ChatGPT in the Classroom

ChatGPT in the Classroom

Paul Maher, Educational Developer – Digital Learning
The Studio for Teaching and Learning

What is ChatGPT? 

ChatGPT is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot released in late 2022. Like other chatbots, ChatGPT is a text-based interface where an AI responds to queries or prompts from a human. What makes ChatGPT notable is the degree of its sophistication in its responses. Originally taught by human trainers, ChatGPT can apply procedural knowledge gained from solving problems to guide its approach to solving future ones (transfer learning). The ChatGPT interface is relatively easy for anyone to use. While it may require few attempts to get the phrasing right for a specific request, the interface works with plain language, meaning you don’t need to know code to use it. 

ChatGPT will remember what it states in previous threads of the dialogue and can build upon these answers, meaning the AI is able to respond to complex and process orientated tasks. A human user can ask ChatGPT to help with anything text based. Examples of tasks include: 

• develop a presentation outline on quantum mechanics 

• write a poem on love in the style of Emily Dickenson 

• write a 1,000 essay on how archaeological records from Pompeii explains the impact of eruption of Mt Vesuvius 

• compare the business models adopted by tech giants Google and Amazon 

Is ChatGPT a good thing?  

There are divergent perspectives on this topic. ChatGPT, is the culmination of extensive machine learning. The result of significant success in technology and human training working in tandem to produce the interface. The ability to access, filter and synthesise volumes of information makes ChatGPT a powerful research tool. 

Many are concerned that ChatGPT will result in a surge in instances of plagiarism. This concern is legitimate, as the text ChatGPT provides has a degree of sophistication sufficient to appear as human. The writing produced is clear, coherent, personable, can present an argument and incorporate multiple viewpoints. While some strategies exist to identify text generated by AI, it is possible for a student to ask the AI to generate an ‘original’ essay, poem, or report, which they submit as their own work.  

The issue may not be the existence of the AI, but rather the manner students and researchers interact and use this tool. For example, the human user can ethically use the information generated by the AI to scaffold and support the gathering and synthesis of research when preparing an assignment for submission. The dialogue can provide a diagnostic to ensure a good degree of scope of research material has been factored in.   

ChatGPT draws on an array of information sources and follows a rigorous self-review process there are substantial limits to the information it provides. The AI draws on information in existence and is limited to knowledge before 2021. The sources the AI draws on also are likely to contain bias, reflective of broader systemic inequities and power imbalances.

How prevalent is its use?  

There is already evidence of widespread use of ChatGPT in academia. Users are often locked out from the interface for extended periods, indicating how much activity on Open AI has exponentially increased since its release in late 2022. Developers post humorous comments indicating that the AI is overwhelmed by requests asking users to be patient as they look at ways scale access and meet the rapid increase of activity via the online interface.  

ChatGPT is a tool that is likely to improve on its performance quickly meaning an increase in activity is expected to continue at an exponential rate. It is safe to assume that use of AI has occurred throughout university communities, either as a preparatory tool to support students and faculty, or to fully produce text which is then presented as original research–without crediting the source.  

What are people saying about potential impacts for higher education?

There is early indication that ChatGPT will significantly impact on learning and assessment in higher education. The following are some examples of the range of expert commentary on the topic, some of the suggestions may run counter to considerations of accessible and inclusive education: 

• Calling for a return to handwritten invigilated in-person exams.  

• Concerns this tool may jeopardise the practice of open tests and take-home exams. The practice of which enable students to demonstrate their developed understanding of applying the knowledge they have acquired in the class as well as providing a viable alternative assessment for those students who experience anxiety with timed in-person tests and exams.   

• Advocating the use of oral tests or on-the spot demonstrations of competence. While this could have negative accessibility impacts, when done well public displays of competence are a high-impact practice.   

• Higher education needs to adopt this as a tool to augment learning, because this is the way of the future. Humans and machines are increasingly going to enter into dialogic relationships and future generations need to understand the nature of these relationships.  

• Practices of assessment will need to evolve, and new conceptions of ethical collaboration will need to be developed. 

• Heightened expectations for critical thinking and digital literacy both in relation to identifying the limits to information as well as qualities of what it is to belong to an intellectual community. 

Is there a way to identify ChatGPT?

Yes and no. Plagiarism software, such as Turnitin are looking to address the issue. There are also alternative free access AI detectors, such as https://openai-openai-detector.hf.space/ However, it should be assumed that students can make modifications to the text which bypass the detection software.

Which courses and assessment are less likely to be impacted? 

Some courses and assessment practices with the following attributes may be less significantly (or not) affected by this:  

• High levels of authentic assessment that expect students to respond to specific contexts, draw on local or personal experience and a strong reliance on process.  

• Reflective and metacognitive activities which require course content be integrated and assessed in a personal way and through lived experiences. OR 

• Any learning or course activity which is personally meaningful to students in that it connects to their sense of purpose or specific values. Examples include achievement, service learning, experiential learning, research, and self-directed learning.  

• Courses which have established strong cultural norms and expectations on academic integrity and ethical work practices. This could be related to discipline based professional  

• Many of these qualities are already associated with experiential learning, high impact practices or learner centred pedagogies.  

