Maatookiiying gaa-miinigoowiziying (Sharing our Gifts): Indigenous Learning Bundles 

Western University and Carleton University

POSTER

Maatookiiying gaa-miinigoowiziying (Sharing our Gifts) is a digital curriculum resource project designed to support Western and Affiliate instructors in culturally and ethically responsive ways to include local Indigenous knowledges, perspectives and voices in their undergraduate and graduate level courses. Inspired by Carleton University’s Collaborative Indigenous Learning Bundles, Maatookiiying gaa-miinigoowiziying offers a selection of Indigenous-led learning bundles (equivalent to one lesson) that center on Indigenous topics or themes, while privileging Indigenous conceptions, theories, ways of knowing, and epistemologies. 

Encapsulated within the project’s Anishnabemowin (Ojibwe language) name: Maatookiiying gaa-miinigoowiziying (Sharing our Gifts), each learning bundle is a gift from Indigenous lead collaborators to Western instructors and imbued with ethical responsibilities for working with and sharing Indigenous collective knowledges. These responsibilities include the completion of an orientation, the provision of feedback (instructor and student), and a commitment to ongoing and collaborative learning. 

From Following Recipes to Creating Them: Enriching Experiential Learning in Exercise Physiology Labs Through Systematic Reflection, A Community of Practice, and Inquiry

University of Calgary

Exercise physiology is a strange discipline, being part science and part professional practice. Rather than learning to conduct, interpret, and appreciate the science of exercise, students in exercise physiology laboratories (labs) follow cookbook-style instructions and are discouraged from experimenting. We believe students learn through doing (Ambrose et al., 2010) and that labs hold great potential for rich experiential learning. We also believe that when students pursue what they are interested in through doing open inquiry (4) and reflecting on their experiences (5), they are practicing and learning how to do science in labs. In 2018, we began a project aimed at enriching student learning by replacing recipe-led labs with authentic science. We removed less important topics and shifted material online to make room for a multiweek inquiry-based learning project that allows students to explore areas of interest, ask questions, and practice science. To complete the experiential learning cycle, we added weekly reflections. Recognizing the important role of teaching assistants, we also created and delivered a bespoke teaching and learning microcourse and protected time each week to reflect on our teaching practices as a community. As the labs we were overhauling were standard across the country, we conducted research on our transition and pursued opportunities to disseminate our project, presentations, workshops, and manuscripts. More than 1000 undergraduates, 71 graduate students, and 45 graduate teaching assistants have experienced our reformed labs, and our teaching and learning innovation has outlived our connection to the courses we initially revised. 

Open Educational Resource: Rock the Boat 

University of British Columbia

Poster

Drawing upon the methods of Research-based Theatre (RbT), the Open Educational Resource Rock the Boat focuses on graduate supervision as a vital but neglected form of pedagogy that can be rife with challenges — especially relating to equity, diversity and inclusion. By supporting structured and safe dialogue about these challenges and their impacts for wellbeing, we strive to support students, faculty and staff in developing respectful supervisory relationships, and enhancing wellbeing in the teaching and learning environment. 

The resource includes four professionally acted and produced scenes, each seven to ten minutes long as well as an extensive facilitation guide and supporting resources. Each scene dramatizes a relationship between one or more graduate students and their supervisors and provokes dialogue around specific points of tension that arise. These include problems with supervisory communication, misunderstandings about co-authorship of scientific papers, competition between students, gender and racial discrimination, balancing personal and professional priorities, mental health and privacy. 

The resource can be used to surface uncomfortable power dynamics and address many aspects of the hidden curriculum of graduate education. It can be utilized in graduate student orientation, graduate credit courses, during equity, diversity and inclusion workshops, for supervisory training sessions and new faculty orientation, or during faculty or departmental retreats. It is part of the core curriculum for the new Healthy Environments for Academic Research Teams (HEART) Program in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and is being utilized in supporting inclusive graduate education across the country. 

Land One: Innovation in Interdisciplinary Collaboration for an Integrated and Holistic First-Year Experience 

University of British Columbia

Poster

Land One is a unique and innovative first-year undergraduate cohort program jointly offered by the Faculties of Forestry and Land & Food Systems (LFS) at the University of British Columbia. Created in 2018, it addresses some of the challenges faced by first-year undergraduate students, such as a lack of belonging, and a perceived disconnection in content between courses. The Land One teaching team designs and delivers an integrated course suite for approximately 50 first-year undergraduate students who take dedicated Land One sections of Biology, Math, Economics and Scholarly Writing courses, as well as an Integrative Seminar. The teaching team collaborates in order to offer a unique educational experience by integrating real-world content and Indigenous perspectives, and focusing on global challenges like deforestation, food security, food sovereignty, climate change, and sustainability. 

As a result of the collaboration of its core teaching team, Land One has had a significant impact on first-year students in Forestry and LFS. It has created a greater sense of community and belonging among students, as well as provided more personalized guidance, greater access to experiential learning opportunities, and a truly holistic and interdisciplinary education. Land One actively contributes to decolonization and reconciliation by integrating Indigenous worldviews and Ways of Knowing throughout its curriculum. The program has a long-term impact on students—evidenced by alumni feedback and testimonials. 

Design & Build Engineering & Architecture Transdisciplinary Course, University of Manitoba 

University of Manitoba

Poster

This course is implemented as a transdisciplinary summer design and build studio with students and faculty from the Faculties of Architecture and Engineering working in partnership and collaboration with Indigenous communities, Elders, and Knowledge Keepers. There have been two offerings. In the first, students worked with community members to design and construct a feasting shelter in the Pow Wow Grounds in Shoal Lake 40 First Nation (2019). In the second, students engaged with an Anishinabek Elder and students and teachers from Washagamis (Obashkaandagaang) Bay First Nation and learned how to steam bend wood. They incorporated their learnings to create a shelter for gathering, feasting, and ceremony in a woodland near Longbow Lake, Ontario (2023). This transdisciplinary course provides the opportunity for non-Indigenous and Indigenous students to learn from the collective worldviews of Indigenous Peoples in the context of a shared community project, on the land. Students take part in traditional ceremonies such as gathering circles, drumming and pipe ceremonies, sacred fires, and Pow Wows to honour the beginnings and endings of, and diverse milestones, throughout the project. This course aims to expand modern notions of sustainability by incorporating holistic approaches to design. Engaging in this practice helps students broaden their worldviews and develop a more profound comprehension of Indigenous design principles and values, enabling them to integrate these understandings into their future engineering and architectural endeavors. The course experiences are intended to foster awareness to help students enhance their engineering and architectural practices in the Manitoban and Canadian context.