Transforming the Instructional Landscape (TIL)

A circular graphic that highlights which domains of Innovation are associated with the project

Transforming the Instructional Landscape (TIL) is an initiative that seeks to draw on teaching and learning expertise from faculty, staff, and students across the university to inform teaching and learning best practices as they intersect with classroom space and technology. TIL’s focus is on the university’s academic spaces.

Three icons of individuals connected by a circle, with a key in the middle.

Access for Every Student

All students have equitable access to programs, services, resources, and spaces.

Icon of book with connecting circles reaching outwards.

Integrated Learning Experience

Students engage fully in learning experiences both within and outside of the classroom.

Hand holding bubbles with a heart, light bulb and book in them.

Whole Student Development

Students receive the support they need for their holistic well-being (physical, psychological, social, and emotional).

2022-2023

In 2022-2023, the TIL team at the Innovation Hub will continue to focus on the evolution of the Tech2U pilot program. Tech2U supports instructors by humanizing classroom technical support, ensuring that technology is working and achieves their goals. Tech2U provides direct, in-person technical support to instructors at the St. George campus through a team of full-time Technical Co-Pilots and Student Classroom Ambassadors. This year, the TIL team at the Innovation Hub will focus on opportunities to evaluate and improve Tech2U.  

An illustration of a terrarium that represents the core principles of Transforming the Instructional Landscape

Research Team

Anchana smiling while leaning against a wall

Anchana Kuganesan

Rose smiling while sitting in a restaurant.

Chenyu Huang

Cindy smiling standing outdoors in front of a beach.

Cindy Ly

Jackie smiling against a blurred background indoors.

Jacqueline Betel

Design & Communications Team

Anushka smiling against the backdrop of a harbor

Anushka Saini

Paul smiling against the backdrop of a lake with rocks

Paul Kaita

OUR FINDINGS:

Each year, TIL runs different research projects as our work grows and changes. Select the year to learn more about its focus and findings.

Summer 2022

In the summer of 2022, the TIL team at the Innovation Hub will continue to focus on the evolution of the Tech2U pilot program. Tech2U supports instructors by humanizing classroom technical support, ensuring that technology is working and achieves their goals. Tech2U provides direct, in-person technical support to instructors at the St. George campus through a team of full time Technical Co-Pilots and Student Classroom Ambassadors. In the summer of 2022, the TIL team at the Innovation Hub will focus on opportunities to evaluate and improve Tech2U as operational processes are refined.

Logo representing Tech2U with a blue and white tablet and a conversation bubble overlapping.

Research Team

Anchana smiling while leaning against a wall

Anchana Kuganesan

Garima smiling against a white background

Garima Sharma

Nia smiling against a blue background

Nia Spooner

Ashley smiling against a backdrop of trees

Ashley Vadivelu

Light bulb icon as a placeholder

Cathy Li

Design & Communications Team

Anushka smiling against the backdrop of a harbor

Anushka Saini

Paul smiling against the backdrop of a lake with rocks

Paul Kaita

Anagha smiling against a colourful background

Anagha Patwardhan

2021-2022

The Transforming the Instructional Landscape is a project that recognizes that in a physical or virtual classroom, many players come together: instructors and students, but also staff working in instructional technology, accessibility, scheduling and support. Incorporating the needs of all these stakeholders is complex, but working together can transform spaces to better support teaching and learning. The project team will work in partnership with our partners to carry on the work of this important project, including the Tech2U pilot program that supports instructor teaching at St. George Campus. Visit the link below to learn more about this initiative.

An illustration of a terrarium that represents the core principles of Transforming the Instructional Landscape

Research Team

Georgia is outside, smiling towards the camera and wearing. a dark blue shirt.

Georgia Maxwell

Sanksriti is wearing a blue shirt, standing outside

Sanskriti Maheshwari

Faith is sitting outside, with trees and a cityscape in the background, wearing a dark brown jacket and black t-shirt

Faith Dong

Hai-Dao looking off to the side, sitting outside

Hai-Dao Le-Nguyen

Kaitlin is smiling twards the camera, wearing all black infront of a white background

Kaitlin Gaerlan

Light bulb icon as a placeholder

Anne Feldman

Design & Communications Team

Paul smiling against the backdrop of a lake with rocks

Paul Kaita

A photo of Kaitlyn smiling to the camera, with trees and buildings in the background

Kaitlyn Corlett

Vlada

Akshay Mahimtura

Marielle standing outside on a sunny day

Marielle Dilla

Summer 2021: How might personalized support with instructor support everyone in learning environments? 

Over the summer, TIL continued to work on our remote learning pilot, where we examined what happens when instructors receive individual and personalized tech support while they teach remotely. From this work, we published our transcription case study, which outlines the benefits of supporting instructors to create transcripts for recorded lectures. This study is available in the links below.

The TIL team also began to work on new and emerging projects this summer as well. The team supported TIL’s website re-design project, and perhaps most excitingly, they supported the development and launch of Tech2U, a new pilot project developed in partnership between Learning Space Management (LSM) and the Innovation Hub. To learn more about Tech2U, check out the community repost on our blog 

Logo representing Tech2U with a blue and white tablet and a conversation bubble overlapping.

Research Team

Philippa outdoors smiling at the camera

Philippa Gosine

Georgia is outside, smiling towards the camera and wearing. a dark blue shirt.