Potential solutions  

1. Use digital diagnostic tools to identify instances of plagiarism.   

• Use plagiarism software.   

• Open AI detector- https://openai-openai-detector.hf.space 

2. Require a summary or synthesis of larger assignments, through which students demonstrate their understanding of the topic:  

• 3-minute thesis, an abstract, short oral presentation, A GIST statement,  

• Answer questions related to how they completed or prepared for their assessment (cognitive wrapper).  

3. Ask students to incorporate context specific or unique content into their assignment, like a demonstration, a graphic element or analogue processes.  

4. Incorporate meta-cognitive processes into your assessment.  

• Ask student to explain, and evaluate their process,  

• consider the implications if they followed an alternative process.  

5. Leverage reflection. At best AI can only scaffold students to prepare a thorough reflective response. The deeply personal and holistic characteristics of reflection, when done well, offer faculty a very useful measure on how thoroughly a student has learned something.   

6. Establish cultural norms on academic integrity, for example  

• Students prepare a meme, video or statement on why cheating is unethical and will negatively impact on their learning.  

• Students agree to a pledge that confirms they will conform to specific ethical academic behaviours.  

7. Review your course and the context it operates in to identify any conditions which make cheating or unethical behaviours an attractive option for your students. Look at ways to remove or mitigate these factors to reduce the attractiveness of cheating.  

8. Incorporate the AI into the course and potentially invite students to take leadership on how it can be ethically used in completing course requirements. OR  

9. Ask students to generate material with ChatGPTand than critically reflect on the information. One example could be to use Socratic questions e.g.  

• Do I agree / not agree with the perspective provided by ChatGPT?  

• What alternative perspectives could be considered? 

• What are the limits to the information it has generated?  

10. Design assessment that requires students draw on or use course materials, not available to the AI.  

Faculty Roundtable:
ChatGPT in Higher Education

Friday, February 17 | 10:30am to 12:00 pm
Atrium 340 (CLARI)

Bibliography and further reading: 

Alby, Cynthia. “ChatGPT: A Must-See Before the Semester Begins | Faculty Focus.” Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning, 9 Jan. 2023, www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-with-technology-articles/chatgpt-a-must-see-before-the-semester-begins. 

Further resources from Cynthia Alby: 

https://learningthatmatters.weebly.com/resources.html 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ERCgdylG2LyOeL93aWrK6Jf97N_m1qaueN9W4kzO0Rk/edit#heading=h.ro79zvvermui 

D’Agostino, Susan. “Academic Experts Offer Advice on ChatGPT.” Academic Experts Offer Advice on ChatGPT, www.insidehighered.com/news/2023/01/12/academic-experts-offer-advice-chatgpt. Accessed 26 Jan. 2023. 

Watkins, Marc. “Guest Post: AI Will Augment, Not Replace | Inside Higher Ed.” Guest Post: AI Will Augment, Not Replace | Just Visiting, www.insidehighered.com/blogs/just-visiting/guest-post-ai-will-augment-not-replace. Accessed 26 Jan. 2023. 

Svrluga Susan. “Was that essay written by AI? A student developed an app that might tell you.”  https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/01/12/gptzero-chatgpt-detector-ai/ 

Introducing Creator+ on Brightspace

D2L launches the Creator+ package and extends the Brightspace Editor with new features to help you create more dynamic customized content in your course. In addition to all the basic Brightspace Editor features, these Creator+ features make it easier for non-technical users to customize content to meet their needs.

What is it?
Instructors can now build dynamic content and media experiences with these new easy-to-use tools that appeal to the love of learning, improve comprehension, and achieve higher engagement for instructors and learners.

Creator+ offers the following 4 main tools for content creators to enhance their course content:

• Insert Elements enables users to create dynamic content following instructional design best practices, easily and seamlessly. Examples are Accordions, Click and Reveal, Timelines, and Flip Cards.

• Practices can be used to deepen comprehension and reinforce concepts using formative practice questions in Content HTML topics. Examples of Practices are Multiple Choice, Sequencing, Sorting, and Fill in the Blanks.

• Advanced Media using Capture App to quickly capture screen and video learning assets that can be automatically captioned, edited, and used across your courses.

• Creator+ content templates that you can easily edit with Creator+ tools to get started quickly.

How Can I Learn More?

Visit Creator+ and Media Library on the Studio webpages!

Enroll in our Creator+ Best Practices course on Brightspace! To enroll, go to the SMU Brightspace Homepage, on the NavBar click Discover. Find the Creator+ Best Practices course in Featured, select it and Enroll. Once in the course, navigate to Content where you will find videos and demos of each element and practice.

If you have any questions or need some guidance on how to use these new tools, please reach out to the Software and Application Support Centre – SAS@smu.ca, or drop by our office at AT 107.

