The CTLT Institute offers you an opportunity to network with colleagues and share practice and experiences around teaching, learning and technology. This year, we are offering 21 workshops and information sessions during the four-day event. The 2012 CTLT Institute addresses five streams:

• Student Diversity
• Learning Environments
• Learning Technologies
• Teaching Environments
• Openness in Education

 
All faculty, staff, post-docs and students in the teaching community at UBC are welcome!

Visit the CTLT Event Registration website for complete session descriptions and to register.

Understanding the Campus Climate at UBC

Amy quoted Peterson and Spencer (1990), in order to help the group better define what exactly a campus climate entails. A campus climate is the “current perceptions, attitudes, and expectations that define the institution and its members,” quoted Amy. Amy talked about this statement in relation to her experience as an Aboriginal student at UBC. She explained that there were a lot of support structures in place for Aboriginal students at UBC; however, the several classes that touched on Aboriginal peoples topics did so superficially. Such classroom environments, Amy and her classmates in the First Nations Studies Program (FNSP) noticed, did not encourage inclusive and culturally sensitive conversations. Instead, the information presented was very “diffused” and many problematic conversations took place in these courses. Frustrated with this experience, Amy and her classmate Karrmen Crey approached one of their instructors. The instructor encouraged Amy and Karrmen to archive the stories in a way that could teach them about the classroom climate at UBC. Amy and Karrmen decided to interview people who would like to share their classroom experiences where Aboriginal content was being discussed. Amy stated that a key theme that came out of the student interviews was the extra burden that Aboriginal students had to take on when unproductive conversations happened. The interviews outlined a need for instructors to take a proactive role in addressing these issues in class and a failure to do so was not acceptable. It became clear that further interviews needed to be done to capture the voice and perspective from instructors.

A First-Hand Experience of a Problematic Classroom Environment

After the workshop introduction, the presenters played a video clip from What I Learned in Class Today, the project that was created by Amy and her research partner Karrmen Crey. The video account was of a student who had experienced a problematic classroom environment. The student interviewed was an Aboriginal student at UBC. The student told a story about her experience in a literature class, when the class was reading a book by an Aboriginal author. Another student from the class, in relation to the author, stated “why are Aboriginal people so screwed up?” The Aboriginal student felt disappointed, resentful, speechless, and didn’t understand how the student even felt comfortable enough to make such a comment. The Aboriginal student thought, “how could the student even have enough faith that no one would counter the violence of these words?” This statement resonated with the workshop participants. Furthermore, this student felt that it was as if she was not in the classroom. She remembered thinking, “it’s as if this person thinks that Aboriginal peoples are not here.”

Amy commented that the video portrayed the misconception that the classroom is an empty space, and that Aboriginal topics only happen outside the classroom. A workshop participant from Africa also related to having had a similar first-hand experience. She shared her story of sitting in a classroom, where they were talking about female genital mutilation, when a student commented “this is just typical of people in Africa.” The workshop participant hadn’t even heard of female genital mutilation happening in her country, and was disappointed to be grouped into one large sweeping assumption even as she sat there, present in the class.

The Negative Impact of Cultural Insensitivity in Class

In the particular experience of the Aboriginal student from the video, Amy pointed out that the instructor did not react, nor correct the other student’s inappropriate comment. The instructor failed in terms of facilitating the discussion. For the Aboriginal student, the classroom “no longer felt like a safe space.” Such experiences are obviously problematic, and are counterproductive to learning, Amy stated. The Aboriginal student was left thinking about the experience she had just encountered during the rest of the day, instead of learning. Many students who have experienced similar situations, Amy stated, have also felt that they did not want to return to class.

How to Deal with Culturally and Politically Insensitive Comments

Setting Ground Rules

The facilitators introduced the strategy of “ground rules” as a way to help encourage a productive and inclusive classroom environment. A great way to begin a class, stated Anousheh, is to begin by asking each student what they expect from the classroom and their learning experience. Furthermore, Anousheh advised that instructors can begin every class with ground rules, or they can re-visit them throughout the semester. Anousheh drew on her own experience with having used ground rules in the course she taught as a Teaching Assistant (TA). One of the rules her students set at the beginning of the semester “was not to be late, as this tended to disrupt the classroom.” Anousheh felt that the ground rules helped her create a learning environment where students contributed to setting the classroom rules. A workshop participant agreed that ground rules were effective, especially when the course may contain sensitive material. The workshop participant mentioned that she has a ground rule for her biology class. She will usually state at the beginning of the semester that evolution is what is taught, but that students in the class are not obliged to believe it, just to learn it.

