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The switch to online learning required a creative solution to allow for the experiential learning outcomes of the program to be satisfied when access to physical spaces and equipment was restricted. This paper describes a collaborative process between technical and support staff as well as research and teaching faculty that led to the creation of meaningful experiential learning opportunities for over one thousand stakeholders. The implemented solutions included the development of hardware and software, the creation of documentation and training procedures for teaching assistants and designing a support system for the students. [Articles in this journal were presented at the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.]

Responses to the transition to online learning during the pandemic underscores the importance of faculty engagement in professional development (PD) to enhance their teaching practices. However, the creation and offering of PD opportunities does not always lead to faculty engagement. Using a change management perspective (the ADKAR framework), this paper examines the facilitators and barriers to instructor engagement in a self-paced, online PD program addressing instructional skills for managing students' experiences of test anxiety in the classroom. Seven university faculty members participated in focus groups to share their experiences of a pilot PD program in the program. The focus group data were deductively analyzed using the ADKAR framework. Key themes were identified, corresponding to the outcomes of ADKAR: awareness, desire, knowledge, ability, and reinforcements. Findings emphasized the value of considering PD as a change project, while also recognizing staff well-being as a significant factor that impacts engagement with the change process. [Articles in this journal were presented at the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.]

As part of a large exercise physiology laboratory (lab) reform project, we used blended learning to support graduate teaching assistants and lab technicians in developing their pedagogical knowledge and create an entry point to reflective conversations about teaching and learning. Because self-paced asynchronous online modules can enable reflective and self-determined learning, this asynchronous professional development course is punctuated with reflective questions for the instructional team preparing to teach reformed exercise physiology labs. Asynchronous course content was shared via short videos, podcasts, and readings. We debriefed this self-paced, SoTL-informed course together, in-person. This social debriefing kicked off our weekly synchronous reflective conversations about teaching and learning in a community of practice. Developing a shared language for talking about teaching, enabling student learning, practicing effective teaching, and beginning to contemplate teaching philosophies were described by graduate teaching assistants as notable aspects of this blended learning journey. Lab technicians described discovering SoTL and discussing learning challenges as helpful to their teaching. [Articles in this journal were presented at the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.]

REDEVELOP is a graduate student training program funded by the NSERC-CREATE grant, starting in 2017. Its goal is to support the training of new professionals and researchers (> 100) who will be the next generation of science and engineering leaders and policymakers in Canada. The program has successfully developed a framework for operating almost completely virtually, well ahead of the world's transition to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our psychology lab, The Individual and Team Performance (ITP) lab, has dedicated over a decade to researching and designing tools that enhance specific training and skill growth necessary for effective remote teamwork. In partnership with the REDEVELOP program, we support students in navigating the unique interpersonal and collaboration challenges posed by virtual team environments. We will discuss how a complex and multidisciplinary program succeeds in training graduate students to become stronger academics, practitioners, and communicators of knowledge. [Articles in this journal were presented at the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.]

Educators within post-secondary institutions receive input in the form of course evaluations from their students. The aim of receiving student input is to improve the teaching and learning experience for all. There are, however, inherent problems with the current methods of obtaining students' views through course evaluations. In this pilot study, the researchers focused on two problems: universally low response rates of 20% or less of student input in formal course evaluations and the problematic bias associated with anonymous course evaluations. Implementing practices that encourage students to provide course feedback, thus moving away from the term course evaluation was a first step to address these problems. A process was piloted in this study with 16 domestic undergraduate Bachelor of Science students whereby the researchers encouraged reflection, dialogue, and accountability in the new model and compared the differences against the problematic original model of receiving course evaluation input from students. [Articles in this journal were presented at the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.]