Creator+ Information Sessions:

Monday, December 19, 2022 - 11am

Join Zoom Meeting
https://smu-ca.zoom.us/j/84650257688?pwd=MllwTWx5VnFkU3JEaW02TEduNTNEdz09&from=addon

Meeting ID: 846 5025 7688
Passcode: 984489

Tuesday, January 10, 2022 - 2pm

Join Zoom Meeting
https://smu-ca.zoom.us/j/88509521784?pwd=c0hNa3I2UUk1M3VGaU0wNmJDMHgvQT09&from=addon

Meeting ID: 885 0952 1784
Passcode: 985569

International Education Week

Connecting, Building, and Sharing: Exploring the world with SMU’s International Education Week

November 26, 2022 

“In my family, we have this saying “Joue bien, mange bien et dort bien, et le rest s’arrangera.” “In Japanese, we have multiple pronouns for the first person. It really depends on the context, such as formality and genders.” These are just a few examples of cultural knowledge shared in the Global Vending Machine event during International Education Week 2022. 

Saint Mary’s University celebrated its annual International Education Week (IEW) on October 31-November 4, 2022. The week-long event highlighted the value of international education through 14 events, ranging from information sessions about the exchange program and international field schools to a voyage around the world through the Sounds of Culture, the capstone event “Stories from Overseas”, and the local high school’s climate action project, Better with Bees. Events were held in-person and online and were offered in partnership across many university departments and with community members. 

“IEW is an important opportunity for our students to engage with their international and intercultural communities in Halifax and abroad. It was exciting to bring our events back to an in-person environment and delve into important topics of culture, experience, and engagement,” said Michaela Peters, Project Manager in the Global Learning and Intercultural Support Office. 

International Education Week is an annual celebration held in more than 100 nations around the world to highlight the important role that international education plays in fostering global citizenship. Every year, the Global Learning and Intercultural Support Office hosts IEW to celebrate international and intercultural education opportunities on campus and around the world for SMU students, faculty, and staff. 

Explore the highlights of IEW 2022 and event recordings at https://studio.smu.ca/iew2022. Stay tuned for the 2023 call of proposals and join us in next year’s celebration of international and intercultural experiences at Saint Mary’s University. 

Visit the Global Learning webpage to learn more about SMU’s international education opportunities. 

Upcoming changes to the Brightspace Homepage and Course Homepage

The Saint Mary’s Brightspace homepage and default set-up for your course homepages are getting a refresh! On August 22, you will see a new layout on the Brightspace homepage and find some new widgets on both. These changes will not affect any work you have already done in your Fall courses.  

Image on the Left shows the current Saint Mary’s Brightspace homepage. Image on the right shows the default course homepage.

What’s new on the Brightspace homepage – We are adding a few new widgets: Quick Eval (for instructors) and Work To Do (for students). With these new widgets, students and instructors will be able to keep track of work they have to do!  

The Quick Eval widget shows a quick snapshot of outstanding Assignments and Quizzes that need your attention. You can quickly get to those submissions to grade and submit feedback to students from the widget. For more information on how to use Quick Eval, you can download our How-To Guide HERE.  

With the Work To Do widget, students can see any outstanding and upcoming Quizzes, Assignments, and Discussion deadlines. By adding this widget to the Brightspace homepage, students will be able to get a snapshot of their upcoming deadlines for all their courses in one spot!  

What’s new on the Course homepage – In addition to adding the Work To Do and Quick Eval widgets to the course homepages, we are introducing the Course Overview widget. This new widget is only visible to instructors and is part of the recently launched Brightspace Insights. As an instructor, you can see snapshot view of Course Access, Class Engagement, and other useful features. For more information on this widget, please visit our website HERE to view our Insights Instructor Guide and Top 10 Ideas on Learner Analytics. 

Want to customize your course homepage? The SAS (Software & Application Support) can help you with that! We can create custom widgets for your course, like a Welcome to the Course widget and an Instructor Contact Info widget. We also have widgets like Slim Announcements that is a slimmed down version of the News tool. If you are interested in adding any of these widgets to your courses, contact us at SAS@smu.ca.  

Teaching English with a Global Outlook

Congratulations to our fantastic EAL tutor, Sandra, for being awarded the Eric & Ingeborg Enns Family IMTE Convocation Award. Read more about it here: https://news.smu.ca/news/2022/5/13/teaching-english-with-a-global-outlook

Saint Mary's Academic Writing Awards

The Writing Centre has announced that the deadline for this year’s Saint Mary's University Undergraduate Academic Writing Awards will be Monday, May 30, 2022 at 4:00pm AST.

This annual competition recognizes the best in undergraduate academic writing at Saint Mary's University. Awards are available in four categories: Humanities, Social Science, Science, and Business. There are also two levels of awards—lower (students with 60 or less total credit hours from any institution) and upper (students with more than 60 total credit hours from any institution). Papers at the upper level will be judged at a higher standard.

Submissions must be:

• Written by an undergraduate student

• Written entirely by the student making the submission

• Individually written; group assignments are not eligible

• From either Fall 2021 or Winter 2022 courses, but cannot be an undergraduate thesis

• Accompanied by the original assignment description from the course

• Accompanied by the submission form, digitally signed by the instructor of the course

• Submitted via email (writing@smu.ca) as a Microsoft Word document, unless the submission is in an alternative digital medium (e.g. .mp3, .mp4, .mov)

• Submitted before the deadline.

