THE GWENNA MOSS CENTRE
FOR TEACHING EFFECTIVENESS
May 2012, Volume 10, No. 3
Bridges
Reflecting the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning at the University of Saskatchewan
IT’S OUR BIRTHDAY
5
The University Learning Centre is
By Jim Greer, Director, ULC
Five short years ago, in 2007, the
University Learning Centre was
brought into existence with high
hopes and grand plans. It was borne
out of the First Integrated Plan and I
had the honour of being appointed
its first Director. The ULC was
constructed as an umbrella centre,
incorporating several academic
student support services with
academic teaching support services
already existing in the Gwenna
Moss Centre.
The administrative relationship
between the ULC and the Gwenna
Moss Centre has been the source of
some confusion – both are Centres,
both are housed in the Murray
Building, both are led by the same
Director, and both are interested in
Learning and Teaching. To further
complicate the picture, the Centre
for Discovery in Learning, a research
centre devoted to the scholarship
of teaching and learning, was also
added into the mix. With three
centres in one, where one (the ULC)
overarches the three, but all three
operate as equal partners with
unique mandates is some sense,
it became clear that one needed
to be a scholar in Catholicism to
really understand the three-in-one
relationship!
As the years passed, the ULC /
GMCTE / CDL have evolved as equal
partners. The ULC normally refers
to our student-learning mission,
where programming touches
undergraduate and graduate
students directly. The GMCTE
normally refers to the teaching side
of our operations, where we support
the development of academic
courses, programs and offer support
for teachers whether they be faculty,
sessionals or graduate students.
The CDL draws together a group
of researchers interested in the
scholarship of teaching and
learning (SoTL).
The ULC in 2012-13 has 9.4
permanent staff positions. These
include specialists in experiential
learning, community service learning,
writing help, mathematics help,
distributed learning help, mentorship,
and general learning strategies. The
GMCTE in 2012-13 has 9.5 permanent
staff positions. These include
specialists in curriculum innovation,
instructional design, faculty
development, and graduate student
teacher training, and professional
development. The CDL has no staff
positions and has no formal budget at
this time. It operates on the volunteer
activity of faculty and staff from various
units and is supported financially and
administratively by the GMCTE.
There is only one academic faculty
position (mine), yet most of the
professional staff in the unit hold PhD
or Masters degrees and many pursue
academic work (research and teaching)
as they can. Some would be good
candidates for adjunct faculty positions
within various UofS departments, but
a quirk in our collective agreements
discourages this practice now.
The ULC, in its very short life so far, has
made great strides in creating a better
learning environment for students.
The PAL Peer Mentor program is a
signature program where nearly 100
talented undergraduate students
join our ranks to extend our capacity
to reach the thousands of students
who seek help each year. In addition
the ULC employs several graduate
and undergraduate student tutors to
support the academic help needs of
students visiting our writing and math
help centres. Programs and initiatives
www.usask.ca/gmcte
Continued form page 1
MAY 2012
VOL. 10 NO. 3
The Gwenna Moss Centre for
Teaching Effectiveness
University of Saskatchewan
Room 50 Murray Building
3 Campus Drive
Saskatoon, SK S7N 5A4
Phone 306 • 966 • 2231
Fax 306 • 966 • 2242
Web site: www.usask.ca/gmcte
Bridges is distributed to every teacher
at the University of Saskatchewan and
to all teaching centres in Canada, and
some beyond. It is also available on
our web site.
Please consider submitting an article
or opinion piece to Bridges. Your
contribution will reach a wide local,
national, and international audience.
Contact any one of the following
people; we’d be delighted to hear
from you:
and special projects undertaken by the ULC have been instrumental in fostering
innovation. The Learning Communities program, a term-funded project, has had
a dramatic effect on first-year students’ successful transition and engagement,
planting the seeds for wider scale curricular integration in academic programs in
the future. Similarly, Community Service-Learning programming, and now other
experiential learning initiatives incubated in the ULC, are steadily finding their way
into academic programs. Writing support and English language support based in
the ULC is seeking new partnerships in academic units to foster writing across the
curriculum. The ULC is coming to be known as a greenhouse where innovation can
be planted and nurtured and ultimately transplanted into academic homes.
The hallmark of the ULC to date has been partnerships and cooperative
collaboration. We work alongside the GMCTE and CDL to achieve our common
mission and vision. We partner in some way with nearly every academic and
administrative unit on campus. We work with dozens of external partner
organizations, individuals and alumni. We work with hundreds of faculty and staff
from across the University. And finally, we work with thousands of students in
myriad ways to improve their university experience.
We clearly have a short tradition, yet are laden with great expectations.
Happy birthday, University Learning Centre!
About the
GMCTE.....
Jim Greer
Director, ULC and GMCTE
Phone 306 • 966 • 2234
jim.greer@usask.ca
Brad Wuetherick
Program Director
Academic Editor (Bridges)
Phone 306 • 966 • 1804
brad.wuetherick@usask.ca
Christine Anderson
Managing Editor (Bridges)
Phone 306 • 966 • 1950
christine.anderson@usask.ca
Corinne Fasthuber
Assistant GMCTE
Phone 306 • 966 •2231
corinne.fasthuber@usask.ca
Views expressed in Bridges are those of the
individual authors and are not necessarily
those of the staff at the GMCTE.
The staff at the Gwenna Moss Centre
for Teaching Effectiveness welcomes everyone
at the University of Saskatchewan to visit
the Centre and take advantage of our large
selection of professional development events,
courses, resources, and services.
Please visit our website to find out more about our services
and resources for new faculty, experienced faculty, sessional
lecturers, and graduate students who teach.
ISSN 1703-1222
www.usask.ca/gmcte
2
Bridges, Vol. 10, No. 3
Mindful Veterinary Practice
By P.M. Dowling, DVM, MSc, Western College of Veterinary Medicine
It’s near the end of another busy day
at the Western College of Veterinary
Medicine (WCVM). If you are walking by
the Alberta Room on the third floor and
look in, you may see the tables, couches
and chairs pushed back to the walls and
20 veterinary students are sitting silently
or lying motionless on the carpeted floor.
This can go on for anywhere from 10 to
45 minutes at a stretch. This looks a little
crazy and you might wonder why the vet
students aren’t doing anything. Actually,
they are very hard at work practicing
non-doing. They are actively turning in
to the present moment, training to focus
their attention and awareness from one
moment to the next. They are practicing
mindfulness. These 3rd year students are
taking my Mindful Veterinary Practice
(MVP) elective.
Mindfulness in Medicine:
Patients and Practitioners
“…the faculty of bringing back
a wandering attention, over and
over again, is the root of judgment,
character and will. No one is compos
sui (master of one's self ) if he have
it not. An education which should
improve this faculty would be the
education par excellence. But it is
easier to define this ideal than to give
practical directions to bring it about.”
William James wrote these words in
his 1890 textbook: The Principles of
Psychology. Ninety years later, Jon
Kabat-Zinn solved James’ dilemma by
developing the Mindfulness Based
Stress Reduction (MBSR) program at the
University of Massachusetts Medical
Center. Kabat-Zinn initiated the program
as a practical way to train attention and
facilitate life balance and self-care in both
patients and health care professionals.1
The practice of “mindfulness” means
paying attention on purpose, in the
present moment, nonjudgmentally.
Mindfulness practices activate neural
circuits in the left prefrontal cortex,
Bridges, Vol. 10, No. 3
lowering reactivity to challenging
experiences. They increase the ability to
notice, observe, and experience bodily
sensations, thoughts, and feelings even
though they may be unpleasant. They
also strengthen the ability to act with
awareness and attention, in contrast to
being on “autopilot”. The documented
benefits of mindfulness training for
health care students and professionals
include reduced psychological distress,
increased empathy, increased working
memory capacity and attention,
improved patient care and reduced
medical errors.2 More than 100 North
euthanasia, client grief, compassion
fatigue, treatment failure, surgical
challenges, difficult clients, interpersonal
conflicts, and medical errors. These
stressors put both veterinary students
and practitioners at high risk for mental,
physical and emotional fatigue and for
substance abuse.3,4 These negative affects
appear to significantly increase the risk of
suicide by veterinarians.5 Our overall rate
of suicide is approximate four times that
of the general population and twice that
of medical doctors and dentists. There is
a gender effect, as female veterinarians
are more than 7 times more likely to
“…a human mind is a wandering mind,
and a wandering mind is an unhappy mind.
The ability to think about what is not
happening is a cognitive achievement
that comes at an emotional cost.”
M.A. Killingsworth
American medical schools integrate
various forms of MBSR programs into
their curricula and continuing education
programs. The MVP elective is the first
MBSR program in a veterinary college
curriculum.
Stress in Veterinary Medicine
“We must face up to the fact that
our medical training programs hurt
people.” M. S. Krasner, MD
Similar to a medical curriculum, the
veterinary medical curriculum is a
rigorous academic program whose heavy
workload and intense time demands
cause significant stress in students.
Stressors in the clinical years and in
veterinary practice include long work
hours, lack of control over workload,
emergencies, unexpected deaths,
3
die from suicide than individuals in the
general population. Although successful
and resilient veterinary students and
veterinarians set realistic expectations
and cultivate positive psychological
coping mechanisms on their own that
enable them to succeed both in school
and in their careers, veterinary medical
education itself has tended to ignore
training in self-care skills.
The 2003 University of Saskatchewan’s
Student Health Centre needs assessment
reported that 75.4% of third year
veterinary students in the sample
surveyed rated themselves “highly to
overwhelmed by stress”, while only
35% of students from other colleges
categorized themselves as having
this level of stress (Unpublished data,
Herman et al., 2003). These findings
prompted the 2008 study, “Student Stress
www.usask.ca/gmcte
in Veterinary Medicine: Examining the
College’s Role,” conducted by Student
Counseling Services, which further
documented problematic stress levels
among veterinary students (Unpublished
data, Herman et al., 2008). Their report
concluded with a recommendation
that the WCVM offer students ways to
increase their range of coping skills.
Across North America, veterinary schools
have begun making changes in their
programs to develop and strengthen
emotional competencies and coping
skills of their students. However, there is
still little indication that these program
changes are being adequately assessed.