We explore the need for educators to design, implement, and assess online education for Indigenous students with intention and in a good way. As more Indigenous learners access online programs, it is essential to amplify the discussion on how post-secondary education institutions can better design educational programs and support learners through intentionally engaging in relational ways of being. Drawing from our experience delivering the Professional Project Administrator Program, we examine the significance of partnership building in enhancing cultural learning within the online space. We highlight the need for intentional faculty development initiatives and discuss the challenges that became an avenue for unlearning and educational innovation. Furthermore, we delve into the design and implementation of a holistic rubric tailored specifically to support the implementation of relational pedagogies. We hope that these learnings offer useful lessons for online teaching, emphasizing the need to foster culturally responsive environments where learners can thrive. [Articles in this journal were presented at the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.]

As PhD students and sessional lecturers, we undertook a collaborative narrative study to explore our pedagogical and curricular approaches to decolonizing a community development course offered in our College of Education. We gathered our conversations, reflective journals, and notes, then wove together the narratives thematically using a métissage research methodology. We discovered ways we come together in the spaces in-between our different experiences, backgrounds, and worldviews, as Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators, decolonizing our curriculum and our students' classroom experience. This paper shares one of the thematic braids we created, focused on the use of story for research, story as pedagogy and story for building relationships. We encourage educators to consider bridging their worldviews with other ways of seeing and knowing, to work toward decolonizing their teaching practices using story, and to form relationships across differences using story. [Articles in this journal were presented at the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.]

Looking back and learning from Indigenous knowledges in education holds the key to supporting change in educational spaces today to be more inclusive and wholistic. Indigenous practices, passed down from generation to generation, hold important knowledge that can be used in classroom teaching. My hope is that by using this Indigenous lens of education, a path for change will be created in the current colonial education system. In this paper, I examine how I view classroom teaching through my own Indigenous worldview and with the support of those Indigenous scholars that have been doing this work for many years before me. I highlight the ways in which Indigenous knowledge systems support education and learning in today's classrooms. [Articles in this journal were presented at the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.]

The discipline of archaeology is uniquely positioned to allow for inclusion of culturally appropriate curricula to be incorporated into student learning objectives as mentioned in the 94 Calls to Action by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2015). In this paper the authors discuss the creation, implementation, and qualitative feedback of a community-directed and curriculum-based education program developed by graduate students that uses archaeology to mediate student learning and meet curriculum goals in both classroom and land-based environments. This experiential learning initiative involves graduate and undergraduate students, and students from a local Indigenous community and the surrounding area. Feedback from educators and student participants, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous found that the experience fostered a deeper understanding of longstanding histories of the land and increased cultural appreciation. The paper outlines program development, curriculum connections, community engagement, as well as educator and student feedback. This programming can be used as a framework, and the creation of local and place-based education initiatives is encouraged within other disciplines to facilitate pedagogy for reconciliation. [Articles in this journal were presented at the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.]

The use of technology and need for connection across distance permeates all education environments; nowhere is this more important than in Canada's Northwest Territories. Broadband and telecommunications issues within the Northwest Territories are complex due to its vast geographical area and community dispersion, making connectivity and accessibility inconsistent. Due to these conditions, the North relies on a variety of broadband solutions to improve Internet speeds and access to education at a distance. This paper analyzes the impacts that broadband capacity and Internet access have on remote education by examining geographic information system data, which offers a framework that connects spatial and temporal data to analyse accessibility of remote education. Characteristics such as spatial location of communities, infrastructure (road systems),and the overlay of various broadband options will illustrate constraints and (dis)connectivity in various regions and inform readers about the complexity of remote connections. Analysis of current upload and download speeds from various regions and their impact on access to education supports geospatial data and analysis that the digital divide in remote regions of Canada has increased and is widening. Improving equitable access to postsecondary education will require a greater reliance on technology-enabled practices to improve learning opportunities. [This paper was presented at the virtual symposium: Rethinking Online Education in the Knowledge Society with Emerging Technology jointly hosted by the Chongqing Open University, China, Athabasca University, Canada, and Beijing Normal University, China.]

