IDEAS Conference

Permanent URI for this collection

https://prism.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/100019

The mandate of the conference is to improve on IDEAS through research, evidence-informed decisions across teaching, learning and leadership. The conference brings together Innovators, Designers, Educators, Academics and Students (IDEAS) from K-12, post-secondary and government to rise to the challenge of designing for today’s new learning landscape.

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 86

Open Access
Making Learning Visible in High School Science Classes
(University of Calgary, 2014-05) Tarr, Pat; Rushton, Kenzie; Werklund School of Education
This session will present results of a collaborative research project between a high school science teacher and university professor specializing in early childhood education about the potential and challenges in using pedagogical documentation, a process for making students’ learning visible to themselves and others that originated in the preschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy, in the content focused context of a high school science class.
Open Access
Exploring New Frontiers in Self and Peer Assessment
(University of Calgary, 2014-05) de Leeuw, Johanna; Szumlas, Bryan; Jordan, Kandace; Humphry, Sue; Matsumoto, Linda; Werklund School of Education
Inspired by the goal to lead teacher learning and development in language and literacy in secondary humanities, educational leaders from three Alberta school jurisdictions are working together to create a network of research, improvement and innovation in writing instruction and assessment. Drawing from current leadership, literacy and instructional research, this paper presents a collaborative journey in developing innovative strategies in peer and self-assessment of writing. Clear instructional leadership goals saw the emergence of a technology application for peer and self-assessment that is developed locally in Alberta with and by teachers to meet the unique and changing needs of Alberta students.
Open Access
Learning to Breathe, Breathing to Learn: The Role of Mindfulness in Curriculum and Learning
(University of Calgary, 2014-05) Holmes, Kimberley; Werklund School of Education
Teachers are not technicians but self-reflective individuals who work in a holistic manner to connect curriculum to cognitive, emotional and social contexts. Living up to this holistic vision requires teachers to “take seriously the idea that a child’s personal signature, his or her distinctive way of learning and creating, is something to be preserved and developed” (Eisner, 2002, p. 581). Inspiring Education (Alberta Learning, 2010) states that the goal of education is to create engaged, ethical and entrepreneurial citizens who have been “enabled to do well in life” (Eisner, 2002, p. 581). Actualizing this vision requires mindfulness with regards to curriculum and learning.
Open Access
Historical Thinking, Ghosts and Hauntings: Imagination and the Poetics of On-Line Learning
(University of Calgary, 2014-05) Panayotidis, E. Lisa; Bjartveit, Carolyn; Werklund School of Education
This innovative collaborative research project and practice began with a critical pedagogical and curricular concern about how to incorporate “historical thinking” and knowledge into an on-line graduate course, Current Issues in Early Childhood Education. Drawing on the work of interpretive scholars who wrote about “living” ghosts, phantoms, and memory we strove to offer different insights into the context of teaching and learning in post-secondary programs of study. We invited Enlightenment philosopher and early childhood advocate Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) to class as a way to re-image critical historical and socio-cultural notions of childhood, and child care in Western curricular traditions and inheritances.
Open Access
Developing Preservice Teachers' Assessment Literacy: A Problem-Based Learning Approach
(University of Calgary, 2014-05) Koh, Kim; Werklund School of Education
The changes in the provincial achievement assessments reflect the government’s initiatives to provide every child with the opportunity to master core subject areas and contemporary competencies. The success of these initiatives requires Alberta teachers to be competent in using authentic assessment and assessment for learning (AfL) strategies. Assessment curriculum in preservice teacher education plays a pivotal role to prepare student teachers to become assessment literate. Using Lee Shulman’s signature pedagogies, this paper aims to discuss the rationale for and the benefits and challenges of adopting a Problem-based Learning (PBL) approach in an assessment course taught at the University of Calgary.
Open Access
Comparing Student and Teacher Self-Assessment Practices
(University of Calgary, 2014-05) Grant, Kimberley A.; Werklund School of Education
In constructivist models of education, teachers are positioned as co-learners. This paper raises the question of how we might then apply what we know about student learning to teacher learning through the example of comparing student and teacher self-assessment. A review of academic and professional literature reveals that while the perceived benefits of both student and teacher self-assessment are similar, the current practices are quite different.
Open Access
