Research Bytes

Event Date & Time

Event Description

Pillar: Transformative Learning, Research Excellence

Come find out what UBC faculty members are doing around the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning! In this session, each presenter will share their SoTL research and their learning nuggets for 15-20 minutes .

You will have the opportunity to participate in a facilitated discussion following the three presentations. The format may be a mixture of small group discussion to help participants explore how to translate this knowledge into their own practice, solicit feedback on your project and/or Q&A.

Exploring the value of student workers’ contribution in teaching and learning

In our session, we share the outcomes of our Teaching and Learning Enhancement (TLEF) project that planted a seed for our SoTL study. We will explore the development of supplementary resources for COMM290 by student workers

As a qualitative case study, we interviewed faculty and student workers. We also surveyed COMM290 students. Based on the responses from all involved parties, we noticed that the contribution of the student workers transformed the teaching experience for the faculty, while enhancing the learning experience for the class, as student workers provided unique perspectives to educational development, which supports recent pedagogical approaches that students, when empowered, can elevate teaching and learning for all involved.

Facilitators:

• Tim Huh, PhD, Professor, Sauder School of Business
  
• Greg Werker, PhD, Lecturer, Sauder School of Business
  
• Sunah Cho, PhD, Faculty Liaison, Sauder School of Business and CTLT
  
• Arkie Liu, Student Worker

Reducing Participation Related Anxiety in Discussion Based Courses

University discussion-based courses often involve a participation component; however, issues arise in how to objectively and effectively assess participation in the classroom. A lack of transparency and clarity on participation criteria and marking can cause unease and anxiety for students taking courses that place a high evaluative emphasis on participation. The aim of our project is to assess the impact of a student created participation model in reducing students’ anxiety related to participation marks. Workshops were conducted with 4th year undergraduate students enrolled in discussion-based courses in the Applied Animal Biology program. Through these workshops a participation model was constructed and subsequently implemented in two 4th year discussion-based courses. Students in these courses completed a survey at the beginning and end of the course to gauge their current perceptions of participation and to assess how the new participation model impacted participation related anxiety. Results from this stage of the project will be used to further modify and test the participation model in upcoming courses. By creating a student driven model for transparent and effective participation in the classroom we ultimately aims to reduce student anxiety, which in turn supports overall student academic success.

At the end of our presentation, attendees will gain insight into student perceptions of participation in the classroom and what pedagogical tools can be useful in reducing student anxiety related to participation.

Facilitators: 

• Kristen Walker, PhD., Instructor, Land and Food Systems
  
• Katie Koralesky, PhD Student
  
• Kiera Brant-Birioukov, SoTL Specialist, PhD Student

Teaching Empathy to Medical Students via Narrative Knowledge

Empathy has been the major concern in medical education and practice. The essence of good practitioner-patient relationships lies in the presence of empathy (Squier, 1990). It has been a concern, therefore, that many studies suggest a significant decline in empathy during medical school and residency (Scheweller et al., 2017). Despite medicine’s recent dazzling technological progress in diagnosing and treating illnesses, physicians sometimes lack the capacities to recognize the plight of their patients, to extend empathy toward those who suffer, and to join honestly and courageously with patients in their illness (Charon, 2001). Come find out how the use of narratives knowledge can help improve empathy of medical students!

Facilitator: Wanying Wang, PhD Student, Faculty of Education

The Role of Stakeholder Voices in Curriculum Reform

This session will explore the utility of program action research as a methodology for curriculum reform, examining goals for curriculum reform, describing key research questions and potential sources of stakeholder data. There is often an absence of systematic and research-informed practice to enhance the effectiveness and impact of curriculum reform. The key to successful program action research is the involvement of both researchers and key stakeholders in all phases of the process (Hansen & Borden, 2006) to determine what content and experiences should be included in a degree (Walker & Blankemeyer, 2013). We will provide a brief overview of the process, discuss data sources such as learning analytics, student and alumni surveys document analysis etc. and provide examples from the Family Studies minor and Italian studies programs.

By the end of this session, you should be able to:

• Describe the process involved in program action research and
• Identify ways key stakeholders can inform the curriculum renewal process.

Facilitators: 

• Silvia Bartolic, PhD., Instructor, Sociology
  
• Luisa Canuto, PhD., Lecturer and Italian Language Course Coordinator, Department of French, Hispanic and Italian Studies

Quantitative Arts: Using Real World Practice to Increase Learning of Quantitative Research Methods

Details coming soon.

Facilitators: 

• Silvia Bartolic, PhD., Instructor, Sociology
  
• ShunFu Hu, SoTL Specialist, PhD Student, Educational and Counseling Psychology, and Special Education
  
• Stephen Zhu, Undergraduate student, International Economics