This paper shares preliminary findings from a reflective inquiry into the nature of collaboration and mentorship through digital spaces within a national SSHRC-funded research team the authors form a part of. Our research collaboration has been marked by particularly close friendships, co-creation and mutual learning that have helped to deepen our research and provide a meaningful and enriching experience for everyone involved. Proposing that mentorship and collaboration can be viewed as a performance, which can be enacted in diverse ways depending on the context and intention, we share the digital and arts-based methods our team uses to both foster mentorship relationships and routinely reflect on how we are performing and experiencing mentorship within our team in order to identify and respond to our emerging needs, challenges and opportunities to enrich our collaboration. [Articles in this journal were presented at the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.]

The Teaching Scholars Program and Community of Practice (TSCoP) develops educational leadership and research through enabling reflective conversations, purposeful listening, inclusive standards, and bold thinking about Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). Teaching Scholars lead innovative practice in their own faculty given their shared commitment to improving teaching and learning in diverse post-secondary contexts through practice focused research. In this paper, we describe how the TSCoP is both formal in structure and design, and informal and emergent in facilitated interpersonal discussions. Ongoing conversations among diverse colleagues contribute to Teaching Scholars' reflective and reflexive practice, help each educational leader gain new insights into their own studies and expand their vision for educational leadership in higher education. We use a SoTL framework to examine and position each of our research projects, and explore and make connections with educational leadership, mentorship and SoTL research. [Articles in this journal were presented at the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.]

In this paper, we describe our approach to mentoring Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) as teaching and learning protégés within the context of a challenging undergraduate honours thesis course. An approach to mentoring GTAs in this multifaceted course is outlined, while providing practical strategies that expose GTAs to various aspects of the teaching process so that they become co-educators. Reflections from two GTAs that highlight the benefits and challenges of the co-educator model are also presented. Evidence from course evaluations provide support for the critical role that GTAs engaged as protégés play to enhance student success in this academically rigorous capstone course. We argue that mentoring GTAs for teaching development by treating them as co-educators can be rewarding, improve course outcomes, and enhance the student experience. [Articles in this journal were presented at the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.]

This paper explores the relationship between the social context of schools, measured in terms of perceptions of teacher support and students' openness to diversity, and the academic persistence of immigrant and refugee newcomer students. It investigates whether newcomer adolescents' academic persistence varies by the perceived supportiveness of school environments. Based on data collected from newcomer students in a medium-sized city in Canada, results show that immigrant and refugee youth display higher academic persistence when they perceive that their teachers support them and when their fellow students are receptive to diversity. Specifically, newcomer youth's educational success depends on a school environment that encourages diversity and inter-group relations and teachers who are supportive of students, encourage them, and believe in them. This study also shows that newcomer youth are more likely to academically persist in school when they perceive that their fellow schoolmates exhibit cultural humility or openness to diversity and thus are interested in knowing more about immigrants' country of origin, respect them, and interact with them. [This paper was presented at the Canadian Sociological Association Conference, May 2021.]

Through a previous review of high impact practices at our institution, we identified that health science students have very few opportunities to engage in experiential learning (EL) in the current curriculum. This paper describes our work to transform an existing volunteer opportunity at an allied health clinic, into a meaningful, student-driven, co-curricular EL opportunity. Specifically, we incorporated critical EL elements (i.e. reflection, feedback) into the existing volunteer program and developed five program specific learning outcomes (LO). We then tracked volunteers' self-selected participation in a variety of activities and collected volunteers' and practitioners' assessment of LO achievement. This paper presents LO data from the first offering of this EL opportunity and discusses the challenges we faced and lessons learned through this process so that it may inform other institutions considering implementing co-curricular EL opportunities.

