Moderator: Susan McCahan, Vice-Provost, Innovation in Undergraduate Education Panelists: Gwendolyn Eadie, Assistant Professor, Astronomy and Astrophysics/Statistical Sciences, FAS Certina Ho, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy/ Psychiatry, TFoM Daniel Newman, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Director of Graduate Writing Support/Department of English, FAS Zahra Shakeri, Assistant Professor, Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation, DLSPH Naomi Steenhof, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy  What does exceptional teaching look like at the start of an academic career? Join recipients of the Cheryl Regehr Early Career Teaching Award (ECTA) (https://www.provost.utoronto.ca/awards-funding/university-of-toronto-early-career-teaching-award/)for a dynamic conversation on creativity, commitment and impact [...]

1.4.1 The Power of Presence: Centering In‑Person Communication in a Digital‑Heavy Era Alexandra Motut, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Rotman School of Management   Filtering the Noise: Tools, Trends, and Tensions         I describe how my commitment to in-person, real-time assessment in a second-year business communications course cuts through the noise of a digital-heavy teaching landscape and helps students understand what matters most in communicating effectively with others. In an era of overwhelming AI-powered tools and asynchronous convenience, I structure my course around one core principle: students learn communication best when they must communicate in real time, in person, with real [...]

1.2.1 Reflecting through Relationships: A Grounded Theory of Professional Identity Development in Work-Integrated Learning Ainsley Goldman, Experiential Learning & Professional Development, Experiential Learning Educational Developer, FAS Amplifying the Signal: Connection, Engagement, and Civil Discourse Work-integrated learning (WIL) is regarded as a panacea for incorporating students into the workforce, but scholars have called for more explicit curriculum and reflection related to professional identity development. Reflection is well-established in WIL curriculum, predominantly through graded written reflection assignments, but there is preliminary evidence that assessed reflections can become performative. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, this research project explored the question: how is professional [...]

1.3.1 Learning from the Development and Evaluation of Better Together: A Longitudinal Hybrid Interprofessional Pressure Injury Prevention and Management Curriculum for Health and Social Care Students Sharon Gabison, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Physical Therapy, TFoM Sustaining Resonance: Lessons, Insights, and Impact This session will present the reflections related to the development and evaluation of a longitudinal hybrid interprofessional pressure injury curriculum for health and social care students at the University of Toronto. More specifically, the objectives of this session are: ·      To share reflections on the development of a longitudinal hybrid interprofessional pressure injury curriculum for health and social [...]

Erin Vearncombe, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Institute for the Study of University Pedagogy (ISUP), UTM  Chris Eaton, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream & Associate Director, Research, ISUP, UTM Sarah Flood, 3rd-year undergraduate in Sociology; Research Assistant, ISUP, UTM Talla Enaya, undergraduate alumna, UTM; Program Assistant, Institute for the Study of University Pedagogy, UTM Filtering the Noise: Tools, Trends, and Tensions              Evaluative judgment refers to the capability to make informed, defensible decisions about the quality of work (Tai et al., 2018). This capability has always been central to academic success and professional practice, yet it has remained [...]

1.5.1 An Interactive Module to Prepare Nursing Students for Their First Clinical Placement: The transformation of an idea Mary Ann Fegan, Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing Sustaining Resonance: Lessons, Insights, and Impact Nursing students begin clinical practice within a month of entering the program. With a goal to improve students’ preparation for their first clinical placement and help demystify the clinical learning environment, we reimagined and redesigned our orientation approach. Over the past four years, what was once a large class discussion with PowerPoint slides transformed into an interactive, media-rich online clinical orientation module, with an accompanying [...]

Michael Cournoyea, PhD, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education Tolulola Taiwo-Hanna, MSW, RSW, PhD Candidate, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work Joelleann Forbes, MSW, RSW, Sessional Instructor, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work Filtering the Noise: Tools, Trends, and Tensions                     Educators across disciplines are increasingly exploring how Large Language Models (LLMs) might support richer forms of experiential learning. One emerging use case is the development of interactive simulations—dynamic, responsive scenarios that allow students to practice discernment, apply concepts, and experiment with different approaches in a low‑stakes environment. In this interactive [...]

Meranda Salem, Sessional Instructor, PhD, Electrical and Computer Engineering, FASE                  Filtering the Noise: Tools, Trends, and Tensions         The rapid adoption of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools in higher education presents both opportunities and challenges for maintaining teaching and assessment integrity. Rather than viewing GenAI solely as a threat to academic honesty, this proposal frames it as a pedagogical tool that must be intentionally integrated through evidence-informed course design. Teaching integrity in the GenAI era is supported not by surveillance or detection technologies, but by transparent expectations, authentic assessments, and student [...]

2.6.1 Supporting Our Students' Mental Health: Quercus-based Resources for the Classroom Lauren Brown, Victoria College Vic One Hundred instructor, Health & Wellness, Division of Student Life  Allan McKee, Health Communications & Knowledge Translation Coordinator, Health & Wellness, Division of Student Life                                                                  Sustaining Resonance: Lessons, Insights, and Impact Supporting our Students' Mental Health (SOSMH) is a Quercus-based resource hub for faculty and teaching assistants. SOSMH is a response to the [...]

