I have always found grading students uncomfortable, so I adjust or change the assessment in courses whenever I can. I inherited a course once that had a paper, but writing a paper wasn’t a relevant skill for the course so I took it out and replaced it with a video which related to the presentation … Continue reading
The introduction to sustainability course I teach has one group assignment that students need to do if they want an A in the course. (I use a grading approach called specifications grading where letter grades are determined by the amount and type of work rather than the overall quality which all must meet a particular … Continue reading
I have an 8 week old puppy in the house and he’s making writing my blog post this week a little more challenging, so I thought I may as well use him for inspiration. I’ve noticed that if he can see the training food pieces he doesn’t really care that I have one in my … Continue reading
The first question people ask me when they find out that my one wrist is basically a disaster at the end of an arm is “are you right or left handed?” I find this question kind of frustrating because there are very few parts of my life which only require one hand. Sure, I can … Continue reading
I went to two concerts by the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra this weekend. They both featured the symphony playing jazz music with professional jazz musicians. It was interesting to hear the symphony playing jazz style. No offence to any of the symphony musicians, who are all phenomenal, but it seemed like some of them struggled more … Continue reading
Are you ready for it? My PhD research was not generalizable. I studied a specific group of people about a specific topic. I cannot make claims about how other people might respond or think about the topic, nor can I make assumptions about how the group I worked with would respond to environmental issues other … Continue reading
This is a personal opinion but something I have been thinking about for a while. I have taught a number of different science courses and I’ve taught and researched environmental education. One of my biggest goals in these settings is to teach skills. I believe that people need to a) know to ask questions, b) … Continue reading
When you are learning new skills it makes sense that you learn one before you learn the next, but I find this is rarely how we do things in practice. As a figure skater I was always learning multiple skills: jumps, spins, field moves, and edges were all part of lessons and practice sessions. Learning … Continue reading
As a teacher I’m always on the look out for strategies that can improve learning. Also as a teacher, I’m constantly learning. I have definitely taught some topics that I am not an expert in. But, as I go to learn that topic, I learn it with the idea that I have to teach it. … Continue reading
I once spent an entire day observing pikas for a research course. After a full day of recording whether our particular animal was running, sitting, eating, calling, watching, etc, I was either going to leave despising them or loving them: I don’t think it is possible to despise them. I will still spend hours trying to photograph … Continue reading
