COVID Coffee Chats @UCalgary

In this episode, Natasha Kenny, senior director of the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning, shares with us her insights on this extraordinary story of resilience and perseverance through our transition to online learning. She talks about collaborating with our teaching and learning leaders to create teaching and continuity resources to support academic staff through our transition to online learning. She discusses the difference between emergency remote learning and intentional design of continuous online learning. She chats about the process of creating robust online learning, including intentional thought about how we integrate asynchronous and synchronous learning, how we scaffold learning, how we design meaningful assessments, and how we continue to build relationships in our online teaching and learning environments. 

In this episode, Angela Judge-Stasiak, field education coordinator in the Faculty of Social Work, shares with us her insights on how to coordinating and supporting field education experiences in distance learning format. She discusses her thoughts on thinking creatively around field experiences and the benefits of utilizing self-directed practicum to allow students to have meaningful experiences while they connect with peers and the social work community. She stresses the importance of continuing self-directed practicum practices and offering these as an option when we move back into the face to face scenario. 

In this episode, Alex Paquette, doctoral candidate in Bioengineering and Graduate Students Association VP Academic, talks about the challenges of conducting research during COVID without a lab environment, as well as the issues that many graduate students are facing during this time. He shares with us his thoughts on how this situation has brought about many opportunities to think about things differently and inspire graduate students to help others who may be struggling. He chats about the initiatives of GSA to support graduate students and offers assistance to any graduate student who is looking to connect. He hopes that we can take what we have learned from this time and the new, inventive ways of teaching to make learning better for all.

In this episode, Assad Ali Bik, Student's Union VP Student Life , shares with us his thoughts on supporting mental health and well-being of students through COVID 19.  He discusses the challenges for students experiencing fatigue and burn out and chats about the value of peer support. He provides examples of resources that are available to students, including those offered by SU, the Women's Centre, and the Community Hub, and the partnering with the Vice Provost of Library and Cultural Resources to highlight the peer support program.

In this episode, Kerry Black, assistant professor in the Schulich School of Engineering, shares with us her insights into how she has adjusted her courses and learning materials through teaching during the pandemic. She talks about how she has gauged student expectations as well as her own expectations during online learning, and the value of planning ahead to prepare all information for students at the start of the course. She stresses the importance of being empathetic to students and thinking about the barriers that they may face during online learning while providing meaningful and challenging learning experiences. She discusses how she has shifted her assessment practices to be more frequent, low-stakes and qualitative, writing assessments. She illustrated how this shift has allowed her to weave in some of the additional attributes that are needed for graduates such as communication, lifelong learning and the connection to the environment, economic and social factors of engineering through e-portfolios and reflective writing.

In this episode, John Holash, professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology, shares with us his insights on the need for critical review in distance learning. He discusses his process of prerecording lectures, allowing students to interact with the learning material asynchronously, and using synchronous sessions to build a community of learners. He highlights how prerecording his lectures has allowed him to focus students attention on the content and allows him to break material into chunks while adding additional content in between his lectures. He stresses the importance of evaluating assessments and the need for providing frequent lower stakes assessments. 

In this episode, Miguel Almario, Sonja Mellema, Sarah Sparks, and Leonne Wambu, students in the Haskayne School of Business, weigh in on what it has been like to be a student through COVID-19. They discuss the online case study competition that they participated in with students from around the world, and how beneficial that was for them in their learning journey. They share their thoughts on the value of self-care, personal connections, and creating systems to deal with the rapid adjustments that this pandemic has required us to handle. They stress the need to understand individual and unique needs as well as the importance of reaching out when you need help. And they remind us that we are all learning, struggling, and growing together.

In this episode, Nizam Jiwani and Sallene Wong from UService, share their insights on supporting UCalgary community members through our transition to remote learning, teaching, and working. They discuss the importance of balancing efficiency and effectiveness, while ensuring that every customer gets the support that they need. They also delve into their strategies for supporting their team members and remind us of the importance of investing time and energy into being together remotely.

In this episode, Mohammad Moshipour, professor in Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Schulich School of Engineering, shares with us his thoughts on the importance of being mindful of students' needs and remaining flexible in expectations to support students throughout this unprecedented time. He describes how he has modified his assessment practices to focus more on project-based learning to deepen learning for students, and how he relies on constructivist theory of teaching and learning to guide students and at the same time, provide learning that is active and adaptive. He discusses his insights on how this experience has given his students the opportunity to learn first hand how to engage in remote work that is common within software engineering.

In this episode, Eloise Carr, professor from the Faculty of Nursing, shares with us her insights on how to build rapport and relationships in distance learning. She discusses her thoughts on thinking creatively to build meaningful learning experiences by using feedback from students and connecting with students when they are not engaging with the material. She stresses the importance of being open and honest with students and how sharing vulnerability goes a long way in fostering a community of learners.