The Mirroring Approach

Next, Amy and Anousheh went on to discuss some strategies to help TA’s and instructors work through situations where a student has made a culturally and politically insensitive comment. One approach is the mirroring approach. The mirroring approach consists of writing down word for word what the student just said, and then repeating it to them, asking for clarification. Many times, students may not be that conscious of what they are saying, and mirroring the question back to them, encourages them to think about what they just said. The mirroring approach is also useful because sometimes students may say something, and feel that they don’t “own” the comment. By mirroring the comment back to the student, the student is made accountable and the comment can be unpacked as a group. Amy also mentioned that writing the question on the board is one way for an instructor to take a breath and then return to the conversation.

Promoting Self-Reflection

A workshop participant, who is a TA, admitted that one of the biggest challenges was promoting self-reflection amongst her students. Once students have gotten to a point where they are reflecting, they will think about their own preconceived notions. The problem is getting to that point, she stated. The TA raised a further question, “how do you make students reflect, is it through a reminder that any one of us can feel marginalized at any point in time?”

Speaking Honestly

Amy suggested that participants “lay out your baggage from the start.” She recommends “not to claim expertise in an area that you don’t know about. It is important to admit that you don’t know all the answers, and to speak from you own position,” Amy suggested. Such honesty from the course instructor or TA will encourage students to hopefully do the same. Amy stated that it helps students to humbly understand what they know, or don’t know.

Unpacking a Problematic Comment

A participant also stated that it could be useful to discuss with the student what is problematic about what they stated. Many students may not even realize that what they said could be offensive. For example, some people make racists jokes about Germans and Nazis, without realizing the extent to which “they are belittling the history,” a participant from Germany stated. The participant stated that explaining this to them, often makes the person re-think what they are saying.

Encouraging Journals

Another participant recommended getting students to reflect and become more conscious of the language and ideas they use by encouraging them to keep journals. The participant realized that this was a useful approach because, many times, this was a great way “for those students that just seem to have a blank stare on their face in class, to express themselves.”

Identifying Two Types of Insensitive Comments

A participant made an important distinction between the two types of insensitive comments someone might say. The participant discussed how one should try and identify whether the comment said was the actual belief of the person, or whether the person was just saying something “stupid” without thinking twice. The participant reflected that the two different cases, call for two different responses.

It is clear that encouraging inclusive classroom environments that support diversity, is not an easy task. However, implementing certain strategies, and setting an example can help encourage a healthy classroom environment. In the end the workshop participants left with a better understanding of strategies they could use to improve the classroom climate, and to encourage inclusive classroom spaces.

The SDS Program: Students as Facilitators

The first presenter was Erin Biddlecombe, the Student Development Officer for the Student Directed Seminars (SDS) Program at UBC. The program gives senior undergraduate students from all Faculties the opportunity to initiate and facilitate a three credit course. This program is the only one of its kind in Canada. It gives students the chance to take education into their own hands and create a course for their peers.

The SDS application requires students to create a proposal and find a faculty member willing to sponsor and help them develop their course. Once chosen, applicants must create a course plan, syllabus, and reading list, as well as market their class. The student facilitators are given training and time to prepare their course during the first term and typically facilitate the seminar in January. The course consists of a three-hour seminar, once a week, with small class sizes of 8-15 people.

Erin stresses that Student Directed Seminars have a heavy workload and that students who become facilitators tend to have a higher grade point average. However, it is worth the extra work because the students get to take charge and initiate discussions with guest speakers and peers. They gain meaningful leadership and managerial skills for future job applications, as well as a beneficial learning experience while working closely with faculty members. Furthermore, the course is worth three credits and is the only UBC course in which students receive a notation on their transcripts recognizing their work as student facilitators.

Justin McElroy, a former student facilitator and the Coordinating Editor of the Ubyssey newspaper wrote an article about the SDS Program calling it “the best UBC program you’ve never probably heard of.” His article emphasizes that students “get to take direct control of [their] educational experience – at least for one course.” Justin’s seminar, Journalism in the 21st Century, was the only upper-level journalism course offered to undergraduate students. It was a great success and gave students an opportunity to take a course that they would not have been able to take, had it not been a SDS course.

