Christine Hand / Professor in the School of Science & Engineering Technology

After completing her PhD in Chemistry at the University of Waterloo and post-doctoral work with the National Research Council, Christine Hand became a Field Chemistry Specialist for the Canadian branch of the one of the world’s leading analytical instrument manufacturers. She travelled all over Ontario and Western Canada helping scientists solve analytical chemistry challenges using chromatography, and training them on new technologies. After her adventures, Christine decided to look for a position closer to home where she could focus on teaching and training – the parts of her job she was most passionate about. The first day Christine started searching, she found a faculty posting at Durham College. She applied and “despite delivering my teaching demo from my laptop screen in a blackout with everyone using their cell phones as flashlights to take notes, I was hired. Seven years later, I now teach Analytical Instrumentation and Chromatography courses across six programs in Science and Engineering Technology and am the Coordinator for the Biotechnology – Advanced and Pharmaceutical Sciences programs”.

Analytical instruments are tools to solve problems and discover information. In her previous role Christine has seen these tools do incredible things: “we can detect one billionth of a gram per litre (ng/L) concentrations, determine the correct dosage of immunosuppressants for a transplant patient, and quantitate 80 pesticide residues simultaneously to ensure our orange juice is safe to drink.” Christine connects the theory and practical details of this technique to the jobs that students will secure and questions they will need to answer: Is the drinking water safe? Can we release this product for sale? Is the manufacturing process proceeding? Is this pharmaceutical safe for human consumption?

During lecture Christine uses analogies to connect concepts to everyday life and tries to inject each lecture with a little humour. She integrates active learning through board work and in class questions or worksheets, and uses technology tools such as Kahoot, Padlet, and crossword generators for brainstorming, and formative assessments.

Christine finds sharing some details about her own life and challenges in school create a safe space for sharing. She encourages questions in and after class as well as working in small groups for formative assessments. Christine states that “because my courses are core knowledge, not program specific I make a point of demonstrating how the techniques apply to the students’ individual programs. I name drop other professors from their programs in examples and discuss what the students are doing in their other courses to connect to ‘their’ world”.

In her online synchronous lectures, she leverages the various functionalities in Zoom. Christine used the screen annotation feature in Zoom heavily to emphasize points and keep everyone focused on the same aspects of the slides – the student feedback was very positive. to promote active learning, Christine states, “we used various features of Kahoot and Padlet, as well as breakout rooms for discussion. I found students needed more supplemental information when remote, compared to when in lecture therefore, I expanded my use of DC Connect to provide embedded videos, such as those from the Journal of Virtual Education, and other supplemental resources such as simulations from Phet (https://phet.colorado.edu/, physics, chemistry, math, earth science, biology). To support the students with math, I would make screen capture videos where I worked out math problems with narration using One Note and my iPad and post them through DC Connect.” Christine promotes interaction with students using chat to answer and ask questions. She was surprised at how the students used the chat – they would ask and answer questions and support each other in the chat during the lecture. She made a point of keeping an eye on the chat function during the lecture to respond to questions in real time, which students appreciated. Beyond the occasional joke, they rarely used it to be off topic.

What advice would you offer other professors?

Be positive, honest, and consistently professional. When things go wrong, I find students to be very understanding so long as you are honest with them and in return, they will be honest back with you when things go wrong for them. Being consistent in how you treat everyone and how you apply rules and policies is not always easy, but students appreciate it. I am proud when students say that I am tough, but fair

For our faculty spotlight this month, the CTL had the pleasure of chatting with Stephen Forbes, a professor and program coordinator in the school of BITM, about his approach to teaching and learning. Take some time to listen to Stephen’s unique perspective.

Use this menu to navigate to a specific point in the interview:

• Can you tell us how your career started at Durham College and how you got to where you are today? (4s mark)
• Can you tell us about your teaching style? (3m 13s mark)
• How do you get your students engaged in their learning? (6m 4s mark)
• How have you encouraged a sense of community within your classroom? (9m 57s mark)
• How does technology come into play in your classroom while being remote? What have you had to adapt that has worked better than you thought it might? (12m 1s mark)
• What advice do you have for other professors? (18m 13s mark)

Innovate and reimagine education: this is the approach that Amy Watt has taken toward teaching throughout the pandemic, and she has been met with remarkable success.

Amy Watt, a professor in the Police Foundations program within the School of Justice and Emergency Services, approaches teaching through project-based learning. Her aim is to encourage critical thinking and collaboration so that learners practice these skills to prepare for a career in law enforcement.

Through case studies and experiential learning opportunities, Amy has found a unique method for teaching both communication and intercultural awareness. She has taken the opportunities afforded by the pandemic to connect Durham College learners with the larger world community.

Each week, students in Amy’s class work collaboratively to deliver conversational English lesson to Nepali students between the ages of 9 and 12. DC students must plan, create, and present a 45-minute conversational English lesson on any topic of their choosing. Though they worked collaboratively to plan and create the lesson, each student is responsible for their own presentation portion. In this way, Amy has emulated the workplace within her classes, where performance is individually assessed but collaboratively contextualized.

