This project curated an OER video collection dedicated to the study of relationships, featuring contributions from researchers in the relationship sciences. The platform is designed to provide access to a broad range of scholarly content for students, professionals, and those with an interest in the field.
Developed through course-based assignments, the project invited students to interview academics and practitioners working in relationship science and translate those conversations into accessible multimedia resources. In doing so, students were introduced to the people behind the research while helping to create open educational materials that connect theoretical concepts, empirical findings, and everyday relational experiences.
Topics in the collection include attachment, romantic competence, loneliness, online dating, cultural awareness, trauma, family change, and relational risk factors. The project highlights the value of open resources for making relationship science more accessible across teaching, learning, professional, and public contexts.
Developing an accessible Canvas module that uses short videos and reflections to share research-based strategies for effective learning, helping students apply psychological insights to their own academic success.
This project brings psychological research on learning directly to students through an interactive Canvas module designed for use across disciplines. Using short, engaging videos and reflection prompts, it translates key findings from the science of learning into practical strategies students can apply in their own studies.
The module aims to demystify how learning works, encourage students to think critically about their habits, experiment with new approaches, and take a more informed and intentional role in their academic success.
As part of the Supporting Transparent and Open Research Engagement and Exchange (STOREE) project, this small TLEF builds on a pilot collaboration with Coordinated Arts Program instructors and asks first-year students make infographic summaries of DTES-relevant research articles.
Specifically, this project places undergraduate student work at the centre of a multidirectional knowledge exchange between Downtown Eastside communities, community-engaged researchers, librarians, instructors, and institutional partners. Through an authentic editing and publishing process, students create multimedia summaries of research articles relevant to DTES communities, receive feedback from participating researchers, and contribute to making scholarly research more accessible to non-academic audiences.
Researcher-approved summaries are published through the DTES Research Access Portal, while DTES community members provide input on what makes these resources effective, relevant, and useful. In this way, the project supports more reciprocal models of research dissemination, where community needs and perspectives shape how academic knowledge is shared.
Principal investigators: Evan Mauro (Coordinated Arts Program / Journalism, Writing, and Media) & Kirby Manià (Coordinated Arts Program / Journalism, Writing, and Media)
Equipping UBC faculty with adaptable resources to foster inclusive writing instruction that supports student belonging, aligns with EDI, anti-racism, and Indigenization goals, and addresses the colonial history of academic writing as identified in UBC’s strategic frameworks.
This project fosters a university-wide, long-term conversation about the foundational role of writing in university learning. It supports faculty in teaching writing in ways that are inclusive, accessible, and responsive to student diversity across disciplinary contexts.
The project emerged from a 2021 UBC working group led by Laila Ferreira and Rebecca Carruthers den Hoed, which brought together faculty and staff committed to rethinking how writing is taught. The group examined how academic writing can function as a form of gatekeeping, how students often receive uneven or implicit messages about disciplinary writing expectations, and how inclusive writing instruction can support antiracism, decolonization, disability justice, and broader institutional change.
These conversations led to the development of ten key characteristics of inclusive writing instruction and a successful Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund project. Through collaborative research, classroom piloting, student and instructor feedback, and consultation with an advisory committee, the project developed a website and practical resources to help instructors integrate inclusive writing instruction into their own teaching contexts.
Principal investigators: Laila Ferreira (Journalism, Writing, and Media), Rebecca Caruthers Den Hoed (Journalism, Writing, and Media), Katja Thieme (Journalism, Writing, and Media / English Language and Literatures), and Jennifer Walsh Marr (Vantage College / Engineering)
Dr. Rosanne Sia’s students combine social theory with hands-on, practicum experience with community partners.
Overview
Rosanne Sia, Assistant Professor, Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice (GRSJ)
Students enrolled in GRSJ 480, Decolonizing Praxis: A Practicum in Social Justice, connect feminist, decolonial, and critical race theory to an experiential learning opportunity through a practicum placement in a community organization advocating for social change.
The unique blend of literature review, seminar-style discussions, and practicum allows students to engage with theory, with each other, and with the broader community on a deeper level.
Working in collaboration with a graduate Research Assistant, Dr. Sia thoughtfully considers the journey of each student by matching them with a community organization in alignment with their indicated areas of interest, and opening up a space for them to prepare for and reflect on their experience in conversation with their peers.