Timmins6 makes a plea for outcome
assessment: “There is a significant risk
in imposing new programs on students
without careful attention to gathering
data that will inform the profession about
the effectiveness of these activities. The
concern is not just the possible waste
of resources but also the potential to
frustrate and alienate future practitioners
if errant programs do not deliver on their
promises. It is reasonable for veterinary
educators to apply the same critical
analysis of new techniques for teaching
emotional competencies that they
apply to the teaching of new orthopedic
procedures or therapeutic protocols.” As
part of the revised WCVM curriculum
in 2010, a variety of elective courses
began to be offered in the third year. This
opportunity sparked the development
of the Mindful Veterinary Practice (MVP)
elective and I obtained funding from
the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching
Effectiveness (GMCTE) to assess the
effects of MVP on specific aspects of
students’ attentional functioning and selfreported mindfulness.
The Mindful Veterinary
Practice Elective
Show up.
Pay Attention.
Tell the truth, without
judgment or blame.
Don’t be attached to outcome.
Angeles Arrien, The Four-Fold Way
The MVP elective draws on the
curriculum of a Mindfulness Based
Stress Reduction (MBSR) program. It is
customized for veterinary students by
including components of the Mindful
Practice program, a series of modules
presented to third year medical students
and residents, developed by faculty
of the University of Rochester Medical
School. Before signing up for the elective,
students must commit themselves to
attending an hour and a half class twice
weekly and to doing 45 minutes of
homework each day. Since this course
is unlike any other course in their
curriculum, they are frequently unsure
about it. When students ask, “What is the
goal of this? I mean, what is it that we are
striving for?” my answer is to just “do it”
for 7 weeks and then judge whether or
not the mindfulness training was useful.
Students are given a course manual and
each session includes a short didactic
presentation and supporting references
on that week’s theme. Topics include:
(1) stress and its effects in
veterinary students and
practicing veterinarians,
(2) psychological and
neurophysiological mechanisms
of mindfulness,
(3) awareness of thoughts and
feelings, perceptual biases and filters,
(4) dealing with pleasant and
unpleasant events,
(5) managing conflict,
(6) preventing burnout,
(7) reflecting on meaningful
experiences in practice,
(8) setting boundaries,
(9) exploring self-care, and
(10) being with suffering.
students practice four methods of
intrapersonal self-awareness:
(1) the body scan: systematically
noticing bodily sensations and the
cognitive and emotional reactions to
the sensations without attempting to
change the sensations themselves,
(2) sitting meditation: bringing
nonjudgmental awareness to the
thoughts, feelings, and sensations
experienced,
(3) walking meditation: slow,
deliberate, and attentive walking
while bringing awareness to the
experience, and
(4) mindful movement: simple
hatha yoga exercises to slowly and
methodically explore the sensory,
emotional, and cognitive aspects of
the body in motion.
In between exercises, the group
discusses the effects of the mindfulness
practices on various aspects of their lives,
including management of pain or injury,
eating, sleeping, personal relationships
and conflicts, time and information
technology management. In addition to
the 45 minutes of daily formal practice,
students are also asked to try a variety
of informal practices during their daily
routines, such as mindful eating.
“…a human mind is a wandering
mind, and a wandering mind is an
unhappy mind. The ability to think
about what is not happening is
a cognitive achievement that
comes at an emotional cost.”
M.A. Killingsworth
Initially, the veterinary students are quite
concerned with “getting it right” and
“When you are thirsty, you don’t
about having a “good” meditation as
read a book about drinking.”
compared to a “bad” one. These highly
Jean-Pierre de Caussade
competitive, high scholastic achievers
quickly realize that keeping their
The themes provide the rationale for
attention focused on their breath is not
the experiential exercises that take
so easy, and that the mind has a life of its
up most of the class time. The goal of
mindfulness training is to strike a balance own. Like a Golden Retriever puppy that
one is training to sit, the mind easily gets
between a vigilant and relaxed state of
mind, teaching students to notice subtle distracted and wanders off. Mindfulness
distractions (thoughts, feelings, emotions, is that moment of recognition that the
mind has wandered; and like training
bodily sensations) while repeatedly
a puppy, the instruction is to kindly
bringing attention back to an object of
and firmly bring it back to the focus of
focus (the breath). With my guidance,
4
Bridges, Vol. 10, No. 3
Mindfulness is that moment of recognition that the mind has wandered;
and like training a puppy, the instruction is to kindly and firmly bring
it back to the focus of attention. Over and over again.
attention. Over and over again. Veterinary
students find it difficult to just be present
to how it is in the moment without
wanting things to be different. As they
learn to attend to the present moment,
they realize how much mental time they
are spending “rehearsing and rehashing”
their lives. Their most difficult practice is
invariably mindful eating; these young
people don’t know how to just eat. They
eat and read email, eat and talk, eat and
text, eat and watch television. Mindful
eating practice evokes awareness of how
food really tastes and smells, how they
can notice a feeling of fullness before
overeating, and what it is that they really
like or dislike about a particular food.
Assessing the Effects of
Mindfulness Training
To document the effects of mindfulness
training in veterinary students, I
collaborated with Amishi Jha, PhD, a
psychologist and attention researcher at
the University of Miami. I met Dr. Jha at
the 2009 UMass Mindfulness Research
Conference, where she presented
the benefits of mindfulness training
on attention and working memory
capacity in a group more conservative
and even more affected by stress than
veterinarians: a unit of United States
Marines about to deploy to Iraq.7 If
Amishi could take on the US Marine
Corps, I knew I could find the courage to
introduce this program to the veterinary
profession. With the support of the
WCVM’s new Dean, Dr. Doug Freeman,
and the Associate Dean, Academic, Dr.
Bruce Grahn, I developed and gained
approval for the elective course. With the
GMTCE funding, Amishi’s laboratory was
able to assess the students. Students who
took the MVP elective were compared
to a control group of their classmates
who did not. Participants completed
testing before the start of the elective
and at the end of the elective through
the Jha Lab Online Testing Center (www.
Bridges, Vol. 10, No. 3
amishi.com/lab/). Participants were given
versions of the Attention Network Test8,
Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire9
and Ruminative Responses Scale10
adapted for online administration.
After participating in the MVP elective,
veterinary students showed significantly
improved self-reported trait mindfulness,
as well as reduced rumination and
enhanced attentional functioning. Our
findings suggest that the physical and
mental awareness practices in MVP
improve students’ control in processing
self-referential thought and conscious
detection of mind wandering. Such
increased control improves attention.
Mindfulness practice by veterinary
students, as for other health care
professionals, improves mood which also
improves cognitive function.
Ongoing Mindful
Veterinary Practice
The MVP elective is now in its third year.
With the 20 student limit based on the
size of the Alberta Room, the course
fills rapidly. In the college, some of the
reactions to the MVP class were initially
negative: “What do you mean, they are
teaching yoga in veterinary school?!” I
supply healthy snacks and juice boxes
to help students keep their energy up at
the end of the day, which resulted in the
course being referred to as “Dowling’s
Little Cult”. Nevertheless, the explosion
of documented benefits of mindfulness
practices in the scientific literature and
the positive feedback from the elective
participants has changed negative initial
impressions of MVP. Former participants
report back about mindful walking
between examination rooms, taking
a breath and being fully present to an
interaction with a patient and client,
and being better able to direct attention
broadly (scan the entire treatment
room to notice any animal in distress)
or precisely (put in the catheter without
being distracted by someone doing the
5
chest compressions). Quantitatively and
qualitatively, Mindful Veterinary Practice
demonstrates the significant potential
of mindfulness training for improving
the emotional and cognitive abilities of
veterinary students and for providing
some protection from stress and burnout
in a very demanding profession.
References
1. Kabat-Zinn J. Full Catastrophe Living: Using the
Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain,
and Illness New York: Dell Publishing, 1990.
2. Irving JA, Dobkin PL, Park J. Cultivating
mindfulness in health care professionals: a review
of empirical studies of mindfulness-based stress
reduction (MBSR). Complement Ther Clin Pract
2009;15:61-66.
3. Hatch PH, Winefield HR, Christie BA, et al.
Workplace stress, mental health, and burnout of
veterinarians in Australia. Aust Vet J 2011;89:460-468.
4. Pickles KJ, Rhind SM, Miller R, et al. Potential
barriers to veterinary student access to counselling
and other support systems: perceptions of staff
and students at a UK veterinary school. Vet Rec
2012;170:124.
5. Bartram DJ, Baldwin DS. Veterinary surgeons and
suicide: a structured review of possible influences
on increased risk. Vet Rec 2010;166:388-397.
6. Timmins RP. How Does Emotional Intelligence Fit
into the Paradigm of Veterinary Medical Education?
J Vet Med Educ 2006;33:71-75.
7. Jha AP, Stanley EA, Kiyonaga A, et al. Examining
the protective effects of mindfulness training on
working memory capacity and affective experience.
Emotion 2010;10:54-64.
8. Fan J, McCandliss BD, Sommer T, et al. Testing
the efficiency and independence of attentional
networks. J Cogn Neurosci 2002;14:340-347.
9. Baer RA, Smith GT, Hopkins J, et al. Using selfreport assessment methods to explore facets of
mindfulness. Assessment 2006;13:27-45.
10. Nolen-Hoeksema S, Morrow J. A prospective study
of depression and posttraumatic stress symptoms after
a natural disaster: the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake.
J Pers Soc Psychol 1991;61:115-121.
www.usask.ca/gmcte
Learning (through) Inquiry
Green Guide Review
By Brad Wuetherick, GMCTE
The Boyer Commission (1998) argued
that to meet the needs of our students,
universities ought to provide research
experiences for every undergraduate
student, beginning with an inquirybased freshman year and culminating in
an inquiry-based capstone experience.
The STLHE Green Guide, Teaching the
Art of Inquiry, is an exceptional tool for
exploring exactly how to do that in a
higher education classroom.
assessment process, this guide has
something of value for all instructors,
academic developers, and administrators
interested in inquiry.
There are inevitable gaps in Teaching the
Art of Inquiry that, if filled, would provide
a more complete resource. Having
used this Green Guide extensively as a
resource for faculty members interested
in innovative pedagogical methods,
This Green Guide can play an important role in
helping make acquiring these skills a reality on
your campus and in your classroom.
Teaching the Art of Inquiry provides a
compelling and practical introduction
to a number of issues, including: what is
inquiry? why is it an effective teaching/
learning method? and, how and where
inquiry can be used effectively? The
answers are provided using examples
drawn from inquiry courses taught
across a diverse range of science, social
science, and humanities courses, and
across all four years of study.
