S4 E7 · Fri, May 01, 2020

An interdisciplinary discipline: How women's studies connects topics beyond gender

Politics, socio-cultural climates, oppression, and anti-racism are all disciplines that come into play in a women's and gender studies course. But Maki Motapanyane, an associate professor in Mount Royal's department of women's and gender studies, takes the conversation beyond readings and lectures and asks her students to position themselves within the context of the issues.

S4 E6 · Wed, April 01, 2020

Thinking spatially: How geography interacts with our everyday lives

How much do we rely on Google Maps to get around? How do we track the way viruses spread? Can Twitter be used to address local issues? These are all questions Dr. Lynn Moorman, a professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences and in the Department of General Education, says can be answered by thinking spatially — a concept you don't need a background in science to get behind!

S4 E5 · Sun, March 01, 2020

Truth and reconciliation: how libraries can change the way we think about colonization

Libraries may be a space for keeping knowledge, but how often do we think about who is creating it? Jessie Loyer is the anthropology and Indigenous studies relations liaison at the Riddel Library and Learning Centre. She's worked with students to help them develop their research skills but goes beyond that and asks them to think ethically about their sources. In this episode, we explore truth and reconciliation, interconnectedness and how libraries have played into both.

S4 E4 · Sat, February 01, 2020

Flipped: how this "read first, lecture second" model makes Chemistry accessible

S4 E3 · Sun, January 05, 2020

All aboard the Medieval school bus: making Old and Middle English Literature come alive in the classroom

For more information, visit teachingstrides.ca You can follow Dr. Olsen on Twitter @KennaOlsen SHOW TRANSCRIPT: Meg Wilcox: ( 00:00 ) I'm Meg Wilcox and this is Teaching Strides, MRU faculty daring greatly. In this episode, how Twitter can better help students understand medieval literature.  What do popular culture and old English literature have in common? Well, an MRU classroom. Dr Kenna Olsen is a professor in the department of English Languages and Culture. She teaches Old and Middle English Literature, but that doesn't just mean reading the texts. Dr. Olsen brings popular TV shows and social media into the classroom to keep students engaged and that's what we'll be talking about today. Thank you so much for joining me.  Kenna Olsen: ( 00:37 ) It's amazing to be here, thank you. What a nice introduction! Meg Wilcox: ( 00:40 ) So your students have often commented on how enthusiastic you are in the classroom. Do you have a tactic or a reason behind your enthusiasm or is it just there?  Kenna Olsen: ( 00:52 ) It's just there, it's just there. I can even just think of yesterday I was teaching literature in the age of Chaucer and on the docket was the Friar's tale. And I just get a lot of energy. I think just feeding off of the students, you know, when I can illuminate it for them, something that's in the text that maybe they didn't know was there or weren't quite comfortable with those things.  And then just to have that conversation, I don't know, it's so energizing that to me it's just so wonderful when you can say, yes, these are how the pieces fit together. And by the end of a class...it takes me hours to come down after class teaching. So I think it's just my interest in the material and when I can see that the students are generating that same kind of interest, it's just, it's so, it's so wonderful and it just, you know, sparks this energy. So how can you not be enthusiastic about it?  Meg Wilcox: (<a href="https://www.temi.com/editor/t/xkcWUzYB3nIYsLnfpdmgy9b9Lq0UnETG0LXy6-QX5SybUVdTlgChzJ8XtlCYEMTDP4XJ6wrQZ

S4 E2 · Sun, December 01, 2019

You Belong Here: celebrating and encouraging diversity, accessibility and good teaching at MRU

