COVID Coffee Chats @UCalgary

In this episode, Ron Hugo, professor in the department of mechanical and manufacturing engineering, talks about the challenges of getting to know and connect with students in online learning. He shares with us how he has continued experiential learning in the distance learning format by creating individual at home lab kits for his 217 students. Through prototyping his experiments, researching the history of other individuals, and integrating the history of heat transfer into his lab manuals, he has developed a more holistic perspective of his subject. He chats about how this experience has provided a greater appreciation for being in front of students as well as an opportunity to find new ways to ignite the fires of interest into his materials.

In this episode, Corey Flynn, senior instructor in the department of Biological Sciences, shares with us his thoughts on how COVID has given him the opportunity to rethink how he assesses students. He chats about how he encourages students to focus on the rationale behind doing things in the lab, providing a deeper learning experience than in pre-COVID labs. He provides examples of how he has maintained engagement in both lectures and labs, and highlights his strategies on increasing interactivity in his classes. 

In this episode, Lisa Silver, associate professor from the Faculty of Law, shares with us her insights into how she has embraced change as she moved through teaching in the pandemic. She talks about how she encourages connection with her students in a distance learning environment and provides examples of how she has managed to keep experiential learning going in the online platform. She illustrates how COVID has given us the opportunity to be innovative, flexible, creative, and resilient. And through this she has seen how change is not scary and can mean wonderful things for you and your students.