The Professional Project Administrator Program (PPA) is an employment-focused online program offered in partnership with Indigenous communities in Western Canada. Based on the findings from the research conducted after the program completion, we discuss two key components that contributed to a meaningful learning experience and to the success of the program: wrap-around support and cultural learning. Through métissage, an arts-based approach to knowledge sharing, we present Natoonikew Aansaamb (searching together), where we have woven together different voices and stories that offer a glimpse of the learning experience. Greater inquiry and engagement with diverse Indigenous perspectives is the way for educators to design, implement, and assess learning for all students with intention and in a good way. [Articles in this journal were presented at the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.]

Academia has been dominated by European/settler ways of knowing while denying the existence and validity of Indigenous epistemologies, science, and philosophies. Post-secondary structures were not built to be inclusive spaces, they were built without Indigenous voices or considerations and often housed individuals and departments who have perpetuated research harms towards Indigenous peoples. These spaces have been and remain a place of privilege where few Indigenous knowledge holders manage to become established. In this article, calls for action to transform academia into an inclusive space through ongoing conversations on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) report and the widespread theme of taking on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) conversations will be examined. Without conversations around tools and ideas about practical steps to take in our daily work navigating academic spaces, we maintain colonial structures by being complicit and avoid the question of where the Indigenous voices are found in these spaces. [Articles in this journal were presented at the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.]

Anti-Indigenous racism is the result of a lack of knowledge about Indigenous peoples according to Senator Murray Sinclair (Sinclair, 2019). Teacher education is one of the most powerful ways to combat racism towards Indigenous peoples as it impacts not only pre-service teachers but in-service teachers, their students, and their families. Alberta's new Teaching Quality Standard was released in 2018 (TQS, 2020) and requires all Alberta teachers to possess and apply a foundational knowledge of Indigenous peoples. The article reports on the preliminary findings of a study examining how teacher education institutions in Alberta are integrating Indigenous perspectives into their programming. [Note: The page range (28-25) shown on the PDF is incorrect. The correct page range is 28-35. Articles in this journal were presented at the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.]

In this 25-minute conversation café, participants synthesized the findings of Braun, Kaipainen & Usman's (2018) environmental scan of experiential learning (EL) at the University of Calgary with their conference learning to create an experience and evidence-informed hypothesis of the next strengths, challenges, and required supports on the EL horizon. This paper summarizes participants' conversations and discusses what their hypotheses illuminate about the current EL postsecondary landscape, as well as emerging and recurrent features that may be of interest to explore in one's role, scholarship, or teaching practice. [Articles in this journal were presented at the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.]

In response to a growing need for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars to strengthen their teaching and learning skills, our university recently established innovative certificate programs that purposively incorporate experiential learning opportunities for deeper growth and development. Drawing on prior research and local needs assessments, we developed programs aimed to meet the identified needs of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. In this paper we describe how we planned, developed, and implemented these new certificate programs to engage graduate students and postdoctoral scholars from across our institution. Further, we discuss how these programs provide experiential learning opportunities for all participants. [Articles in this journal were presented at the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.]

Like many higher education institutions, amplifying experiential learning (EL) is a priority for the University of Calgary. In order to capture the extent and complexity of EL that exists in an institution, it is crucial to have a common understanding of the concept. In 2018, the University of Calgary created the EL Working Group, tasked with creating a definition of EL and framework unique to our institutional context. One way to capture EL across a program of study is through curriculum mapping. By identifying where EL already exists, a group can determine current strengths as well as how to improve EL offerings in future. In the example provided in our paper, we show the results of one such mapping process and provide recommendations for others considering using this process for capturing EL across a program of study. [Articles in this journal were presented at the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.]

Design Thinking (DT) has recently been adopted in some higher education disciplines as an effective pedagogical approach to enable students to acquire the skills needed for solving real world problems. As a human-centered, iterative process, design thinking is characterized by working with others to understand, define and solve problems using empathy, creativity, and radical collaboration. Many university courses also stress collaboration as a learning approach. However, not all students function well in collaborative environments. Based on their work in the Design-based Thinking course at the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, the authors asked, "could the design thinking process be used to foster collaboration among students and encourage radical collaboration"? In this paper the authors present a brief overview of the literature in this area and propose some parallels between the design thinking and collaborative team building processes. [Articles in this journal were presented at the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.]