For more information, visit teachingstrides.ca You can follow Dr. Rahilly on Twitter @TimRahilly SHOW TRANSCRIPT: Meg Wilcox: I'm Meg Wilcox and this is Teaching Strides—MRU faculty daring greatly. In this episode, what exactly is good teaching and how can we support it? It's Dr. Tim Rahilly's first year at school—here at Mount Royal at least. But our new president and vice chancellor has worked across the country from his days studying in Montreal at McGill and Concordia to teaching in Manitoba and BC. He started in administration at Simon Fraser University in 2003 but that doesn't necessarily mean he's given up on teaching. That's what we'll be talking about today. Thank you so much for joining me, Tim. Dr. Tim Rahilly: I'm happy to be here. MW: So first off to you, how would you define good teaching? TR: Wow. MW: I'm just getting to the big stuff. TR: Yeah, nothing's been written about that! I guess in two ways. One, I guess we know that good teaching is that which engages our learners. But I think there's always been a tension between the art and science of, of teaching, especially I think in the postsecondary world. So I think for me I know it's good teaching when I feel that strong sense of engagement and I can see that gleam in students' eyes. And so I think that when done well and we continually challenge each other—students and faculty alike. It's learning for all involved. MW: And when it comes to good teaching at MRU, where do you see it? How do you define it? How do you seek it out? TR: Well, I think for me, I came to Mount Royal University because of its reputation as an undergraduate intensive university and being student-centered. And I have been so impressed with the faculty members and contractors that I have spoken with, in terms of their commitment to teaching. I have not had the opportunity since being here to visit Mount Royal classrooms—to witness this. Although the other day I did have the opportunity to, I guess have a little bit of teaching in the Riddell Library and Learning Center. I watched one of our colleagues kind of give a little mini intervention there for a visiting minister. And it was fantastic and I could see the passion in her eyes. So I think one of the challenges for me is going to be to be able to connect in that manner. And I don't know that every faculty member is going to necessarily want to invite the president into their classroom. MW: Yeah. Let me get a bit more classes under my belt and then I can invite you. But I guess you're already sort of hinting at that idea by being an administrator. You support teaching. You obviously have been a teacher, you've done that work, but now you're, you're sort of looking at the business an

S4 E1 · Sun, October 27, 2019

Runways and reconciliation: how classroom-based projects can shape their communities

For more information, visit teachingstrides.ca To learn more about Otahpiaaki, check out their website . SHOW TRANSCRIPT: Meg Wilcox: I'm Meg Wilcox and this is Teaching Strides—MRU faculty daring greatly. In this episode: how fashion can fuel resistance reconciliation and entrepreneurship. The word “Otapiaaki” is a Blackfoot term for the moment the vamp and moccasin are sewn together, and it's this togetherness that the project hopes to promote. When Spirit River Striped Wolf and Patti Derbeyshire first got started with the project, it was in a Mount Royal classroom. But today we'll talk about how Otapiaaki fashionweek has expanded beyond a club at the Bissett School of Business and is now a space for talented Indigenous creators to show off their work and what reconciliation really means. MW: Patti, Spirit, thank you so much for joining me. Patti Derbyshire: Great to be here. Spirit River Striped Wolf: Yeah, thanks for having us. MW: So Otahpiaaki is coming up very shortly, for someone who maybe has never heard of it before, how would you describe the program? PD: So Otahpiaaki began as a classroom project and really quickly became a social innovation movement. Most folks know us for Indigenous beauty, fashion and design week, which happens every fall.  So, this year we go November 5th through 9th. And during that week, we invite Indigenous designers and creatives to Mokinstis. And we put up a series of workshops and they can, be on everything from traditional beading and embroidery through to, we're doing digital sash making this, this year with John Corvette. And then our showcases—so this year on Friday night, um, our fashion showcases and we put up our first four designers and that'll be with the Calgary Philharmonic orchestra and Jeremy Dutcher.  And so it's so exciting for us because this is the year of Indigenous language. So to be co-presenting with Jeremy Dutcher who essentially revived his language and he is a celebrated Polaris-winning and Juno-winning musician around that language project. And so what we've done is curate the designers with that project.  And then on Saturday night we've got a dozen more designers from treaty seven, treaty eight, treaty six. We've got a couple of special guests coming in from nations the U.S., and that's down at our new central library. So we're looking at about 500 people that night. And if you think of a runway in or New York or France or anything like that Otapiaaki puts on that kind of showcase and these designers come with that caliber of work. MW: So you mentioned that this started as a classroom project obviously what you've described is much bigger. What was the original classroom project? PD: Well, Justin

Trailer · Thu, October 17, 2019

Teaching Strides is back!

