Welcome to the first issue of Innovatus for the 2023-24 academic year!
Innovatus is a special issue of YFile that offers a space to highlight initiatives and colleagues who are transforming teaching and learning at York, and it is my hope that these special issues will begin new conversations and facilitate collaboration.
As we begin another academic year together, I am looking forward to many opportunities to learn and talk together about the ways in which teaching and learning in higher education continues to evolve. I believe that the complex times we are living in demand an approach to pedagogical innovation that foregrounds qualities of risk-taking, openness to failure, human-centredness, creativity, social transformation, diversification and decolonization. Innovation may at times need to focus on reparation before it can lead to transformation.
Our University Academic Plan articulates the aim to ”diversify whom, what and how we teach” as one of its six key priorities. In the Office of the Vice-Provost Teaching & Learning, we are focused on this priority and on enriching the pedagogical experience for students, faculty and instructors across all academic units and programs. As our monthly teaching and learning publication, Innovatus reflects such efforts taking place across the University, and I am excited about offering you a glimpse into the innovative ideas our faculty and staff put into practice in this regard.
Our office recognizes the unparalleled diversity of our community, and that diversifying what and how we teach is inextricably linked to creating an institution in which all of us can thrive. This year, we are looking forward to the forthcoming report and recommendations of the Joint APPRC-ASCP Task Force on the Future of Pedagogy and to working with colleagues to support its implementation. Other priorities this year include expanding experiential education opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students, addressing the complex impacts of generative artificial intelligence for teaching and learning with assistance from the Teaching Commons, and developing models for program delivery and technology-enhanced learning that enhance the creativity and accessibility of teaching and learning at York.
As the school year progresses, I look forward to sharing with you many of the creative, innovative approaches to teaching and learning that our faculty members develop and bring to the classroom, whether that classroom is virtual, in-person or a combination.
All the best for an enriching, engaging school year.
Sincerely,
Chloë Brushwood Rose
Vice-Provost Teaching & Learning
Faculty, course directors and staff are invited to share their experiences in teaching, learning, internationalization and the student experience through the Innovatus story form, which is available at tl.apps01.yorku.ca/machform/view.php?id=16573.
In this issue:
Teaching Commons offers fresh content, new perspectives
Artificial intelligence continues to be a focus in the evolution of teaching and learning at York University. The Teaching Commons will host an online summit in October.
Teaching with an assist from technology
Faculty at York University have continued to embrace technology as a useful and interesting adjunct to their courses after returning to in-person teaching. Read this story to learn how these innovations benefit students.
Project aims to educate students on academic integrity
The Academic Innovation Fund project will explore current interventions so students can be supported in their understanding of academic honesty.
York Libraries prototypes curricular offerings for Markham Campus
York University Libraries is working with faculty members to advance the framework to support Markham Campus as an innovation-oriented facility.
C4 students turn gaze toward York University Libraries, SDGs
Students in the Cross-Campus Capstone Course (C4) worked with York University Libraries to explore new ways for library programs to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).