Updates – MacPherson Institute

Call for Zine Submissions: Dis/orientation: Navigating accessibility in teaching and learning

Posted on May 11, 2022 (May 19, 2022) by njegovb

Current and former McMaster students with lived experiences of disability, disablement, inaccessibility, and/or ableism are invited to contribute to Dis/orientation: Navigating accessibility in teaching and learning, a zine by disabled students and alumni at McMaster University. We also invite staff, faculty, and non-disabled students to share written and creative responses to the zine for publication […]

Announcing the winner of the Petro-Canada-McMaster University Young Innovator Award

Posted on May 3, 2022 by njegovb

Dr. Selina Mudavanhu, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies & Media Arts, is the 2022 recipient of the Petro-Canada-McMaster University Young Innovator Award. Using the autoethnographic research method, Mudavanhu’s proposed project will engage ten Black senior undergraduate students to reflect on their intersectional experiences of studying at McMaster and of living in Canada […]

Research Recruitment: Instructor Experiences having Teaching Evaluated

Posted on April 20, 2022 (May 4, 2022) by njegovb

Have your voice heard! Help us to understand your experience so that we may work together to improve how the evaluation of your teaching is implemented, interpreted, and applied. Post-secondary evaluation of teaching (EoT) in Canada is a topic of increasing tensions, characterized by diverse and inconsistent practices and significant mistrust by students and instructors. […]

Teaching Refinements and Observations Opportunities

Posted on April 20, 2022 (April 20, 2022) by njegovb

Are you an instructor or a teaching assistant who is curious about how your students will respond to your teaching approaches in the Spring 2022 term? Consider utilizing one of the MacPherson Institute’s formative Feedback Services! A Teaching Refinement is open to course instructors. It is an opportunity to have a member of the MacPherson […]

Reducing Exam Anxiety for Students

Posted on April 6, 2022 (April 6, 2022) by njegovb

Photo of Student wearing covid mask sitting at dek and taking notes

As we near the exam period, conversations about exam anxiety and student wellness are top of mind across the university. Notably, students have expressed anxiety about in-person exams and testing. For first-year and second-year students, this will be their first term taking in-person exams in university. McMaster Student Success Centre has developed a variety of […]

Call for Participation: iAM Human Steering Committee

Posted on April 5, 2022 by njegovb

Photo of McMaster Signage in front of trees and shrubs

McMaster Faculty member, Dr. Brenda Vrkljan (Professor, Occupational Therapy) together with a cross-faculty team, has been awarded funding by the MacPherson Teaching and Learning Institute (IDEAs Grant) alongside the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA) for an educational project focused on advancing equity and diversity with an ‘inclusive’ aging lens. In March 2021, the […]

Employment Opportunities at the MacPherson Institute

Posted on March 30, 2022 (March 30, 2022) by njegovb

Four new educational developers will join a dedicated team of educational developers at the MacPherson Institute who work in partnership to support diverse groups of educators in areas of professional development in teaching, curriculum development and revision, teaching and learning scholarship and the pedagogical use of educational technologies. The four new Educational Developer positions are […]

Spotlight on SOTL: The Power of Choice in Assessments

Posted on March 30, 2022 (March 30, 2022) by njegovb

Photo of students working in a study space

This article is based on the following research article: Morris, C., Milton, E., & Goldstone, R. (2019). Case study – Suggesting choice: Inclusive assessment processes. Higher Education Pedagogies, 4(1), 435–447. https://doi.org/10.1080/23752696.2019.1669479 Courses traditionally have pre-set modes of assessment determined by the instructor. What if the student had a choice over how they were evaluated? In […]

Spring registration for the EDUCATN courses will open on April 1st, 2022

Posted on March 23, 2022 by njegovb

Photo of McMaster's Hamilton Hall Arch Spring time

Spring 2022 Course Registration Opens April 1st for the Teaching and Learning Certificates of Completion Program Courses The Teaching and Learning Certificates of Completion Program opens April 1st at 8:30 AM for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. Students and fellows may earn one, or both, of the following certificates of completion throughout their studies: Teaching and Learning Foundations […]

Spotlight on SOTL: Four Reasons Not to Administer Time-Limited Tests

Posted on March 2, 2022 (March 30, 2022) by njegovb

This article is based on the following research article: Gernsbacher, M. A., Soicher, R. N., & Becker-Blease, K. A. (2020). Four empirically based reasons not to administer time-limited tests. Translational issues in psychological science, 6(2), 175. — Time-limited testing is a widely used assessment technique in postsecondary education. This paper explores four reasons why time-limited […]