Tag Archives: Education

January 27 marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Today marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This annual date serves not only as an official commemoration of the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust, and the millions of other victims of Nazism, but to promote Holocaust education throughout the world.

For more than a decade, UVic has played a leading role in Holocaust studies. Home to the I-witness Holocaust Field School (the first of its kind for undergraduate students at a Canadian university when it launched in 2010), the Faculty of Humanities also offers a master’s stream in Holocaust studies (the only one of its kind in Canada).

In the ongoing SSHRC-funded work led by UVic Professor of Germanic and Slavic Studies Charlotte Schallié, our Head of Advanced Research Services, Matt Huculak, is part of an international team of researchers for the Narrative Art & Visual Storytelling in Holocaust and Human Rights Education interdisciplinary project. As stated on their website, their mission is a “multiperspectival, participatory, arts-and-human-rights-based collaboration among academics, educators, Holocaust survivors, and artists for teaching & learning about the Holocaust in diverse, international public contexts.”

As part of this mission, they offer free and accessible visual storytelling resources in order to engage in dialogue-based teaching & learning processes for newer generations, including a podcast series. The latest conversation about Pedagogy and Narrative Art in Human Rights and Education is now available here. Relatedly, our University Archives is home to the Holocaust and World War II Memory Collection and we also have a Holocaust LibGuide.

These resources reflect the focus of both UVic and UVic Libraries’ commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, specifically UN SDG Goal 16 on peace and justice, as the UVic community continues to tackle contemporary issues of hatred, racism, antisemitism, Islamophobia, xenophobia, ethnic conflict and genocide.

(on behalf of the Communications, Events, and Community Engagement Operational Group (CECE-OG): Christine Walde, Emily Garry, Inba Kehoe, Jennifer Wells, Lara Wilson, and Lisa Abram)

Featured Project: Nursing emergency preparedness education

This 2012 project by Stephanie Trowbridge, submitted as part of the Masters of Nursing – Advanced Practice Leadership, asks the question, “Nursing emergency preparedness education: Why do nurses need it? Do nurses have this knowledge?

Abstract:

A review of theoretical and research literature that is relevant to nursing and emergency preparedness is the broad focus of this project. This literature review identifies how and to what extent nurses are being educated on emergency preparedness planning and response. Additionally, this review demonstrates how and why nursing emergency preparedness education is integral to community and hospital response plans. Emergency preparedness education for nurses is examined in light of historical influences, professional responsibilities and collaborations and partnerships. It is anticipated that this project will begin to build a platform that showcases the value and significance of nursing emergency preparedness education.

To read more, visit UVicSpace https://dspace.library.uvic.ca/handle/1828/4006

*UVic’s open access repository, UVicspace, makes worldwide knowledge mobilization possible. Through this platform, researchers at any institution have access to dissertations (and theses and graduate projects) published by our graduate students. This also makes works available to the interested layperson, who may be engaged in learning more about the research being done at UVic, with no paywall. UVic’s graduate students are doing valuable research every day – but sometimes it goes unsung. Our goal with this series is to shine a light on our students by featuring excellence, one achievement at a time.

The UVic LIbraries ePublishing Services Team

New augmented reality game for French-language learners

August 7, 2019| UVic News

Bernadette Perry, a PhD student at the University of Victoria showcased her augmented reality video game Explorez during the Department of French and Faculty of Humanities April 29, 2019 forum French for the Future—Français pour l’avenir. Explorez was created to….

‘…reinforce their language skills while exploring the UVic campus… [while data collected from participants will allow her to] observe how the students interacted with each other using Explorez—and how collaborative learning takes place.

If you are interested in reading more about Perry’s work with new and emerging digital education technologies, please read her open access content in UVicSpace.

Expand your search for open access content on this topic, by using the subject search terms ‘gamification’ & ‘augmented reality’ in UVicSpace.

Open Education Resources Grants @UVic

What are open Education Resources (OERs)?

“Open Educational Resources are teaching, learning and research materials in any medium – digital or otherwise – that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits no-cost access, use, adaptation and redistribution by others with no or limited restrictions.”[1]

OER Grants

UVic’s OER grant was established in 2019 with funding from the UVic Undergraduate Student Society, UVic Libraries, the Division of Learning, Teaching, Support and Innovation (LTSI), and UVic Systems. The LTSI, Libraries, and UVSS administer the grants. The grant provides funding of up to $5,000 along with staff support to help faculty members redesign a course to adopt, adapt or create open textbooks or other OER as their primary course material.