Both authors have extensive experience
using inquiry-based learning in their
teaching. A self-reflective approach,
combined with anecdotal examples
from successful inquiry courses, adds
tremendously to the case for using
inquiry at the undergraduate level.
From exploring the usefulness of a
research workshop to introduce students
to the inquiry process, to the potential
role of peer assessment in the inquiry
I have found that the case for inquiry
would be stronger had the authors
been able to demonstrate evidence
of the impact of inquiry on student
learning. For example, drawing on the
recent work of Justice et al (admittedly
completed after the Green Guide), which
demonstrates explicitly how inquiry
can benefit students’ development,
would add evidence that inquiry is one
of the most powerful pedagogies for
enhancing student learning.
As well, the guide would be improved
if some of the administrative lessons
learned from the Canadian experience
with inquiry could be included. A
number of issues, ranging from
inevitable debates over appropriate
class sizes and the appropriate allocation
of resources, to how to handle the
administrative complexity of having a
team of instructors teaching one section
6
of inquiry, are issues about which faculty
members implementing inquiry-based
learning need to be aware. These lessons
could add an important dimension to
Teaching the Art of Inquiry.
Teaching the Art of Inquiry does not state
that inquiry is the only pedagogical
method that should be employed
with students. In a society embracing
increasing complexity and demanding
the ability to thrive in that complexity
from our university graduates, however,
learning the skills of research and inquiry
have an important role in the future of
undergraduate education in Canada.
This Green Guide can play an important
role in helping make acquiring these
skills a reality on your campus and in
your classroom.
REFERENCES:
Boyer Commission (1998). Reinventing
Undergraduate Education. New York:
SUNY at Stony Brook.
Hudspith, B. and Jenkins, H. (2001).
Teaching the Art of Inquiry. Halifax:
Society of Teaching and Learning in
Higher Education.
Justice, C., Rice, J., Warry, W. and Laurie,
I. (in press). Taking inquiry makes a
difference - a comparative analysis of
student learning, Journal of Excellence in
College Teaching.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED:
Wuetherick B. (2008). “Learning through
Inquiry: a Review”, Teaching and Learning
in Higher Education, Society of Teaching
and Learning in Higher Education, 45
(Winter).
Bridges, Vol. 10, No. 3
WHEN
HOW
&
to Question a
Disability-related Accommodation
Effective accommodation of students
with disabilities is a shared responsibility
and the newly revised Academic Access
and Accommodation Policy approved
by Council and the Board of Governors
makes that more clear than even before.
Accommodation is a process of making
alterations that allow students with
documented disabilities to have equal
access to education. Students, however,
must still do their academic work, develop
necessary skills and competencies,
and meet academic standards and
expectations.
We believe it is both reasonable and
responsible for those who teach to have
questions about accommodations.
Across Canada, students with more
diverse accommodation requirements
are enrolling in a greater breadth of
undergraduate, professional, and
graduate degree programs and as a result
many programs are entering uncharted
accommodation territory. Our goal for
this article is to help those who teach
to feel comfortable asking questions
about accommodations and to know
to whom they may direct their inquiries.
In this spirit, the article is structured
to respond to questions we expect are
shared by many.
Can I deny an accommodation?
The answer to this important question
is: no, you cannot. The University’s
policy states in Section 5 that an
accommodation verified through
Disability Services for Students (DSS)
processes shall not be denied by
instructional staff. The policy outlines
the process for resolving disputes in
this regard to be through a review
by the appropriate Dean. It is indeed
possible through the review process
Bridges, Vol. 10, No. 3
for an accommodation to be denied.
When you feel uncertain or concerned
about an accommodation, it is vitally
important that you make an inquiry with
DSS. Guidance for making such inquiries
follows in the rest of this article.
When should I inquire
about an accommodation?
Short answer: as soon as possible. If
you have questions related to academic
integrity, fair and authentic assessment,
bona fide occupational requirements,
rights of other students, safety, or
your ability to adequately provide the
accommodation, you should inquire with
DSS staff and department or collegelevel leaders. Because the process for
resolving disputes is through a review
by the appropriate Dean, sorting out the
right approach to an accommodation
early is of great importance. The longer a
student is inadequately or inappropriately
accommodated, the more difficult the
situation can become to resolve.
What can I ask of the student?
Questions about the required
accommodations, not the disability,
can be asked of a student. The
student has, by virtue of providing the
“letter to professors” (which verifies
the accommodations identified to
DSS by the student’s physician or
psychologist), decided to reveal to you
the highly confidential information that
he or she has a disability that requires
accommodation. Sometimes, given
the context of a particular course, you
will require more nuanced information
and a student may be able to explain
approaches that may be taken in
7
Susan Bens, Program and Curriculum
Development Specialist, GMCTE
Maxine Kinakin, Manager of Disability
Services for Students, SESD
providing the accommodation. If
a student suggests an approach to
accommodation that does not appear
to be covered by the content of the
letter generated by DSS, you can and
should refer the student back to DSS
for further discussion of their approved
accommodations.
What can I ask of Disability
Services for Students (DSS)?
You can ask DSS to discuss the nature
of the accommodations and ways they
can be provided. You can ask DSS to,
given your questions, follow up with the
student about the accommodation and/
or with the physician or psychologist who
recommended the accommodation. You
can ask DSS to describe options for you to
consider in making the accommodation
based on what they have seen work
before. You can also ask DSS to inquire
with their colleagues at local agencies
and in universities across Canada about
how similar accommodations have been
made. In particularly complex cases,
DSS may suggest the home department
or college establish an accommodation
planning committee to coordinate a
suitable approach.
What could I ask of my
home department or
college-level leader?
Because in the policy, appeals of
academic accommodation decisions will
channel through colleges structures,
you can and should ask questions of
your academic–unit leaders. A variety
of questions might be appropriate.
Have accommodations like these been
made before and, if so, how were they
www.usask.ca/gmcte
Interesting facts related to students with disabilities
and accommodations at the U of S
781
1026
249
837
5
31.4
27.4
11.5
13.8
The number of students registered with DSS in Term 2 (2011-2012)
The number of courses for which note-takers have been arranged
this academic year
The number of textbooks that have been provided in alternate
format this academic year
The number of final exam accommodations provided in December 2011 by DSS
The number of exam rooms directly controlled by DSS
The percentage of students whose accommodations relate to mental health
The percentage of students whose accommodations relate to learning
or communication disabilities
The percentage of students whose accommodations relate to physical disabilities
The percentage of students whose accommodations relate to
medical conditions and chronic illness
(accurate as of January 2012)
provided? Do you see a way that this
can be done while maintaining academic
integrity? Do you see a way that the
student can meet course objectives with
this accommodation? Have essential skills
or bona fide occupational requirements
been established in our field, our
program, or our college that may apply to
this accommodation? Does our college
have its own protocols, policies, or
statements related to accommodations?
Unless a student has given you explicit
permission, you cannot on your own
accord, make inquiries with colleagues
about the student, even if you do so with
the best of intentions. Requirements
related to confidentiality of students’
information are explained in Section 4.2
of the University’s policy.
If upon reading this article you have more
questions, feel free to contact Disability
Services for Students staff. The Gwenna
Moss Centre for Teaching Effectiveness
staff may also have ideas about teaching
and assessment methods that could
be helpful. Some informative online
resources are noted below.
• The Academic Access and
Accommodations policy is posted on
the University Secretary’s website: www.
usask.ca/university_secretary/policies
• Disability Services for Students has a
comprehensive website that outlines its
procedures and available services: http://
students.usask.ca/current/disability/
• The Alberta Human Rights Commission
published an “interpretive bulletin”
in September 2010 titled “Duty to
Accommodate Student with Disabilities in
Post-secondary Educational Institutions”.
It is available through the website at
www.albertahumanrights.ab.ca
• The Saskatchewan Human Rights
Commission has posted a “guideline”
titled “Bona Fide Occupational
Requirements” (n.d) on its website at
www.shrc.gov.sk.ca
8
ERRATA
Regarding the article “We Are All
Treaty People,” from the January
2012 issue, there is a point of
clarification: The Government of
Canada negotiated five treaties
with First Nations peoples in
Saskatchewan, although a sixth
treaty (Treaty 2) also lies within
Saskatchewan boundaries. (p. 13,
Bridges Vol. 10, No. 2)
The following notation of
permission should have appeared
on page 11, Bridges, Vol. 10, No. 2)
Reprinted with permission from
Thinking in Indian: A John Mohawk
Reader, edited by Jose Barreiro.
Copyright 2010. Fulcrum, Inc.,
Golden, CO, USA. The Sacred in
Nature: Mythology Can Change Our
Minds, pages 24-26.
Bridges, Vol. 10, No. 3
ENHANCING MENTORING
ACROSS THE DISCIPLINES:
Via the Adaptive Mentorship © Model
By Edwin G. Ralph and Keith D. Walker, College of Education
Organizations in all sectors are
recognizing the critical need for
leadership development (Blanchard
et al., 2010); moreover, mentoring
is becoming increasingly identified
as an effective process by which to
promote it (Allen & Eby, 2007). The
study of leadership and mentorship
has grown to span all disciplines in
such professional fields as the health
sciences, business/management,
teacher education, law, engineering,
and theological/clergy preparation
(Carnegie, 2010; Carpenter, Bauer, &
Erdogan, 2009).
Although mentorship is important
within the leadership function, some
research has suggested that mentoring
programs may be deficient, because
program participants have been
inadequately prepared to implement
and/or sustain a sound mentorship
approach (Schoonover, 2002; Ralph,
Walker, & Wimmer, 2009). During the
past two decades, we have developed
and researched a mentoring model
called Adaptive Mentorship© (AM)
that has been shown to overcome
some of these obstacles. We believe
that implementing the AM model can
enhance the mentorship/supervisory
process across the entire educational/
training sector. We further assert
that AM, which we formerly named
Contextual Supervision (CS), and which
we developed from contingency
leadership approaches, e.g., Hersey &
Blanchard, 1988; Fiedler & Garcia, 1987)
is worthy of consideration by leaders
for implementation in any field (Ralph,
Walker, & Wimmer, 2010).
Bridges, Vol. 10, No. 3
%
'
# &"!
%
Figure 1
BACKGROUND
Adaptive Mentorship© is a model
that guides mentors in adjusting their
mentoring responses to appropriately
match the task-specific development
level of protégés whom they are
assisting in the learning/working
situation. We depict the AM model
in Figure 1.