Subscribe wherever you podcast! For more information, visit teachingstrides.ca

S3 E6 · Mon, October 07, 2019

Season 3, Episode 6: Integrating Research into the Science Curriculum

Dr. Trevor Day Dr. Trevor Day holds a B.Sc. and a Ph.D. from the University of Calgary. He is an Associate Professor of Physiology at Mount Royal University, where he teaches courses in basic and applied human physiology. His research interests include the integration and interactions between the heart, lungs, brain and kidneys in response to stressors. Professor Day is a recipient of the MRU "Distinguished Faculty Award" and the Faculty of Science and Technology "Excellence in Research and Scholarship Award", the American Physiological Society "ADInstruments Macknight Early Career Innovative Educator Award", the Canadian Science Writers Association "Science in Society Communication Award.”

S3 E5 · Mon, October 07, 2019

Season 3, Episode 5: A Cross-institutional, Community-engaged Civic Innovation Course

Dr. Catherine Pearl Dr. Catherine Pearl teaches in the Department of Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation at Mount Royal University. She spent nearly twenty years in industry and ran a registered charity that operated as a social enterprise. She holds a PhD in Social Work from the University of Calgary. Professor Pearl designs teaching and learning experiences that are interactive and experiential. Over the past two years Professor Pearl has designed and piloted 3 of the 9 courses that comprise MRU’s minor in Social Innovation: Facilitating Social Innovation, Social Enterprising, and Civic Innovation. Her recent research explores social entrepreneurship among millennials, case studies on social enterprise, and inter-professional practice and perceptions between social work and business students.

S3 E4 · Mon, October 07, 2019

Season 3, Episode 4: A First Year Course Re-design

Dr. Julie Booke Dr. Julie Booke is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health and Physical Education at Mount Royal University. She completed her PhD in Workplace and Adult Learning in the Graduate Division of Educational Research at the University of Calgary. Her teaching interests are leadership, recreation program planning, and issues & trends within the field of sport and recreation. Her research explores the impact of the Respect in Sport program on parent behaviour in youth sport, and the timing of major selection on student success and retention in university.

S3 E3 · Mon, October 07, 2019

Season 3, Episode 3: Humour in Nursing Education

Dr. Mohamed El-Hussein Dr. Mohamed El-Hussein is an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Mount Royal University. Recipient of the MRU Distinguished Faculty Award Professor El-Hussein earned his PhD in Nursing at the University of Calgary. His research program focuses on innovative teaching approaches for enhancing critical thinking in students; his scholarly publications and presentations highlight teaching strategies that help students deconstruct complex ideas.

S3 E2 · Mon, October 07, 2019

Season 3, Episode 2: A Modified Flipped Classroom

Dr. Sarah Hewitt Dr. Sarah Hewitt is an associate professor in the Biology Department at Mount Royal University, where she specializes in neuroscience and physiology. Three years ago, she started to use a modified flipped classroom to teach first year physiology and produced a series of concept maps and video lectures for the course. This led to a wider research project on using flipped classrooms in teaching physiology, and together with Michelle Yeo and Joanne Bouma from Mount Royal University, they won the TransCanada SoTL Grant in 2016. Some of the findings from this work have been presented at the University of British Columbia Okanagan in Kelowna, at a SoTL symposium in Banff, and at EuroSoTL in Lund, Sweden.

