Research on the use of blogs in higher education suggests that students who blog as part of a course requirement demonstrate increased reflection, heightened feelings of connection, and increased course-related knowledge. Blogging provides a promising medium for students to engage in reflection on their participation in a cooperative education work term. Blogging can help guide a project by providing an encouraging place for team members to communicate clearly, document their work and other resources, and brainstorm ideas. In this paper, we describe a qualitative analysis of blog posts written by three students during a co-op placement. The students used the blog extensively and with multiple purposes: to reflect, to communicate, to brainstorm ideas, to evaluate literature, and to document team creations. We discuss the characteristics of the project and blog that may have contributed to its extensive use and provide recommendations for individuals interested in implementing a blog in similar projects.
Research on the use of blogs in higher education suggests that students who blog as part of a course requirement demonstrate increased reflection, heightened feelings of connection, and increased course-related knowledge. Blogging provides a promising medium for students to engage in reflection on their participation in a cooperative education work term. Blogging can help guide a project by providing an encouraging place for team members to communicate clearly, document their work and other resources, and brainstorm ideas. In this paper, we describe a qualitative analysis of blog posts written by three students during a co-op placement. The students used the blog extensively and with multiple purposes: to reflect, to communicate, to brainstorm ideas, to evaluate literature, and to document team creations. We discuss the characteristics of the project and blog that may have contributed to its extensive use and provide recommendations for individuals interested in implementing a blog in similar projects.
Curriculum mapping is the process of creating a visual representation of the teaching and assessment of learning outcomes in a degree, program or major. Best practice recommendations about curriculum mapping typically focus on mapping individual programs. Therefore, many recommendations, such as meeting individually with faculty as they map their course, may not be feasible for large-scale mapping projects. This paper describes the process of a large-scale curriculum mapping project designed to map the Bachelor of Science degree and 24 of its associated majors. The project involved the participation of faculty from three colleges within a research-intensive University to map over 400 courses. We describe the key questions and decisions involved in carrying out the mapping project, our data collection and analysis process, and our dissemination efforts to ensure that the mapping results were used to inform curricular change.
Educational Leadership in Teaching Excellence (EnLITE) is an 11-month faculty development program at the University of Guelph, Ontario. Created and led by faculty members and educational developers, EnLITE is designed to engage participants in the principles, practice and theory of teaching and learning in higher education and to promote a learner-centred approach to teaching. Participants critically examine and discuss scholarly topics on teaching and learning and in their own disciplines; collaborate with one or more teaching mentors; engage in peer classroom observation; and participate in other teaching-related activities informed by their individual learning plans. Our objective was to determine the perceived impact of EnLITE on participants’ teaching-related practices and experiences. We collected pre-, post- and one-year post-program quantitative and qualitative survey responses from each of the 2014-2015, 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 EnLITE cohorts (N = 17 participants representing a variety of disciplines; 71% female). There were significant improvements in participants’ perceived teaching practices related to critical self-reflection (13% increase from pre- to one-year post-program), student engagement (+28.2%), collaborative learning (+31%) and learner-centred pedagogy (+22.9%, all p < 0.05). There was little to no change in use of technology, student assessment, leadership, participation in communities of practice, or dissemination of teaching-related scholarship. These results provide empirical evidence of the effectiveness of a peer-driven faculty development program in promoting a learning-centred approach to teaching. Future research should determine whether these changes translate into improved student learning, and whether such programs demonstrate longer term improvements in engagement in teaching-related leadership, communities of practice and dissemination.
Veterinarians are required to use clinical reasoning skills to successfully manage their patients with eye diseases. Case-based assignments can be an effective tool for teaching problem-solving skills. Very few models or online modules exist to deepen the instruction of veterinary ophthalmic clinical reasoning skills. The current study aims to assess the value of online case-based assignments given to students during the Ontario Veterinary College’s Phase 4 ophthalmology rotation over a 4-year period. Nine case-based assignments were developed as an online module and provided signalment, history, ophthalmic database, and clinical photography. For each case, students were required to describe the ocular lesions, provide a diagnosis, and develop a short-term and long-term treatment plan. A grading rubric was created, and student feedback was collected using an online survey. A frequency analysis was conducted to evaluate final grades across each case. This analysis was also completed for grades of each question across all cases. A total of 285 students were graded individually. Students’ grades were normally distributed across each assignment. Students performed better on lower-order cognitive skills (description of ocular lesions) but poorer on high-order cognitive skills (therapeutic plans). These results suggest that students tend to have difficulty with the analysis and interpretation of these cases. Student feedback reported case-based assignments were useful. Online case-based assignments may be a useful adjunctive teaching tool for students rotating through ophthalmology in their clinical year, and this tool could be considered for other specialized rotations.
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