The outer border of the diagram
represents the entire physical,
psychological, social, organizational,
and cultural context within which the
mentorship process functions. Many of
these influences cannot be changed by
the mentor or the protégé; however, the
aspect that they can control is their own
9
behaviour. Thus, mentors can modify
their mentorship action, which consist
of two dimensions shown in Figure 1: (a)
their “task” response (i.e., the degree of
specific direction given to the protégé
regarding the technical, mechanical,
or procedural aspect of the latter’s
performance of the task being learned);
and (b) their “support” response (i.e., the
degree of “human” or psycho/social/
emotional expression they provide the
protégé learning the skill-set).
By contrast, the factor over which
protégés have most control is their
task-specific developmental level. It
likewise consists of two dimensions:
their “competence” level (i.e., their actual
www.usask.ca/gmcte
technical ability to perform the task in
question), and their “confidence” level
(i.e., their degree of self-assurance,
composure, psychological comfort, and
security and/or safety in performing the
skill-set).
The heart of the AM model is
represented by the shaded arrows
linking the D- and A-grids, which
portray the mentor’s matching of
one of four typical “A” (adaptive)
responses with a similarly numbered “D”
(developmental) level characterizing the
protégé’s performance of the particular
skill/competency. Of course, there are
many more than four positions within
each grid, because there is a host of
possible A/D combinations. However,
for conceptual/analytical purposes, we
highlighted these four combinations
simply to reflect types within each
quadrant.
IMPLEMENTING ADAPTIVE
MENTORSHIP©
Applying AM consists of three phases.
1. Determining the protégé’s
development.
First, the protégé/mentor pair ascertains
the existing development level of the
protégé to perform a specific skill-set
being learned at the time. As illustrated
in the “D-grid,” a protégé’s task-specific
level of development consists of
both his/her competence and his/her
confidence levels to perform the task.
The D1 quadrant reflects an individual
with “low competence” and “high
confidence” to accomplish the task (i.e.,
he/she does not know exactly how to
perform it, but is confident, willing, and
eager to try). A protégé at D2 is low on
both competence and confidence; a
protégé at D3 shows higher competence
and lower confidence; while a protégé
at D4 is high on both dimensions for the
particular skill-set.
A protégé’s developmental level may be
identified: (a) by the mentor’s formal and
informal observations of the protégé’s
actual performance of the skill/task;
(b) by the pairs’ informal conversations
about the protégé’s D-level; and (c) by
the protégé’s answers to the mentor’s
direct questions about his/her progress.
D-levels are: task-specific; changeable
over-time; different for different skill-sets;
and temporary indicators of a protégé’s
stage at a specific point in time (Ralph,
1998, 2000, 2005; Ralph & Walker, 2011a.
2011b).
2. Synchronizing the mentor’s response.
Next, the mentor appropriately adjusts
his/her mentorship response to match
the existing D-level of the protégé
regarding the particular competency:
A1 matches D1, A2 matches D2, and so
on. The mentor’s “A” adaptive-response
also has two dimensions: the degree
of support the mentor provides (i.e.,
the psycho-emotional aspects of
encouragement, reinforcement, and
praise to bolster the protégé as he/
she attempts to develop the particular
skill-set). Support consists of genuinely
positive words and/or actions, and varies
along a continuum. The other A-element
is task (i.e., how directive the mentor
is toward the protégé regarding his/
her technical or mechanical prowess
in the task), which also varies along a
continuum, ranging for example, from
telling, to demonstrating, to suggesting,
to questioning , or to delegating with
respect to the protégé’s skill-specific
technique.
The key principle for the mentor to
correctly match the A and D quadrants
is that his/her task response must be
inverse in magnitude to the extent
of the protégé’s competence level;
and simultaneously, the extent of the
mentor’s support is similarly inversely
proportional to the novice’s level of
confidence for particular task.
3. Monitoring the protégé’s development.
Then, the mentorship pair continually
and mutually monitors the protégé’s
ongoing level of development,
which necessitates that the mentor
simultaneously adjusts his/her
adaptive response to match, in inverse
10
proportions, the protégé’s changing
development level(s).
SUPPORT FOR IMPLEMENTING
ADAPTIVE MENTORSHIP
One source supporting the application
of the AM model was the published
endorsement of the model by one
of North America’s most prominent
management/leadership educators,
Dr. Barry Posner. He acknowledged the
model’s research record, and issued a
public call to scholars and practitioners
in management operations and human
resources to consider the model’s
further application (Posner, 2004, p. 151;
Ralph, 2004).
Another source supporting the
consideration of Adaptive Mentorship©
is the ongoing initiative of the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement
of Teaching (2010), which has given
oversight to a large-scale project
called the Preparation for the
Professions Program (PPP). Carnegie’s
ongoing research into enhancing the
preparation of professionals in six
fields (i.e., clergy, engineers, lawyers,
nurses, physicians, and teachers), was
supported by our own investigations
(Ralph & Walker, 2010, 2011a), which
together identified the mentorship
program, within the clinical and practical
phase of undergraduate professional
education, as needing refinement and
enhancement.
ONGOING RESEARCH
Over the past two decades, we have
conducted research on the model
and disseminated our findings. Our
reports have documented the model’s
application, the research results, the
subsequent refinements, and the caveats
for implementing the model. See for
example, Ralph, 1993, 1998, 2005; Ralph
& Walker, 2010, 2011c. Our research
indicated that the AM (CS) model did
assist mentors and protégés in clearly
conceptualizing the whole mentoring
enterprise and in guiding mentors’
leadership responses.
Bridges, Vol. 10, No. 3
As a consequence of our receipt of a
SSHRC Grant we have disseminated
the AM model both by means of
presentations and publications. At
the time of writing this article, we
have conducted a total of 41 forums,
workshops, or presentations at scholarly
conferences, professional seminars,
practitioner meetings, or academic
conventions in nine countries. At these
gatherings that ranged from one hour
to two days in length, we described
AM, its rationale, its application, and its
research record. In the longer workshops,
attendees were able to practice applying
the model and/or engage in simulated
interactions. Also at these sessions, we
collected feedback concerning the AM
model from a total of 533 respondents,
who were representative of a wide range
of professional disciplines. Attendees
accepted our invitation to serve as
“panels of experts” (Wiersma
& Jurs, 2005), in that they were scholars,
researchers, and practitioners all
experienced in the field of mentoring.
This panel provided us with written
comments regarding their perceptions
of the positive and negative aspects
of AM.
To this point, our preliminary analysis
of the comments the panel’s views
has revealed the following findings
(Johansson-Fua, Sanga, Walker, & Ralph,
2011; Ralph & Walker, 2011a, 2011b,
2011c): (a) there was near unanimous
agreement that AM provides a useful
framework by which to conceptualize
the whole mentoring enterprise; (b)
there were twice as many positive
than negative comments; (c) AM
provides mentors with specific
guidance to promote protégé growth;
and (d) participants will have to be
provided with a sound rationale, clear
explanations, sufficient training, ample
practice, and “mentoring of the mentors,”
themselves, in order to ensure AM’s
effectiveness.
INVITATION
We hereby extend an invitation to anyone across the departments interested
in further exploring the AM model to feel
free to contact us.
Bridges, Vol. 10, No. 3
Allen, T., & Eby, L. (Eds.). (2007). The Blackwell
handbook of mentoring: A multiple perspective
approach. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Blanchard, K. and Associates. (2010). Leading
at a higher levell (rev. ed.). Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Pearson/FT Press/Blanchard Management
Corporation.
Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of
Teaching. (2010). PPP(Preparation for the Professions
Program) publications archive. Retrieved from
http://www.carnegiefoundation.org/publications/
ppp-publications
Carpenter, M., Bauer, T. & Erdogan, B. (2009).
Principles of management. Retrieved from http://
www.flatworldknowledge.com/printed-book/3312
Fiedler, F., & Garcia, J. (1987) New Approaches to
leadership, cognitive resources and organizational
performance. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Hersey, P., & Blanchard, K. (1988). Management of
organizational behavior: Utilizing human resources
(5th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Johansson-Fua, S., Sanga, K., Walker, K., & Ralph, E.
(2011). Mentorship in the professions:
A perspective from Tonga. The International
Journal of Mentoring and Coaching, 9(2), 19-37.
Posner, B. (2004). Reflections on experience:
Editor’s introduction. Journal of Management
Inquiry,
y 13(2),151.
Ralph, E. (1993). Sensitive, sensible practicum
supervision: A contextual application in
Saskatchewan. The Alberta Journal of
Educational Research, 32, 283-296.
Ralph, E., & Walker, K. (2011a). Adapting mentorship
across the professions: Fresh insights & perspectives.
Calgary, Alberta, Canada: Temeron/Detselig
Publishers.
Ralph, E., & Walker, K. (2011b). Enhancing
mentoring in management via the Adaptive
Mentorship© model. The International Journal
of Knowledge, Culture and Change Management,
10(8), 35-43.
Ralph, E., & Walker, K. (2011c). Helping novices
develop in the humanities via Adaptive
Mentorship©. The International Journal of the
Humanities, 9(2), 121-132.
Ralph, E., Walker, K., & Wimmer, R. (2009).
Deficiencies in the practicum phase of field-based
education: Students’ views. Northwest Passage:
Journal of Educational Practices, 7(1), 74-86.
Available from: http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/
programs/edu/NWPassage/
spring2009.html
Ralph, E., Walker, K., Wimmer, R. (Eds.). (2010).
The practicum in professional education: Canadian
perspectives. Calgary, Alberta, Canada:
Temeron/Detselig Publishers.
Schoonover, S. (2002). Six sigma leadership:
The key to sustaining contemporary quality
programs. Retrieved from http://www.schoonover.
com/pdf/PDF_SixSigma_KeySustain_Quality_
Programs.pdf
Wiersma, W., & Jurs, S. (2005). Research methods
in education: An introduction (8th ed.). Boston:
Pearson Allyn and Bacon.
Ralph, E. (1998). Developing practitioners:
A handbook of contextual supervision.
Stillwater, Oklahoma: New Forums Press.
Author Notes
1.The authors thank Dr. Anthony Clarke from the
University of British Columbia, and Brenda Mergel
from the College of Education at the University of
Saskatchewan, for their insight and assistance in
formatting Figure 1.