S3 E1 · Mon, October 07, 2019

Season 3, Episode 1: Indigenizing University Education

Dr. Liam Haggarty Dr. Liam Haggarty is an associate professor of Indigenous Studies in the Department of Humanities and Coordinator of Indigenization for the Division of Academic Affairs. He is a settler scholar originally from Victoria, BC, unceded Coast and Straits Salish territory, where he received his BA and MA from the University of Victoria. He completed his PhD at the University of Saskatchewan in Treaty 6 territory before arriving at Mount Royal University in 2011. His research focuses on Indigenous education and cross-cultural relationship building as necessary elements of Indigenization and reconciliation in Canada today. Dr. Jennifer Pettit Dr. Jennifer Pettit is a Full Professor in Indigenous Studies and History and Interim Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Mount Royal University. Her research in Indigenous history and Canadian history has been funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the Department of Canadian Heritage. As an advocate for experiential and service learning, Professor Pettit is a multi-award winning educator, having been recognized with the MERLOT Classic Award for History, the prestigious Pierre Berton Award, four Teaching Excellence Awards from the Mount Royal Students’ Association, two Distinguished Faculty Awards, and an Award for Teaching Innovation from the Alberta Colleges and Institutes Faculty Association.

Trailer · Mon, October 07, 2019

Season 3 Promo

A preview of Teaching Strides season 3.

Bonus · Mon, October 07, 2019

Special Episode

Professor Mark Lafave Professor Mark Lafave is a professor in Athletic Therapy at Mount Royal University. His PhD was in the realm of measurement and evaluation. His research has included studying competency development primarily using a psychometric approach. Recently he started to employ a mixed methodological approach in his SoTL research. His current research interests include competency development with undergraduate students and bridging theory to practice for professional programs like Athletic Therapy. Professor Michelle Yeo Professor Michelle Yeo is an Associate Professor at Mount Royal University, with a PhD in Education. She has worked as a faculty developer in the Academic Development Centre since 2007, specializing in curriculum, and working to support faculty members in their teaching practice. She conducts educational higher education research and Scholarship of Teaching and Learning on student and faculty experience of teaching and learning, and faculty development in SoTL. Recent SoTL projects focus on curriculum transformations. Professor Yeo is the newly appointed Director of the Institute for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at Mount Royal University. Professor Sally Haney Professor Sally Haney teaches journalism in the School of Communications at Mount Royal University. A Nexen scholar, her research on the use of personalized learning plans in capstone courses was recently published in the Journal, Teaching Journalism and Mass Communications. She's also involved in a (Transcanada) collaborative research project that seeks to better understand how journalism students navigate ethics. The first leg of that research was recently published in the international journal - Journalism.

S2 E6 · Mon, October 07, 2019

Season 2, Episode 6: Richard Harrison - Writing Your Own Poems is Stepping out of Your Way

Professor Richard Harrison Richard Harrison teaches Creative Writing, Essay Writing, and Comics and Graphic Novels in the Department of English, Languages, and Cultures at Mount Royal University. He is the author, co-author, or editor of eight books, including, with Lee Easton, Secret Identity Reader: Essays on Sex, Death, and the Superhero, and 6 books of poetry, among them the Governor-General's Award nominated, Big Breath of a Wish , poems about how we learn to talk, and Hero of the Play, poems in the language of hockey and the first book of poetry launched at the Hockey Hall of Fame. His most recent book, set here in his life in Alberta, is entitled On Not Losing My Father's Ashes in the Flood. Richard is most recently a recipient of Mount Royal University’s Distinguished Faculty Award (2015) and Effective Team Award (2016).

S2 E5 · Mon, October 07, 2019

Season 2, Episode 5: The Power of Vulnerability, the Veracity of Experience

Paul Brandt Paul Brandt is the most awarded male Canadian Country singer in history. His 11 career albums have spawned hit singles, multiple Album of the Year Awards, gold, platinum, and multi-platinum performances. As a recipient of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Award, and numerous other national and regional humanitarian nods, Paul is committed to meeting the needs of the world's poor through his Buckspring Foundation. Paul is currently Mount Royal University's "Storyteller in Residence", working alongside the Bissett School of Business on Social and Business enterprise projects using the power of story.