Proposals were evaluated based on the following five criteria:

  1. The potential impact of cost-savings to students based off the cost of educational materials being replaced, class sizes, as well as possible employment of TA’s for the project;
  2. Their potential impact on student learning and the student experience in the form of high-quality materials, and open and innovative pedagogy;
  3. Overall alignment with UVic strategic framework;
  4. Long-term plans to reuse the OER in courses in subsequent terms;
  5. The extent to which the OER will be freely and openly shared throughout and beyond UVic (e.g., through BCcampus); and,
  6. Feasibility of the OER being ready within a reasonable timeframe, preferably ready for the following winter or spring term.

We congratulate the  July 2019 round of grant recipients:

  • Jane Butterfield, Department of Mathematics and Statistics – Pre-calculus Review Workbook

Over the past two years, we have been developing online review modules that calculus students can use to brush up their pre-calculus math skills. The purpose of this project is to convert those PDF files into an open-source html workbook, and to extend them to include trigonometry review. We will be using the markup language PreTeXt, which allows for the full range of mathematical typesetting, is extremely screen-reader compatible, and also allows for embedded WeBWorK exercises. The result will be an attractive, open-source, accessible, and widely-available workbook that gives students instant feedback as they refresh their skills!

  • Christopher Eagle, Department of Mathematics and Statistics – Open-access text for Math 110

Chris is producing an openly available supply of practice problems, together with hints, answers, and full solutions, for Math 110.  The questions are being obtained from a variety of existing open-access linear algebra texts, and then are being modified and arranged to match the way the material is covered in Math 110.  In the short-term this will make purchasing the Math 110 textbook optional for students.  In the long-term he plans for this to be the first step in the process of moving to a fully open textbook.

  • Shannon Fargey, Department of Geography – An Introduction to Earth System Science

The main goals of this project are both moral and academic. The underlying moral purpose of this project is to remove financial barriers to student success. Simply put, Students in GEOG 103 need a textbook to succeed and few students at present buy the textbook because it is too expensive. The UVic Bookstore has informed me that < 50% of students acquire the Textbook (hard copy and digital version). Earth system science is a very visual subject matter and all adequate textbooks are extremely expensive because of the number of required colour photographs and diagrams.

As I see it, a textbook is like a tutor. A good textbook guides the students to what is important, it explains concepts, and it helps students gauge their learning. This textbook will provide students an opportunity to read about the subject matter ahead of class, link to further resources, and include exercises that facilitate the achievement of the main learning outcomes of the course.

  • Allyson Hadwin, Department of Educational Psychology and Leadership Studies – Learning to self-regulate learning: Strategies for optimizing learning, motivation, and socio-emotional success at university

This interactive multi-media OER will include interactive modules used as: (a) a course text for Learning Skills courses, or (b) just in time resource for teachers, student services professionals, or university instructors supporting undergraduate students. Content will be drawn from two decades of empirical research and instruction with first year undergraduates students presenting a state-of-the-art catalogue of evidence-based of strategies for optimizing success in the face of range of student-identified behavioural, motivational, cognitive/metacognitive and socio-emotional challenges.

  • Quentin Mackie, Department of Anthropology – Introductory Archaeology: An Open Access Textbook

The Introduction to Archaeology open textbook will create a readily-updatable, locally-focused resource for students at UVIC and beyond. The textbook will integrate new writing, existing online resources, and open licensed images, all tied to original examples from the archaeology of Indigenous British Columbia and Canada.

 

The grant recipients were invited to welcome session on August 6 to share information about their projects, platforms they may use in publishing content and to gather information about supports available through the Libraries and Technology Integrated Learning.

 

 

 

 

 

[1] William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. (n.d.). OER Defined. Retrieved from https://hewlett.org/strategy/open-educational-resources/

2019 AATE Research Award – Web of Performance

WINNER! 2019 American Alliance for Theatre Education Research Award

This award honors scholars whose research contributes significantly to the field of drama/theatre with or for young people.

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Download the book for free: http://dspace.library.uvic.ca/handle/1828/9426.
Buy a hard copy from the UVic Bookstore: https://www.uvicbookstore.ca/general/browse/draref/9781550586220
Published under a CC BY-NC-SA license

The field of performance studies involves much more than actors on a stage. It is based on the idea that nearly everything we do is related to performing. We’ve called this book The Web of Performance because, like a spider’s web, performance connects at multiple points to everything around it. Once you begin to understand how it all works—how performance is connected to all aspects of our lives.

