Moving from content and memorization, to critical thinking and applied learning: an experiment in blended learning in the traditional Biochemistry classroom
Principal Investigator: Eden Fussner-Dupas, Assistant Professor of Teaching, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Project description Biochemistry is a content-heavy, dense discipline. Learning the intricate details of an ever-advancing understanding of biochemical reactions, pathways and mechanisms that drives biology; is increasingly more challenging within the conventional didactic course format. Emerging evidence supports delivering information-dense STEM […]
Does offering students a choice of assessment help them learn?
Principal Investigator: Roland Fletcher, Assistant Professor of Teaching, Department of Physical Therapy Project description In 2022, I introduced the option of giving students a choice of assessment for the Pain Science content. After the module, I sent out a brief survey to try and understand why students picked their specific assessment method. For this project, […]
Literacy Narrative: An Essential Tool to Raise Students’ Genre Awareness
Principal Investigator: Nazih El-Bezre, Lecturer, The School of Journalism, Writing, and Media Project description Recent studies have pointed out that online learning during Covid-19 has had a negative impact on first year university students’ reflective thinking (e.g., Farahian et al., 2021). They have also suggested that these students’ reflective writing tends to be superficial. In […]
Evaluating and refining pedagogical strategies implemented in a new UBC capstone design course
Principal Investigator: Zeina Baalbaki, Lecturer, Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering & Civil Engineering Project description The Environmental Engineering (ENVL) Capstone course (ENVE 401), delivered for first time this year, is a part of the new ENVL program launched in 2020. ENVE 401 requires 4th-year students to apply previously acquired skills while working on an […]
Perceptions of Journalism Students of Journalism
Principal Investigator: Saranaz Barforoush, Assistant Professor of Teaching, School of Journalism, Writing, and Media Project description Since I started teaching core classes in journalism education, I have always asked my students the first day ” why they want to do journalism ” each year the amount of students interested in doing journalism for the traditional […]
Perception Experiments of Automated Writing Evaluation and Grammatical Error Correction Tools for L2 English Learning Students
Principal Investigator: Jungyeul Park, Lecturer, Department of Linguistics Project description L2 instructors and students believe that the teachers are not doing their job if they do not provide feedback on the essays from students (Cho, 2018). Automated writing evaluation (AWE) and grammatical error correction (GEC) tools may offer potential solutions for reducing the workload for […]
Impact of ICARE Framework on Student Learning in an Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program
Project Investigator: Nassim Adhami, Lecturer, School of Nursing Project description I have used the ICARE pedagogical framework as a teaching/learning tool for my undergraduate courses to improve student experiences. Improvements in student experiences is defined as students’ perceptions of feeling supported in their learning and being able to apply theory learnt in one class to […]
Deconstructing cutting edge biomedical research
Project Investigator: Sally Osborne, Associate Professor of Teaching, Department of Cellular and Physiological Studies Project description We are introducing a new course for second year students in the Faculty of Science at UBC in order to expose students early to the scientific process, demystify and humanize science, provide exposure to accomplished research faculty within the […]
Evaluating the impact of humanities coursework on students’ practical reasoning and theory of mind: A preliminary study in Philosophy
Project Investigator: Michael Griffin, Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy Project description How can we measure the effects of undergraduate study in the humanities on students’ critical thinking, self-esteem, and capacity to empathize with others – qualities often associated with the mission of the university to “educate global citizens”? Can (and should) qualities like these be […]
Examining the success of VANT140 tutorials in supporting international students’ English development
Project Investigator: Sandra Zappa-Hollman, Associate Professor, Language and Literacy Education Project description This project aims to investigate to what extent the content-and-language enriched tutorials (CLET) known as “VANT 140” offered through the UBC Vantage College International Program achieve the intended goals of helping non-native English speaking students to further develop their academic English proficiency, better […]