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Category: Accessible Teaching

Build accessible learning materials and experiences to reduced barriers for diverse learners, helping all students to succeed.

October 12, 2023

Designing Multiple Choice Questions with EAL in Mind 

Reading Time: 4 minutesA Multiple-Choice Question (MCQ) item consists of a problem, known as the stem (written as a question or as a partial sentence that requires completion), and a list of suggested solutions, known as options. The options consist of one correct or best option, which is the answer, and incorrect or inferior options, known as distractors.   Research indicates that the linguistic structure...
Categories Accessible Teaching/Assessment Design & Development/Effective Teaching/Grading & Grading Tools/Inclusive Assessment/Quality Assessment Comments: 0
October 6, 2023

The Neurodiverse Classroom and Collaborative Work

Reading Time: 3 minutesWhat? The main purpose of this teaching tip is to assist educators in supporting neurodiverse groups in collaborating. So What? This is important because 1 in 10 students at Conestoga has a documented disability, which will impact how educators provide learning opportunities. Now What? This teaching tip will provide educators with concrete ways to support groups that involve neurotypical learners...
Categories Accessible Teaching/Effective Teaching/Student Engagement & Communication Comments: 0
September 22, 2023

Maamwi Hub: Learn, Reflect, and Continue the Journey towards Truth and Reconciliation in Post-Secondary Education

Reading Time: 2 minutesBy Dr. Nasreen Sultana, Consultant, Teaching & Learning As an immigrant settler in Canada, it took me years to realize the importance of learning about Indigenous history, peoples and the colonial impact on Indigenous communities. Learning more about Indigenous ways and history has empowered me to find ways to be an ally, bring Indigenous ideas into my teaching meaningfully and...
Categories Accessible Teaching/Decolonizing & Indigenizing Education/Effective Teaching/Inclusive Teaching Comments: 0
July 5, 2023

When Students are Non-Responsive in Synchronous Online Classes

Reading Time: 7 minutesIt can feel confusing or frustrating if a student attends your synchronous online class but does not join a breakout room or reply to you during class. You cannot determine if they are having tech trouble, have walked away from their device, or are simply listening quietly. It is unlikely that students who are non-responsive or inactive during synchronous online...
Categories Accessible Teaching/Effective Teaching/Student Engagement & Communication/Teaching for Learning Comments: 0
March 31, 2022

Start Your Class with Content-Based Icebreakers

Reading Time: 4 minutesContent-based icebreakers are icebreakers are short discussion or active learning activities that incorporate a topic or key concept of the course or class topic. They may be distinguished from get-to-know-you icebreakers, in which students share about themselves and/or discuss topics of interest but that are not directly course related.  Why are content-based icebreakers particularly useful?  In focusing on the subject...
Categories Accessible Teaching/Effective Teaching/Teaching for Learning
August 31, 2021

Ways to Make Your Teaching More Accessible

Reading Time: 2 minutesBy Sara Kafashan [E]ducation providers have a legal duty to accommodate the needs of students with disabilities. Ontario Human Rights Commission, 2018 How can faculty ensure accessible learning environments for our diverse students? Below, we provide a list of checkpoints and strategies that faculty can attend to in promoting an accessible learning environment. These strategies are rooted in accessible education,...
Categories Accessible Teaching/Effective Teaching
August 31, 2021

Trauma-Informed Teaching

Reading Time: 6 minutesAs we begin our teaching each semester, we welcome strangers into our class whose past experiences are unknown to us.  Over time, it sometimes becomes clear that a student is struggling with the impact of life experiences on the student’s ability to learn. This teaching tip will provide a research perspective and practical suggestions to help make your class a welcoming environment for students with trauma in their past (or present).
Categories Accessible Teaching/Effective Teaching/Inclusive Teaching
August 26, 2021

Accommodating and Supporting Students with Disabilities: Conestoga Faculty Stories

Reading Time: 7 minutesStories curated by Elan Paulson and Sara Kafashan Increasing numbers of students with disabilities are attending colleges in Ontario (Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario, n.d.). In fact, from April 2017 to April 2018, we had 1,334 students with a disability at Conestoga College, and this number increased to 1,380 from April 2018 to April 2019. And, according to Conestoga’s 2021-2024 Strategic Plan (see p. 13), ensuring inclusivity to promote student academic, personal, and...
Categories Accessible Teaching/Effective Teaching/Faculty Stories/Reflective Practice
August 26, 2021

A Foundational Understanding of Accessible Teaching and Learning at Conestoga College

Reading Time: 4 minutesAcross Ontario colleges and universities, there are growing numbers of students with disabilities (Learning Disabilities of Ontario, 2019). At Conestoga, we have seen our numbers of students with disabilities steadily increase. For example, across two academic years (i.e., 2017-2018 and 2018-2019), Conestoga had a 3.5% increase in students with a disability registered at Accessible Learning.  Despite these growing numbers, a...
Categories Accessible Teaching/Effective Teaching
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