More Hybrid Learning on the Horizon
At the start of COVID, instructors and students were forced to make a quick pivot from in-person learning to 100% online learning. Now, some LFS instructors are taking the lessons they earned during the pandemic to evolve how they engage with students.
Through UBC’s Teaching and Learning Enhancement Fund, these faculty members are taking time to update or develop new courses, and create richer online content for the future hybrid learning
environment. As part of the process, they have invited students to join their project teams to share their insights.
Dr. Lindsay Cuff, Assistant Professor of Teaching in LFS and Forestry, is leading a group of UBC instructors and students in updating scholarly writing curriculum adapted to a flexible hybrid teaching environment. The transformed curriculum, including new online learning modules and in-class extension activities, will impact first-year students and will thread through their
undergraduate degrees into second-, third-, and fourth-year, fostering students’ growth, persistence, and identity as writers in scholarly communities.
Last year, Dr. Cuff launched a free, online textbook on scholarly writing called Writing Place. She wants to empower students to contribute to scholarly conversations and have them consider how their contributions can be shared beyond the university.
Dr. Ronaldo Cerri, Associate Professor and Director of UBC’s Dairy Education and Research Centre, is updating two animal health and physiology courses (APBI 312 and APBI 410) to create more hybrid learning opportunities aimed at improving student engagement, understanding of concepts and knowledge retention. By providing students with a hybrid model of teaching, Dr. Cerri
also hopes to reach a wider range of students with new learning opportunities. He will be supported by graduate students on this project.
The Food and Resource Economics (FRE) group, led by Professor Dr. Sumeet Gulati, will develop new courses for students in the undergraduate and graduate programs. The motivation is twofold: to fill in knowledge gaps in this relatively new program; and, to create in-class and online course materials. The new courses will include two undergraduate courses focussing on data analysis, and two graduate courses in microeconomics and econometrics. Graduate students will support FRE faculty members on the project team.