Students must agree to participate in the publishing process to be published.

Students may submit a paper from any course from September to April, regardless of whether it is related to their primary discipline. For example, a student in Science may submit an English paper.

For more information, please visit the Writing Awards website.

"Reconnecting and Reconstructing": Call for proposals for STLHE 2022 Conference

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

#STLHESAPES2022: Reconnecting and Reconstructing

STLHE has much to celebrate and much to reflect upon in 2022, with the 40th anniversary of the annual conference, and two years’ worth of remote and hybrid teaching, learning, and working under our belts! Come celebrate, re-connect, share, and learn with us!

Submissions are welcome from anyone interested in presenting to a multidisciplinary audience about teaching and learning in higher education. This includes, but is not limited to, post-secondary instructors, educational developers, students, and administrators.

Submission deadline: January 31, 2022

Learn More

Teach this summer in Korea

The University of Seoul, a SMU partner in Korea, is inviting professors from partner institutions to teach a course in their International Summer School (June 26-July 23 2022). They plan to offer 8 courses in the following areas:

• Business

  • Issues in Finance

  • Special Topics in International Business

  • Global Marketing Management

• Economics

  • Economic Analysis of the Global Citizen

• International Relations

  • Korea and Globalization

  • International Relations

• Urban Sociology

  • Special Topics in Asia Studies

  • Globalization and Multicultural Societies

Interested faculty members who have teaching experiences in the above mentioned should email the Global Learning and Intercultural Support Office (Miyuki.arai@smu.ca) to inquire by Wednesday January 15.

Selected applicants will be paid 11,000,000 won (approx. CAD$11,800) to cover expenses such as airfare, accommodation, lecture, tax, and currency exchange fee.

A Gift That Keeps Giving: International Exchange Students Reflect on their Time at Saint Mary’s

A Gift That Keeps Giving: International Exchange Students Reflect on their Time at Saint Mary’s

The Studio for Teaching and Learning

“Completely new ways of learning.” “A more relaxed lifestyle.” “Warm, approachable professors.” “A diverse, welcoming campus.” “New friends for life”. These are just a few of the memories shared by a group of international students who gathered on Monday to celebrate the end of their studies at Saint Mary’s before heading home for the winter holiday. Hosted by Miyuki Arai and Rashae Hart, the farewell event was a chance for the students to gather and reflect on their time spent at SMU and share some of their favourite memories of Halifax.

“For me, it was a dream to study in Canada,” said Laura García, an International Relations major visiting from Universidad La Salle México. “My exchange officer recommended Saint Mary's, so I came here to study political science, economics, and Asian studies for a semester”. The university’s famously welcoming campus stood out immediately, said Laura. “Everyone was so warm and supportive. This place just welcomed me with open arms.”

Of course, international exchange programs can mean major adjustments to how students study and learn. “One thing I really had to get used to was staying on top of readings and assignments throughout the semester, not just for midterms and exams,” said Kelly Tang, visiting from Hong Kong Baptist University. From being encouraged to participate in class and work in groups, “I felt like I was pushed harder than I was used to, but now – looking back – I see that it was worth it,” she added. “Yes, I found I had a lot more reading here,” added Laura. “But you know, that’s so important. The level of analysis and critical thinking [required at SMU] was more than I was expecting, but this is going to help me a lot as I finish my studies back home,” she said.

For physics major Hilkar Soberanes, visiting from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, life in Halifax for the past few months was a lot more “calm and relaxed” than Mexico City, which has a population topping 21.8 million in the greater metropolitan area. “Yes, is Halifax much smaller and quieter, but I had everything I needed close by. And you know, I feel like I was in Halifax during an exciting time in its history.” For Hilkar, studying in a highly diverse campus was also a big attraction. “The mix of cultures here made a deep impression on me. All these people with different backgrounds and different perspectives, all pursuing a top-level education together. That’s special.”

With more than 100 university partnerships around the world, Saint Mary’s University is a destination of choice for exchange students looking to study abroad as part of their university degree programs. “This past semester, we had students from 14 nations and territories on campus, despite the challenges presented by the pandemic,” said Miyuki Arai, Director of Global Learning. “When international students come to campus, it’s an unforgettable experience for everyone. Listening to today’s conversations, I was delighted to hear that some of their Canadian friends are now interested in travelling to their country for an exchange program themselves. The gift of transformative experience keeps giving."

Studio Upgrades Brightspace Syllabus and Course Templates

A group of faculty & instructors has just wrapped up a project with The Studio to test some new learner analytics features in Brightspace and evaluate how course structure impacts student learning. Based on the insights these users shared, The Studio has revised its syllabus and course templates and added resources to help faculty incorporate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles into their Brightspace courses. These features are now available in The Studio’s Shared Resources course, available through self-enrollment (Discover) or by request.

Digital Course Syllabus

Brightspace offers features to develop engaging and interactive content within your course. Content (HTML) templates provide a range of different layout options with the ability to incorporate images, video or interactive elements such as tabs and accordion folds. These features make it easier for students to navigate the course and also minimize cognitive overload. 