SCIE 300: New Media Influence

Eric Jandciu is the course coordinator for SCIE 300: Communicating Science, a new and highly interactive course that aims to promote scientific communication skills. This is a multi-section course that focuses on actively engaging the science community; students are required to attend large lectures, small discussions, and contribute to an online community. The class has a private blog that students regularly add posts to. Students are encouraged to include their personal opinions into their posts and generate conversation with one another. The blog is closed to the public, but creates a centralized learning space for the course.

Blogging is a major component of SCIE 300, and for many students it is their first experience using a blog. Eric ties in the importance of blogging to the real world by giving students examples of academically acknowledged scientists who have recorded data and research via blogs. Even though there is a steep learning curve, when learning how to navigate the back end of a blog, students have generally embraced this form of new media. They have taken blogging seriously and some have even wanted a greater portion of their grade to go towards their posts.

The final assignment for SCIE 300 is to work in small groups and create a five-minute video and podcast of an interview with a UBC research scientist. Students are given a choice of researcher papers at the beginning of the course. After selecting a topic, the students are responsible for researching the topic and creating a narrative and dialogue for the video. Students must also choose the setting where they want to film the interview, and select questions to ask the researcher. The final project is then uploaded on the course blog to be reviewed.

According to Eric, the students have exceeded expectations with their videos. They are given little guidance and have succeeded in creating and editing a video and podcast, and posting it to their blogs. This hands-on experience with technology and media has given students the chance to be creative and have relevant experience for employment. The final project shows that students actively creating their education have had positive experiences leading to transformation and fulfillment in the course content.

ETEC 522: An Open Online Course

The final presenter shared a similar view to Eric, that technology and changing classrooms are essential for higher education. David Vogt is the instructor for the Master of Educational Technology course ETEC 522: Ventures in Learning Technology. This highly interactive online course explores entrepreneurial ventures involving learning technology.

The course takes place on a WordPress site and consists of student posts, in which they take on the role of analysts and entrepreneurs. The website is open to the public and encourages students to only publish their best work. In one example, a student wrote a review on a paper about advances in teaching technology. Within a week, an individual outside of the class wrote a response to the student’s article. In ETEC 522, the students are interacting not only amongst themselves, but also with the wider world. ETEC 522 is an intense course, with 40 students publishing 30-40 posts per semester. In this setting, David suggests that students create a better learning experience for themselves and others.

ETEC 522 has been a success and students have had positive feedback regarding it. David credits this acclaim to the student’s participation in the course. The students choose the topics of the course (different emerging technologies) through online surveys. The surveys match students into groups based on their preferences. For the final assignment, each group pitches their emerging technology to the rest of the class. In addition, David noted that the participation mark (25% of the overall grade) is largely influenced by the students. Students are told to take interesting things that they had said and done in posts, and give themselves a grade for their participation. More often than not, David finds that the students’ grades match up with the participation mark he gives them.

In the article, Student Content Creators: Convergence of Literacies, Joan Lippincott argues that “higher education needs a new framework for promoting the value of information and technology skills.” She points out that there is “evidence that students are creating all types of digital content” and “when they graduate from universities and colleges and enter such fields as business, education, government, research or the arts, they will continue to produce digital content.” She encourages faculty to embrace technology and student contributions, just as Erin, Eric, and David have done in their courses.

Lippincott addresses the many values of interactive and student produced projects. For instance, the students creating a video for SCIE 300 need a variety of skills to accomplish the task. They must research the topic, develop a script, create visuals, and produce and edit the video. These are all valuable opportunities for students to learn and develop their creativity, and hone their research and writing skills. She stresses that universities need to acknowledge the “shift in how we produce content today” and “assist students in becoming sophisticated digital-content producers in their professional lives.”

UBC is a leading university for new and innovative classrooms. The three initiatives described above are examples of courses that embrace students as creators of content and producers of knowledge. These courses create unique learning environments where students get the opportunity to contribute to their own education. Students gain invaluable experience as peer leaders and content creators, and get hands-on experience using new and emerging technologies. These interactive courses, where students take more control of their education, are visions of the future of higher education.

Even though Dr. Rawn will only meet with each student once, the invitational office hours seem to have a significant impact on those who attend. Past students have expressed appreciation, explaining that they felt less intimidated in their second year about going to see instructors during formal office hours. Dr. Rawn also benefits from the weekly chats. “It really helps me to put faces to that sea of students,” she explains, “and it helps me to focus on the positive connection that I can have with students.”