Through this experience, Amy has provided learners who might not perform as effectively in traditional assessments a forum to shine. They engage critical thinking skills and learn to tailor communication to a specific audience and build empathy in cultural awareness. This approach fosters creative, out-of-the-box thinking which a mindset is to cultivate in future law enforcement.

“This approach to learning fosters creative, out-of-the-box thinking, which a mindset is to cultivate in future law enforcement.”

This experience is bolstered by Amy’s philosophy that building a community to support learning involves recognizing that the world is our community. DC students and Nepali students are excited to connect and communicate. Their learning transcends curriculum as relationships are forged, and empathy built.

This would not have been possible without the disruption in education that has characterized much of the pandemic. As UNICEF states, the pandemic has highlighted that “digital learning should become an essential service” and that location should not determine whether a child receives an effective education.

Technology has been the backbone of this educational reimagining; it has allowed a dynamic world classroom to emerge which isn’t bounded by walls. In this space creativity can flourish, community and inclusion can be built.

Amy’s advice for faculty as we continue to reimagine education: “be creative and encourage your students to be creative.”

Don Fishley, the program coordinator of Sustainable Construction in START, had a unique start to his teaching career.

He began his own construction business in 1976 and his mother always worried about the physical strain that might result from construction. Unbeknownst to him, Don’s mother applied, on his behalf, for a position at Durham College. To appease his mother and believing that he would not be qualified, Don attended the interview.

As Don recounts, “Esther (his hiring manager) and I went to the old carpentry shop, looked at all the equipment, of which I had several of in my own shop. Esther asked if I was familiar with the equipment, asked me to demonstrate a couple pieces of equipment, which I was able to do, and we left the shop. As I was leaving her office she said, ‘oh, the paper made an error it’s not a construction job, it's cabinet making, they're almost the same, aren't they?’”

Construction and cabinet making are by no means the same. Having already signed the papers, Don went about brushing up his cabinetry making skills: “I drove out to my folks’ place and told my dad I needed some refreshers on cabinet making. His best friend, Bob, was a master cabinet maker, so dad called him, told him the dilemma I had gotten myself into, and Bob said to get over to his shop. Friday night from 6 to midnight, Saturday from 8am to 8 pm, and Sunday from 8am to 6pm, I learned all I could about cabinet making."

“He establishes a consistent and open presence within his classes, making himself available to students. He emphasizes experiential learning and that “the shop is the best place to learn by mistakes, so they don’t make them on their first job site”

Part of building student engagement within the classroom or shop is by getting to know each student. This allows Don to work with their strengths and weaknesses.

Don uses group work as a means of building community; he creates mini-groups and purposefully re-arranges group structures each week after noting the students who have stronger skills and those whose skills need development. This builds a sense of confidence in students. Don also connects with his students through his industry experiences; he shares stories about what they might encounter on the job site including challenges and successes.

Throughout Don’s experiences in both industry and in teaching, he has come to some very poignant conclusions: “Be creative in your teaching format. Forget what you think you know in your trade; teaching is so different. It is a learning experience for all faculty, just as it is for students, and remember no two people are alike. Above all, have fun, and let students see how much passion you have about teaching. If you show how much you enjoy teaching it will rub off on the students and they will enjoy learning equally as much.”

Christine Baily is a program coordinator and faculty in the School of Hospitality and Horticultural Science. Christine describes her approach to teaching as centered around storytelling. She focuses on connecting with students by sharing her industry experiences. This approach ensures that students remain engaged even when learning remotely.

Take a moment to watch the video below as Christine shares her passion for her industry and teaching with the CTL!

Go to specific questions using this menu:

• Can you tell us how your career started at Durham College and how you got to where you are today? (4s mark)
• Can you tell us about your teaching style? (3m 13s mark)
• How do you get your students engaged in their learning? (6m 2s mark)
• How have you encouraged a sense of community within your classroom? (7m 21s mark)
• How does technology come into play in your classroom while being remote? What have you had to adapt that has worked better than you thought it might? (9m 23s mark)
• What advice do you have for other professors? (11m 40s mark)

The CTL’s first faculty spotlight of the 2021/22 academic year is Michael Williams-Bell. Michael is a faculty member in the Fitness and Health Promotion (FHP) program in the School of Health and Community Services. Michael describes his approach to teaching and shares some great strategies that he and his colleagues in the FHP program have used to engage students while teaching remotely.

Take a moment to watch the video below as Michael chats with the CTL!

Go to specific questions using this menu:

• Can you tell us how your career started at Durham College and how you got to where you are today? (4s mark)
• Can you tell us about your teaching style? (1m 39s mark)
• How do you get your students engaged in thei learning? (5m 2s mark)
• Can you tell us about some of the successful. research proposals you've been involved in? (7m 39s mark)
• How have you encouraged a sense of community within your classroom? (13m 31s mark)
• How does technology come into play in your classroom while being remote? What have you had to adapt that has worked better than you thought it might? (16m 49s mark)
• What advice do you have for other professors (24m 24s mark)