Want to come meet me in person? I’m presenting tomorrow (Monday) at the Festival of Learning Conference, hosted by BC Campus! My talk, which is at 1pm in the Grand Villa 3 Ballroom at the Delta Burnaby Hotel and Conference Centre, will focus on my integration of active learning techniques into large introductory survey classes in Canadian History. I’ll be demonstrating one of my favourite activities, a digital walking tour and soundscape of Griffintown, an Irish working class district in Montreal. I’ll also be talking about how find the resources online to do these kinds of activities and how to design one yourself. Here’s the abstract:
The subject of history is one that continues to fascinate even in the 21st century, as the popularity of Youtube videos like “100 Years of Beauty” can attest. So why does history in university continue to be seen as dry and boring? Historians have been slow to adopt active learning techniques. Part of the problem lies in the lack of information available about the practicalities of developing and implementing these activities. My paper addresses the use of active learning in universities, with special attention to the subject of Canadian history. Using my experiences and research, I take participants through the development of one such activity – a digital walking tour – how I located primary sources, how I structured the activity around specific learning goals, and how I ran the activity in my classroom. I argue that these activities are effective tools for increasing student engagement with history at the university level.
Hope to see you there!
Leave a Reply