Dr. Rawn is clearly passionate about teaching. She has been an Instructor in the Learning Enhancement area of UBC’s Psychology Department since July 2009. She writes in her blog that “teaching is much more complex than I could appreciate before I was the one at the front of the room, all eyes on me.” It’s this complexity that keeps Dr. Rawn engaged in teaching and learning-related professional development (TLPD) as both a participant and a facilitator. “I’m constantly drawing from the base of my professional development every day, as I design classes and while I’m in classes,” she says. “It’s given me a curiosity to try new things, [and] a recognition that some activities aren’t going to work and that’s okay.”

Dr. Rawn’s first foray into TLPD at UBC came in 2005 when she was a teaching assistant struggling to figure out how to mark assignments. She heard about a graduate student Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) offered through TAG (now CTLT) and thought “here’s a place where I can get some skills.” What she found was a connection to a TLPD community. “I had fun,” Dr. Rawn recalls, “I met people, and realized it was a safe place to expose my curiosity [about teaching.]”

As her love of teaching developed, Dr. Rawn took more workshops and eventually completed the Graduate Student Certificate Program. The certificate gave her “a language to use for thinking about teaching.” The program also introduced her to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and to teaching-related conferences, opening connections and resources for teaching in her discipline. Before she finished her PhD, Dr. Rawn trained as an Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) facilitator and was awarded a grant from the UBC TA Training Fund to create a TA training program in psychology, which she continues to lead.

Dr. Rawn’s teaching is marked by a learner-centered approach that developed through her own professional development experiences. Dr. Rawn has grown from graduate student to faculty member, from Teaching Assistant to Teaching Assistant Trainer, and from workshop participant to workshop facilitator. She is one of the many people on campus who could easily fit the bill as a poster child for teaching and learning professional development at UBC.

For more information about CTLT’s programs for graduate students, please contact Dr. Gillian Gerhard, Manager of Graduate Student Programs at CTLT at 604-822-9696, gillian.gerhard@ubc.ca.

The workshop attendees represented various UBC Faculties, including, Arts, Science, Medicine and Pharmaceutical Science. Michael began the workshop by asking the group – many of whom had used group discussions in the classroom – what they hoped to learn from the session. The responses focused on a number of areas, including how to make discussions fun, how to achieve consistent results, and what kinds of discussion strategies are recommended for higher education.

Ice Breaker

The first activity Michael had for the group was “Name Bingo”, an ice breaker game to get people involved, and help them discover shared commonalities. Each participant was given a sheet listing nine different characteristics – for example, “Bikes to Work,” “Is New to UBC,” or “Teaches a Class of More than 100.” The goal was to find a person in the group who was a match for each of the characteristics. The room soon became quite animated, with everyone up and circulating, asking questions of the other participants and exchanging information about themselves. “Bingo” was called as soon as the first person had completed the sheet.

Michael then moved on to the next part of the activity. Participants were asked to pair up with someone with whom they shared similar characteristics, and interview them for the purpose of introducing them to the group. The interview process revealed still more things the pairs had in common – whether in terms of their professional development, “we found we had taken similar career paths”, or their personal lives, “we both love sushi!”.

Group Discussions – The Pros and Cons

For the next activity, Michael divided the large group into two smaller groups, and asked them to discuss the pros and cons of small group discussions. Within their groups, participants shared thoughts and experiences related to the topic, and recorded their ideas on a flip chart. Michael circulated between the groups, supporting the discussions by validating insights, providing additional examples, and suggesting resources. At the end of the allotted time, all the attendees reassembled to report on the results.

On the “Pro” side, both groups agreed that in-class discussions increase the potential for individual participation. In a small group, everyone has a chance to speak – an important factor, in that people learn better when they are more involved. Students get to know one another more easily in a small group, and are more likely to express themselves. Students can also benefit from peer learning in small groups – communication between peers can help to simplify and clarify content, and allow students who have fallen behind to catch up. Another advantage of the group discussion format is that it allows for a longer exploration of a topic. The use of online discussion boards, moreover, can extend learning beyond the classroom.

In terms of the “Cons” or “Challenges” identified, some attendees felt that a lack of trust can be problematic in small group discussions. Students may not readily see the value of a group learning activity, and may be reluctant to accept the knowledge of their peers as valid. Group dynamics is another challenge: the effectiveness of a group discussion may vary, depending on the mix of individuals involved (introverts, extroverts). Similarly, differences in learning goals can affect the group discussion experience. For example, a student who is taking a course because it is required, rather than because it is a preferred choice, may be less motivated to participate. Group discussions can also present logistical problems for the facilitator – for example, the task of managing feedback effectively when a large number of groups are all reporting on the same topic.