Campuses are becoming increasingly aware of the issues with mental health and well-being among students. This paper explores the context of mental health on campuses and examines the urgent issue of how to address this growing phenomenon. Institutions need to use a holistic perspective to view wellness, and the framework of multiple, interrelated dimensions of wellness may provide a structure to examine the strengths of services and programs provided on individual campuses, as well as help in the process of identifying gaps. In designing a holistic strategy, though, it is imperative that student voice is a fundamentally important piece of planning for the necessary supports for student well-being, including academic and non-academic programs and initiatives.

Leveraging digital technology for practice innovation is a compelling challenge. Limited education and training prevent human service practitioners from incorporating technology into practice. Progress in this area will be achieved when significant changes to pedagogy support technology integration with teaching/learning partnerships in higher education. With the recent attention to relational Child and Youth Care (CYC) practice in cyberspace (Martin & Stuart, 2011), this paper aims to highlight student/teacher explorations in this emerging area of clinical practice using student-driven simulated online counselling sessions supervised by the course instructor. Beyond critical learning within the roleplay activities, students engaged in solving disruptions to simulations, which can enhance their future agility in real practice situations (Rooney, Hopwood, Boud, & Kelly, 2015). Foundations in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), experiential learning theory, and learner-led approaches guided student engagement with technology and reflexive practice in this graduate level classroom.

Problem-based learning could have a great impact in teacher education not only to support prospective teachers' learning, but also to help them to design and implement learner-centered experiences to satisfy requirements of reform-based curriculum. In this paper, we discuss the nature and role of problem-based learning to support authentic learning opportunities in an undergraduate teacher education program. We address its use in an educational assessment course aimed at developing prospective teachers' assessment literacy and competencies. We focus on two sections of the course for elementary school prospective teachers in which students were also engaged in activities involving assessment in teaching mathematics and share examples of the content of the course. A study of the impact of the course on the students' mathematics knowledge is in progress.

This analysis will argue that university educators have an ethical obligation to advocate for admission policies that are not exclusively competitive in nature -- what will be referred to later as levelling and remedy approaches. This argument will be detailed in four stages. First, it will use an anecdote and an appeal to virtue to argue that educators in universities should feel an ethical obligation to level the playing field of competitive admissions. Second, it will draw on the work of a Chris Martin and Ben Kotzee to provide a philosophical framework for my argument. Third, it will discuss examples from Scotland, Ontario, and British Columbia to consider the ways in which the status quo fails to meet our ethical commitments as educators. Fourth, and finally, it will posit the virtue-ethical argument that university educators should live out their commitment to being virtuous and philosophy of education by supporting admission policies that are not exclusively competitive. [This paper was presented as the 2019 Early Career Invited Lecture for the Canadian Philosophy of Education Society.]

Teaching can often seem like an independent endeavor, and seeking out ways to engage in dialogue and exchanges surrounding teaching can be beneficial. Opportunities to observe peers' teaching and discuss teaching practices, challenges, and experiences with peers can lead to an increased sense of community, a fruitful exchange of ideas, and ultimately more thoughtful and effective teaching (Hendry and Oliver, 2012; Lemus-Martinez et al., 2021). One venue for such engagement is the teaching square, an exercise in which teachers observe each other's teaching practice, typically with the goal of self-reflection of one's own practice rather than evaluation of a peer performance. We suggest that even as the common philosophy behind teaching squares emphasizes self-reflection, they can also be catalysts for peer mentoring among participants. This article discusses teaching squares as a peer mentorship opportunity, drawing attention to the benefits of cultivating peer mentorship focused on teaching practices. We provide an account of our experience in undertaking a teaching square and the informal peer mentorship that resulted. [Articles in this journal were presented at the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.]