Ralph, E. (2000). Aligning mentorship style
with beginning teachers’ development:
Contextual supervision. Alberta Journal of
Educational Research, 46(4), 311-326.
Figure 1. Adaptive Mentorship©. (The mentor
matches his/her adaptive response to synchronize
with the skill-specific developmental level of his/
her protégé.)
Ralph, E. (2004). Developing managers’
effectiveness: A model with potential. Journal
of Management Inquiry,
y 13(2), 151-163.
Ralph, E. (2005). Enhancing managers’ supervisory
effectiveness: A promising model. Journal of
Management Development, 24(3), 267-284.
Authors
Edwin Ralph is a Professor and Facilitator of
Extended Practicum with the Department of
Curriculum Studies. His teaching and research
interests relate to enhancing the teaching,
learning, and mentorship processes from the pre-K
through to the adult level across all disciplines.
Ralph, E., & Walker, K. (2010). Rising with the tide:
Applying Adaptive Mentorship in the professional
practicum. In A. Wright, M. Wilson, & D. MacIsaac,
(Eds.), Collection of Essays on Learning and Teaching,
Vol. III (CELT, pp. 1-8). Hamilton, ON: Society for
Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.
Keith Walker is a Professor in the Department
of Educational Administration and the Johnson
Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at
the University of Saskatchewan. His teaching
and research interests lie in the areas of ethics,
leadership, and educational policy.
11
www.usask.ca/gmcte
Teaching Threshold Concepts
Approaches to Overcoming
Student Uncertainty
By Brad Wuetherick, Program Director, GM CTE
“If the theory of threshold concepts is to be useful in guiding teaching and improving
student performance, it must be translated into principles that can inform the design
of teaching and the curriculum”
(Davies & Mangan, 2008, p. 37)
In two recent articles I have written for Bridges, I introduced the idea of threshold concepts and further discussed the idea of
threshold concepts as a frame for curriculum innovation (Wuetherick, 2010; Wuetherick, 2012). As argued in those articles, and by
Meyer and Land (and others), threshold concepts are those concepts that are transformative (result in a significant shift in students’
perspectives of skills), troublesome (conceptually difficult, counter-intuitive, or foreign/alien), irreversible (unlikely to be unlearned),
integrative (expose the interrelatedness of ideas and concepts), bounded (border new conceptual areas), discursive (help students
acquire an enhanced and extended use of disciplinary language), and reconstitutive (requires a reconfiguration of the learner’s
prior conceptual schema to integrate new knowledge).
There is an increasing body of literature that identifies threshold concepts across the disciplines. A website at University College
London by Mick Flanagan features many of these sources (http://www.ee.ucl.ac.uk/~mflanaga/thresholds.html). Still, many
potential threshold concepts have not yet been discussed in the literature, and even those that have been discussed may be
contestable. Cousins (2008, p. 263) argues that “threshold concepts are always epistemologically informed, which is why they are
theorized as provisional, contestable, and culturally situated.”
Different threshold concepts have been conceptualized in different ways - as the subject matter for learning and teaching, as
the process of learning (students mastery of disciplinary ways of thinking and practicing), or as the process of teaching (as the
facilitation of transformative learning and the induction of students into disciplinary ways of thinking and practicing) (O’Brien,
2008). No matter how the threshold concept is conceptualized, one still needs to ask how the threshold concept is fundamental to
disciplinary ways of thinking and practicing?; what might be troublesome about the threshold concept?; and what transformation
is needed or evoked by the threshold concept? (O’Brien, 2008).
Once a threshold concept is identified for a discipline, or for any particular course within a discipline, the basic question still
remains – how best to facilitate students engaging and learning that concept? How to step through the threshold? This is at the
core of what Davies and Mangan (2008) refer to in the quote that opened this paper. Knowing that the concept involves crossing
a conceptual threshold that will be transformational for students, and that students will likely find the concept troublesome, is the
challenge for an instructor. Knowing, however, that there are significant variations in students’ readiness and ability to engage and
be engaged with threshold concepts (see Wuetherick, 2012 for an exploration of the types of variation discussed in the literature),
posing the question of how to best to facilitate students’ learning such concepts is much easier than resolving it.
LEARNING AND TEACHING THRESHOLD CONCEPTS:
If you were hoping for a simple answer – that using case-based learning is best for teaching threshold concepts – you are
unfortunately going to be disappointed. In the existing literature on threshold concepts, quite diverse approaches are proposed
across different disciplines and across different threshold concepts within disciplines (see Meyer and Land, 2006; Land, Meyer, and
Smith, 2008; Meyer, Land and Baillie, 2010). O’Brien (2008) argues that there are three dimensions involved in understanding how
academics teach threshold concepts – the focus dimension, action dimension, and rationale dimension. The focus dimension
is about what is foremost in the instructor’s mind in introducing a threshold concept. What is your purpose in that teaching
and learning encounter?). The action dimension identifies particular actions or activities the instructor intends to undertake or
facilitate. What do you intend to do in the teaching and learning encounter? And the rationale dimension is the underlying basis
12
Bridges, Vol. 10, No. 3
for each instructor’s stated intentions
and the thinking behind those
intentions. Why do you intend to do
what you intend to do?). O’Brien argues
that there are distinct views, varying
from instructor to instructor, about
the “role of the student, what needs
to be done to learn, and how the
students are positioned (by the teacher)
in relation to the threshold concept”
(O’Brien, 2008, p. 299).
Davies and Mangan (2008) argue for
four pedagogic principles that need
to be used in embedding threshold
concepts in courses by constructing
varied learning activities with students.
First, the instructor must highlight the
variation in the students to ensure
that there is a sufficient foundation
of basic concepts in the class to
make it possible to undertake the
acquisition of threshold concepts. If
the class, as a whole, has significant
preconceptions or misconceptions
about the precursory knowledge, then
it is increasingly unlikely for individual
students to master the threshold
concept. Second, instructors must show
how disciplinary experts overcome
procedural thresholds by highlighting
the variation in using key ‘procedures’
(e.g. problem-solving, research methods,
etc.). Third, instructors need to help
students integrate their understanding
(by practicing key procedures) to rework their understanding of previously
acquired concepts in light of the new
threshold concepts. And fourth, they
need to help students understand
that all of their learning is provisional
and at least tolerate, if not appreciate
uncertainty.
These principles, particularly the first
three, align with the work of Pace and
Middendorf (2004) and Shopkow (2010)
on ‘decoding the disciplines’, introduced
in the Middendorf et al (2007) article
reprinted in the last Bridges. Initiated in
the discipline of History where there is
high contestability about what might
constitute threshold concepts, these
researchers from Indiana University
identified seven important steps for
decoding the discipline to identify and
tackle the main bottlenecks students
Bridges, Vol. 10, No. 3
face in their learning (asked in the form
of questions). Those steps are:
1. What is the bottleneck to learning
in this class?;
2. How does an expert do these
things?;
3. How can these tasks be explicitly
modeled?;
4. How will students practice these
skills and get feedback?;
5. What will motivate students?;
6. How well are students mastering
these tasks?; and
7. How can the resulting knowledge
about learning be shared among
faculty?
No matter what approach is used to
facilitate students learning threshold
concepts, Cousins (2008) argues that
the learning environment must be
characterized by learner safety. When
encountering troublesome knowledge,
students can have a sense of immobility
that comes from being in a ‘stuck place’.
She argues that we need to convey
to all learners that discomfort and
uncertainty are normal dimensions of
learning; that as an instructor we need
to give students the space and time
required to construct a transformed
understanding (Cousins, 2008).
EXPECTATION FAILURE AS ONE
APPROACH TO OVERCOMING
STUDENT UNCERTAINTY:
I have been playing with a particular
approach to enabling students to
overcome uncertainty as they learn
threshold concepts: the notion of
expectation failure. An expectation
failure, as discussed by Bain’s What the
Best College Teachers Do (2004) (building
on earlier work by Roger Shank), involves
an instructor creating a situation
whereby students’ existing taken-forgranted mental models (of knowledge,
of the discipline, of reality) result in the
students’ inability to solve the problem/
situation at hand as a result of faulty
expectations. For Bain, an expectation
failure poses an intellectual challenge
13
or problem to the students that results
in or creates cognitive dissonance with
their previous conceptual frameworks.
In his book, he demonstrates that many
highly successful instructors in higher
education are able to select cases,
problems or other learning activities that
lead to this incongruity or dissonance
for the majority of learners. Students
are placed in situations in which they
experience their misconceptions,
preconceptions, and the inadequacy of
their existing mental models. Students
need to do so, however, in a safe
space where they are encouraged to
reconfigure their conceptual frameworks
with new knowledge. Bain argues
that, in the case of expectation failures,
learners need to be motivated to care
enough that when their mental models
do not work they do not stop, but
instead grapple with the issue at hand.
Students also need to be able to handle
the potential emotional trauma and
discomfort that sometimes accompanies
challenges to long-held beliefs or to the
immobility that comes from ‘stuck places’
(Bain, 2004).
With many threshold concepts, we
can imagine how cases, problems,
or other learning activities (debates,
simulations, etc.) could be structured
to set up an expectation failure for the
learners in that course. Encountering
an expectation failure, the learner
can be exposed to troublesome
knowledge, to the previously hidden
interrelatedness and integration of
knowledge, to new disciplinary language,
and to the boundaries of their current
understandings. This encounter in turn
opens up opportunities for students to
reconstitute their conceptual frameworks
and transform their perspectives in
irreversible ways.
REFERENCES:
Bain K. (2004). What the Best College Teachers
Do. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Cousins G. (2008). “Threshold Concepts:
Old Wine in New Bottles or a New Form of
Transactional Curriculum Inquiry?” In Land R.
et al. (eds.) (2008). Threshold Concepts within
the Disciplines. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
www.usask.ca/gmcte
Teaching Threshold Concepts
Approaches to Overcoming
Student Uncertainty
Continued from page 13
Davies P. & Mangan J. (2008). “Embedding
Threshold Concepts: from theory to
pedagogical principles to learning
activities”. In Land R. et al. (eds.) (2008).
Threshold Concepts within the Disciplines.
Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Land R., Meyer J., & Smith J. (eds.) (2008).
Threshold Concepts within the Disciplines.
Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Meyer J. & Land R. (eds.) (2006).
Overcoming Barriers to Student
Understanding: Threshold concepts
and troublesome knowledge. London:
Routledge.