Strategies for Promoting Participation and Engagement

Having examined some of the challenges, participants shared possible solutions, and strategies they have found effective in facilitating in-class group discussions:

1. Create a climate for sharing:
   Use an activity such as an ice breaker to allow participants to get to know one another, and to promote trust.
2. Elicit a personal connection between the participants and the content:
   Structure the discussion so that the topic resonates with the students’ own lives.
3. Have virtual group discussions, using social media/blogs/online discussion boards:
   For example, assign students the task of blogging about a website they feel is related to the course or topic.
4. Introduce accountability:
   Incorporate group discussions into the marking structure by assigning a percentage of the grade for participation.
5. Use peer evaluation:
   Have the groups evaluate other members of their group for their degree of participation.
6. Involve participants in the process:
   For example, provide the topic, have each group formulate a question to be discussed, and then swap the questions between groups.
7. Use e-learning tools:
   When working with larger groups, consider using iClickers for reporting activities.
8. Employ the “Think-Pair-Share” strategy:
   Allow students time to formulate and share ideas in pairs before presenting them to the group.
9. Vary reporting methods:
   For example, provide students with “Scratch and Win” cards (used in the Faculty of Applied Sciences), or conduct a group quiz which introduces the element of anticipation (groups or students are called upon randomly to answer questions).

Reflecting on How Group Discussions Work

The final activity consisted of a reflection on the effectiveness of the day’s group discussion exercise. Michael asked attendees to examine their experience in the group in terms of how ready people were to participate, what the dynamics had been, what had motivated people, and how the discussion progressed.

The participant responses highlighted some of the positive aspects of small group discussions, and provided some insights into how groups work. One participant acknowledged how the ice breaker game, at the beginning of the workshop, had increased the comfort level of the group, and made the discussion exercise more productive. Another participant noted the support she received from members of the group in response to sharing her difficulties using group discussions in her classroom. She felt validated by their understanding, and appreciated the strategies they recommended to ameliorate the problems. This experience made her aware that students who are reticent to participate could also benefit from group learning, if successfully engaged. She pointed out, however, that instructors need to be aware of the differing learning styles of their students. For example, some students might learn more successfully by participating via an online discussion board.

Workshop Mirrors the Process

By participating in the workshop, attendees were involved in an active learning exercise. Their own experience in the group discussion process mirrored that of their students.

The ice breaker at the beginning established personal connections between people, which were then extended to the group. By the time participants got together for the small group discussion exercise, a comfortable atmosphere for sharing had been created. Group members were motivated by their mutual interest in using the group discussion format as a teaching tool. They shared with their peers, learned from them, received validation, and were offered practical suggestions for making their group discussions more effective.

The role of the facilitator, as demonstrated by Michael during the workshop, was to assist in moving the discussion process forward.

Involvement of Participants is Key to Success

Throughout the workshop, Michael emphasized the fact that many of the challenges involved in facilitating small groups discussions can be overcome through engagement. There are numerous strategies, tools, and methods, including those contributed during the session, which can be employed to this end. As the participants learned through direct experience in the workshop, group discussions can indeed be stimulating, enjoyable, and productive.

Michael’s final remarks served to summarize and reinforce the central message of the workshop, as well as to communicate his enthusiasm for the topic. “Make group fun,” he reminded the participants, and “keep the group engaged!”

A pilot of the new system launched in January of this year with a number of courses in many faculties taking part. Feedback from faculty and students on Connect has been enthusiastic, including:

Although I’ve used Vista extensively, I wish I had attended training on the new LMS prior to the pilot. Because things on the surface looked similar, I didn’t realize how different the two systems really are.

Jackie Stewart
Instructor, Chemistry, Faculty of Science

In the Pharmacy Management (PHAR 400) course I coordinate, the discussion boards are particularly useful. The new learning system alerts participants by email if they choose to subscribe to one or more threads. This feature helps to engage students in the discussion and lets them know when there is a new posting in an area of interest, without the need to log in unnecessarily just to check if there is anything new in a particular group of postings. Although there is a learning curve to use and incorporate the new capabilities, the transition over to this system is well worth it.