Goals & Objectives
Through a breadth of practical learning and integration opportunities in the course, students get hands-on experience that aims to help them:
Develop the vocabulary to assess and describe their existing skills, and skills they will be developing through the course
Facilitate genuine connections with community partners in service of reciprocal learning and contribution
Integrate theory with practice through hands-on experiential learning
Gain an understanding of how to develop respectful and mutually beneficial relationship with community partners, including necessary communication skills
Increase confidence in applying to jobs after graduation in alignment with values and experience
Keywords: Practicum, community partners, networking, reciprocal learning
Instructions
Practicum: Students are matched based on their interests with various community organizations, and on a mutual benefit. Students complete at least 30 hours of work with the organization.
Seminars: Dr. Sia assigns theoretical readings throughout the term and discussed during class time, helping students make connections to practicum work.
Workshops: In past courses, Dr. Sia has invited the Arts Career Strategist into the classroom to bookend the practicum experience. The first workshop focused on existing skills, general expectations in a practicum placement, and goal setting.
Reflection: Upon conclusion, students were invited to reflect on their experience, identify skills, and consider how they might like to speak about them and their experiences for other audiences, such as potential employers or on grad school applications.
Showcase: Students are invited to share their experience, identify key takeaways, and celebrate their achievements with their classmates at the end of the term.
Discussion
Why do you incorporate practical learning into your course?
I think many GRSJ students come to our program committed to transformative justice and the deep-level work needed for social change. I think many are also grappling with a tension between their strong social justice values and the realities of the world we live in. The practicum class opens up a space for them to discuss questions like:
How do we navigate these contradictions?
How do we make sure that when we are working in a community, we are working in reciprocal ways that honour our value system?
How can we work in ways that are non-hierarchical, based on mutual care and respect, and with the knowledge that we are trying to do work for social change on stolen land?
The practicum placement allows students to go beyond the sometimes surface-level connections of “networking” to build deeper relationships over a school term with community partners, and to practice being accountable to the organization and the community it serves.
Students might initially feel that their contributions within the practicum setting are small, but by the end, many come to see that apparently small acts can be indispensable to the larger work of their practicum organization.
“Through the practicum experience, I see so many students inspired to explore new pathways forward, bringing enthusiasm and energy we vitally need today into our communities.”
Rosanne Sia
Assistant Professor, Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice (GRSJ)
What have you heard from students about their experience?
There is, of course, some variance depending on how much they enjoyed their practicum placement. But many come out of the experience inspired. Some have developed a new interest they want to explore further. For example, I had one student discover a love for conceptual art! I had another decide to pursue law school with the intention of using this knowledge to advocate for migrant communities.
Some students are inspired by the way they saw community partners run their organizations through ethics of mutual respect and valuing of all perspectives. I’ve had a few students go on to organize social justice or arts-based collectives in their own communities. These are just a few examples of the extraordinary things our students at the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice go on to do in their communities.
I’ve heard from many students that they are looking for this type of experiential learning at UBC, especially as they approach graduation and the reality of looking for a job. They told me that meeting someone personally from the Careers team helped them feel that they aren’t alone in the process.
Do you have any suggestions for other instructors who are considering practical learning for their course?
I really appreciated how open the Practical Learning team was to having a conversation and working collaboratively when it came to the in-class workshops. The language we use may be different, but there are ways that we can work together to provide students with various resources and support.
I felt the collaboration was especially helpful in having students take stock of their own strengths, skillsets, and value systems to identify what they could offer to the community partners in their practicum placement and explore how this experience could point them in new directions for future growth. It takes some work and advance planning, but it really benefited the students.
In POLI 100, Dr. Stewart Prest invites alumni to discuss their career journeys following their Political Science degree.
Overview
Stewart Prest, Lecturer, Department of Political Science
POLI 100 is an introductory course which exposes students to the main topics of study within the discipline at UBC such as political theory, comparative politics, Canadian and global contexts, as well as the exploration of contemporary issues.
Alongside the course material, Dr. Prest brings the diverse experiences and perspectives of alumni into his classroom. Throughout the term, students are invited to discover the many pathways within the subject and are challenged to investigate pre-conceived notions of what it means to study Political Science through critical self-reflection of their existing worldview.
Through alumni classroom visits, students are introduced to the variety of work experiences that can follow a Political Science degree, thereby broadening their understanding of career possibilities. During the visits, students hear directly from alumni about their career stories and are invited to be curious and ask questions.
