We are thrilled to be launching our brand new Design Thinking Experience Program this semester!
Great Classrooms on Campus: Listening to Students and Faculty
By Kate Bowers, Senior Project Assistant & Nick Feinig, Senior Research Assistant
Many factors contribute to an ideal learning environment on campus, and the Transforming the Instructional Landscape (TIL) team lead by Academic and Campus Events (ACE) is working hard to understand deeply how student and faculty needs can be incorporated into classroom design. In fact, over the past two weeks, the TIL team has run a series of events to ask students and faculty, “what makes a classroom great?” From movable furniture to screen-sharing capabilities for students, newly created classrooms on campus enable a shift in both how students think about learning and how faculty think about teaching.
Spotlight: New College Dining Hall Research Update
By The New College Dining Hall Research Team
In the summer of 2018, The University of Toronto Food Services reached out to the Innovation Hub to help gather insights about students’ eating experiences on campus. They were in the initial stages of redesigning the Audrey Taylor Dining Hall at New College and were looking to get a better sense of how the physical space, social environment, meal plans, and food options could better meet students’ needs.
Upcoming Event: First Nations House
By Charis Lam, Design Research Events Lead
Do you participate in programs and services at First Nations House?
Are you interesting in learning what your fellow participants have to say about their experience at First Nations House (FNH)? Do you want to give your opinion on the future of FNH programming?
Recruitment: Multi-Faith Centre Research Project
By Joey Youssef (Team Lead) & the Multi-Faith Centre Research Team
Do you value faith, spirituality, and making meaning in your everyday life?
The Innovation Hub is recruiting volunteers to aid in a project aimed at exploring these topics, and how students can be better supported in their religious, spiritual, or self-reflective practices. The Multi-Faith Centre (MFC) and the Innovation Hub at U of T will be working together this 2018-2019 academic year to explore how students currently make use of the MFC’s existing facilities and services, and how the MFC can cater to the needs of U of T’s diverse student body — including those who do not necessarily prescribe to a particular religious group or faith.
Spotlight: Family Care Office Research Update
By Shirin Gerami, Design Research Team Lead (Family Care Office)
The Family Care research project is born out of a partnership between the Innovation Hub and the Family Care Office at the University of Toronto. The overall aim of this project is to answer the question “what are the experiences of students with family responsibilities, and particularly student parents, at the University of Toronto?”
Happening This Week: What Makes a Classroom Great?
By Suzie Kim, Communications Team
Join us this week to shape your future classroom! As part of Academic and Campus Event’s Transforming the Instructional Landscape project, the Innovation Hub is bringing the design process into the U of T community. Join us in the Bahen Atrium and Med-Sci Lobby so we can ask you: what makes a classroom great?
Spotlight: The Multi-Faith Centre Research Team
By Joey Youssef (Team Lead) & the Multi-Faith Centre Research Team
In this blog post series, we introduce you to each of the Innovation Hub’s research teams this year, as well as provide some project details. To learn more about the research questions, see here. Below, you will find a brief statement from the Multi-Faith Centre’s research team, regarding why they decided to join the I-Hub and this particular project.
Transforming the Instructional Landscape with ACE: What instructors and students have told us so far
By Nick Feinig, Senior Research Assistant (for the ACE-Transforming the Instructional Landscape project)
What do instructors and students have to say about instructional space at UofT? Quite a lot, it seems! Beginning in the fall of 2017, the Innovation Hub undertook an initial ethnographic study combining long form empathy interviews, participant observation in classrooms around campus, and data lifted from a social media campaign as part of ACE’s Transforming the Instructional Landscape (TIL) project. Instructor feedback was also solicited through a dedicated portion of the TIL website. Analysing this data, our research team determined that both students and instructors recognize the importance of thoughtfully managed space to the learning process, while the former in particular have powerful memories associated with certain campus spaces.
Upcoming Event: Transforming the Instructional Landscape – What makes a classroom great?
By Suzie Kim, Communications Team
Shape your future classroom! As part of Academic and Campus Event’s Transforming the Instructional Landscape project, the Innovation Hub is bringing the design process into the U of T community. Join us in the Bahen Atrium and Med-Sci Lobby so we can ask you: what makes a classroom great?