Among the challenges presented by remote learning is the need to accurately assess each students’ progress and provide timely, constructive feedback that helps them identify their strengths and address their weaknesses—a challenge that’s compounded in higher education settings by large class sizes and complex concepts that call on higher order thinking skills.
When science educator Carol Brown started developing materials to teach about vaccines and information literacy in K-12 classrooms, she brought in a special consultant to help with creating resources for younger elementary children: her four-and-a-half-year-old son.
Twenty months into the coronavirus pandemic, the Education community—indeed, the entire province—is not as far along as we might have hoped in returning to a sense of normalcy, but there are compensations.
As part of its commitment to transformative teaching and learning, the Faculty of Education is proud to announce the launch of a new certificate, the Graduate Certificate in Educational Studies (GCES). The GCES provides the opportunity for working educational professionals to pursue studies in the disciplinary focus of their choice, using a cohort model to facilitate the development of professional learning communities.
University can be a big adjustment for many students, but Monique Makokis-Lee admits she wasn’t quite ready for all the challenges awaiting her when she enrolled in the U of A’s bachelor of education program in 2017. A member of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation who was raised in Wetaskiwin, Makokis-Lee says she found the transition from a small reserve school to the U of A and the distance from her family and community overwhelming. Reluctantly, she withdrew from the BEd program.
Congratulations to the following Education faculty members, staff and students who have achieved distinction and have recently been acknowledged for their impactful work, both within and beyond the academic community.
The University of Alberta delivers the top nursing education in Canada and has the third best education program, according to the Maclean’s 2022 Canadian University Rankings.
Jodi Harding-Kuriger says she can’t point to a particular formative experience that compelled her to pursue health and physical education (HPE) as the focus of her academic journey.
“I just love to move. [In physical education] you get to dance, you get to do gymnastics and play games, you get to be inside and outside, you can focus on team or individual sports,” she said. “I just love the variety and the feeling you get when you’re moving with others is so wonderful I just want to share it with everyone.”
Preservice teachers will get a preview of what anti-oppression education looks like through a pilot course this fall, the precursor to a required course launching in 2022 as part of a package of undergraduate program renewal changes.
Second language education professor Bill Dunn was looking for a way to enliven an online class he was teaching during the pandemic. By taking advantage of a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) program with the University of Paderborn in Germany, he was able to create a more enriching learning experience, but it turned out to be a worthwhile professional development experience for him as well.
Michelle Lavoie wanted to find new ways to mentor 2SLGBTQ+ youth and young adults through art practice. Her research using narrative inquiry methodology yielded hundreds of creative works and new insights into co-created, dialogic, non-hierarchical ways of thinking and knowing. It also earned Lavoie one of the most prestigious academic awards a Canadian student can receive.
Faculty of Education Magazine
