Teach.Learn.Share

Can gen AI help students become better scientists? Dr. Jasmin Chahal thinks so—if students learn to question the output first. In this episode, Jasmin shares how she integrated gen AI into a microbiology lab course through a low-stakes, reflective assignment. Hear how her students learned to question AI-generated references, evaluate reliability, and develop critical thinking skills essential for the future of science. Read the Transcript.

What happens when students are asked to assess the work of gen AI? McGill instructor William Archambault explores how shifting from traditional test questions to gen AI-based critique tasks helps students develop their analytical skills. William discusses the motivation behind this redesign, the challenges of scaling it in large classes, and why teaching critical evaluation of gen AI output is becoming essential in higher education. Read the transcript.

McGill students share what makes coming to class worthwhile—from inspiring professors to creative assignments to the feeling of community. This episode explores five themes of engagement, offering authentic, unscripted insights into how students connect with learning in meaningful ways. View the transcript.

The Fall term is underway, and gen AI is seemingly everywhere now. In this episode, we explore how to navigate gen AI in higher ed with three key moves: Intentional design, clear communication, and radical transparency. Whether you’re designing gen AI in or out of your course, this conversation will help you make informed, confident choices. Transcript coming soon!

Want to learn about how to engage students using an online teaching tool with a dynamic visual component? Tune in to hear how Prof. Mette Bendixen uses Mural to encourage her students to connect with the course material, engage in peer-to-peer learning, and share how they are faring in a large classroom setting. View the transcript.

How can sustainability transform not only what we teach but also how we go about our teaching? In this episode, Prof. Mylène Riva and PhD student Laurianne Debanné share their journey—including challenges and triumphs—redesigning a Health Geography course to incorporate sustainability principles. Along the way, they learned principles of sustainable course design, the importance of transdisciplinarity, and practical strategies for engaging students in meaningful learning experiences. View the transcript.

Join us for a conversation with Management Prof. Tatiana Lamoureux Gauvin as we delve into sustainable approaches to course design, focusing on social sustainability, workload management, and efficiency. Discover practical strategies for evergreening your course content, and ensuring it remains relevant and engaging for students. View the transcript.

How can sustainability be integrated into a Hispanic literature course to offer students a modern twist on classic texts? Prof. Cristina Carnemolla and PhD student Daniel Salas describe how they designed a course to engage students with historical texts and contemporary issues through diverse formats like recipes and conduct books, making these texts relevant to today’s students in novel ways. V

How can sustainability be seamlessly integrated into an engineering course? Prof. Daniele Malomo and PhD student Anna Wang discuss their redesign of a concrete structures course. They share pedagogically sound strategies for embedding sustainability into the curriculum, engaging students with real-world examples, and fostering ethical design practices. View the transcript.

How can we transform our world through education? To change everything, we need everyone. Prof. Blane Harvey and PhD candidate Stephanie Leite describe the critical role of a holistic approach to sustainability education. Discover insights from McGill’s Sustainability Education Fellows program and learn how innovative course design has the potential to make a lasting impact. View the transcript.

Have students’ perceptions of engagement changed after the Covid-19 pandemic? Is it harder to focus on lectures in the “attention economy” with overwhelming amounts of information designed to engage us to click and scroll? Are students engaging with learning in ways that are more autonomous—such as watching recorded lectures? In this episode, we speak with Kai Gutteridge and Lavínia Travassos to learn about their experiences with engagement and learning on McGill’s campus today. View the transcript here.

Interested in learning about different ways to implement two-stage exams? In this episode, McGill instructors Lawrence Chen, Alice Cherestes, Laura Pavelka, and David Titley-Peloquin join Jasmine and Margo for an exchange about how they use two-stage exams to assess their students’ learning. Listen in to hear them compare their practices and offer recommendations for instructors who are thinking about adopting this assessment strategy.

In our inaugural season, we spoke to members of the McGill community about how to leverage learning-focused assessment practices with the aim of improving student well-being. Among our guests was Kira Smith, who spoke to her research on post-secondary instructors’ engagement in supporting student mental health by means of their assessment strategies. In this episode, Kira returns to help Jasmine and Margo explore some of the obstacles—both personal and institutional—to building a culture of learning that fosters and supports students’ well-being.