S2 E4 · Mon, October 07, 2019

Season 2, Episode 4: Reversing Roles for Learner Engagement—Students Assess Their Teachers

Janice Miller-Young Janice Miller-Young completed her BSc in Mechanical Engineering and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering (Biomechanics) from the University of Calgary. At Mount Royal University, she designed and delivered courses in both the (former) Engineering transfer program and General Education. Professor Miller-Young strongly believes in the importance of experiential learning and student-centered learning environments. She integrates into her teaching such creative pedagogical devices as a problem-based ‘CSI project’, the flipped classroom, and active learning. Her research focuses on teaching and learning, in particular, helping students increase their learning by making certain concepts and processes explicit and narrowing the gap between novice and expert thinking. Professor Miller-Young served as the Director of the Institute for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at Mount Royal University from 2013-2016.

S2 E3 · Mon, October 07, 2019

Season 2, Episode 3: Indigenizing Education—A Blackfoot Artist's Journey

Cowboy Smithx Cowboy Smithx is a filmmaker, writer, radio host, and performing artist from the Piikani and Kainai tribes of the Blackfoot Confederacy. Through his role as the Artistic Director of the Iiniistsi Treaty Arts Society, Cowboy Smithx serves as an advisor to the Indigenizing Education Initiative at Mount Royal University. Cowboy Smithx is also the founder and curator of REDx Talks and host of the Silent X Podcast.

S2 E2 · Mon, October 07, 2019

Season 2, Episode 2: Believing in Students' Capacity—Paying Attention to Pedagogical Moments

Professor Scott Hughes Scott Hughes is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Education at Mount Royal University. He holds a Doctorate degree in Education from Queen’s University. His teaching interests are in music, the arts, language and literacy, and the early primary grades. His research explores the pedagogical conditions that promote children’s happiness at school and in learning. Prior to joining the Mount Royal faculty, Professor Hughes taught Kindergarden to Grade 2, for over 20 years with the Vancouver School Board.

S2 E1 · Mon, October 07, 2019

Season 2, Episode 1: Learning to Teach is an Act of Letting Go

Margy MacMillan Margy MacMillan is a Full Professor in the Library at Mount Royal University. She has been bringing people and information together at Mount Royal since 1990. A laureate of the Mount Royal Distinguished Faculty Teaching Awards, Professor MacMillan connects people with information and each other, and helps them learn to use information resources more effectively. Known by colleagues to have loads of fun at work, Professor MacMillan is engaged in teaching, research, and initiatives such as Triads, a peer-collaboration, mentoring, and support program for Mount Royal faculty. Her current teaching and scholarship interests focus on helping students read academic articles, and using data from the Assessment Seminar, series of interviews, to better understand how students develop disciplinary identities.

Trailer · Mon, October 07, 2019

Season 2 Promo

Get a preview of the episodes in season 2 of Teaching Strides.

S1 E5 · Mon, October 07, 2019

Season 1, Episode 5: Debriefing and Peer Feedback

Professor Deanna Wiebe Deanna Wiebe serves as both a Faculty member and a Flight Instructor in the Aviation program at Mount Royal University. A graduate of the program in 2001, Professor Wiebe returned to MRU in 2009 to assume the role of Chief Flight Instructor. Her graduate research focused on “Creating a Supportive Environment for Student Learning.” In 2013, Deanna Wiebe became Assistant Professor in the department of General Management, Human Resources, and Aviation at MRU. Prof Deanna Wiebe - 3206 LOFT #4 Assignment

S1 E4 · Mon, October 07, 2019

Season 1, Episode 4: The Classroom as a Community of Learners

Professor Jennifer Solinas Jennifer Solinas has been teaching at Mount Royal University for four years. Professor Solinas is a contract faculty member with a full-time course load who works on several committees, and has completed the Certificate of Achievement in Photography at MRU. While her background is in Criminology and Restorative Justice, Professor Solinas now enjoys teaching courses related to community and society issues. Her students attest that she encourages them not only to think but to also work “outside of the box."