Dr. Alan Low
Clinical Associate Professor and Course Coordinator, PHAR 400 (Pharmacy Management), Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences

I’ve received some positive feedback from the students about the new LMS. They said it works better on their handheld devices (like iPad’s and iPhone’s) compared to Vista and they like the cleaner lay out. I haven’t heard any negative comments and all the students seem to be adapting well.

As an instructor, I find it’s easier to manipulate the materials (thanks to the click and drag feature). It’s quite similar to Vista so there wasn’t a steep learning curve and I’ll be exploring some of the other functions next term.

Tony Seet
Instructor/Lecturer, PHAR 202, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences

In May 2012 (Summer Session, 2012-13), the project team will begin to phase in Connect over two academic years with WebCT Vista officially retired by the summer of 2014. Check with your Faculty’s Instructional Support Centre or visit the CTLT Events website for information on upcoming workshops on the new system.

For more information on the LMS Pilot, please contact Donna Scalzo, CTLT’s Strategist, Teaching & Learning System Implementation at donna.scalzo@ubc.ca or visit www.lms.ubc.ca.

We would like to thank all those who participated in the naming contest. Please stay tuned for more information and updates on Connect over the coming months. For more information, please visit lms.ubc.ca.

Give Better Student Support by Asking Questions

Amy Perreault, Coordinator of Aboriginal Initiatives at CTLT, began the workshop with a personal story. A few years ago, when Amy was working as an Aboriginal Students Advisor, a student came in to see her about an eviction notice she had gotten from UBC Housing. The student explained to Amy that her loans were on hold, and that she could not pay UBC Housing until a later date. To ensure the student’s well-being, Amy asked the student some follow-up questions. Amy asked the student what kind of support she was getting on campus, and how she was doing academically. Through this experience, Amy realized that students will not tell you what their lives are like unless you ask them. Amy also realized that it is difficult to understand student demographics without directly interacting with the student population. A friend once advised her, “if you want to know what the students lives are like, you need to go to where the students are.”

Changes in Aboriginal Student Demographics

Rick Ouellet, Student and Community Development Officer at the First Nations House of Learning, works towards improving the relationship between Aboriginal communities and UBC. Rick pointed out that UBC has made great progress in terms of understanding its incoming student demographics. Until recently, UBC did not have data on incoming student demographics. Rick explained that the new data shows changes in Aboriginal student demographics. In previous years, most of the Aboriginal students coming to UBC were mature students. More recently, however, more Aboriginal students are coming straight from high school or small colleges and universities, and are between eighteen to twenty years old.

Rick noted that UBC had previously built support systems for Aboriginal students based on the idea that most students were “mature students.” However, with a growing number of young Aboriginal students, UBC is looking for new ways to cater to and build resources for this group of students. There are currently just under 1000 undergraduate Aboriginal students at UBC, and 650 are self-identified. Rick recognizes that UBC is not quite there in terms of reaching its long term goals for supporting Aboriginal students, but that it has made progress. Many accomplishments have been made in terms of providing better services for this younger Aboriginal student population.

Aboriginal Student Services and Resources at UBC

The First Nations Longhouse

The creation of the First Nations Longhouse, Rick stated, was a success for the integration of Aboriginal students into the UBC community. The Longhouse offers Aboriginal students a variety of services, allowing them to socialize, study, and seek help. Aboriginal students are introduced to the Longhouse through an optional first-year orientation at UBC: the Jump Start Program. The idea behind creating the Longhouse was to re-create a village-like space, where Aboriginal students would not “feel so alienated.” Rick stated that the space has been crucial for the integration of Aboriginal students into the UBC community, especially when some students have reported that some of their classrooms “had more people than their entire village.”

Cree Language courses with UNYA (Urban Native Youth Association)

In partnership with UBC, the Urban Native Youth Association offers Cree language courses at no cost. The Cree language courses involve both UBC and Aboriginal community students. The program was designed in order to help maintain the Cree language and, so far, it has been a success. Rick stated that the Cree language courses encourage Cree communities to keep their language alive, while it allows UBC to create strong ties with the Cree families and communities.

Summer Math Program (Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences)

The Summer Math Program with the Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences involves about 20 Aboriginal high school students. The program facilitates the success of Aboriginal high school students; they are able to gain relevant work experience, and are able to interact with UBC faculty members. Furthermore, Rick stated that the Summer Math Program is a great way for Aboriginal high school students to create ties with UBC, and will hopefully encourage the students to apply in the future.