The Studio has also updated the HTML templates to align with SMU brand standards. The updated Digital Course Syllabus showcases these templates and models for faculty an approach to convey critical course information in a accessible and easy to navigate format. The Digital Course Syllabus breaks the content into three parts, and provides a comprehensive overview of expectations and resources available to all students. Links within the digital format, take students directly to SMU and external resources where and when relevant. While the Digital Course Template should be considered as a model for faculty and instructors, this resource as able to be copied into your courses and modified as needed. 

Course Template

Research has shown that a consistent course structure helps reduce cognitive overload, supports navigation and reduces confusion among students. The Studio recommends structuring your course content that considers the learner experience, most often in a thematic sequence.

Universal Design for Learning

• A Universal Design for Learning (UDL) checklist. This resource has been developed to guide faculty through the process of developing or refining their Brightspace course.

• The Instructional Design Guide. This guide was created for faculty, instructors, and course designers to help guide the course development process. This resource is grounded in Universal Design for Learning principles and evidence-based best practices.

Faculty are welcome to use this course as a guide or copy and use materials within the course itself. To access this course in Brightspace, you can self-register or contact sas@smu.ca to request access and to have materials copied into your course.

Killam Fellowships Program Deadline

Study in the United States!

The Killam Fellowships Program provides an opportunity for exceptional undergraduate students from universities in Canada and the United States to spend either one semester or a full academic year as an exchange student in the other country. Students may participate in the program either as a direct exchange student (registering at their home university, paying their home fees, and attending the host university as an exchange visitor) or as a self-placed visiting student (applying for and registering at the host university, and paying host tuition fees).

For more information, please see our program brochure for 2021.

The deadline to apply is December 17, 2021. Please contact global@smu.ca for application instructions and more information.

New Perspectives on Teaching: The 2022 Teaching and Learning Symposium

Are you interested in exploring new perspectives on teaching? Reflective teaching practice can take you there. Registration is now open for the Teaching and Learning Symposium, which will take place on February 22, 2022. This one-day event is designed to provide faculty and professional staff an opportunity to share and explore ideas, research, and teaching experiences with the university community.

Reflective Teaching Practice

The theme of this year’s symposium is Building Teacher-Student Connections Through Reflective Teaching Practice. One of the most powerful practices used by effective teachers is reflection. This involves the constant and intentional process of looking back on, and critically reviewing our teaching experiences and assumptions that inform our practice as teachers. In a reflective review, we become deeply aware, not only of what we are teaching, but also how and why. In addition to our personal experience, we learn how students respond to, or are affected by our teaching, as a well as learn through our colleagues’ perceptions. Reflection thus is an important catalyst for teachers’ professional and personal development and growth.

Registration and Call for Contribution

If you would like to register for this event, please click here. If you would like to propose a session for the symposium, please fill out and submit this form by January 7.

2021 Undergraduate Academic Writing Awards Announced

The winners of the 2021 Saint Mary’s University Undergraduate Academic Writing Awards have been announced.

This annual competition recognizes the best in undergraduate academic writing at Saint Mary’s University. Awards are available in four categories: Humanities, Social Science, Science, and Business. There are also two levels of awards—lower (students with 60 or less total credit hours from any institution) and upper (students with more than 60 total credit hours from any institution).

"Once again, the adjudication committee received a remarkable selection of submissions for consideration, and as you’ll see from the list, the range of topics was diverse and engaging,” says Emma Sylvester, Coordinator, Writing Centre and Academic Communication.

 Best Overall Paper - Chloe Champion

Paper: “Literature Review on Forensic Interviewing of Children”

Prize: $300, transcript notation, publication in Afficio

Humanities Upper Level

Winner - Julien Sheppard

Paper: “‘Afraid Neither of a Little Fatigue nor of a Little Exertion’: Victorian Sportswomen, Women’s Rights, and the Normalization of Physical Activity” 

Prize: $100, transcript notation, publication in Afficio

Runner Up - Madison Kieffer

Paper: “Forging a Colonial Middle Ground: Evidence for Metalworking and Metal Artefacts at Pithekoussai”

Prize: transcript notation, publication in Afficio

Humanities Lower Level

Winner - Merren Russell

Paper: “Creating the Cosmological: A Critique of Groarke”

Prize: $100, transcript notation, publication in Afficio

Social Science Upper Level

Winner - Chloe Champion

Paper: “Literature Review on Forensic Interviewing of Children”

Prize: $100, transcript notation, publication in Afficio

Honourable Mention - Mary Landry

Paper: “Third Space and Official Bilingualism in Canada”

Prize: transcript notation

Social Science Lower Level

Winner - Kristen Snow

Paper: “Love in the Community Project”

Prize: $100, transcript notation, publication in Afficio

Science Upper Level

Honourable Mention - Kelsey Benoit

Paper: "The Distinction between Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism regarding Theory of Mind"

Prize: transcript notation

Business Lower Level

Winner - April Thompson

Paper: “Introducing a Pet Care Service”

Prize: $100, transcript notation, publication in Afficio

Digital Accessibility in Brightspace and Office 365

The Studio for Teaching and Learning recently offered two brief (20-minute) sessions for Faculty and Staff interested in learning how to make their digital content more accessible. 

