July newsletter

July 2016

Carleton profs read their ownreviews on Rate MyProfessorsTeaching evaluations can often be a sensitive topicfor professors. While some students provideinformative, constructive or positive feedback,others will inevitably offer criticism that canbe quite harsh.

With the rise of social media and websites likeratemyprofessors.com, informal feedback is nowwidely available for everyone to see. Students canbe very quick to share their comments, sometimesfocusing less on the teaching and learningelements and more on topics like the professor'sstyle or how cute their pets are.

We've asked some Carleton professors to readsome of the nice and not-so-nice things studentshave said on Rate My Professors. Check out thevideos here.

Collaborative engineering: Alook inside one of Carleton'sunique capstone projectsEngineering is based on knowing your speciality,and knowing it well. But what happens when

In this issue

Carleton profs read theirown reviews on Rate MyProfessorsCollaborative engineering:A look inside one ofCarleton's uniquecapstone projectsPlagiarism detectionsoftware feedback resultsMaking magic in theMedia CommonsTeaching award winnershonoured at luncheonFlipped classroom pollBringing STLHE homeIn praise of onlineteaching: Thoughts as thefirst millennials turn 40Acting and interimassignments at IMSDiscover how to createinclusivity in theclassroom

We want to hear fromyou!Do you want to present ateaching roundtable? Have anidea for a workshop topic? Orhave some thoughts on how wecould improve our services oroffer different programs? TheOffice of the Associate Vice-President (Teaching andLearning) wants to hear fromyou! Contact usat oavptl@carleton.ca or at ext.2344.

Interested in teaching inan Active LearningClassroom?Our two new Active LearningClassrooms (ALCs) are here!Both rooms are available to

you’ve reached the limits of your expertise? Acollaborative class featuring six professors andseven degree programs at Carleton may have theanswer.

When engineering students reach their final year ofuniversity, their accumulated skills and knowledgeare tested through a unique, year-long capstoneproject segregated by program.

But two years ago, while working on a capstoneproject for housing in Canada’s North, a 25-studentmechanical and aerospace class had hit the limit oftheir knowledge. A broader approach with variousspecialities was needed, and a collaborative classwas born. Read more.

Plagiarism detection softwarefeedback resultsA few weeks ago Carleton’s Teaching and LearningComputing Committee (TLCC) solicited input frominstructors on the use of plagiarism detectionsoftware via a short questionnaire. We want toshare some of the results and indicatepotential next steps.

A total of 209 instructors responded to thequestionnaire.

The vast majority (89%) indicated they have notused plagiarism detection software in their teachingin the last two years. However, 73% of respondentsindicated that if the university provided aplagiarism detection tool, they would use it. Therewere a significant number of commentscharacterizing what this use would look like, withmany respondents indicating that they would use itas a more efficient way to check for suspectedcases. There were also significant concernsregarding using the software as a way to"catch" students.

Finally, 69% of respondents felt that plagiarism isa growing problem at Carleton. There were manycomments suggesting that plagiarism may not begrowing in frequency, but rather that it was an

experiment in throughout thesummer and substantial supportwill be available for instructorsinterested in teaching in thesespaces. Find out more about theALCs here. If you are interestedin teaching in one of theserooms during the Fall 2016term, please contactoavptl@carleton.ca to discussthe possibilities.

Summer Institute: AClassroom for AllStudentsInclusivity is one of the corevalues adopted by many post-secondary institutions, includingCarleton. After completing thisthree-day interactive summerinstitute, you’ll be able toidentify barriers to inclusivityacross areas of course design;evaluate inclusive modes ofassessments, learning activities,and facilitation practices; useinclusivity as a framework toassess your own teachingpractices, and more!

Aug. 2-4, 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM422 Dunton Tower

New Faculty Orientation2016All new faculty members atCarleton are invited to join us atour New Faculty Orientation. Thethree-day orientation will helpyou become more comfortablewith your new position and morefamiliar with the universitycommunity. It will provide youwith a well-roundedunderstanding of theexpectations of your position, aninsight into Carleton studentsand an introduction to other newand experienced facultymembers and university

increasing concern for the university.

Additional comments echoed some of the debatewithin TLCC members relating to "policing," to"educating," the ownership concerns relating todetection services incorporating data from Carletonstudents (essays and software code), thereputation to the university if we choose to donothing, the challenges and time consumed tryingto prevent plagiarism, the importance ofassignment design, and the need for approachesthat address all disciplines (Arts and SocialSciences, Engineering and Science).

The results from this questionnaire will bediscussed at the next TLCC meeting, with thecommittee choosing the next steps.

The EDC has started to enhance its resourcesrelating to plagiarism prevention and also offersone-on-one consultations on assessment designthat can help you develop assignments that helpprevent plagiarism.

Making magic in the MediaCommonsPaul Jasen, an instructor in Carleton’scommunications and music departments, oftenhears that students in arts-based courses want tograduate with hands-on, tangible skills. Employersare searching for potential hires that are able tocode a website, use Photoshop, or createprofessional-quality videos.

Luckily, Jasen says, Carleton has a hub on campusthat can provide students those types of skills.

The Media Commons on the sixth floor of SouthamHall is one of the university’s best kept secrets,giving students, staff and instructors theopportunity to create professional multimediaprojects. But it’s far more than just an area to rentvideo equipment or record audio; it’s a hub oflearning. Read more.

administrators.

Aug. 16-18 & Family Day onAug. 20

Contract InstructorOrientation Fall 2016Whether you are a new contractinstructor looking for a first-timeorientation or a returningcontract instructor looking for arefresher on university policiesabout teaching and learning,lesson planning, inclusivelearning environments, cuLearn,and student motivation, we wantyou to join us!

