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Tania Sterling – When it comes to learning, K-12 and higher ed more alike than different

Who would have ever predicted that a career as an elementary French teacher would eventually lead me to working for an educational publisher as a researcher and change agent? However, as someone who was nearing the completion of her doctoral studies, conducting research as opposed to teaching in the classroom did seem like the next […]

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Robert H. Seidman – Degree-in-three programs built on competency and assessment

Higher education in the United States is at a tipping point. The cost of a college education has spiraled out of control, leaving deserving students priced out of a bright future and putting the nation at risk of losing much-needed talent. Many states are reducing funding for publicly supported colleges, driving the price of securing […]

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Peter Wolf – Learning outcomes for life: intentional, explicit and practiced

Learning outcomes have been a key part of my professional life in higher education for the past 25 years. I completed a degree in social work at McGill University way back in the 80’s and haven’t been a social worker for a very long time. While I still can remember some content I learned (remembering […]

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Karen Young – Tackling mental health issues online and on the ground

Young people aged 15 to 24 experience the highest incidence of mental illnesses, according to Statistics Canada. Specific to higher education, the National College Health Survey—completed in 2013 by more than 34,000 Canadian postsecondary students—found an increase in almost all types of mental health concerns including depression, anxiety, attentional related concerns, addiction related concerns and […]

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Barry Fishman and Caitlin Holman – Higher ed grading systems deserve an F

Higher education graduates need to be prepared with the knowledge, skills and dispositions necessary to be leaders and contributors at all levels of society. What stands in the way of this outcome? One barrier is the grading systems we employ, contributing to the problem of graduates who are not well prepared for a global 21st […]

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Madeleine Lefebvre – Ryerson’s new learning centre is student-centred (and then some)

“We call it the Student Learning Centre because we learn from students and they learn from one another.” When we began planning Ryerson’s new Student Learning Centre (SLC) in 2008, we’d done a lot of research on students’ study behaviour, gathered from many different sources. We tested assumptions with students in many ways. Even our […]

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Harvey Weingarten, Don Drummond, Ross Finnie – Canada Needs a New Skills Agenda

A top priority for the new federal government must be to bolster Canada’s modest economic growth and ensure it is inclusive so more than just those at the top end of the income distribution enjoy the benefits. Ageing of the work force combined with the recent anemic pace of productivity growth will likely only produce […]

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Carolyn Crosby – Achieving the math skills that matter

Some high school math courses are very meaningful to specific career paths. Engineers need calculus, economists need analytical geometry and I am not sure who needs discrete geometry. But let’s consider the vast majority of career pathways. What math is most important to most careers? And are we ensuring that our students are achieving the […]

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Mubeen Ladhani – Hot town, summer in the classroom

As a contract faculty member at an Ontario college, summers off is a luxury I can’t afford. But I’m eagerly awaiting my next spring/summer teaching contract, which trumps any vacation I might have planned (beyond the occasional weekend getaway). Why? In part because spring/summer teaching allows me to both pay my bills and hone my […]