These sessions explored how alt (alternative) text can be added to Brightspace and Office 365.  Alt text is important for students who are not able to access images, tables, or other non-text elements.

The sessions were cohosted by the Studio for Teaching and Learning with the Patrick Power Library and the Fred Smithers Centre respectively.  The Brightspace video also reviews some considerations for selecting images and text, as well as some copyright issues.

The recorded sessions are now available online:

Brightspace < https://youtu.be/mMHrE_Cp5ZA  >

Office 365 < https://youtu.be/ispBVP0hurQ >

New Faculty Welcome 2021

The following series of events has been organized for new faculty members joining the Saint Mary’s University community:

New Faculty Welcome Day

Tuesday, August 31, 8:45 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. | SB 265/Virtual

This year’s New Faculty Welcome Day, sponsored by the Vice-President Academic and Research, will take place on campus on Tuesday, August 31 from 8:45 am to 4:30 pm. This event is the first in a series of information sessions on a variety of topics important at SMU in the weeks and the months ahead. There will also be the option to attend the welcome day virtually for new faculty who are unable to attend in person. 

Who is the event for? New faculty (full-time and part-time) 

Campus Tour for New Faculty 

Wednesday, September 1, 9:30 a.m. – 10:15 a.m; 

Meet in the lobby of the McNally Main building by the Centre for New Students. 

Academic Integrity at SMU

Wednesday, September 1, 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. (Virtual) 

Steven M. Smith, PhD, Associate Vice-President, Academic & Enrolment Management, Professor of Psychology 

Description:  

Join Steve Smith to learn more about updates to Academic Integrity at SMU in this virtual event. This will be a 45’ presentation with time for Q & A. 

Who is the event for? New faculty; all faculty 

Getting Started with Brightspace 

Wednesday, September 1, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. (Virtual) 

Nicole d’Entremont, Academic Technologies Learning Specialist, The Studio for Teaching and Learning  

Description: New to Brightspace or just need a refresher? This is session is just for you! We'll be doing a deep dive into Brightspace and all its features. 

Who is the event for? New faculty; all faculty 

The Patrick Power Library Orientation for New Faculty

Thursday, September 2, 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. (CLARI - AT 340) 

• Suzanne van den Hoogen, University Librarian 

• Amy Lorencz, University Librarian 

• Patricia Langille, University Librarian 

Description: An introduction to the services available at the Patrick Power Library, as well as an overview of copyright policies. 

Who is the event for? New faculty. 

Student Affairs and Services: Partnering with Faculty for Student Success

Thursday, September 2, 10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. (Virtual) 

Session title: Student Affairs and Services: Partnering with faculty for student success. 

Presenter(s): Tom Brophy, Associate Vice President, Student Affairs and Services 

Description:  

Student Affairs and Services offers a wide array of services aimed to support students in making a successful transition into, through and out of university. This presentation will talk about how we support both students and faculty in reaching their respective goals. 

Who is the event for? New faculty; All faculty 

Research and Scholarship

Friday, September 3,  10:00 am - 11:00 am | CLARI (AT 340)/Virtual

 Dr. Adam Sarty, Dean & Associate Vice-President, Research

This session is open to all faculty and will explore academic role descriptions, expectations and supports in the context of research and scholarship at Saint Mary's University.

Who is the event for? New faculty; All faculty 

If you have any questions about any of these events, please contact Julian L’Enfant (Julian.LEnfant@smu.ca)

Using Brightspace to Support (In-person and Remote) Teaching

The Studio for Teaching and Learning is pleased to present a webinar series for faculty preparing for in-person and/or remote teaching this fall:

Teaching with ZOOM

Facilitators: Sarah Cooke, Nicole d’Entremont, Paul Maher, and Sayan Maity
Date: 18th August | Time: 11:00am to 12pm

Many of us have grown accustomed to using ZOOM for synchronous class sessions and meetings. New features associated with ZOOM and the integration within Brightspace provides faculty with a more streamlined work flow and afford a greater degree of accessibility to your course content. This session will draw on expertise across the Studio to review features within ZOOM and the integration within Brightspace. From setting up a session, recording with captions and providing access to your students to these recordings, this webinar will cover key workflows faculty are likely to use. This session is for those faculty familiar with ZOOM as well as those transitioning to using ZOOM within Brightspace.

The Using Brightspace to support your teaching series feature short webinars on specific processes using Brightspace tools followed by an open discussion period. The first part of these sessions will review key processes and best practices associated with key Brightspace tools. Content will highlight and explain commonly experienced issues. This portion will be recorded and made available. The open discussion period will provide an opportunity for participants to ask any questions or review processes important - this discussion period will not be recorded.