For Students
If you love being involved in theatre and you’re also searching for opportunities to make a positive difference in your community, this workbook was written for you. You may think that theatre and all the other things you are passionate about represent different directions in your life, but they don’t have to be separate. They can converge in performance studies, a category of theatre based on the idea that nearly everything we do is related to performing. Once you begin to understand how performance is connected to all aspects of our lives, you can use that knowledge to invent, create, and build performance based activities that you can integrate into all the other interests that define who you are and what you want to do in your life.

For Educators
This workbook has been designed and written for students in high school and university who may be interested in how performance works. The chapters cover broad topics drawn from the field of performance studies, an academic field developed out of theatre studies, anthropology, sociology and cultural studies in the 1980s and 1990s. Web of Performance covers key topics in performance studies: Performance as a form of Play, Ritual, Healing, Education, Power, Identity and Everyday Life. Each of these topics works like a web, inviting students to explore in multiple directions, across many threads.

Dr, Prendergast
Dr. Monica Prendergast, Professor of Drama/Theatre Education, Department of Curriculum & Instruction, University of Victoria. Her research interests are varied and include drama-based curriculum and pedagogy, drama/theatre in community contexts, and arts-based qualitative research methods. Dr. Prendergast’s books include Applied Theatre and Applied Drama (both with Juliana Saxton), Teaching Spectatorship, Poetic Inquiry, Staging the Not-yet, Drama, Theatre and Performance Education in Canada and Poetic Inquiry II. Her CV includes over 50 peer reviewed journal contributions, numerous chapters, book reviews and professional contributions. Monica also reviews theatre for CBC Radio Canada and writes a column on theatre for Focus Magazine.

Dr. Will Weigler
Dr. Will Weigler is an award-winning theatre director, playwright and producer based in Victoria, British Columbia. He often works in collaboration with communities to co-create plays about the issues that matter to them. He received training in physical theatre, circus arts, and character mask at NYU’s Tisch School for the Arts; Dell ‘Arte International; Odin Teatret; and Jared Sakren, among others. Will is a graduate of both the National Theatre Institute in the US, and Oberlin College. He holds a PhD in Applied Theatre from the University of Victoria. Will is also the author of several books on theatre, including The Alchemy of Astonishment: Engaging the Power of Theatre (University of Victoria, 2016); Strategies for Playbuilding:Helping Groups Translate Issues into Theatre (Heinemann, 2001); From the Heart: How 100 Canadians Createdan Unconventional Theatre Performance aboutReconciliation (VIDEA, 2015); Laughing Allowed! —A How-to Guide for Making a Physical Comedy Show toBuild Neighbourhood Resilience [co-author] (Building Resilient Neighbourhoods, 2016); and, Web of Performance: An Ensemble Workbook [co-editor/co-author] (University of Victoria, 2018).

UVic Author Celebration Feature: Promising Practices in Indigenous Teacher Education

The annual UVic Author Celebration is coming up as part of Ideafest. Join us as we celebrate books written by UVic authors, including an engaging panel discussion on issues facing First Nations communities.

When: March 8, 2018
Where: University Bookstore
Time: 3:00-4:30pm

The author panel includes: John Borrows (Law), Michele Tanaka (Education), Paul Whitinui (Education), and Wanosts’a7 Lorna Williams (Education). Rebecca Johnson (Indigenous Law Research Unit) will moderate.

This week, we will highlight the books written by members of the author panel.

Promising Practices in Indigenous Teacher Education edited by Paul Whitinui, Maria del Carmen Rodriguez de France, and Onowa McIvor is a recent release from Springer.

About the Book

This book provides a comprehensive overview of navigating the on-going systemic challenges, hardships, and problems facing many indigenous teacher education programs today, helping to foster a commitment to developing quality indigenous teacher education programs that are sustainable, distinctive and excellent. However, despite a growing cadre of indigenous peoples working in teacher education, there is still a noticeable gap between the uptake of what is being taught in conventional teacher education programs, and how this translates to what we see student teachers doing in the classroom. The often tricky and complex nature of indigenous teacher education programming also means that there are multiple realities, approaches and pathways that require greater communication, collaboration, and cooperation. The very nature of this complexity, the book suggests, requires a strength-based and future-focused approach built on trust, integrity, courage and respect for indigeneity, as well as an understanding of what it means to be indigenous. The examples and experiences presented identify a number of promising practices that work well in current indigenous teacher education programs and beyond. By promoting a greater appreciation for the inclusion of culturally relevant practices in teacher education, the book aims to breathe new life into the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of indigenous teacher education programs moving forward.