Goals & Objectives
Apply active listening, critical thinking, and self-reflection skills to generate appreciative inquiries
Practice engaging in challenging conversations in good faith
Identify the breadth of topics and career trajectories within the discipline
Recipe
Level of Engagement: Medium
Course: POLI 100: Introduction to Politics
Number of Students: 100
Delivery: Alumni presentations during lecture time
Time: One term
Keywords: alumni connections, diverse perspectives, active listening, critical reflection
Instructions
Dr. Prest and the Arts Alumni Engagement Team worked together to identify and invite five Political Science alumni into the classroom to share their career journeys with an emphasis on how their degree has informed and continues to inform their work. The alumni were provided with general themes to touch on but were also given freedom to speak candidly about their experiences.
As part of their participation grade, students were prompted ahead of each alumni presentation to craft a thoughtful question which could be posed to the speaker during the Q&A period as a show of their good faith engagement with the guests.
Discussion
Why do you incorporate Practical Learning in your discipline?
When we talk about political science from an academic perspective, we ask a very important and particular set of questions to try to explain why the world is, and what the implications are for the way in which our political world is constructed.
We don’t talk a lot, especially in some introductory courses, about how politics unfolds in the day to day lives of political actors, whether we’re talking about politicians or people who are acting as activists within their community, whether in a paid position or just as volunteers getting involved. And so, hearing from people who are involved in politics, gives a much more varied and visceral account of what we’re talking about where we can see the implications in people’s lives in a much more immediate way than I or a textbook can convey.
“Beyond the knowledge that alumni can bring, introducing varied voices in the classroom is always a good thing. It is enriching and it challenges students to be open to different perspectives and new insights.”
Stewart Prest
Lecturer, Department of Political Science
What motivated you to incorporate this type of activity into your course?
First year students often have a specific idea of what political science is and what it is for, which is usually informed by what they see on the daily news which may be somewhat negative or removed from their daily lives.
Bringing alumni into the classroom can widen the discussion for students to see all the different paths available to them after a minor or a major in political science. I intentionally select speakers who are engaged in a range of activities, not just politicians, to give students a sense of what their options are. In this iteration, we had a staffer from the legal department in the White House, a local pollster, a former senior staffer from Vancouver City Hall, and two current B.C. politicians.
What are some changes or improvements you want to make in the future?
I will keep the format similar and maintain a relatively low-stakes experience for the students, but I do want to continue to bring in a diverse range of speakers to represent different backgrounds to demonstrate the variety of outcomes that may come from a Political Science degree.
What have you heard from students about their experience?
Many students expressed appreciation for the opportunity to hear a different point of view in the classroom with one even saying to me, “I didn’t think that you could do these kinds of things with a political science degree,” which affirmed to me that the key message had been received.
Do you have any suggestions for other instructors who are considering practical learning for their course?
I would encourage anyone who’s thinking about doing it to reach out to the team even if you don’t have a great sense of what it might look like yet. There are many models available, and it’s worthwhile to have an initial conversation to explore the ideas. It can be an inductive iterative process in developing.
As an artist herself, Lecturer Sheryda Warrener infuses her Creative Writing courses with intentional practice, intellectual exploration, and a sense of playful curiosity.
Overview
Sheryda Warrener, Lecturer, School of Creative Writing
These elements are abundantly apparent in two of her upper-level courses, both of which are grounded in innovative experimental work which connects students with creators in the Vancouver artist community. From what started as designing experiences for students to move through as a prompt to generate something real on the page, there emerged a byproduct of developing critical writing capacities.
Goals & Objectives
Students are invited to interact as an artist with other artists, embrace a holistic creative practice, and apply creative skills and techniques from other mediums to writing.
By extension of this invitation, Sheryda offers methods to sustain artistic practice outside of the classroom. She fosters a space for emerging artists to explore questions like “Why pursue creative work? Why am I here? What do I want to commit to?” with the intention that they may emerge with a greater sense of confidence in their practice.
Develop capacities that may be applied beyond writing, such as patience, positive inquiry, extended focus, and sitting with uncertainty.
Build confidence in the ability to continue artistic work beyond the structure of academy.
Recognize the value of the process, and of learning through mistakes, as part of the final product.
Recipe
Level of Engagement: High
Courses: CRWR 423R: Experimental Forms, CRWR 523R: Thinking and Writing Through Art – Thinking and Writing Through Art
Number of Students: 12
Delivery: Reflective writing assignments, small discussions
Sheryda created The Provocation Collection, a compendium of prompts designed by artists based on their own creative practices.