Aug. 18, 4:30 - 9 PM340 Tory Building

Multiple-Choice Retreat3M teaching fellow and multiple-choice expert, Dr. AnthonyMarini, will help you developyour skills in writing and refiningmultiple-choice questions. Thehands-on retreat will explore avariety of topics, including bestpractices in item writing,techniques for constructingitems that target highercognitive levels of learning, andusing item analysis results torefine and enhance your tests.

Aug. 24, 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM422 Dunton Tower

Teaching award winnershonoured at luncheonDr. Peter Ricketts, Carleton’s Provost and Vice-President (Academic), and Dr. Joy Mighty, AssociateVice-President (Teaching and Learning), celebratedthe 2016 Carleton University Teaching Awardwinners at a private luncheon at Baker’s Grill onMonday, July 4.

New Faculty Excellence in Teaching Awardwinners Michael Hilderbrand (Department ofNeuroscience), Erik Stephenson (College of theHumanities), and Rodney Nelson (Centre forInitiatives in Education) were all in attendance, aswell as Provost’s Fellowship in Teaching Awardwinner David Dean (Department of History)and Teaching with Technology Award winnerShannon Butler (Sprott School ofBusiness). Excellence in Learning Support Awardwinner Claudia Buttera (Department of Biology)was also recognized at the luncheon.

The other outstanding educator who was unable toattend was Shawn Graham (Department ofHistory), who was honoured with a Provost'sFellowship in Teaching Award.

Learn more about the winners here.

Flipped classroom pollFrom Educause’s Learning Initiative publication:“The flipped classroom is a pedagogical model inwhich the typical lecture and homework elementsof a course are reversed.”

In the case of many flipped classroom applications,students view short video lectures at home beforethe class session, while in-class time is devoted toexercises, projects or discussions. Severalinstructors at Carleton have incorporated flippedapproaches into their teaching, including RichardNimijean (Canadian Studies), Jeffrey Erochko (Civiland Environmental Engineering) and Joel Harden(Law and Legal Studies), to name a few.

Teaching and Learning Services is interested ingetting a sense of the number of instructors whohave “flipped their classroom” as well as thenumber of instructors who are interested inpotentially experimenting with this approach. Wewould appreciate it if you could take a minute or soto complete this brief poll.

Bringing STLHE homeThe Society for Teaching and Learning in HigherEducation (STLHE) Annual Conference wrapped upat the end of June and members of the Carleton

community who attended have returned home withtheir heads full of new ideas and inspiration! This year’s theme was “Empowering Learners,Effecting Change.” Whether it is using technology inan innovative way, rethinking curricula to be morestudent-centered, creating more equitable learningopportunities for students, or one of the manyother subjects discussed throughout the week –this year was all about how we can preparestudents to succeed and effect positive change inthe world. If you wanted to attend this year but were unableto make it, you are in luck! In an effort to bringsome of the STLHE experience back home, a fewpresenters from Carleton will be offering theirSTLHE sessions again at the EDC this fall. Thesesessions were well attended at the conference andreceived positive feedback from attendees so youare in for a treat! Stay tuned for more details.

In praise of online teaching:Thoughts as the firstmillennials turn 40Rebecca Bromwich, an instructor withCarleton's Department of Law and Legal Studies,recently blogged about how she went from feelingcynical about online teaching to embracing it.

We are riding a generational and technologicalwave into a new mobile age, and teaching andlearning in higher education are along for the ride.I didn’t start off as a tech enthusiast, but recentexperiences, and the example of a wonderfulfriend, have turned me into a proponent of onlineeducation. I’ve come to realize that meaningfulhuman connections of the sort that facilitateeducation can happen online.

I’m approaching some milestones this year. My40th birthday is approaching at the end of thesummer, and my 15 year law school reunion iscoming then too, both of which signal that I’m nolonger a young teacher, young lawyer, or youngperson, by any stretch of the imagination.My 40th is a mile-marker for me but it’s also apersonal instance of a larger social trend. I’m onthe “shoulder”, right between Gen-X and themillennials. I’m one drop in a cultural wave. Thisyear, the year I turn 40, is the moment at whichthe first wave of millennials is turning 40. The“generational” literature about differentdemographics in the workplace is about to becomedated. The “younger” group is coming of age, andthe electronic world they live in is becomingmainstream across professional and educationalsettings.

It makes a lot of sense that, riding this culturalwave, I have become excited about the potential of

online teaching. Read more.

Acting and interimassignments at IMSAs IMS says goodbye to cherished employees, JohnStrickland, assistant director, and Peter Noel,electronics technologist, in their retirement, weare also preparing for several internal changes.

Cedric Broten, formerly the supervisor ofCarleton University Event Support and the managerof the KM Theatre, will now be the interim assistantdirector of IMS. Nina Karhu, formerly theproduction coordinator, will now be actingsupervisor for the KMT and CUES. And finally, AlexPilkington, formerly a media technology technician,will now be acting technical coordinator of the KMT.

IMS is very excited to welcome these staffmembers to these acting roles. We invite you tojoin us in congratulating them!

Discover how to createinclusivity in the classroomInclusivity is one of the core values adopted bymany post-secondary institutions, includingCarleton. Our challenge as educators is to relatethese values to everyday teaching practices.

Join us from August 2-4 for our summer institute –A Classroom for All Students – and discover how tocreate an inclusive environment in your classes.

By the end of this three-day interactive institute,you’ll be able to:

Identify barriers to, and facilitators of,inclusivity across areas of course designEvaluate inclusive modes of assessments,learning activities, and facilitation practicesUse diversity/inclusivity as a framework toassess your own teaching practicesApply the principles of universal design tocreate/re-design an assessment, learningactivity, or facilitation practice

The sessions run from 9:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. eachday. A light lunch will be provided.

Space is limited, so register today!

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