Month: October 2010

Knowing Oneself and Appreciating Others Through Leadership Training — Katherine Lithgow & Mohammad Feisal Rahman

Feisal is PhD  student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Student Leadership Certificate Program (SLP)- “one of the great resources on campus”- Feisal Rahman.
The Student Leadership Certificate Program (SLP) provides an opportunity for any current student (undergraduate or graduate) at UW to develop leadership capabilities which will serve them well on campus and long after they graduate.  For example, among the many workshops offered through the SLP are workshops which address principles of teamwork and collaboration.  The program is designed to encourage all students to participate regardless of whether they are in a leadership role.  The intent of program is to explore and enhance UW students’ leadership capabilities, and to help students gain knowledge and develop skills in leadership on campus and within the community. Continue reading Knowing Oneself and Appreciating Others Through Leadership Training — Katherine Lithgow & Mohammad Feisal Rahman

On Lecture Capture and Talking Heads… – Scott Anderson

Talking Head Machine
Image from Laputan Logic

At the end of last week, I attended a conference on blended learning (essentially integrating face-to-face and online activities in an instructionally sound way, though there’s debate about whether it entails a reduction of face-to-face time).

One presentation that stood out for me was one about lecture capture at Queen’s University, something we’ve been experimenting with here at Waterloo. Essentially they’re capturing live lectures on video using automated mechanisms and then making the video available to students online. Continue reading On Lecture Capture and Talking Heads… – Scott Anderson

Fonts of Wisdom: Difficult Typefaces Cause Better Learning — Mark Morton

I have a friend who is a graphic designer, and he specializes in creating typefaces: a new typeface, he tells me, can take a year to design if it’s done right, which means making it work both in term of aesthetics and functionality. In other words, it needs to be both beautiful and easy to read. A new study coming out Princeton, however, suggests that easy to read typefaces might have an unintended effect: they allow you read so quickly, that your comprehension — your decoding of the meaning — can’t keep up with your eyes. Continue reading Fonts of Wisdom: Difficult Typefaces Cause Better Learning — Mark Morton

So students aren’t studying? — Michael K. Potter (University of Windsor)

Recently, an article from the Boston Globe, “What Happened to Studying?”  made the rounds, provoking sighs, laments and self-satisfied claims that the kids just aren’t as dedicated as they used to be.  We all know the drill.  According to the article, two researchers in California found that the number of hours students spend studying has been on the decline for fifty years – from 24 hours a week in 1961 to 14 hours a week now. Continue reading So students aren’t studying? — Michael K. Potter (University of Windsor)

Khan Academy: Free and Straightforward Learning Resources — Marlene Griffith Wrubel

I recently found an online resource that even Bill Gates and his children use.  Khan Academy is a website dedicated to teaching.  It is the product of Salman Khan, Harvard MBA graduate and a former hedgefund manager.  The information contained on the site is free, available around the clock, and requires just your time and interest in learning the material presented. Continue reading Khan Academy: Free and Straightforward Learning Resources — Marlene Griffith Wrubel

John Michela’s Response to Gwyn Morgan — Mark Morton


In response to Gwyn Morgan’s Globe and Mail editorial (in which he decries the quality of university teaching), John Michela (of UW’s Department of Psychology) submitted a countering letter to the editor. The Globe and Mail published that letter on October 5, but in an edited form. Here, for the record, is Professor Michela’s unedited letter: Continue reading John Michela’s Response to Gwyn Morgan — Mark Morton