On February 4, the Centre for Academic Excellence launched the new Spotlight on Teaching and Learning series featuring monthly sessions that highlight unique changes NC staff have made in their classrooms.
Led by faculty members, CAE plans to host a “Spotlight On” session each month throughout the Fall and Winter semesters introducing a new topic.
The inaugural session focused on increasing students’ awareness and appreciation for standards of academic integrity and was led by Courtney Evers, program coordinator for NC’s Nursing and Personal Support Worker graduate certificate programs, as well as Sarah McGeown, manager for those same programs.
In the hour-long session, Evers and McGeown reflected on how their recent integration of classroom exercises, curriculum modifications and teaching techniques has offered students knowledge regarding academic integrity standards they otherwise may not have known.
Evers and McGeown’s classroom exercises include small group discussion and defining what academic integrity means during a test or a written assignment. Evers encourages professors to integrate an academic integrity contract at the beginning of each term on which students declare they understand classroom expectations and the consequences of academic misconduct. They also work with program instructors to offer an academic integrity training module for students in term one.
Among the key themes emerging from the session were:
- Fostering a shared commitment to academic integrity among staff, faculty and students through well-timed communications in a variety of formats, such as classroom discussion, presentation slides, and contract documents.
- Where possible, establishing strong partnerships between program teams and academic and international advising staff. Evers and McGeown discussed the crucial role that advisors play in tracking academic integrity issues and in supporting students who are struggling with academic integrity issues.
- The importance of understanding and consistently applying Niagara College’s Academic Honesty practice.
Spotlight on Teaching and Learning sessions take place monthly. On March 7 from 2 -3 p.m., chef professor Olaf Mertens will lead the next session on “Reimagining Traditional Assessment“. Faculty interested in attending should visit the Centre for Academic Excellence events page.
