Pedagogies for student success & well-being
A holistic approach to promote students’ mental health, well-being, and academic success. See how others are rising to the challenge.
Photo by Jeff Denlea from Pexels
The Engelhard Project for Connecting Life and Learning
Georgetown University, USA
A curriculum-infusion approach to integrate health and well-being topics into academic course content through readings, presentations, reflective writing assignments, and discussions led by health professionals.
- Develops students’ understanding of the relationship between well-being issues, the subject area of study and their personal lives.
- Fosters faculty conversation groups to explore and reflect on topics related to teaching and well-being.
- As an example: “Introduction to Math Modeling” uses data and information from campus health staff to engage students with authentic models and raise awareness about health issues they may be facing.
Photo by Kampus Production from Pexels
Well-Being in Learning Environments Network
Simon Fraser University (SFU), Canada
A collaboration between Health Promotion, the Teaching & Learning Centre, instructors, and graduate students to “create conditions for well-being and a positive student experience in learning environments”.
- Offers a resource library with helpful in-class activities, teaching practices, tips and other resources shared by SFU faculty.
- Provides TAs with orientations, well-being workshops, and resources to promote well-being in the classroom and their own lives.
- Supports instructors to “try out quick strategies to support well-being in their own classes, and have their students participate in a survey to evaluate its impact”.
Photo by Maxim Hopman on Unsplash
Learning Analytics to Improve Student Learning, Retention and Well-Being
University of Queensland, Australia
A set of learning analytic tools that “deliver program and course level insights to support personalised learning, with a vision of helping teaching staff make informed decisions on teaching and learning practices”.
- Developing an early warning system to identify students who have disengaged in their courses and provide them with personalized just-in-time support.
- Offers instructors learning analytics dashboards with real-time student data to help them better understand how students are performing in their course.
- Offers students an adaptive learning platform that recommends personalized learning activities from a pool of resources generated by educators and the students themselves.
Photo by Nicholas Cappello on Unsplash
Transforming the Experience of Students Through Assessment (TESTA)
The University of Winchester, UK
An evidence-based process for reviewing and improving assessment and feedback across academic programs to enhance students’ learning experience.
- Works with instructors, students, and department administrators to gather data on a program’s assessment patterns (clustering of assessment, types of assessment, amount and quality of feedback, timeliness of feedback etc.) along with the students’ experience to provide insights for improving the assessment design.
- Supports program-level assessment interventions to align them with program goals and achieve better learning outcomes for students.
- The UK National Student Survey showed that within one year of the program launch at U Winchester, students reported significant improvements in the quality of their courses.
The Future Skill Innovation Network (FUSION)
Concordia University, Simon Fraser University, University of Calgary, University of Saskatchewan, Carlton University, Memorial University, Canada
A collaboration between six Canadian universities to integrate skills development into flexible formal and informal learning formats to prepare students for the future economy.
- Focuses on developing student innovation and entrepreneurship skills and mindset.
- Offers a 10-hour online curriculum to enhance students' 21st-century skills in communication, problem-solving and metacognition.
- Supports "the school-to-career transition of students in Humanities-based programs" as one of its projects.
Pathways to Study in Australia | UNSW Global
UNSW Sydney, Australia
Programs designed for students who do not meet the academic requirements for direct entry into a UNSW bachelor's degree.
- Equips students with the skills and confidence to transition to university successfully.
- Provides students with different pathways and delivery formats (i.e., face-to-face and online) to get into an undergraduate program or to fast track to the second year of an undergraduate degree.
- Offers international students several programs to improve their English academic skills and prepare for study at UNSW Sydney or one of their partner universities in Australia, New Zealand, or the UK.
Photo by ThisisEngineering RAEng on Unsplash
A BRiTE Approach to Building Resilience in Teacher Education
Murdoch University, Australia
An online program collaboratively developed for “pre-service teachers to build their awareness of the skills and practices that facilitate resilience in their teaching career”.
- Equips pre-service teachers with knowledge and skills to build and maintain support networks; manage work-life balance and self-care; build a resilient classroom and enhance emotional awareness.
- Supported by “a collaborative network of educators from six Australian universities developing curriculum to promote resilience for teachers”.
Photo by Anthony Shkraba from Pexels
My Learning Analytics (MyLA): “Using Dashboards to Support Self-Regulated Learning”
University of Michigan, USA
A learning analytics dashboard that gathers data points to provide students with actionable information about their engagement with course materials, assignments, and grades in the Learning Management System (LMS) to improve learning.
- Strengthens student’s awareness and self-reflection by allowing them to monitor their course performance and progress.
- Allows instructors to add MyLA to their courses and determine which visualizations they want students to see in the LMS (e.g., resources accessed, assignment planning, or grade distribution).
For more information, contact
The Advisory Committee on Teaching and Learning (ACTL) wants to hear from you.