Jam Session

SafiehMoghaddam, Associate Professor, Language Studies, Centre for Teaching andLearning Dina Soliman, Educational Developer, Digital Pedagogies                                                     Filteringthe Noise: Tools, Trends, and Tensions         Generative AIcan introduce “noise” into assessment: polished text that masks learning,unclear authorship, overconfident claims supported by weak or fabricatedevidence, and tasks that inadvertently reward fluency over intended learningoutcomes. This interactive workshop supports instructors in redesigning oneexisting assignment so the “signal” (reasoning, evidence use, anddecision-making) becomes visible and assessable, whether or not students useGenAI. The sessionopens with a brief “noise map” activity: participants identify where GenAI mostinterferes with assignment effectiveness (e.g., product-over-process, unclearcontribution, unverifiable claims, misalignment with outcomes, equity/hiddenadvantages). Results are [...]

NicoleBirch-Bayley, Educational Developer, Career Exploration & Education                     Kelci Archibald, Lead Coordinator, Career Education, Career Exploration& Education                Amplifyingthe Signal: Connection, Engagement, and Civil Discourse     Postsecondarystudents are asked to make sense of both their academic learning and careerfutures in environments saturated with competing priorities. In careereducation, noise often takes the form of grim labour‑market statistics, anxieties about AI,climate change, and skills gaps, and prescriptive narratives emphasizingoutcomes over process. Academic learning is similarly noisy with performancepressures, unclear expectations, and accelerated timelines that leave littlespace to connect learning across contexts. When career and academic learningremain siloed, students are left to navigate complexity in both domains [...]

ChristopherEaton, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Institute for Scholarship inUniversity Pedagogy (ISUP), UTM                                                   Claire Gouveia, PhD candidate, OISE Sheliza Ibrahim, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, ISUP, UTM Kathleen Scheaffer, Librarian, UTM Joanna Szurmak, Librarian, UTM Michelle Troberg, Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, DLS, UTM Findingthe Frequency: Clarity, Purpose, and What Matters Most    As learners,we have experienced moments in which we tuned into a previously difficultconcept as it resolved into a clear and resonant signal. Such moments took usfrom a noisy liminal state into a place of conceptual clarity. As instructors,many of us are trying to help our own students pass those “threshold” [...]

Teachingwith Claude: Lessons from a Cross-Disciplinary Pilot Will Heikoop, Digital Learning Innovation & Engagement                             Wilson Prichard, Gwen Wang, Aaron Wheeler, Naomi Levy Strumpf, Jaqueline WhyteAppleby, Sophia Bello, Phanikiran Radhakrishnan Filteringthe Noise: Tools, Trends, and Tensions                     Generative AItools are rapidly reshaping conversations about teaching and learning—butamidst the excitement and concern, it can be difficult to determine whatmeaningfully supports student learning and what simply adds noise. Thisinteractive 60-minute workshop shares lessons from U of T’s Claude forEducation pilot, in which instructors across disciplines experimented with AIin their courses. Pilotparticipants explored diverse applications, including AI-supported coursechatbots and tutors, structured assignment integration, and guided student [...]

JenniferOrpana, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Faculty of Information        Silvia Vong, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Faculty of Information    Amplifyingthe Signal: Connection, Engagement, and Civil Discourse           Theever-shifting socio-political landscape means that students are hearing orengaged in difficult conversations in and out of the classroom. For mostdisciplines, local and world events are connected to the knowledge andpractices in the field, and this is even more pronounced for professionalprograms with responsibilities related to equity work. Emotions are a part ofeducating the whole student and thus, it is important to engage in pedagogiesof care to acknowledge their affective experiences with learning. Julé (2019)identifies the need [...]

Alli Diskin, Programs Coordinator, Teaching Assistants' Training Program, Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation                         Lisa Aikman, Educational Developer, Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Scholars, CTL, UTSC Jessica Bailey, Graduate Support Strategist Joel Rodgers, Coordinator, Graduate Student Professional Development, Arts & Science Finding the Frequency: Clarity, Purpose, and What Matters Most     Graduate student professional development is central to shaping thoughtful, confident, and well supported emerging scholars and professionals. Across the university, however, faculty and staff rarely have opportunities to reflect together on how departmental cultures, supervisory relationships, and institutional structures influence [...]

Jasjit Sangha,Educational Developer, Centre for Teaching and Learning, UTSC Paulina Rousseau, Liaison Librarian, UTSC Kathleen Scheaffer, Strategic Initiatives and Liaison Librarian, UTM             Amplifyingthe Signal: Connection, Engagement, and Civil Discourse           Increasingly,higher education within Canada is facing shrinking resources and simultaneouslyeducators are being challenged to engage larger class sizes with more diverseand complex needs, including the disruptions from AI. In response, the book“Hope Circuits”, Ridell (2024) invites us to reimagine the universityto create campuses that are more inclusive, more human centered,less hierarchical, and more responsive to the needs of students and the contextwithin and beyond the classroom. To achieve this, contemplative pedagogy, acritically informed and accessible teaching strategy that is rooted in Easternwisdom and [...]

SimonAppolloni, 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       SustainingResonance: Lessons, Insights, and Impact            Climateanxiety and related emotions are increasingly manifest among universitystudents. Students learning about the state of the environment encounterdifficult statistics that cannot easily be grasped, generating feelings ofpowerlessness, fear, anxiety or grief. Add to this the zeitgeist of emotionsthat arise from the dark global realities of war and the rise [...]

MarciPrescott-Brown, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, New College WritingCentre, New College, FAS        Paola Bohórquez, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Woodsworth College Findingthe Frequency: Clarity, Purpose, and What Matters Most                As WritingCentre Directors at UTSG (one a new contributor and one returning), we areuniquely positioned to observe first-hand how course instructors acrossdisciplines are rethinking assignment design to navigate the impacts of Gen-AIon student learning. It is a delicate dance that requires us to assess therisks and potential affordances of AI tools without compromising thedevelopment of critical reading, writing, and research skills. It requires, asthis CFP notes, “amplify the signals that foster deep learning, equity,and engagement,” [...]

ErinVearncombe, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Institute for the Study ofUniversity 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 theStudy of University Pedagogy, UTM Filteringthe Noise: Tools, Trends, and Tensions              Evaluativejudgment refers to the capability to make informed, defensible decisions aboutthe quality of work (Tai et al., 2018). This capability has always been centralto academic success and professional practice, yet it has remained largelyimplicit in our teaching and learning activities (Eaton et al., 2025). Learnersare regularly asked [...]