Students are then invited to choose a prompt to explore and throughout the term, as they dive deeper into their process, they create an artifact which is examined. Peers and instructor alike share what they notice about this artifact, where they see resistance and progress, and where transformation of craft has occurred.
What motivated you to incorporate this type of activity into your course?
I feel a strong desire for students to sustain their writing practices outside the bounds of my class. By developing their capacity to commit to a project, to sit with uncertainty, to slow down, and to express their unique perception, I hope to address the feelings of doubt, overwhelm, or insecurity they may feel about their identity as an artist.
“Just as learners experience not knowing, it's important that instructors remember that we're also challenged by not knowing. Holding space for things we didn't plan or predict opens up possibilities for learning driven by in-the-moment experience.”
Sheryda Warrener
Lecturer, School of Creative Writing
What are some changes or improvements you want to make in the future?
I would like to develop the language I use to discuss capacity development and support students in understanding why those capacities are valuable as a creative writer, as a poet, as a person. I also intend to expand upon the existing process by showcasing students’ work on The Provocation Collection website and other platforms such as Instagram.
Finally, I’ll continue to explore how I can bring the foundation of this work into 200-level courses in a way that meets students where they are at, easing them into some of the discomfort that comes with this type of experimental work.
Do you have any suggestions for other instructors who are considering practical learning for their course?
Try your own assignments and embrace the opportunity to be alongside learners in “not knowing” within the classroom. When we push against conventions to try something new, we may give up some of the control we are used to having, but it can create impactful learning moments for everyone in the room. When we show up prepared to engage in challenging conversations, trust in our own experience, and welcome diverse perspectives to the conversation, we can create unique experiences for our students.
What have you heard from students about their experience?
I have witnessed an increase in confidence; in their own work, in the seriousness of their craft, and in themselves as makers. Students have shared that they have more faith in their ability to sustain the practice of creating beyond the structure provided by the academy.
Guest lectures, design thinking frameworks, and intentional reflection are just some of the tools employed by Dr. Wittig McPhee to engage learners with the theory and practice of Geography.
Overview
Dr. Siobhán Wittig McPhee, Associate Professor of Teaching, Department of Geography
In GEOG 350: Urban Worlds, students form concrete connections between key disciplinary concepts and practical application by hearing directly from professionals about their work in areas such as sustainable engineering, census collection, and federal port stewardship.
They consider their positionality within the context of the work by reflecting on their social identity and integrating design thinking into their process for the final written assignment. By the end of the course, students will have contributed to an open source wiki which not only provides them with a tangible asset to showcase in the future, but also grows a resource to be used in future iterations of the course.
Goals & Objectives
Through the integration of applied practical pieces (hearing from guest speakers and writing about relevant topics) with experiential learning (asynchronous videos or podcasts related to course concepts), students draw clear connections between course material, application beyond the classroom, and their own evolving skillsets.
Recognize how theory can be applied to practical work across a variety of career paths
Apply design thinking mindsets to career development
Demonstrate understanding of how positionality informs work within and beyond the Academy
Author critical academic interpretations of course themes in an accessible way
Recipe
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Course: GEOG 350: Urban Worlds
Number of Students: 50 to 75
Delivery: Guest lecture, facilitated reflection
Time: 50-minute lectures
Keywords: practical application, guest speakers, open source, design thinking
Instructions
Dr. Wittig McPhee worked with members of the Practical Learning team to identify professionals working in relevant fields to complement the theoretical aspects of the syllabus. She coordinated guest lectures, a career-focused workshop, and reflection exercises, all of which supported the final written assignment of the course.
For the final assignment, students wrote a wiki chapter in an open-source textbook addressing one of the course themes using an urban geography lens. Students’ development through the course was assessed via weekly reflections, collaborative comments, and the wiki assignment.
Discussion
What motivated you to incorporate this type of activity into your course?
I see myself as a facilitator of knowledge and it’s important to me to teach the way I wish I’d been taught: with a focus on answering the “why” and not just accepting the facts that are presented. It’s important to really understand things and not just talk about them in theory, so it’s rewarding to see the lightbulb moment as students connect the relevance of the course material to the stories they are hearing.
On top of that, bringing new perspectives into the classroom keeps my own career interesting and allows me to flip the focus of lectures away from myself and onto the students.
“I recognize that student’s careers don’t always have a direct connection to the discipline they studied, so I consider how we can focus on the skills they will use, such as critical thinking, regardless of the career they pursue.”
Dr. Siobhán Wittig McPhee
Associate Professor of Teaching, Department of Geography
What are some changes or improvements you want to make in the future?