ZOOM link: https://smu-ca.zoom.us/j/99538779469?pwd=blB0dmFWTWxIdGgxbGFyaUdZV2NZUT09

Meeting ID: 995 3877 9469
Passcode: 495928

Developing content and communicating expectations to your students

Facilitators: Nicole d’Entremont & Paul Maher
Date: 25th August | Time: 11:00am to 12pm

The way in which your Brightspace is set up (designed) can have a significant impact on your students experience, engagement and learning. When students find it hard to locate relevant course materials or not sure what is expected of them this experience can reduce their capacity to engage in higher order cognitive tasks. Using a combination of Brightspace features to sequence your content and communicate with your students can improve on the learner experience. This session will explore a range of features including modules & submodules, release conditions, and news/announcements.

ZOOM link: https://smu-ca.zoom.us/j/99538779469?pwd=blB0dmFWTWxIdGgxbGFyaUdZV2NZUT09

Meeting ID: 995 3877 9469
Passcode: 495928

Summer Digital Course Design Webinar Series

The Studio for Teaching and Learning is pleased to present a three-part webinar series presented by Paul Maher, Educational Developer, for Digital Learning. These interactive sessions will be an opportunity for faculty to share experiences, insights and challenges.

If you have any questions, please contact Paul at Paul.Maher@smu.ca.

Designing Assessment to Drive Learner Engagement

Presented by Paul Maher

Thursday, August 19 | 1:00 to 2:00 PM

Assessments in your course and the way they are structured have a significant impact on student’s learning experience. Assessments guide learners on what to study and frame what they ultimately learn within the course.  A well-designed assessment can be a means by which to motivate and engage students on coursework. This session will review a range of different strategies along with key considerations of setting up assessments within remote and hybrid contexts.  Included in the topics covered are the following:

            •           Engagement, motivation & value

            •           Authentic & alternative assessment

            •           low-stakes & cumulative  assessment

            •           Gamification & interaction

            •           Active learning

This session will feature an active component and also provide an opportunity for participants to share experiences, insights and challenges. If format or timing does not suit, consider instead a one-on-one consultation with Paul Maher.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://smu-ca.zoom.us/j/95617880073?pwd=TDJwbzFlYzk0VXBrczZHSHZhOGJadz09

Meeting ID: 956 1788 0073
Passcode: 988890

Planning Asynchronous Content to Support Engaged Learning

Presented by Paul Maher

Monday, August 23, 2021. | 1:00pm to 2:00pm

Asynchronous course delivery affords a degree of flexibility on when and for how long students can engage with course materials to support their learning. Asynchronous discussions have the potential to engage students in discourse over time, allow everyone to participate equally and take time to consider their contribution. Therefore, well planned asynchronous activity has the potential to support accessibility and inclusion within your course. The flexibility which asynchronous content provides your students can also present challenges for their engagement and learning. When working to their own schedule learners miss the steady pace of synchronous activity and may disengage, fall behind or feel less connected to their peers.

This webinar will focus on key strategies by which to optimize and structure asynchronous activity to support rich, engaging and active learning. Included in the topics covered are the following:

            •           Key lessons from learning science

            •           Planning and sequencing activity

            •           Supporting learning through transparency and accountability

            •           Assessment and feedback

This session will feature an active component and provide an opportunity for participants to share experiences, insights and challenges. If format or timing does not suit, consider instead a one-on-one consultation with Paul Maher.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://smu-ca.zoom.us/j/94283538434?pwd=SmZDc1NGYm5nUkNGUWJBeVVsL3c3Zz09

Meeting ID: 942 8353 8434
Passcode: 361043

Facilitating Synchronous sessions

Presented by Paul Maher

Thursday, August 26 | 11:00am to 12:00pm

Synchronous sessions involve connecting in real-time with your students.  A high degree of immediacy affords opportunity to provide feedback or clarification to students in real-time. The scheduling of synchronous classes and meetings can provide a steady pace throughout your course and help maintain learner engagement. Alongside these benefits some potential downsides and challenges come with virtual classes and meetings. Facilitating these sessions is a challenge especially ensuring equitable participation across all learners, particularly for those vulnerable to technology issues.

Synchronous sessions can also be a taxing experience for faculty and students alike. Using digital platforms relies on core executive functions which then reduces participants ability to perform higher order executive functions during a virtual session. This webinar will explore various approaches to plan and deliver active and engaging activities within your synchronous class sessions for remote and hybrid delivery.  Included in the topics covered are the following:

            ▪           Active learning

            ▪           Backchannel

            ▪           Hybrid and blended delivery

Each session will feature an active component and provide an opportunity for participants to share experiences, insights and challenges. If format or timing does not suit, consider instead a one-on-one consultation with Paul Maher.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://smu-ca.zoom.us/j/91437716059?pwd=aVlzQjNjOVN5ZFBYMGRGUHgvUUw0Zz09

Meeting ID: 914 3771 6059

Passcode: 145745

Fall Webinar Series: Out of Isolation - Reflections and Lessons Learned

Faculty Speaker and Discussion Series:

Out of Isolation - Reflections and Lessons Learned

After a period of extended isolation, many faculty are looking to return to campus and to return to in-person and on-campus teaching; others will continue to deliver digitally mediated courses (remote, online, hybrid or dual mode delivery).