Nurturing Excellence in Instruction and Leadership
(University of Calgary, 2014-05) Brandon, Jim; Saar, Candace; Werklund School of Education
This paper reports on the implementation of the Professional Practice Competencies for School Leaders in Alberta through the lens of Inspiring Education in Canadian Rockies Schools. Evidence of the ways in which system and school leader collaborative inquiry and professional learning are mobilizing evidence-based teaching and instructional leadership to support students to become engaged, ethical, and entrepreneurial citizens is presented. With nearly half of the school system’s educators engaged in one of three overlapping leadership teams, several indicators of leadership and teaching growth are evident. Early findings indicate that this innovative leadership learning initiative is beginning to have an impact.
Open Access
Supporting Pedagogical Leadership in Area III
(University of Calgary, 2014-05) Brandon, Jim; Saar, Candace; Friesen, Sharon; Alonso, Gabriela; Preciado Babb, Paulino; Werklund School of Education
This case study examined district efforts to strengthen instructional leadership practices in Area III of the Calgary Board of Education during three years. Building on research informed conceptions of teaching, instructional leadership, professional learning, and district leadership our research focused on the development of pedagogical leadership that requires school leaders to be leaders of teacher learning. Data included individual and focus group interviews, provincial achievement tests, student engagement surveys, documents, field notes and participant observations. Our findings indicate that district leaders and consultants have effectively mobilized evidence-based professional learning to strengthen instructional leadership, teaching, and student learning.
Open Access
How the Use of Connective Words is Related to Learning
(University of Calgary, 2014-05) Duggleby, Sandra; Werklund School of Education
When contributing as engaged citizens in society, learners need to articulate their ideas clearly, precisely, accurately, and succinctly with the use of connective words. Connective words are linking devices that can help state an opinion or discuss an argument so that ideas are communicated effectively. When learners use connective words (e.g. when, next, because, furthermore, and although), they are forced to state their ideas in an organized way, often using prior knowledge to further explain their thinking.
Open Access
Learning Technologies in Higher Education
(University of Calgary, 2014-05) Brown, Barb; Jacobsen, Michele; Lambert, Deb; Werklund School of Education
This paper highlights key ideas from a review of the research literature on ways in which contemporary learning technologies are influencing teaching and learning experiences in higher education. The diverse ways in which students and professors connect, communicate, collaborate and create knowledge for learning and teaching both on campus and in blended and online learning spaces are explored. Promising and emerging practices from the research literature and the implications for faculty members, leaders and higher education institutions of learning are discussed. Challenges for higher education as teaching and learning undergoes change are described.
Open Access
From Student to Coach: Experiences of the D2L Coaches in the School of Education
(University of Calgary, 2014-05) Cooper, Tennille; da Rosa dos Santos, Luciano; Lock, Jennifer; Werklund School of Education
Triggered by the implementation of a new learning management system, a graduate student coaching team, led by the Associate Dean of Teaching and Learning, was created to provide instructional and technical support to academic staff and sessional instructors in the Werklund School of Education. Drawing on their background as teachers, as well as, on their knowledge developed as educational technology students, these coaches share insights into their experiences as members of a coaching team within a larger technology support network. Further, recommendations are identified in how student coaches can play a key role during new technology implementation.
Open Access
Leading Teacher Learning & Change in the Professional Learning Community: One School's Transformation Towards Implementing Meaningful PLCs
(University of Calgary, 2014-05) Cooper, Lori; Werklund School of Education
Written from the perspective of an elementary school principal, this paper supports the notion that teacher professional development occurs when teachers collaborate in professional learning communities. Grounded in the literature, this paper begins with an overview of professional learning communities. Next, an analysis of the expectations involved when teachers collaborate is explored, followed by a scrutiny of the role of school leaders in professional learning communities. Woven throughout the paper are examples from one elementary school’s attempts to implement meaningful professional learning communities.
Open Access
IDEAS 2014: Rising to the Challenge Conference Proceedings
(University of Calgary, 2014-05) Werklund School of Education
Open Access
A Graduate Course as a Game to Learn About Digital Game Based Learning
(University of Calgary, 2014-05) Kim, Beaumie; Werklund School of Education