I see value in bookending the 6-week course with the design thinking workshops facilitated by Julie Walchli, starting by equipping them with design thinking tools & mindsets from the beginning and ending with a clear connection of what they’ve learned through the guest lectures to their own career journey.
Additionally, I noticed that the final graded discussion resulted in more engaged discourse from the students. I intend to use that structure instead of individual reflections for each of the guest lecture reflections.
What have you heard from students about their experience?
Generally, the guest speakers were very well received by the students. They noted that they felt challenged to think about how useful certain aspects of the work can be, even if they don’t love doing that work (like collecting data).
With regards to the wiki writing assignment, students appreciated a different writing experience than they were used to, with a focus on evaluating, critiquing, and presenting information in an accessible way, not just summarizing it.
Do you have any suggestions for other instructors who are considering practical learning for their course?
Including this type of learning is so valuable to students, it’s so rewarding, and it’s so much work. Go in with the knowledge that it will take time and effort, and that it will make the course more fun, more engaging, and more mentally stimulating for you and the students.
After engaging in qualitative research of her own, Dr. Catherine Rawn was inspired to restructure PSYC 217: Research Methods in Psychology focusing on researcher positionality and building a toolkit of research methods and frameworks.
Overview
Dr. Catherine Rawn, Professor of Teaching, Department of Psychology
By empowering students to see quantitative methods as one set of tools in a potentially larger toolkit, they are positioned to take responsibility when choosing their research methods, topics, and how they incorporate other frameworks to inform their research.
In addition to reflective practice built into class periods, Dr. Rawn designated one class for a Career Educator from the UBC Career Centre to introduce the concept of career development as a research project.
Goals & Objectives
Reframing career development as research enabled students to imagine how they can apply the skills they develop through PSYC 217 in a new context. Whether taking an exploratory approach, or beginning with a clear hypothesis, students can collect evidence for and against certain career decisions based on a variety of data sources including qualitative information obtained from informational interviews.
Objectives
Identify practical applications of basic concepts in research methods beyond academia
Apply the method of informational interviews as a qualitative research approach to career development
Discuss elements of planning for informational interviews, such as identifying prospective candidates, managing pre- and post-interview expectations, and facilitating an effective interview
Recipe
Level of Difficulty: Low
Course: PSYC 217 (Research Methods in Psychology)
Number of Students: 192
Delivery: In-person, 2 sections
Time: 50 minutes
Keywords: qualitative research, career exploration, informational interviews
Instructions
The course focused mostly on quantitative research, with some mention of qualitative approaches for comparison. This guest lesson addressed the application of qualitative research within a career development context. Career Educator, Dr. Danielle Barkley, introduced the concept of informational interviews as part of a data gathering exercise for career development, and reviewed strategies for implementation. It involved large class facilitation, including lecture with Q&A, small group discussions, and individual reflection,
Discussion
What motivated you to incorporate this type of activity into your course?
As someone who has made a career in academia and hasn’t written a resume for the purpose of post-graduate job search, I recognized my limitations in supporting students who will pursue careers in different fields. Bringing in an Educator from the UBC Career Centre allowed me to better understand as well as showcase the connection between research methods and career development.
“When students ask us about our careers, it’s important that they know the path we took in academia is just one of many possibilities.”
Dr. Catherine Rawn
Professor of Teaching and Associate Head, Undergraduate Affairs, Department of Psychology
What are some changes or improvements you want to make in the future?
If I were to share the information captured in this lesson again in the future, I would incorporate additional active elements to ensure students are leaving with a tangible tool to implement. Additionally, I may add a question focused on applying qualitative research for individual career development to the series of Researcher Notes Reflection activities I already embed in my course.
Do you have any suggestions for other instructors who are considering practical learning for their course?
If you’re interested in helping students know how to take aspects of what they’re learning in their class into their own career search or career, talk to the Practical Learning Team! Upon sharing my course goals with the team, they were able to provide tailored recommendations that fit my syllabus and approach to teaching. This partnership could be on-going, or a one-time collaboration which you can build upon independently.
Over the last 15 years, fourth-year UBC History students have explored the complexities and personal histories involved in migration through the lens of compelling storytelling.
Overview
Dr. Henry Yu, Associate Professor, Department of History
As an assignment in various classes—such as HIST 482, HIST 483, and HIST 485—students are expected to pair up and explore their own individual and family stories, taking on the roles of both the interviewer and interviewee in turn.
