• Creating Lab Video Demonstrations and Tutorials

    Creating Lab Video Demonstrations and Tutorials

    by Jessie Key, Faculty, Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science and Technology, Vancouver Island University I have been making video demonstrations and tutorials to augment the learning experience in both the lecture and lab for the courses that I teach. I have put most of my effort into the laboratory portion of the courses CHEM 140…

  • Honoring Murdered and Missing Aboriginal Women in the Classroom

    Honoring Murdered and Missing Aboriginal Women in the Classroom

    By Sherryl Maglione (Miss Magz), Cowichan Campus, ABE English Instructor, Vancouver Island University February 2014 Conversation Teacher:    So, where do you ladies live? Students:    North of town about twenty minutes. Teacher:    Hey, me, too!  Do you have a vehicle to get to school? Students:    No, we take the bus, or hitch. Teacher:    Hitch? Students:    [looking…

  • Student Identity—Shifting from Child to Adult Learner

    Student Identity—Shifting from Child to Adult Learner

    by Andrea Noble, Online Course Support Assistant, Centre for Innovation and Excellence in Learning (CIEL) A child’s fulltime “job” is to attend school. Because it is the main activity of life, a great deal of emphasis is placed here. Students are often labeled as “smart”, “dumb”, “popular” or another negative or positive adjective. School is…

  • Modifying Assessment Techniques to Meet the Needs of Students

    By Dayna Johnson, Student Teacher, Year 5 Bachelor of Education, Faculty of Education, VIU (written as part of a Principles of Teaching and Learning Course) To experience an event on its own can be a valuable educational experience, but sometimes we can gain the deepest insight when we look at the same event in two…

  • Calibrated Peer Review Part II

    Calibrated Peer Review Part II

    By Barbara Metcalf, Teaching Faculty Member, Bachelor of Nursing Program, Faculty of Health and Human Sciences, VIU For all blog posts on this topic see Calibrated Peer Review Part I, Part III, Part IV and Part V I thought that in this posting I would discuss some of the benefits and challenges of the Calibrated…

  • Simulation Snippets Part II

    By Barbara Metcalf, Teaching Faculty Member, Bachelor of Nursing Program, Faculty of Health and Human Sciences, VIU For all blog posts on this topic see Simulation Snippets Part I, Part III, Part IV and Part V I thought I would talk today about what we have used our simulation suites for so far. As I…

  • How Students Influence Your Teaching Style

    by Doris Carey, Teaching Faculty Member, Faculty of Academic and Career Preparation Much of the literature on teaching and learning styles came from pop culture magazine surveys that concluded that you had a visual style of you liked to look at pictures, an auditory learning style if you liked to chat on the phone, and…

  • Learning and Teaching in the Print Shop

    Learning and Teaching in the Print Shop

    by Darlene Goodrick, Supervisor, Printing and Duplicating, VIU In the short time I have been here at VIU I am blown away by what this University has to offer. As a CUPE member, staff can partake in funded learning to better themselves and their resume.  Is this rare in the working world?  It is where…

  • The Presentation Problem

    by Anna Atkinson, Teaching Faculty Member, English Department, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, VIU Some years ago, the English Department undertook an exit survey of its graduating students. In that survey, one of the things that surfaced struck my colleagues and me as both surprising, and, upon reflection, perhaps a bit obvious. The problem had…

  • The Tension between “What” and “How” in Teaching

    by Bryan Webber, Teaching Faculty Member, Faculty of Management, VIU I have come to believe that living in the ongoing tension between the “what” and the “how” is of critical importance to me as an educator. I always need to accompany anything I wish students to learn with the question of how such learning can…

  • What to say about teaching and learning?

    by Rob Ferguson, Teaching Faculty Member and Co-Chair, Department of Recreation and Tourism Management, Faculty of Management, VIU What to say about teaching and learning?  For me, linking these two terms with ‘and’ has always seemed somewhat problematic. The English language seems to fall short here in capturing the essence of teaching and learning by…

  • Best Course Ever!

    by Marilyn Assaf, Communications Officer, University Relations, VIU Reflecting upon my undergraduate experience at Vancouver Island University, my thoughts immediately turn to the best course ever! It was a third-year elective called Fostering Leadership Development, and it was the last course needed to complete my undergraduate degree. I was looking forward to this course, so…