Category: Effective Teaching

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...

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...

Designing the Core Activities in Your Lesson Aligning with the Outcomes and Assessments

Reading Time: 3 minutesBy Dr. Nasreen Sultana, Teaching and Learning Before you start reading, ask yourself the following questions: Ideally, when a professor receives a course, in most cases, the course outline, learning materials, and assessments are already designed. You will probably receive a course shell with all the materials. Please note that Conestoga’s course design follows a backward design, that is, the end goals...

Is it Time to Refresh My Rubric? A Checklist When Your Rubric Needs a Tune-Up 

Reading Time: 3 minutesDo you have a rubric that you’ve been seeing a lot of lately? Perhaps there’s one rubric you’ve been using to grade multiple submissions this semester and noticed that it isn’t quite as smooth as you’d like.  Grading with a rubric oftentimes gives rise to observations about its limitations: you might notice, for example, that students are struggling in a...

Understanding your Students’ Conceptions of Assessment for a Better Learning Experience

Reading Time: 7 minutesHave you ever noticed that some students approach assessments with excitement and curiosity, while others seem overwhelmed with anxiety or disengaged? The way students perceive assessments significantly influences their experiences and learning, shaping how they engage with your course. By understanding the various student conceptions of assessment, you can better tailor your assessment strategies and support structures to meet diverse...

Mental Health: The Bigger Picture

Reading Time: 6 minutesThe United Nations has declared Oct 10th World Mental Health Day. Throughout the month of October each year, the UN encourages industries and organizations across the globe to: “spotlight mental health around the world, raise awareness of mental health issues and encourage efforts to support those experiencing mental health issues” (“World, N.D.) Mental Health has become somewhat of a buzz-term...

STEM, AI, and You

Reading Time: 5 minutesWhere are you in your journey to bring the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into your STEM-related teaching? And how will AI impact your teaching and your students’ learning if it has not already done so?  Helping students understanding how to use AI so that it works with them and not for them will be an important skill to learn...

Where is the Wonder?

Reading Time: 6 minutesThink back to your educational experience when you attended elementary and high school, especially around the questions you were given for your learning. Likely, these questions came from either one of two sources: a teacher or textbook.  If your formal education is anything like mine, you rarely, if ever, had a direct invitation to create your own curiosity-driven questions then...

Heterogeneity – The Reality of Diversity in Our Classrooms

Reading Time: 3 minutesBy Dr. Nasreen Sultana, Teaching and Learning Consultant Classroom heterogeneity refers to how students differ in age, gender, cultural and social backgrounds, and learning environments and have unique cognitive, motivational, and emotional needs (Hirschauer & Kullmann, 2009). In today’s world, Canadian post-secondary classrooms are diverse and multi-dimensional. The phrase around international students is widely used as a catch-all phrase without...

Motivating Your Students to Learn: What Works, What Doesn’t

Reading Time: 6 minutesThink back to a time when you were really motivated to learn something, particularly when you felt the activity was engaging and joyful.  It could have been a class, an event, a work project or anything that sustained your long-term interest.  What exactly was it that made it a joyful, engaging learning experience? What made you continue with the activity?...