Simon Appolloni, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, School of the Environment            Olivia Allen, Wellness, Fitness and Recreation Programs Coordinator, Hart House Lois Boody, PhD Candidate, OISE, University of Toronto (also Lead TA of ENV100) Jermane Hall, Program Coordinator, Dialogue and Expression, Hart House Clara Kim, Team Lead, MultiFaith Centre       Sustaining Resonance: Lessons, Insights, and Impact            Climate anxiety and related emotions are increasingly manifest among university students. Students learning about the state of the environment encounter difficult statistics that cannot easily be grasped, generating feelings of powerlessness, fear, anxiety or grief. [...]

2.4.1 A framework for balancing equity, pedagogy, and management of a multi-section course Lindsey Shorser, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Mathematics and Computer Science, FAS Filtering the Noise: Tools, Trends, and Tensions Building on the theme for this year's symposium, the signal to noise ratio of things a course coordinator *could* be doing and the things they *should* be doing can easily lead to burnout. In this talk, I will present a conceptual tool for focusing on one aspect of a course at a time, once perspective at a time, and one subset of a "to do" list at a time for [...]

2.5.1 About binomial theorem I am teeming with a lot of news: oral tests in a first-year math class Shai Cohen, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, ISTEP, FASE                                             Finding the Frequency: Clarity, Purpose, and What Matters Most    In trying to focus on the most important elements of the pedagogy, a remedial calculus class has used many unusual elements - competency-based grading, weekly quizzes instead of a single midterm, team assignments, etc.  This year, we have added a 15-minute oral test [...]

3.5.1 Evaluating the use of infographic instruction in undergraduate science classes Naomi Levy-Strumpf, Assistant Professor Teaching Stream, Department of Cell & Systems Biology, Human Biology Program, FAS Filtering the Noise: Tools, Trends, and Tensions University education is increasingly embracing multimodal pedagogy, integrating visual, written, and other communication strategies to meet the diverse needs of today's students. Research shows that student preferences for learning have shifted in recent decades, with a growing demand for concise, visually engaging resources, a trend driven by the volume of information students encounter and the deepening integration of technology in educational settings. Visual information is often processed [...]

Marci Prescott-Brown, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, New College Writing Centre, New College, FAS        Paola Bohórquez, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Woodsworth College Finding the Frequency: Clarity, Purpose, and What Matters Most                As Writing Centre Directors at UTSG (one a new contributor and one returning), we are uniquely positioned to observe first-hand how course instructors across disciplines are rethinking assignment design to navigate the impacts of Gen-AI on student learning. It is a delicate dance that requires us to assess the risks and potential affordances of AI tools without compromising the development of [...]

Teaching with Claude: Lessons from a Cross-Disciplinary Pilot Darius Ornston, Professor, Teaching Stream, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy speaking on behalf of Wilson Prichard, Professor, Teaching Stream   Will Heikoop, Digital Learning Innovation & Engagement speaking on behalf of Aaron Wheeler, Professor, Teaching Stream, Chemistry, FAS   Phanikiran Radhakrishnan, Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, Management, UTSC   Jaqueline Whyte Appleby, Associate Director, Scholars Portal Sophia Bello, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, French, FAS Sam Maglio, Professor, Teaching Stream, Management, UTSC  Filtering the Noise: Tools, Trends, and Tensions                     Generative AI tools are rapidly reshaping conversations [...]

Jennifer Orpana, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Faculty of Information        Silvia Vong, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Faculty of Information    Amplifying the Signal: Connection, Engagement, and Civil Discourse           The ever-shifting socio-political landscape means that students are hearing or engaged in difficult conversations in and out of the classroom. For most disciplines, local and world events are connected to the knowledge and practices in the field, and this is even more pronounced for professional programs with responsibilities related to equity work. Emotions are a part of educating the whole student and thus, it is important to [...]

3.4.1 Competency-based learning and radical student agency in first year calculus courses Micheal Pawliuk, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Mathematical and Computational Sciences, UTM Eric Hart, Sessional Instructor, Computer and Mathematical Sciences, UTSC Janelle Resch (co-author), Sessional Instructor, Mathematical and Computational Sciences, UTM Finding the Frequency: Clarity, Purpose, and What Matters Most If test scores are the primary “signal” students use to gauge their progress in a first-year large first-year math course at U of T, what happens when we deliberately amplify that signal by allowing students to retake assessments until they demonstrate competency, and by making expectations explicit and iterative? In [...]

Julia Allworth, Manager, Innovation Hub Irene Sullivan, Neurological Team Lead, Accessibility Services An inside look at the lives of five neurodivergent students at U of T This session features an exclusive early screening of a new documentary short produced by the Innovation Hub in partnership with Accessibility Services. The 25-minute documentary features five neurodivergent students who share their different experiences at U of T.  Students share their stories through on-camera interviews, video diaries, voiceovers, and vlogs of their day-to-day lives. Throughout the documentary, student provide commentary about their unique university journeys. By highlighting the experiences of neurodivergent students, we aim to [...]