Meyer J., Land R., & Baillie C. (eds.) (2010).
Threshold Concepts and Transformational
Learning. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Middendorf J., Pace D., Shopkow L., &
Diaz, A. (2007). “Making Thinking Explicit:
Decoding History Teaching”. The National
Teaching and Learning Forum, vol 16, no
2, February.
O’Brien, M. (2008). “Threshold Concepts
for University Teaching and Learning: A
study of troublesome knowledge and
transformative thinking in the teaching
of threshold concepts”. In Land R. et
al. (eds.) (2008). Threshold Concepts
within the Disciplines. Rotterdam: Sense
Publishers.
Pace, D. & Middendorf, J. (eds.) (2004).
Decoding the Disciplines: Helping Students
Learn Disciplinary Ways of Thinking (New
Directions for Teaching and Learning, vol.
98), San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
Shopkow, L. (2010). “What Decoding
the Disciplines Can Offer Threshold
Concepts”. In Meyer J. et al. (eds.) (2010).
Threshold Concepts and Transformational
Learning. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.
Wuetherick, B. (2010). “Forget about
process; Let’s focus on content! Threshold
Concepts in the Disciplines”. Bridges. 9 (1).
Wuetherick, B. (2012). “Threshold
Concepts as a Frame for Curriculum
Innovation”. Bridges. 10 (2).
A DEGREE AND WHAT ELSE?
SKILLS, ATTRIBUTES AND CREDENTIALS
By Wenona Partridge, GMCTE
The pressure at all levels of study
to have a degree ‘pay-off ’ can leave
students thinking that, although a
higher education remains necessary,
it is no longer sufficient for them to
confidently leave the academy and
build a rewarding career. An article by
Virginia Walt, October 2011, in University
Affairs (UA) highlighted the trend among
graduate students to develop more than
just academic skills during the course of
their education. The reasons for this are
varied, but one recurrent theme is the
realization that not all new MA or even
PhD graduates will pursue an academic
career after convocation. A second theme
is the perception that labour markets
have become more competitive and less
stable,1 which leaves students feeling
pushed to acquire as many skills as
possible to increase their own flexibility.
A 2004 study about graduate
recruitment, conducted by Brown and
Hesketh, found that “the declining
importance employers are attaching to
academic credentials, and the increasing
importance instead given to personal
attributes and skills,” means that “the
they are uniquely qualified for a career,
if employers are interested in hiring
university graduates but not graduates
who only understand university.
ON WHOSE SHOULDERS? THE
INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSE TO
CHANGING EXTERNAL PRESSURES
An increasingly competitive career
climate puts students who have yet to
acquire experience or establish support
networks in a tight spot at graduation, if
they have been unable to acquire these
while studying. One path that appears
to make sense from a graduate student’s
perspective is to seek opportunities to
develop non-academic skills while still in
school, in preparation to compete for jobs
not directly related to her studies. The
development of non-academic skills while
studying, could help a student bridge the
gap between degree qualifications and
professional requirements by providing a
way for recent graduates to demonstrate
that their unique skills and attributes,
although indirectly related to a degree,
can be directly related to a given career
path. The pressure to pursue a degree
... labour markets have become more competitive and less
stable, which leaves students feeling pushed to acquire as
many skills as possible to increase their own flexibility.
stakes for graduate employment appear
to have risen and the markers changed”
(Tomlinson 51). The markers, if based
less on the degree and more on the
“personal attributes and skills” held by
a candidate, are vague and difficult to
substantiate. Does a degree not already
attest to a candidate’s having developed,
or demonstrated, certain “personal
attributes and skills,” through rigorous
study and the personal growth that
accompanies successful completion
of a higher education? Brown and
Hesketh’s study appears to answer
that question negatively, leaving it to
the graduate rather than the degree
granting institution to demonstrate how
14
while simultaneously developing a set
of non-academic skills and experience in
response to future uncertainty may make
this path sensible, but it may also become
distracting and time consuming.
Not only are students pressured to
develop, or at least demonstrate,
employable skills and experience as well
as an education, but institutions are
pressured to respond in some way, to
retain the value not only of their degrees
but also to enrich the quality of student
experience they offer. If institutions
can respond in a way that facilitates
the development of professional skills,
perhaps the pressure on individual
Bridges, Vol. 10, No. 3
graduate students can be lessened
and the path made a bit smoother. The
institutional response in Canada to the
demand for graduate professional skills
training began seriously in 2007 with
the release of a statement by the TriCouncil funding agency that manages
CHIR, NSERC, and SSHRC, which outlined
nine professional skills development
focus areas. The Canadian Association for
Graduate Studies (CAGS) followed one
year later with their own statement that
identified four priorities for institutional
development and delivery in this area.
The focus areas outlined in these
statements cover such skills as
communication and critical thinking,
project and research management,
teaching and leadership, and ethics and
integrity. Many of the skills listed reflect
the aim of liberal arts requirements, which
are generally to be met through course
work at the undergraduate level. There
remains, however, a gap that is not filled
at the graduate level for the development
of these sorts of skills. Knowing how to
articulate, substantiate and demonstrate
the transferability of academic skills,
acquired while studying, to nonacademic, post-degree careers appears to
be part of this gap. The supplementation
of credit, or non-credit, professional
skills development courses or workshops
could provide graduate students with a
means of substantiating their “skills and
attributes.”
FOR WHOSE BENEFIT? BALANCING
SKILLS TRAINING WITH INSTITUTIONAL
PRINCIPLES
It is worth examining the response of
providing more directly transferable skills
at the graduate level, given that skills
such as communication, critical thinking,
and ethical reasoning should have been
introduced already through existing
undergraduate liberal arts requirements.
Questions are raised by this call about the
presence of what appear to be market
driven concerns in academic institutional
planning, and what sort of long term
effect their presence will have on the
climate of higher education. An earlier
article in UA, written in April 2009 by
Carolyn Steele, addressed this concern;
“the real obstacle to the implementation
Bridges, Vol. 10, No. 3
of the professional skills initiative (is)
a fear that this will open the door for
graduate programs to become nothing
more than advanced workplace training
programs.” Steele did not think that such
fears would come to pass, provided that
principles outlined by the Tri-Council
and CAGS statements are followed. The
principles outlined aim at developing
well-rounded citizens who are able to
contribute creatively and with integrity
to a knowledge economy and to civil
society. The principles are also aimed at
professional skills programs for graduate
students, whose studies are more
isolating and less multidisciplinary than
at the undergraduate level.
WHERE DOES OUR OWN INSTITUTION
FIT INTO THIS PUZZLE?
Our own institution’s response to the
call for professional skills development
at the graduate level in accordance with
these principles has taken several forms.
The response that is tied closest to the
principles outlined by the Tri-Agency
and CAGS began as a 3 year pilot project
in 2008 called “Beyond Disciplinary
Excellence: Enhanced Disciplinary
Skills for Global Citizens.” The pilot
was implemented through an existing
CGSR course, GSR984. Course content
varies between years, as do many of
the presenters. Interdisciplinarity and
interactive participation are emphasized,
and students are introduced to a variety
of readings and videos that are enjoyable,
informative, and accessible to nonexperts. GSR984’s 2011 Summary of
Assessment Draft claimed, “students have
consistently identified the group and
class discussions as being important for
their learning. In addition to having their
thinking challenged on a range of topics
related to professional skills, the students
noted that the distinctive inductive
teaching and class format enabled them
to also develop listening and group
interaction skills.”
The third integrated plan clearly
positions the institutional responses
to demographic, economic, and broad
socio-political changes are being explored
as part of a much larger discussion
than one course offered to graduate
students at no charge. The objectives of
15
the GSR984, however, already reflect an
awareness of the challenges that lie ahead
of students, and the tools that can be
given to them by this institution to meet
those challenges. The course remains an
important part of the U of S’s institutional
response to the current needs felt by
graduate students, and serves as evidence
of the university’s commitment to both
its own principles, detailed in the third
integrated plan, and those of CAGS and
the Tri-Council statements, in regards to
the preparation of graduate students to
participate in society and achieve their full
potential, whether that happens inside or
outside the academy.
[1] “The need to deliver high rates of
return to shareholders imposes a shorttermism that encourages companies to
use revolving door employment policies.
There is little sense of cultivating people
over time as they focus on the perennial
short-term. … Beginning workers must
be ‘oven ready’ rather than ‘home made’.”
(Brown & Hesketh 222)
REFERENCES:
Brown, Phillip and Anthony Hesketh. The
Mismanagement of Talent: Employability
and Jobs in the Knowledge Economy. New
York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Print
Galt, Virginia. Professional development
for grad students: Skills training gives PhD
students a boost, whether they find work
inside or outside academia. University
Affairs, September 12, 2011. http://
www.universityaffairs.ca/professionaldevelopment-for-grad-students.aspx
University of Saskatchewan. Summary
Report: Three-Year CGSR Professional-Skills
Pilot Program, GSR984 Thinking Critically:
Professional Skills for Global Citizens.
June, 2011. Web, PDF. http://www.usask.
ca/gmcte/sites/default/files/oldfiles/
GSR984docs/Overall%20Summary%20
of%20Assessment%202009-2011_1.pdf
Tomlinson, Michael. “’The degree is not
enough’: students’ perceptions of the
role of higher education credentials
for graduate work and employability.”
British Journal of Sociology of Education
29.1 (2008): 49-61. Web. 8 March. 2012.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/
pdf/10.1080/01425690701737457
www.usask.ca/gmcte
Ken Van Rees:
Teaching Philosophy
Fall 2011 My Journey as a Teacher
Master Teacher Award
How to tell my story about becoming
a teacher and my incredible journey
learning about teaching and being a
teacher - where does one start? I’ll be the
first to admit I do not know everything
about teaching, I have learned a great
deal from others and will continue to
learn new things regarding teaching
for the rest of my life, but I believe it is
important for the Selection Committee
to understand what shaped me to be
the teacher I am today. My learning
framework as a student through high
school and university in Ontario was
to memorize everything in class and
literally recite back – it served me well, or
so I thought, and that’s what my model
of education was about – memorizing
knowledge. However, my undergraduate
years in forestry at Lakehead University
also shaped me in one other profound
way through experiential learning –
being in the field for the first four weeks
of September each year developing
skills related to my profession. I loved
being outside in the forest observing,
measuring and developing hands-on
skills and the one to one interaction
with my instructors – these outdoor
experiences had a dramatic impact
on what I do today at the University
of Saskatchewan.