Their final productions are shared with their classmates, peer reviewed, and wrapped up with intentional reflection and discussion.
Goals & Objectives
Students use practical skills in the classroom to create impactful digital presentations that allow them to understand and grapple with the ethics and power dynamics between interviewee and interviewer.
Through this exercise, they can explore those dynamics during an interview and afterwards in the process of representation, as well as recognize the importance of storytelling in how we understand our own past and those of communities and nations.
Objectives
Provide meaningful opportunities for community-building connections between classmates
Practical experience in interviewing and creating and translating source material into meaningful and compelling forms that can be shared widely
Provide the opportunity to reflect on their own positionality within academic processes that take place within universities and within their broader lives
Allow students to explore digital technology that is used in and outside of the discipline
Recipe
Level of Difficulty: Medium
Courses: HIST 482 (“Chinese Migration”); HIST 483 (“Asian Canadian Communities in the Americas”; HIST 485 (“Asian Canadian Communities in Vancouver”)
Number of Students: 30-60
Delivery: Small lectures, learning exercise
Time: Full term
Keywords: storytelling/sharing, interviewing/being interviewed, creative direction, peer learning, community building
Instructions
In pairs, students are challenged to conduct an interview focused on personal stories of migration while considering the context of the course itself. Each student is also tasked with creating some form of representation of the other, using video or other digital media to showcase what was shared by the other student to the class in an effective and compelling way.
Students can be as creative with the storytelling as they like, with the constraint that the final product has a maximum length—for instance, a video can be no more than five minutes in length.
Students provide peer-to-peer feedback in a workshop environment, evaluating and sharing what they think worked and did not work well in each other’s presentations, and learning how to provide productive and practical suggestions.
Discussion
What have you heard from students about the experience?
We did a study with Scholarship on Teaching and Learning with 15 years of students who have taken my classes (over 1,000 students), and looked for what made an impact that stuck with them.
One of the interesting things we found was that for the students who had been out in the world the longest after graduation, what they remembered the most was not the content of the classes (the facts and history), but the experiences that were transformative, including times they were challenged and empowered to come up with a solution without being told exactly how to do it.
The survey confirmed something that I would occasionally hear from UBC alumni who had taken classes with me when I ran into them years later: what many of the students appreciated later, and what they remembered, were the lessons they learned and skills they honed by doing things they had not previously been taught (rather than skills they had already learned such as writing an essay). Alumni talked about how refreshing it had been to be allowed/obligated in class to work through challenges, rather than just being told exactly what to do to get a good grade. The survey echoed something that came up in conversations with alumni about how being forced to overcome a challenge with a creative solution had helped give them confidence to do the same in their careers.
“The word practical is not the word I generally use. I prefer the term meaningful—and it's up to you to decide the meaning of the learning for yourself.”
Dr. Henry Yu
Associate Professor, Department of History
What are some changes or improvements you want to make in the future?
I’ve been tinkering with this process for 20 years throughout my time here at UBC and for a decade before that, at UCLA. Over the years, I have become even more convinced about the importance of being transparent throughout the course from beginning to end about the way the class is organized and how the goals might be different than other classes.
We also emphasize learning by doing through watching the work done of past students over the years and understanding how they had approached a problem and came up with their solution—that there is not necessarily a single ‘right’ answer or approach, but that we can weigh the advantages and disadvantages of any approach. Having dozens (now hundreds after 20 years!) of prior presentations made by students before them in the same situation gives them a very practical set of examples to draw from for inspiration, as well as what might not work that well.
Do you have any suggestions for other instructors who are considering practical learning for their course?
Ask yourself what you consider “success” in your teaching career: Is it that you want the students to know what you know? Or is it that you want the class to have meaningful elements that have a lasting impact on the students? Use that reflection to consider how you can explore not just your discipline, but what it means to be thinking about the world the way people in your field do, and how that might be helpful in solving other problems—or how it might also be the wrong tool for some tasks.
I always feel I learn constantly from my students because they each approach things so differently than I might, and it’s not my job to make them into mini versions of me, but to involve them in a collective process for all of us to engage with and learn from each other. We have so many amazing students who might not have gained the confidence yet to tap into their own creative energy; they can only learn that confidence to take on future challenges through the practical experience of overcoming them.
If you can see part of your job as providing an environment for them to have transformative practical learning experiences that help them in the long run, then you will create the opportunity to go beyond the limited amount of content/knowledge collected in your own brain that you can force feed them during the 13 or 14 weeks you have together.