Despite these differences in our near futures, we all remain touched -- in various ways -- by our experiences during the pandemic. These experiences have granted us insights about our students, ourselves, and about the process of teaching via digital platforms. For many faculty, teaching in a virtual environment has in fact afforded new approaches or strategies that may continue to shape their teaching practices.

Series and Session Format

We are looking to create a series of spaces for conversation so that faculty can come together and share these experiences, insights, and experiments. This Speaker and Discussion series will commence with a synchronous (same time) session followed by a series of asynchronous recordings to be developed and shared across the academic term. As the series unfolds, we will look to close out this series in a concluding session, with a roundtable which responds to key themes which arise.

In each session faculty presenters will join in conversation with the session host / moderator. We have decided upon this approach to streamline the process for faculty who are interesting in participating.  Sharing of slides or presentation material is welcome but not a requirement.

Call for Proposals

We are looking to faculty to be part of this experience. Are there any experiments, processes, strategies you have developed or utilized when teaching remotely you wish to share? Each presentation is anticipated to be between 10 – 20 minutes long, which can include an opportunity for questions or discussion.  Please review the topics below to see if they spark any ideas, but please feel welcome to propose ideas beyond this list.

Topic or themes to consider:

• “New thing(s) I tried which worked ..”

• Accessibility and inclusion

• Class community and the learning environment

• Improving student engagement/ learning retention

• Health and wellness

• Effectiveness of course and/or learning activity

• Responsive or roundtable course design

Please register your interest by contacting Paul Maher (paul.maher@smu.ca) in the Studio by email, along with a short description (up to 1 paragraph) on your proposed topic.

Order your Study Abroad Wall Calendar!

Order your 2021 Study Abroad Wall Calendar!

For more than 10 years, The Studio’s Office of Global Learning and Intercultural Support has issued a popular wall calendar featuring photographs taken by Saint Mary’s students participating in some of our many study abroad programs.

Although we offered a digital version this year, we are now pleased to offer a printed 11” x 17” wall calendar to keep you inspired for the rest of the year and into 2022.

Reserve your copy today

If you’d like to reserve a calendar, fill out the form below and be sure indicate whether you’d like to pick up a copy or have it delivered to an office on campus. The calendars will be available by mid-August.

New Brightspace Features Launched

Several upgrades to the Brightspace learning management system are being introduced at Saint Mary’s.  These will significantly improve the user experience of faculty and students, says Paul Maher, the Studio’s Educational Developer for Digital Learning. While several of these improvements are already in place, others will be rolled out in coming weeks.

The landing page in the Discover tool shows courses which are available for self-registration. For a number of these courses, registrants will require approval from course owner prior to course access.

The Discover Portal

Discover is a portal allowing users to search and self-enrol in active non-credit courses. This tool is replacing the ‘Restricted Courses’ menu.  Course environments eligible for self-registration are those which fall outside the credit course registration process and typically offer program support or training or bring learners together on a special topic. Some courses (such as program specific offerings) will require approval from the course owner for the registrant to gain access, .  

The Discover interface is visually engaging and offers an improved navigation through the filter and search functions. Start by accessing  Discover  from the navigation bar. From here eligible courses appear on the homepage screen. Courses are organized by filters: 

• The New section includes some courses recently added to Discover (within the last 6 months)

• The Updated section includes some courses recently updated (within the last 6 months)

• The Featured section includes promoted courses or those courses with broad relevance  

Using Discover to self-enroll in a course

Find and select the course using any of the above filters or via the search function. Once you have enrolled in the course it will disappear from the Discover portal.  

Adding a self-enrol function within a non-credit course

Contact SAS [sas@smu.ca] to add self-enrolment into an existing course or create a new course for self-enrolment.  You will be able to decide if registrants need to be approved before they can access the course environment.  

The view of a course home page with the Slim Announcements and the Course Overview widget applied. Neither are part of the default home page but can be added by request.

New home-page widgets 

Two additional widgets are available to be added to course homepages in Brightspace. Faculty can request the Slim Announcements widget be added to any of their courses. We are currently seeking Faculty to assist with user testing of the Course Overview widget (Insights).  

Slim Announcements 

The Slim Announcements widget replicates functionality of the general news or announcement tool. The slimmed down format presents a summary of the topic with option to click ‘more’ to see the full announcement. Slim Announcements can optimize your homepage layout and identify new and relevant information quickly. In doing so there is potential to avoid overwhelming learner with information and limits the need to scroll down to view multiple announcements from their instructor. 

The standard Announcement (News) tool is still the default option for course homepages. If you want to give Slim Announcements a try, simply request for this to be swapped into any of your course homepages from the SAS [sas@smu.ca].  

Course overview widget: Insights 

The Studio is now testing new features available with the Performance Plus upgrade. While faculty can view information about student activity in the Course Progress tool, the Course Overview widget complements that information to provide a more comprehensive picture of student engagement. Once the widget is applied faculty will be able to view information about the degree of engagement students have in terms of course access, time spent in content, discussions and other activity set up within the course. At present the Course Overview widget is not available for all courses, however we are looking for faculty to conduct some user testing for us.

If you are currently teaching and interested in trying out this feature, please contact the SAS [sas@smu.ca].