About the Editors

L-R: Rodriguez de France, McIvor, and Whitinui. Credit: Julie Rémy, UVic

Dr. Paul Whitinui is an indigenous Māori scholar from Aotearoa New Zealand and an assistant professor at the School of Exercise Science, Physical and Health Education (EPHE) based at the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Education in BC, Canada. His research is interdisciplinary by nature and broadly linked by relationships between indigenous education, Indigenous sociology, Indigenous community health, Indigenous wellbeing, and indigenous autoethnography. Over the past 10 years, Dr. Whitinui has published and presented extensively on culturally responsive teaching and learning, indigenous educational leadership in higher education, treaty-relational health, the benefits of indigenous performing arts (i.e., kapa haka) in public high schools, and the application of indigenous autoethnography in teaching and learning, and health. Presently, he is the co-chair of the World Indigenous Research Alliance under the auspices of the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium (WINHEC), as well as a reviewer for the online WINHEC journal.

Dr Maria del Carmen Rodriguez de France is an assistant professor in the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Education. She facilitates graduate and undergraduate courses on indigenous knowledge, pedagogy, and education. The focus of her research is multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary, weaving together fields of education that influence her work in preparing students to work within a diverse society. Dr. Rodriguez de France has published books and journal articles nationally and internationally, and contributes to the field of indigenous education as member of national and international journal editorial boards.

Dr. Onowa McIvor is an assistant professor and the director of Indigenous Education at the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Education. Her research interests center on indigenous language revitalization and indigenous teacher education. Dr. McIvor has been a contributing author to several edited book projects and has provided peer-review editing for several international academic journals such as AlterNative, Educational Research, the Canadian Journal of Education, and Curriculum Inquiry.

For More Information

See the UVic news item for a Q&A with the editors on Indigenizing education.

Knowing Home Edited by Gloria Snively and Wanosts’a7 Lorna Williams

Each year UVic faculty, staff, students, alumni, and retirees produce an incredible amount of intellectual content reflecting their breadth and diversity of research, teaching, personal, and professional interests. A list of these works is available here.

Knowing Home: Braiding Indigenous Science with Western Science, Book 1 edited by Gloria Snively and Wanosts’a7 Lorna Williams is a newly released open textbook published by the University of Victoria.

About the Book

Knowing Home attempts to describe the creative vision of Indigenous scientific knowledge and technology that is derived from an ecology of a home place. The traditional wisdom component of Indigenous Science—the values and ways of decision-making—assists humans in their relationship with each other, the land and water, and all of creation. Knowing Home weaves Indigenous perspectives, worldviews, and wisdom practices into the science curriculum. It provides a window into the scientific knowledge and technological innovations of the Indigenous peoples of Northwestern North America, providing numerous examples and cases for developing science lessons and curricula. Knowing Home shows how Indigenous perspectives have the potential to give insight and guidance as we attempt to solve the complex environmental problems of the 21st century.

Knowing Home is available online or you can order a hard copy through the UVic Bookstore.
PDF versions are available at: https://dspace.library.uvic.ca:8443/handle/1828/7821

About the Editors

Dr. Gloria Snively is Professor Emeritus at the University of Victoria where she taught science methods, environmental/marine education, and culture courses. She was Director of the Graduate Program in Environmental Education. For 12 years, she was involved with the Asia Pacific Network whose purpose is to strengthen links between the research community and school-based environmental education in the Asia-Pacific region. Her work with Indigenous education spans 4 decades and has always been inspired by Indigenous leaders. She enjoyed giving natural history talks and walks to students, teachers, park interpreters, First Nations and community groups for 50 years; she prefers to explore forest, ponds and seashores first-hand.

Dr. Wanosts’a7 Lorna Williams OBC walking in peace is Lil’wat of the St’at’yem’c First Nation. Her life has been devoted to promoting and restoring Indigenous culture and language. She worked as an Indigenous educator and language specialist for more than 50 years in diverse settings, including Indigenous communities, public schools, and adult education settings. Dr. Williams recently retired from the University of Victoria as Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Knowledge and Learning (co-appointment with Faculty of Education and Department of Linguistics) and an associate professor, where she developed and delivered an innovative series of courses on learning and teaching in an Indigenous world.