My notions of learning, however, were
turned upside down when I started
graduate school at the University of
Florida. I remember being in soil physics
asking a question and my professor,
Dr. Rao replied by asking me a question –
I was floored! – Why wouldn’t he answer
my question? His question made me
realize that I needed to start piecing
knowledge together to solve problems
and critically think about solutions
instead of simply memorizing facts.
I credit him as being the first instructor
to really challenge me about my learning
model and he also instilled another
principle (relationships) that I have
strongly embraced to this day. Briefly,
after I had been teaching a few years
at the University of Saskatchewan, I ran
into Dr. Rao at a national soil science
conference and as we were chatting he
asked me “What do you think is your
greatest contribution to science?” I
started to ramble off a few things that
I was doing in research but he stopped
me and said “Ken you’ve missed the
mark – it’s not about the grants, research
projects or the papers, it’s the investment
you make in all those students each
day.” I began to understand, it is those
relationships that we as educators
develop that are so important, and it is
this idea of relationships, investing a part
of yourself into your students, that I take
into my classroom everyday – where
I care not only about what they are
learning and how they learn, but care
about each of them as individuals and
how they are doing during their days on
and off campus.
When I started teaching at the University
of Saskatchewan in 1991, I was very
confident that I knew what was involved
in teaching, although I had had little
experience in teaching as a graduate
student. I just knew that I liked to teach,
had a lot of enthusiasm and was ready
to interact with students. It wasn’t
until I attended the Annual Conference
on Teaching and Learning in Higher
Education (compliments of the College)
six years after starting my job that I really
began to comprehend that I did not
know a whole lot about teaching, that
I had ignored how students learned,
that each student is different in how
they learn – it was humbling, but that
conference really allowed me to begin to
16
understand that there was much more
to teaching than just standing in front
of the classroom. I am thankful to the
College for allowing me to attend that
meeting.
When I am in the classroom during my
lectures on campus (i.e. Forest Soils
course) I try to accomplish several things
- I like to create a safe environment
where students feel comfortable
to relate to each other and myself. I
accomplish this by getting the students
at the beginning of the term to dialogue
a little about who they are and as
we progress through the term I’ll ask
students how their week is going, what’s
on for the weekend, what did they learn
this week – in school, about life etc., just
to continue building the relationships
with the students in class. I believe it
is important to engage students in
the learning process by presenting
them with problems, data in figures
or tables or pictures and ask directed
questions of them to create discussion
about what they observe in the data
or picture, how they would explain
the results and practical applications
of the information. I have never stood
in class and talked for 50 minutes – I
believe in a two way dialogue with
lots of student interaction. I still use
the blackboard, overheads as well as
powerpoints to present information and
still get students up to the blackboard
to draw relationships between various
parameters. I also place emphasis on the
teacher-scholar model where I would
present my research results conducted
in the boreal forest during the last 20
years, and present current information
relevant to the forest industry as well as
government regulations and policies.
For assignments, students have the
opportunity to take a research article
Bridges, Vol. 10, No. 3
related to boreal forest management
and interpret the research data into a
technology transfer note that could
be used by forest industry. The other
assignment utilizes data that has been
collected by a soils monitoring program
with the Forest Service Branch in
Prince Albert where thousands of bulk
density samples have been collected
to determine the impacts of forest
management activities on soil physical
properties. This data set is intimidating
to the students but I teach them how to
use pivot tables in Excel to analyze the
data and write a report. This assignment
allows the students to become familiar
with data management techniques,
experience a large database and an
opportunity to use their training to
analyze, interpret and discuss the results.
EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION
In 1994, I was given the opportunity
to teach a forest soils course, which is
a class that I had always hoped to be
able to teach because of my forestry
background. Because of my experiential
education background from my
undergraduate days, I wanted to get
student out in the boreal forest for a
field trip. So each fall for the last 16
years, we spend three days at Keeley
Lake Lodge north of Meadow Lake and
tour the forest management area of
Mistik Management Ltd (see insert with
pictures from ‘forest soils field trip’). The
students dig soil pits and learn to classify
soil profiles and vegetation communities
with the necessary keys in the major
boreal ecosystems. Students are exposed
to the manufacturing aspect by touring
a sawmill or pulpmill to see how the
forest is utilized for different products.
Mistik also arranges for the class to
observe an active harvesting operation
where students have an opportunity to
see trees being harvested and processed
before going to the mill and to talk with
the machine operators of the Waterhen
First Nation. Students work in groups
each day, have assignments to complete,
do a soil texture and plant quiz along
Flotten Lake and Mistik provides prizes
for each of the students doing the quiz.
From this trip, students are exposed to
Bridges, Vol. 10, No. 3
various ecosystems in the boreal and
the socio-economic conditions of the
north. However, the important aspect
of this trip is that it creates a real sense
of community amongst the students,
which I know students are seeking
during their time in University. This last
year I have also reflected on how eating
with your students makes for a unique
connection with them and opens up
other opportunities to engage them and
earn their trust – never underestimate
the value of sharing a meal with
your students. Field trips, however,
to understand how the ecosystem
developed at that site. I selected a
number of sites north of Prince Albert as
the field course would be based at the
SIAST camp on Candle Lake. On a trip to
Ontario to visit my family in the spring
of 2003, my Mom invited me to visit the
McMichael Gallery in Kleinburg. I never
really had made any attempt in life to
go to galleries, and to be quite honest
saw no place for art in my life (actually
knew very little about it) – but the idea
of seeing this art work from these seven
guys “group of Seven” was intriguing.
... it is those relationships that we as educators develop that are
so important, and it is this idea of relationships, investing a part
of yourself into your students, that I take into my classroom
everyday – where I care not only about what they are learning
and how they learn, but care about each of them as individuals
and how they are doing during their days on and off campus.
are very resource intensive, require
more planning and safety is always an
important issue for me on our trips but
despite the extra work I know students
truly appreciate the experience and skills
learned. I also enjoy the experience of
being in the field, spending individual
time with each student and seeing the
growth of the students as they interact in
different ways with the landscape.
INNOVATIONS IN TEACHING
I continued to enjoy my teaching and
was honoured to be nominated and
receive a few teaching awards. But after
12-13 years, I felt that my teaching was
beginning to stagnate. In early 2003, our
department made a conscious decision
to develop new field courses to increase
the experiential learning component of
our curriculum as identified by former
students and employers. I volunteered
to teach a field course in the boreal
forest that I was calling ‘Soils and Boreal
Landscapes’ - I had an idea of what
I wanted to do for the course – visit
several different sites and have the
students classify soils, collect vegetation
data along a sequence of topography
17
As I stood in the gallery admiring this
large painting of a Canadian landscape I
had an epiphany – ‘Why can’t I do this –
landscape painting - in my science field
course?’ Instantly I was brought back to
reality and my next immediate thought
was ‘but you don’t know anything about
art!’ I wrestled with this idea for a few
days of how to include art into my field
course – is it possible to enhance student
learning for science students by using
art? I turned to by sister-in-law who
was a high school art teacher in Ontario
and began a dialogue of how I might
tackle the subject. Her suggestion was
to start simple and try oil pastels – they
are not messy, could handle cold or
rainy weather – simple and clean. She
provided a few guidelines for me to give
to the class – rule of thirds etc. and off
I went. You must understand that I was
stepping way out of my comfort zone,
because when I teach I like to know
my material and feel comfortable in
delivering it. Art, however, was beyond
what I was trained to do but I really felt
compelled to push forward with this
idea. In the meantime, I received a call
from Kate Hobin who was the Director
for the Emma Lake Kenderdine Campus
www.usask.ca/gmcte
Ken Van Rees:
Teaching Philosophy
Fall 2011 My Journey as a Teacher
Master Teacher Award
Continued from page 17
(ELKC) and she heard that I was going to teach a field course up
north from the SIAST campus. She wanted to know if I would be
interested in delivering my course from ELKC. I agreed as I wanted
to support a University facility but what was truly intriguing was
that I learned the ELKC was known for its long storied history in
the arts. Things were starting to fall in place! In September of 2004,
I offered the course for the first time with 12 students at ELKC. After
a busy morning of digging soil pits and looking at vegetation we
stopped at a roadside cut (soil lingo for a nice exposed soil profile)
and I had the students interpret what they saw using the oil pastels.
On a subsequent day we were north of Wapawekka Lake on top
of the boreal shield and I had them also draw the landscape or
something that interested them. Unfortunately it was sleeting and
snowing on September 7 which made working miserable – but
they endured the cold and wet conditions to produce drawings
under a tarp – always be prepared for the unexpected in the
Saskatchewan north. My sister-in-law had also helped me develop
a rubric for grading the two pieces of art which emphasized the
delivery of the work and effort. I have since discussed the idea of
rubrics with other faculty in Curriculum Studies to help improve
them as we normally do not use rubrics in our science courses.
After that first course I realized that students were quite accepting
of ‘art’ in their soil field course and they found the art component to
be a nice change of pace and provided a different way of looking at
the landscape while also giving them an opportunity to be creative.
However, I realized after that first offering that I was not adequately
prepared to deliver some form of art to these students. Thus in
2005, I enrolled in a painting course at ELKC and have taken a class
every year since. The art component of the course has since evolved
from oil pastels to watercolor, charcoal/chalk and acrylic paints.
I also now paint with a group of guys the ‘Men who Paint’ who all
have had a connection to ELKC. Incorporating an artistic aspect into
my course has also revitalized me as an instructor – and it has me
continually thinking about art and science and how the two might
influence each other in terms of student learning.
Another benefit of holding the course at Kenderdine is the
interactions with other participants on site which is something
I had never intended to happen. During my September field course,
a group of retirees from Qu’Appelle (Prairie Painters) are also on site
to paint. Through the year we have developed a relationship which
has blossomed into an interesting connection between generations
and two spheres of knowledge – arts and science. One evening I
take the students into the studio and the students interact with
the painters - asking them questions about their work, type of
media they use and the painters drop hints or do demonstrations
of painting techniques for them. The painters also ask the students
about their science – where they go in the field, what kind of trees
are those etc. On the last day of the course I hang the student’s
artwork in the ELKC classroom and the painters come by and offer
encouragement, art tips and ask questions about the ecosystems
they have visited . A very unique experience that was so rewarding
for me to see develop.