Changing the Perception of Higher Education Amongst Aboriginal Communities

Next, Rick discussed the areas that UBC still has to work on in order to encourage even more Aboriginal peoples to come study at UBC. First, UBC needs to work on changing the perception of the university amongst Aboriginal communities. For example, Rick mentioned that some Aboriginal communities still associate a university, as an institution, with the colonial past. The perception of the university as a colonial enterprise needs to be changed. Rick also mentioned that some Aboriginal peoples are afraid that their members will move away and never return to the community if they go to university. It is important, Amy noted, to create programs that will build and maintain a strong relationship between Aboriginal communities and UBC. Amy stated that “we want to avoid that awkward one time exchange” and instead build “long lasting ties.” Furthermore, creating long lasting relationships with Aboriginal communities could ease the stress of some first generation university students. Amy stated that this is especially important when 75 % of Aboriginal students are first generation university students.

Group Discussions

The Connection Between Aboriginal Students and International Students

In order to facilitate the discussion amongst workshop attendees, Amy broke the attendees into three groups. She then brought up two discussion topics: what do changing demographics mean to your role at the university and what are some positive changes that have been made?

The first group explored what the changing demographics meant holistically. The group discussed the impact of incoming international students, and the importance of educating these students about the histories of Aboriginal peoples. Many international students come to UBC without any knowledge of the history of Aboriginal peoples. With the growing number of Aboriginal students at UBC, and the growing number of international students, the group thought that interaction between the two groups of students should be encouraged. A suggestion was to create more connections between the International House and the Longhouse. Such considerations and ideas seem to be already developing. For example, the integration of Aboriginal students into the Jump Start Program has facilitated the interactions between Aboriginal students and international students. Furthermore, it has been a success in helping to integrate first year Aboriginal students into UBC.

Making the Transition Easier

The second group thought that more could be done to help understand the different services that the younger Aboriginal demographic requires. The third group discussed programs that could be put into place to encourage Aboriginal students to feel more comfortable with the transition from high school to university. One group member discussed her personal experience of coming from a small community, and feeling that she could not connect back with the community once she was at UBC. She described how, once at UBC, no one asked where she came from or how she was going to connect and give back to her own community. The third group suggested that a program that would help students connect back to their communities could help facilitate the transition between small community life and UBC. Such a program may also make the university feel less threatening to some Aboriginal communities.

With younger Aboriginal student demographics, the group also discussed how a transition program should be put in place between high school and university. The group cited how the University of Victoria and some universities in Australia have such programs already in place. The University of Victoria invites Aboriginal high school students to spend a night at the university’s student residence. The students also get a chance to meet professors from the University of Victoria, and a chance to tour the campus.

In addition to trying to better accommodate current students, attendees felt that more programs needed to be put in place that would encourage Aboriginal high school or college students to apply to UBC. One group member did note that a college-to-university transfer program for Aboriginal students was being developed, and this program will hopefully encourage Aboriginal students to apply to UBC.

With the workshop coming to an end, the group members left with a sense that much progress has been made to better accommodate current Aboriginal students, and that there is much more to come in the near future.

Check out the complete list of courses being offered for the May-August 2012 term in the online course guide.

Ely noted that both courses consisted of a lot of readings and small assignments that needed to be completed every other week. In HIST 432, students were required to work on group assignments. Initially, Ely found online communication to be a bit challenging because he had to “touch base with group partners and professors without even seeing them in person.” However, using course features like the online discussion board pushed Ely to improve his “online communication skills.” Ely found HIST 480 to be particularly beneficial for him in the long run because he came across the subject, China’s minority policy in Xinjiang, which inspired his current thesis topic. The “flexibility” of topic selection in HIST 480 allowed Ely to “pick a rather obscure topic” which really interested him and benefitted his research in the long run. Since HIST 480, Ely has become “rather obsessed” with the topic, and thinks that he would have “probably never heard of it had he not taken the course.”

In addition to being able to travel out of town with his family, Ely found that taking these two distance education course benefitted him at a personal level. The distance education experience forced him to “evaluate people purely on the quality of their work as opposed to what they looked like, how they spoke, or how they behaved.” He isn’t as quick to judge people now. Furthermore, the distance education courses helped Ely to figure out his most efficient and effective method to study for exams. He recalls that he was “very nervous,” before writing his HIST 480 final exam, as the exam covered the entire six month course. In the end however, he did much better than he expected, and has since “used the same study method” for all his other exams.