Many undergraduate students may go on to be policy-makers. Why not have them practice the skill of translating complex concepts and issues into a “pitch” that shows students’ engagement with the course content? This idea became Dr. Tari Ajadi’s three-minute micro lecture assessment, a strategy that he first tried when asked to prepare one himself for a conference. As they engage with a format that is less familiar to them, students reflect on how to best communicate their understanding of the course’s problems in a three-minute audio or video recording. Don’t miss this episode to learn the details of how Tari communicates his expectations to his students, manages some of their anxiety when faced with a different kind of assessment task, and reflects on the difficulties of writing a good rubric.

In her introductory computer science class, Dr. Giulia Alberini asks her approximately 600 students whether they want to be “code crafters” or “problem solvers.” The first group will write two midterms and a final coding project. Instead of the final project, “problem solvers” prepare a technical interview that simulates an authentic real-world experience. This choice allows students to work to their strengths, be it programming alone or interviewing with two members of the instructional team. Listen in to hear how Giulia gives her students opportunities to practice with low-stakes exercises, manages her team, and meets her goal of keeping students engaged and motivated in a large classroom setting.

Low or no-stakes assessment tasks give students the opportunity to focus their practice on what they aim to learn and allow them to try their hand at failing. When what they’re learning means recognizing implicit biases in themselves and others, it’s key that students have multiple opportunities to practice developing this skill. In this episode, Dr. Alissa Levine describes her multipronged approach to assessments that help students recognize bias and understand the impact it can have on their future professional practice as dentists.

Quizzes are a tried-and-true way to prepare students for higher-stakes exams, but do they allow you to assess the progress of students’ learning? To ensure her students’ learning is on track, which in this case means thinking critically about the immune system, Dr. Jasmin Chahal has her students design concept maps, draw cartoon diagrams, and write problem-solving exam questions. In this episode, we learn about the flexible and creative formative assessments Jasmin gives her students, which allow them both to show their learning in different ways and to prepare for their exams. Jasmin also shares insights into coordinating with TAs and clearly communicating expectations with her students in a large science course. We learned about this practice from a former student of Dr. Chahal’s who has continued to use some of these strategies throughout her undergraduate studies!

In this episode, we learn about a two-staged mid-term exam where students do a collaborative version of the exam before trying their hand at an individual exam. For Dr. Laura Pavelka, having students work collaboratively and ask questions in an introductory science course were key in helping students understand how science works, so she designed those elements into her assessment strategy. Easing exam-related student anxiety was another motivating factor. Tune in to hear Laura share her tips on managing in-class time, fostering student collaboration, and galvanizing technology to help run a two-stage mid-term for a class of 600 students.

Welcome back to Teach.Learn.Share’s exciting new miniseries! Join us over the next five episodes as we delve into creative, concrete, and transferable assessment strategies centered around assessment for learning. In each episode, we sit down with instructors from various Faculties at McGill University to explore a new strategy, discussing its design and implementation. Listen in as instructors share what works and where the challenges lie in assessments for large and small classes, as well as in individual, peer and authentic assessment strategies. Don’t miss out—subscribe now and be part of the conversation reshaping assessment for learning in higher ed!

Do the assessment choices instructors make support students’ learning and their well-being? To close our five-part miniseries, we wanted to hear an instructor’s perspective. In this episode, we’ve invited Dr. Andrea Creech, Professor of Music Pedagogy at the Schulich School of Music, McGill University, to join the conversation. Andrea shares insights into how assessment forms an integral part of her pedagogy, which is shaped and guided by principles of well-being. These principles include self-efficacy, autonomy, purpose, and a sense of belonging in an academic community. Learn more on our blog Teaching for Learning @ McGill References Boucher, M. (Host). (2021-present). Le musicien stratégique [Audio podcast]. Vontpi Production. https://musicienstrategique.com/le-balado/ Lerman, L. (2022). Critique is creative. Wesleyan University Press.