18
Professional Skills Workshop Opportunities
for Graduate Students
Graduate students who are interested in developing
professional skills during the course of their
studies are able to choose from a growing variety
of options. Aside from the workshops and courses
that are offered by universities, drawing on their
own faculty and resources, grad students also
have the ability to approach organizations that
are working in collaboration with universities to
provide high caliber internship opportunities.
One organization, Mitacs, is a not-for-profit
research organization that builds partnerships
between companies, government and academia,
providing funded internships and fellowships to
graduate students and postdocs that are meant
to support “a new economy using Canada’s most
valuable resource – its people.” Mitacs offers
several different programs, including Accelerate,
which the organization claims “is Canada’s premier
research internship program.” Mitacs also conducts
professional development workshops for graduate
students at universities across Canada, including
a visit to the U of S in March. The programs Mitacs
offers seek to foster professionalism in their interns
and postdoctoral fellows, helping talent within
academia find application beyond the institution.
Participants are able to actively develop skills such
as project management and communication across
disciplines in live settings. The Natural Sciences and
Engineering Research Council of Canada offers a
program with similar intent, in that it encourages
the development of “collaborative, team research
across disciplines (that) integrate(s) training,
knowledge, teamwork, project management and
leadership.” The Collaborative Research and Training
Experience Program (CREATE) funds projects that
partner academia with industry and “include
the acquisition and development of important
professional skills among students and postdoctoral
fellows that complement their qualifications and
technical skills.” The opportunities provided by such
partnerships are, however, limited in accessibility
primarily to academic disciplines considered useful
to the private sector. For more information about
Mitacs, go to mitacs.ca and to learn more about
NSERC’s CREATE programs, go to nserc-crsng.
gc.ca/Professors-Professeurs/Grants-Subs/CREATEFONCER_eng.asp.
Bridges, Vol. 10, No. 3
Teaching Awards
By Corinne Fashuber, GMCTE
The Gwenna Moss Centre and University Learning Centre in conjunction with the Provost’s Office takes pride in recognizing and
rewarding excellence in teaching. In recent years the number of teaching awards at our University has grown substantially. The
awards we bestow are based on evidence of teaching excellence and depend on peer recognition and review. The awards
themselves are evidence, which we hope academic units will consider in their tenure, promotion and merit decisions.
The Provost’s awards recognize and reward outstanding teachers; teachers who excel in Aboriginal Education and International
Education, exceptional New Teachers; teachers known for their Innovative approaches; and teachers who are particularly capable in
Graduate-Level Teaching. Also, there is an Outstanding Graduate Student Teacher Award (for graduate students). The recipient of
each award will receive cash to be used to support a project or professional development as a teacher.
Recipients of the 2012
Provost’s Awards include:
International Education:
Kalowatie Deonandan,
Political Studies
Agriculture & Bioresources:
Steve Shirtliffe
Innovation in Teaching:
John Kleefeld,
d Law
A&S Humanities and Fine Arts:
Kathleen James-Cavan
New Teacher Award: Loleen
Berdahl,l Political Studies
A&S Social Sciences:
Karen Lawson
Graduate Student Teacher:
Amelia Horsburgh, English
A&S Science: Ian Burgess
Outstanding Graduate Teaching
For Faculty : Murray Fulton,
Johnson-Shoya
Graduate School of Public Policy
Education: Shaun Murphy
Edwards School of Business:
Rick Long
Engineering: Denard Lynch
Kinesiology: Jon Farthing
Law: Ibironke Odumosu
Medicine: Meredith McKague
Nursing: Cheryl Besse
Pharmacy & Nutrition:
David Blackburn
Veterinary Medicine: Chris Clark
Aboriginal Education:
Priscilla Settee,
e Native Studies
We also coordinate the
Sylvia Wallace Award, which
is awarded annually to an
outstanding sessional lecturer
as well as the Learning
Communities Teaching Award,
given annually to an instructor
who exemplifies the values
of the learning communities
program.
It has been a distinct pleasure
for the Gwenna Moss Centre
to administer the University’s
premiere career award for
teaching excellence, the
Master Teacher award, given
out twice yearly at spring and
fall convocation. The most
recent recipient was Ken van
Rees, College of Agriculture
and Bioresources. This spring’s
winner will be announced
prior to May Convocation.
Recent recipients were:
Sylvia Wallace Award:
Wendy Wilson, Department
of Sociology, Women’s and
Gender Studies;
Learning Communities Award:
Jorge Chedrese, Department
of Biology.
The Provost’s Prize for
Innovative Practice in
Teaching and Learning is a
prize awarded annually to a
University of Saskatchewan
Department, non-depart-
mentalized College, or
interdisciplinary team for
group innovation in teaching
and learning.
The Provost’s Project Grant for
Innovative Practice in Teaching
and Learning is an annual
project grant to be awarded to
a University of Saskatchewan
Department, nondepartmentalized College,
or interdisciplinary team to
undertake some innovation in
teaching and learning.
Other national awards
promoted by our Centre
include:
• 3M Fellowship Award
• Allan Blizzard Collaborative
Projects Award
For a look at past recipients,
eligibility, and deadlines,
please visit our website www.usask.ca/awards.
The aim of teaching is not only to transmit information, but also to transform students from passive
recipients of other people’s knowledge into active constructors of their own and others’ knowledge.
The teacher cannot transform without the student’s active participation, of course. Teaching is
fundamentally about creating the pedagogical, social, and ethical conditions under which students
agree to take charge of their own learning, individually and collectively.
— Richard F. Elmore, Education for Judgment: The Artistry of Discussion Leadership, xvi.
Bridges, Vol. 10, No. 3
19
www.usask.ca/gmcte
A Bridges interview with
Dan Pennock, Acting Vice-Provost, Teaching & Learning
Your acting term as acting VP T&L has given
you a unique opportunity to see what the role
and impact of that position is on our campus.
What do you see as the most important part of
VP T&L portfolio during your time in the role?
What are some of the challenges facing your
successor?
I’ve been very surprised by how much great
work there is going on across campus that
use innovative approaches to teaching
and learning. I thought I was a pretty savvy
associate dean (academic), yet I was unaware
of a whole range of initiatives. I think a key
role for the VP T&L is to learn what innovative
faculty and staff are doing across campus, to
facilitate their work by making connections
across groups, and to ensure appropriate
support and recognition for their initiatives by
their college and by senior administration.
My successor will be even more challenged
to stay on top of new initiatives as the
college and university plans for innovative
programming in IP3 roll out. I think by far
the most exciting of these are the ones that
pertain to aboriginal programming, and the VP
T&L role in facilitation and support for these
will be great demand.
The U of S has identified three areas of
priority in the Integrated plan - 1. Knowledge
Creation: Innovation and Impact; 2. Aboriginal
Engagement: Relationships, Scholarship,
Programs; and 3. Innovation in Academic
Programs and Services. What changes or
improvements to teaching and learning
practices at the UofS do you think will
contribute to the success of achieving the
goals set out in IP3?
A key area for us will be in developing and
applying e-learning to support distance
education, especially in the area of aboriginal
programming. We have some very successful
existing programs to build on, but we will
need to be even more creative in the future.
The Master Teacher (awarded to you in the Fall
of 2006) is the most prestigious award offered
at the U of S for excellence in teaching. What
intrinsic or extrinsic motivation did you have
in your teaching career that led you to achieve
such excellence in your own teaching?
I have always found it intriguing to think about
how the components of my classes (lectures,
labs, field trips etc.) could be improved - it’s
problem-solving where the solution can be
quickly applied and the success of the solution
readily gauged. It has always complemented
for me the longer-term problem solving
required in a research program.
I also worked in a department (Soil Science)
where good teaching was recognized and
rewarded by three successive heads (Darwin
Anderson, Jim Germida, and Fran Walley).
It is very important that our university-level
rewards align with our desire to improve
teaching at all levels.
The importance of innovation and selfimprovement in the classroom for our teachers
is something that we try and emphasize at the
GMCTE. If you could give new faculty advice
on their own development as instructors, what
would it be?
The key message for new faculty is that you
are not alone – there is a large community of
faculty and staff on campus ready to support
you. Colleagues that are well-regarded
teachers, department heads, and associate
deans (academic) are all great resource people
to find out how to access the many supportive
staff on campus who can assist with your
development as a teacher.
The dichotomy of teaching vs. research is
often referred to as challenge for faculty,
particularly in our current culture of increased
emphasis and pressure to perform in terms
of our research position relative to our peers.
How do you think a balance between teaching
and research can be modeled at the U of S?
I think the modeling is straight-forward – if
new faculty see that senior faculty who have
balanced research and teaching (and, I hope,
life outside of the university) have been
successful in their careers (from a promotion
and financial perspective) then that model
looks viable for them. We have to ensure that
good teaching is central to success at the
university, and that excellence in teaching
carries the same weight as excellence in
research.
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Do you feel the UofS does enough centrally
and at the college level to encourage and
reward teaching?
We have made great strides in recognizing
and rewarding excellence in teaching. Many
colleges have instituted awards, and the
establishment of the Provost’s awards has
been a very important step. I know that an
informal survey done by Jim Greer suggests
that in most cases the teaching awards have
lead to recognition by collegial process
committees, and this linkage of awards
to compensation and promotion is very
important –we have to “walk the walk” if we
are to have credibility with faculty.
A superficial look at our institutional ranking
in Macleans, when it comes to student
engagement, places us in the bottom third
of Canadian PSE institutions. What do those
numbers mean to you? In your opinion what
areas in teaching and learning do you think
the U of S excels in and what areas do you see
needing further development?
The numbers were discouraging initially
for many of us, but we need to remind
ourselves that the range in performance
across Canadian universities is not very wide.
Nonetheless there is really useful information
in the NSSE survey used by Macleans, and I
am working with a group of interested faculty
and staff to see how we might improve the
student experience (and hence our scores) in
specific areas. We have focused on our firstyear students, and specifically on elements
like enriching educational experiences and
creating venues where students can meet with
faculty outside of the classroom.
Now that you have had a few months in the
role as VP T&L, what is one thing you have
enjoyed about the experience that you did
not anticipate in accepting this role for a 6
month term?
I really thought I knew a lot about what
was happening in teaching and learning on
campus when I accepted the job. I was wrong
- the range of innovative activities is amazing,
and the heartfelt support for those initiatives
from faculty and staff is really gratifying.
Bridges, Vol. 10, No. 3