S1 E3 · Mon, October 07, 2019

Season 1, Episode 3: Teaching Personally Challenging Material

Professor Ada Jaarsma Ada Jaarsma is Associate Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Humanities at Mount Royal University. A recipient of the MRU Distinguished Faculty Award, Dr. Jaarsma is increasingly interested in the connections between how we teach and what we teach. With the support of a Teaching & Learning Inquiry Grant from the Academic Development Centre at MRU, she developed a research project with two MRU students that explores these connections in the context of Philosophy. Course on Philosophy and Race Epigenetics available on Dr. Ada Jaarsma's Academia Site https://www.academia.edu/24847090/Continental_Philosophy_and_Race_Epigenetics_Eugenics_Evidence_syllabus_and_handouts_ Relevant Publication Jaarsma, A.S., Kinaschuk, K., & Xing, L., 2015 "Kierkegaard, Despair, and the Possibility of Education: Teaching Existentialism Existentially." http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11217-015-9488-x (Research supported by an ADC Teaching & Learning Inquiry Grant) Professor Ada Jaarsma's Personal Website www.adajaarsma.com Prof Ada Jaarsma - Genealogy exercise

S1 E2 · Mon, October 07, 2019

Season 1, Episode 2: Visual Thinking

Professor Glenn Ruhl Dr. Glenn Ruhl is a Full Professor in, and former Chair of, the Information Design program in the Faculty of Communication Studies at Mount Royal University. His industry experience includes serving as Education Program Manager for the Environmental Services Association of Alberta and as the Executive Director for the Canadian Plastics Industry Association (West). He is a member of the International Institute for Information Design. In 2012, he received Mount Royal University’s Distinguished Faculty Award. Interesting infographic examples: http://www.designyourway.net/blog/inspiration/a-collection-of-infographics-that-are-actually-well-designed/ http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/best-infographics-2015 https://www.mtroyal.ca/AboutMountRoyal/MediaRoom/Newsroom/MRU-Student-Help-Patients.htm

Bonus · Mon, October 07, 2019

Original Theme Song

Professor Trevor Day Trevor Day earned a Ph.D. in Respiratory Neurobiology (University of Calgary) and is currently an Associate Professor of Physiology in the Department of Biology at Mount Royal University. His research interests include the integration and interactions between the heart, lungs and brain in response to stressors in humans (e.g., body position, high altitude, sedentary behaviour). Trevor is a multiple-award-winning scholar, notably a recipient of the MRU Distinguished Faculty Award, and most recently a NSERC Discovery grant. As a musician, Trevor collaborates on various projects, including live science-music productions with veteran science broadcaster Jay Ingram and his band the “Free Radicals.” Steve Dodd Steve Dodd is a Calgary-based composer who has written roughly a thousand pieces for films, documentaries and network television shows worldwide. Josip Vulic Josip Vulic is a Calgary-born musician who was raised by very musical Croatian parents within the Croatian community. For 17 years, he has been the local, traditional wedding singer for this community. He credits his family and the Croatian community for all his creative ways. He continues to perform as a vocalist, bassist, and guitarist in a number of groups within the Calgary music scene.

S1 E1 · Wed, October 02, 2019

Episode 1: Research Posters to Scaffold Essay Writing

Professor Karen Manarin Dr. Karen Manarin is Professor of English and General Education at Mount Royal University. A recipient of MRU’s Distinguished Faculty Award, Dr. Manarin’s teaching and research interests include how people read, and undergraduate research. Her coauthored book Critical Reading in Higher Education: Academic Goals and Social Engagement explores how students read in four, very different, required, first-year courses, from scientific literacy through composition. Dr. Manarin talks about research posters in a Teaching and Learning Inquiry article published in 2016 entitled, “Interpreting Undergraduate Research Posters in the Literature Classroom.” http://tlijournal.com/tli/index.php/TLI/article/view/128