Praise for the Book

“It is a thrill for me to see this book and to know that it will be a readily available reference for learners and educators alike. At a time when Canadians are finally embarking on a journey of Truth and Reconciliation with Aboriginal Peoples, this insightful edited volume is both timely and critically important…. Knowing Home will be a wonderful resource that will bring all Canadians to a higher level of understanding…” – Nancy Turner, Professor Emeritus and P. E. Trudeau Fellow, School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria

“This book is both timely and critical, coming during the era of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action, and during British Columbia’s implementation of its New Curriculum, where educators have the opportunity to weave Indigenous perspectives into all parts of the curriculum in a meaningful and authentic manner. Knowing Home acknowledges and validates Indigenous Knowledges and brings it together with Western Science in a way that will be invaluable for educators.” – Nick X̱EMŦOLTW̱ Claxton, WSÁNEĆ (Saanich), PhD, Indigenous Education, University of Victoria

“The attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 will require transformative new approaches to the creation and use of knowledge.  This book Knowing Home provides a brilliant example of how new ways of knowing can be combined with Western knowledge for the betterment of our communities and indeed our planet. Knowing Home places Indigenous Science on an equal footing with Western Science and in the process illustrates how innovative research with Indigenous Elders and students can dramatically enhance our understanding of home/earth/land.  And while the focus of this work is on the Indigenous Science of Northwestern North America, the research methods involved in the creation of this project, the focus on how to use Indigenous Science in classrooms, and the support of emerging Indigenous scholars can and should be carried out in many other parts of the world. Knowing Home is a defiant, provocative and hopeful intellectual contribution to the world we want.” – Budd Hall, Co-Chair UNESCO Chair in Community-based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education

“Knowing Home: Braiding Indigenous Science with Western Science is an inspiring collection of knowledge, expertise and cultural intelligence that will help all educators in transforming the foundations of learning for all students. As we strive to change the narratives in BC and beyond through authentic voices, new curricular directions and Aboriginal worldviews and perspectives, this book defines a way forward for our relationships and understandings grounded in the sacred territories of our people. This rich and reflective resource of traditional and contemporary ways of knowing and being will truly engage each of us in a personal and professional journey of truth and reconciliation.” – MUSGAM’DZI, Kaleb Child, Kwakwaka‘wakw, Director of Instruction, First Nations – School District #85, Vancouver Island North

The Alchemy of Astonishment by Will Weigler

Each year UVic faculty, staff, students, alumni, and retirees produce an incredible amount of intellectual content reflecting their breadth and diversity of research, teaching, personal, and professional interests. A list of these works is available here.

Combining theory with application, The Alchemy of Astonishment: Engaging the Power of Theatre by Will Weigler is a new book that anyone can use to powerfully express the stories they want to tell through theatre.

About the Book

When stage director Will Weigler analyzed nearly 100 stories from people about their most unforgettable experiences at the theatre, he realized that even though the plays were very different, they all had one thing in common. After discovering just what it was that made them so astonishing, he turned the results of his research into a vocabulary of staging strategies that anyone can access to powerfully express the stories they want to tell through theatre. Combining theory with application, “The Alchemy of Astonishment” is a useful resource for scholars, educators, students, theatregoers, and theatre artists of every kind. For those who facilitate devised theatre with communities, this book and its supplementary deck of teaching cards offer professional artists and the people with whom they work a shared language that will allow them to meet as equitable partners in the creative co-authorship and staging of dynamic and compelling plays.

The Alchemy of Astonishment is available for sale from the UVic Bookstore.

About the Author

Will Weigler has been an Applied Theatre director, teacher, and playwright for over twenty-five years. He is the author of several books including Strategies for Playbuilding: Helping Groups Translate Issues into Theatre, From the Heart: How 100 Canadians Created an Unconventional Theatre Performance about Reconciliation, and Laughing Allowed! – A How-to Guide for Making a Physical Comedy Show to Build Neighbourhood Resilience. Will completed his PhD in Applied Theatre here at the University of Victoria.

Praise for the Book

“With this book and its supplementary deck of teaching cards, Will offers direct access to creating… images [of magnificence] on stage. Beautifully observed and meticulously explained, community performers and trained professionals will treasure it.” – Richard Owen Geer, PhD, Community Performance Director

“Reading along, I experienced something of the feeling of being let in on a magician’s secret knowledge, and also the pleasure of engaging with a vivid storyteller who enables the reader to see and feel as well as hear what is being told. I can imagine so many uses for this book as a teaching aid, an inspirational instruction manual for artists, even a creative spur for sermons, speeches, and conversations having nothing much to do with theatre.” – From the foreword by Arlene Goldbard