Recognizing the motivating aspects of games (e.g., points, levels), it is becoming more and more widespread to incorporate game-like elements into everyday practices (e.g., exercising). In education, experimental schools are set up to engage students in “quests” for their learning. Some higher education instructors, especially those who teach courses related to games, are attempting to incorporate game principles into the course activities and assessments. This paper discusses how the author designed and conducted a master’s level course on Digital Game-Based Learning to immerse participants into its concepts and practices, and what lessons were learned from its first implementation.
Open Access
Learning About Research by Research Design: Students' Perceptions of a Master's Online Course in Education
(University of Calgary, 2014-05) Preciado Babb, Paulino; Werklund School of Education
Informed by signature pedagogies, the course EDER 603 Research Methodologies in Education requires students to write their "Research Commitments" as a major assignment. This assignment is very similar to a research proposal and participants in the course had to identify a research topic, problem, and purpose, as well as create research questions and identify an appropriate methodology. The course involved feedback cycles from both peers and the instructor. In this paper I reflect on the technological tools used for the online course, including challenges and students' perceptions of the course design.
Open Access
Exploring and Evaluating Exogenous and Endogenous Games for Education
(University of Calgary, 2014-05) Salerno, Kandise; deJong, Erik; Werklund School of Education
Most educational, exogenous video games present a drill and practice experience for learners. Ironically, commercial video games, endogenous games can elicit a more rigorous and in-depth learning experience (Gee, 2007b; Squire, 2006), as compared to their educational counterparts. The purpose of this paper is to explore and evaluate the literature that addresses the issues associated with educational, exogenous games and the potential role commercially produced endogenous games have for digital-aged learners. Commercial video games such as Civilization represent a more viable choice for teachers to ensure the game experience is aligned with the participatory needs of digital-aged learners.
Open Access
Metis Remembrances of Education: Bridging History with Memory
(University of Calgary, 2014-05) Poitras Pratt, Yvonne; Daniels, Lyn; Werklund School of Education
The authors invite a deep listening of memories of Métis people in Alberta that represent an unofficial yet significant account of history. Engaging with a critical pedagogy of decolonization means revisiting history written from the colonizer’s perspective (Smith, 1999). These memories are explored for points of connection with official history and mainstream interpretations. We aim for hopeful remembrance by opening up the present to its insufficiencies with history (Simon, 2000). We ask: What Indigenous memories are missing from the official history of your community? What would it mean for you as an educator to really hear those memories?
Open Access
Pedagogy for Justice: An Intersectional Dialogue Exploring Critical Conversations Involving Pre-Service Teachers and Youth Social Justice Activists
(University of Calgary, 2014-05) Latremouille, Jodi; Lee, Lianne; Shergill, Shashi; Lund, Darren; Werklund School of Education
Two duoethnographic research projects come together to explore critically conscious education; one resides within the context of teacher education programs, and the other mainly within school-based youth activist groups. The authors fashion a dialogue between these interrelated studies in order to inform the work of teacher and teacher educators around a pedagogy for social justice in schools.
Open Access
Connecting Aesthetics and Engagement in Game Based Learning
(University of Calgary, 2014-05) Gupta, Diali; Kim, Beaumie; Werklund School of Education
Learning with games is perceived as highly motivating and engaging, fostering critical thinking and problem solving skills. Choosing games for classroom use however can be a difficult process. In addition to examining the content, we propose that aesthetics of digital games can indicate important information for evaluating games. Using an example we explain how aesthetics of gaming environments reveal the core learning concepts and provide complexities for deeper engagement. Our paper elucidates ways in which aesthetics provide a socio-cultural context for learners and contribute to motivations and emotions resulting in cognitive engagements.
Open Access
Experiences of a Collaborative Instructional Team in Support of Online Learning
(University of Calgary, 2014-05) Lock, Jennifer; Soroski, Trisa; Cassie, Belina; Hickey, Evelyn; Werklund School of Education
Through the intentional design of a community of practice, a team of instructors engaged in professional conversations and meaningful collaboration to empower themselves as online educators and to promote critical reflection ‘in’ and ‘on’ action. This community of practice helped inform course design, development and implementation, which strengthened the overall online program. In this article, the instructors share their experiences and insights into working as a collaborative team and present three recommendations for collaborating in support of the development and facilitation of an online graduate program.