Conestoga.on.ca

Home  >  Effective Teaching  >  Teaching for Learning

Category: Teaching for Learning

Explore evidence-informed approaches to support student learning and success.

July 10, 2025

Teaching Critical Thinking   

Reading Time: 8 minutesCritical thinking has long been a foundational skill in post-secondary education, but in the 21st century—particularly in the age of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI)—it has been getting even more press than usual. Some have mused that our human ability to think critically is a key feature that distinguishes us from Large Language Models, and that GenAI use can undermine our reflexive capabilities and...
Categories Effective Teaching/Lesson & Course Planning/Student Engagement & Communication/Teaching for Learning Comments: 0
March 19, 2025

Establishing Credibility in Managing the Classroom

Reading Time: 3 minutesCreating a strong classroom presence is essential for new faculty to establish credibility and effectively manage their classrooms. Students enter the educational environment with specific expectations. When they perceive their teachers as competent, caring, and honest, their emotional engagement and motivation to participate in academic activities significantly increase (Lv, 2024). Faculty should begin fostering a positive perception among students from...
Categories Effective Teaching/Student Engagement & Communication/Teaching for Learning Comments: 0
February 25, 2025

Gamification or Game-Based Learning?

Reading Time: 7 minutesYou might have heard the terms “gamification” or “game-based learning” used in educational circles, but you may not have yet had the chance to explore the differences between these approaches. They both aim to make course and learning experiences more engaging, but they do so in very distinct unique ways. This post aims to show an example of each applied...
Categories EdTech for Active Learning/Effective Teaching/Teaching for Learning/Teaching with EdTech/Tech-Enhanced Teaching Comments: 0
February 23, 2025

Teaching to Remember: The ‘I Do, We Do, You Do’ Strategy for Improved Learning

Reading Time: 5 minutesIf you teach a practice or a skill – say a math-based lesson in business, health care, trades or engineering – you likely want them to apply that practice or skill successfully at some point in during the course. In fact, the Universal Design for Learning framework urges educators to provide incremental support, enabling students to develop fluency through guided practice...
Categories Effective Teaching/Lesson & Course Planning/Teaching for Learning Comments: 0
February 18, 2025

Journey to Mastery: Stages of Teaching Professionalism from Novice to Expert

Reading Time: 4 minutesMany teacher educators refer to the initial years of teaching as the “swimming and surviving” phase for new teachers. The most significant difference between novice and expert teachers lies in their ability to interpret and manage classroom complexities (Wolff et al., 2016). To understand the process of teacher development, it is essential to recognize the stages a teacher progresses through,...
Categories Effective Teaching/Teaching for Learning Comments: 0
February 6, 2025

Chris Lamarucciola Teaches Workplace Skills Through Hands-On Industry Experiences

Reading Time: 4 minutesChris Lamarucciola, Conestoga College Esports Manager, has been working in the Esports industry for nine years. In college, studying event marketing, he was introduced to the competitive Esports scene, where he started a grassroots organization which eventually became Parabellum Esports. Parabellum went on to become a leader in the Canadian Esports sector with a North American Pro League team in Rainbow...
Categories Effective Teaching/Faculty Stories/Reflective Practice/Teaching for Learning Comments: 0
February 3, 2025

Celebrating Black History Month

Reading Time: 2 minutesAs we move into Black History Month, it is a time for Canadians to celebrate the immense achievements and valuable contributions of Black Canadians throughout history. Regardless of where you are in your learning journey, Black History Month provides additional opportunities to confront anti-black racism and to work toward black inclusion in higher education. We encourage all Conestoga faculty to commit to learning about anti-black racism to foster black inclusion.
Categories Effective Teaching/Inclusive Teaching/Teaching for Learning Comments: 0
January 21, 2025

Designing Meaningful Asynchronous Lessons

Reading Time: 3 minutesAs you embark on developing your asynchronous online course, you likely already have a course outline, an instructional plan, a mapped evaluation strategy, and a thoughtful approach rooted in backward design. So, what comes next? The next critical step is designing your weekly lessons and crafting lesson plans specific to your asynchronous learners. This phase requires careful planning to ensure...
Categories Effective Teaching/Lesson & Course Planning/Online Asynchronous/Teaching for Learning Comments: 0
January 13, 2025

Validating Student Responses During Class

Reading Time: 6 minutesWe’ve all been there… It’s the start of class, let’s say week 5, and you’re engaging students in a pre-assessment activity–asking them to recall what was shared in class last week before moving on to new content. Let’s imagine you’re teaching a class about the digestive system in the Practical Nursing program, and you pose a question to the class...
Categories Effective Teaching/Inclusive Teaching/Student Engagement & Communication/Teaching for Learning Comments: 0
January 8, 2025

Bob Carder Engages Students with an Eco-Friendly Curriculum

Reading Time: 3 minutesBob Carder – Professor in Conestoga’s Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technician program My career path has been varied and includes food service, trades, management, business ownership and teaching. In all of these there have been several things in common. First, in each case, I spent time educating myself about the industry and processes to become a valuable contributor to...
Categories Effective Teaching/Faculty Stories/Reflective Practice/Teaching for Learning Comments: 0
December 18, 2024

How Gamification Supports Learning

Reading Time: 6 minutesGamification is incorporating game elements into non-game contexts. In education, this often involves using game elements like points, badges, leaderboards, and challenges to make learning more active, interactive, and enjoyable. By turning traditional educational activities into game-like experiences, educators can create a more dynamic and engaging learning environment. In this post, you’ll find some evidence that supports the use of...
Categories EdTech for Active Learning/Effective Teaching/Teaching for Learning/Teaching with EdTech/Tech-Enhanced Teaching Comments: 0
November 18, 2024

My Favourite Lesson Season 2! (A Teaching and Learning Podcast Series)

Reading Time: < 1 minuteWe know many of you tuned in last year when Season One of My Favourite Lesson was first released. Season One featured experienced faculty from all schools at the college engaging in conversation with Teaching and Learning Consultant Dr. Lauren Spring about their favourite lessons to teach. Lauren discussed with guests how these lessons have evolved over the years, how...
Categories Effective Teaching/Faculty Stories/Teaching for Learning Comments: 0
October 29, 2024

Active Learning in Your Tech or Software Lessons

Reading Time: 10 minutesTeaching technical courses on software, programming, web development, and design can effectively leverage active learning. Active learning emphasizes building firsthand, practical experience and gradually fostering learner autonomy and independence. It encourages students to explore and problem-solve within the tech, based on real-world challenges. This post aims to provide practical and actionable ways you can bring this model into your tech...
Categories Effective Teaching/Teaching for Learning Comments: 0
October 28, 2024

Making a Comeback: How to Get Back on Track After a Rocky Start to the Semester

Reading Time: 5 minutesDid you get off to a rocky start to the semester? Finding it challenging to connect with your students to foster a productive learning environment and experiencing classroom management challenges? A rocky start can happen for a variety of reasons some that are in our control and some that are not, however, know that you’re not alone and that there...
Categories Effective Teaching/Lesson & Course Planning/Student Engagement & Communication/Teaching for Learning Comments: 0