, 2023

Supports for Diversity across the Conestoga Community

Reading Time: 4 minutes Between 2017 and 2021, Conestoga College saw a 350% increase in international students enrolled (ApplyBoard, 2022). Today, Conestoga is the most popular College in Canada...

Diverse Identities/Diversity/Equity and Inclusion

September 6, 2023

The Success of International Students at Conestoga College

Reading Time: 4 minutes By Dr. Sara Kafashan and Dr. Nasreen Sultana Note: This post contains initial thoughts from Sara and Nasreen, Teaching & Learning Consultants who originally came...

Teaching/Teaching International Students

January 4, 2023

Pathway – Preparing For your First Lesson

Reading Time: < 1 minute This learning path aims to inform and support you as you prepare to teach your first lesson. What’s Next? Before the first lesson For resources...

New Faculty/Teaching

June 29, 2022

Content Warnings in Teaching

Reading Time: 9 minutes What are content warnings? How can I best prepare my class for a difficult topic? This tip provides examples of content warnings and other tips for teaching difficult topics.

Accessible Learning/Diverse Identities/Diversity/Teaching

April 14, 2022

Writing Assignment Descriptions

Reading Time: < 1 minute Evaluation is a key part of teaching. But, when it comes to assignments, what information should you include? How much information is too much? And...

Assessing Learning/Assessment Quick Guides/Creating Assessments/Teaching

April 6, 2022

Delivering Indigenous Land Acknowledgements

Reading Time: 6 minutes Author’s Acknowledgement This post has been written from the perspective of a first-generation settler, living on the traditional lands of the Attawandaron, Anishinaabek, and Haudenosaunee...

Decolonizing and Indigenizing Education/Diversity