Connections Seminar Series
UNSW Staff can access this Connections seminar via the Connections Moodle site (self-enrolment key: unswconnections). Alternatively, all registrants will receive the direct guest link via email on the day of the presentation. If you are having issues with access please email pvce.events@unsw.edu.au
Scientia Education Experience: Inspired learning through inspired teaching
In June 2020, Bishop’s University hired 23 university students as Online Learning and Technology Consultants (OLTCs) from diverse academic disciplines to help support faculty members prepare for Fall 2020. Some have completed one year of study while others are in the final year of their program. The one thing they all share in common is they value relationship-rich learning experiences (cf. Felten and Lambert. 2020).
The program is based on the concept of empathetic design, where the OLTCs develop critical empathy so they are aware of and can appreciate the discomfort and disorientation for both instructor and students in a learning environment radically disrupted by a global pandemic. For many of the students hired as OLTCs, this is their first encounter with pedagogical design, assessment, alignment, community building, classroom management, and other facets of designing and delivering academic courses.
In this session, we will take about the effectiveness of the OLTCs for helping faculty adapt courses to online/hybrid modules through the measurement of perceived benefits to both students and faculty across the institution.
This presentation aligns with the following UNSW Communities of Practice 'Course Design and Development CoP'. More information can be found here.
About Professor Jessica Riddell
Dr Jessica Riddell is a Full Professor of Early Modern Literature in the English Department at Bishop’s University (Quebec, Canada), specializing in early modern dramatic and non-dramatic literature. Dr Riddell was awarded the 3M National Teaching Fellowship in 2015. She holds the Stephen A. Jarislowsky Chair of Undergraduate Teaching Excellence at Bishop’s University; in this capacity, she explores innovative teaching and learning practices, creates mentorship opportunities for students and faculty, and participates in a wide range of consultations at the national and international levels.
Dr Riddell is also the Executive Director of the Maple League of Universities, a consortium of four universities – Bishop’s, Mount Allison, Acadia, and St. Francis Xavier – that share a focused commitment to quality undergraduate education. She works across the four universities to support high impact practices as part of a 21st-century liberal education. Dr Riddell engages in public-facing activities and projects, including as an active contributor to public scholarship through her work as a columnist for University Affairs Magazine, as a keynote speaker at international conferences, and sits on a number national and international boards, including the Future Skills Research Advisory Board (Social and Emotional Skills – SES), and a member of Future Skills Talent Council.
UNSW Staff who cannot attend this seminar are able to Livestream it via the Connections Moodle site (self-enrolment key: unswconnections)