Georgia Maxwell

Lauren is wearing a red top, smiling to the camera

Lauren (KM) Baek

Zoey is smiling to the camera with long brown hair, wearing a purple top

Zoe Findlay

Nick Smith

Nick Smith

Anne-Marie is wearing a red top, standing outside with a cityscape in the background.

Anne-Marie Voyer

Design Team & Communications Team

Kaitlyn wearing long pink earrings, standing infront of a brick wall

Kaitlyn Corlett

Ecem smiling to the camera wearing a green long sleeved shirt

Ecem Sungur

Vlada smiling, looking off to the side in a brightly lit studio

Vlada Gorchkova

Natalie Ng

Natalie Ng

2020-2021: How might we support instructors to teach courses in online spaces?

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the integration of digital technology into teaching and learning was greatly accelerated. As a result, the TIL project accordingly shifted to focus on the emerging needs of students and instructors, and their experiences of these new and often uncomfortable instructional spaces. For the 2020-2021 year, TIL engaged stakeholders and community members in pilot initiatives which explored opportunities in remote learning, dual-delivery, and the multi-faceted challenges related to technology enhanced teaching and learning.

Illustration of a puzzle, with each puzzple piece representing principles of TIL.

Research Team

Philippa outdoors smiling at the camera

Philippa Gosine

Nick Smith

Nick Smith

Janet Lai

Janet Lai

Veronica_Grigio_Headshot

Veronica Grigio

Lucas Chan

Lucas Chan

Marcus is out side, wearing a dark blue suit and smiling towards the camera

Marcus Lomboy

Design Team & Communications Team

Kaitlyn wearing long pink earrings, standing infront of a brick wall

Kaitlyn Corlett

Gianina smiling to the camera infront of a dark grey background

Gianina Ramos

Cody_Square

Cody Foo

Ecem smiling to the camera wearing a green long sleeved shirt

Ecem Sungur

2019-2020: How can we continue to be trusted partners in class (re)design?

In the 2019-2020 year, TIL was focused on answering the question “How might we create a collaborative classroom-design process at UofT that meets the needs of all stakeholders?” To answer this question, TIL researchers employed a variety of research methodologies, including long-form interviews and journey-mapping sessions, to understand how the classroom re-design process works in a university setting, and how design researchers can help ensure that classroom design continues to reflect what students and instructors need from teaching and learning environments. From this work, TIL developed a series of recommendations on how design researchers can become trusted partners in the redesign process, as well as a series of design principles that should guide re-design projects.

Visual of the key findings from the research project. They are intersecting in the form of a colourful pyramid.

Research Team

IHUB_StaffPhotos_FallWinter_wordpress-8

Jason Batten-Carew

Nataha Cuneo Headshot

Natasha Cuneo

IHUB-StaffPhotos-Summer2019-5

Margaret Clare

IHUB_StaffPhotos_FallWinter_wordpress-15

Anoosheh Ghazanfari

IHUB_StaffPhotos_FallWinter_wordpress-14

Jeanne Lee

Nick Smith,
Design Thinking Team Lead (Transforming the Instructional Landscape)

Nick Smith

IHUB-StaffPhotos-Summer2019-13

Polina Kabakova

IHUB-StaffPhotos-Summer2019-9

Sicily Shi

IHUB-StaffPhotos-Summer2019-11

Cassie Yang

Design Team & Communications Team

Kaitlyn wearing long pink earrings, standing infront of a brick wall

Kaitlyn Corlett

Gianina smiling to the camera infront of a dark grey background

Gianina Ramos

2018-2019: How do students, instructors & staff use classrooms?

In its second year, TIL focused on engaging stakeholders across campus in LSM’s initiative to upgrade 174 classrooms in 23 universities across St. George Campus. To better understand what instructors and students wanted from this re-design process, TIL conducted a variety of design-thinking activities including long form interviews, classroom observations and feedback events. From this work TIL produced a series of Design Principles that provided guidelines for the core features of future classroom redesigns.  

Photo of a TIL event in 2018, with students walking around and exploring the space.

Research Team

Photo of Nick Feinig

Nicholas Feinig

Danielle Baillargeon, Data Analysis Team Lead

Danielle Baillargeon

Photo of Zhenni (Jenna)

Zhenni (Jenna) Liao

Photo of Ricardo

Ricardo Menendez

Photo of Saaili

Saaili Junnarkar

Design Team & Communications Team

Picture of Danielle

Danielle Lum

Kaitlyn wearing long pink earrings, standing infront of a brick wall

Kaitlyn Corlett

2017-2018: What do students need from classrooms?

TIL is a major classroom redesign initiative created by Academic and Campus Events (ACE), now called Learning Space Management (LSM). The Centre for Teaching Support and Innovation (CTSI) and the Innovation Hub are key partners in this initiative. In its initial year, TIL used human-centered methodologies to begin to understand the needs of students and instructors when it comes to learning spaces and their re-design. The focus of this first year of TIL was to understand how classroom spaces are used, and how spaces can be designed to facilitate learning. As part of this project, TIL developed various user personas to understand the unique needs and wants that users have when it comes to classroom spaces. 

Two students looking at a board that reads "Research", with writing materials & photos underneath

Research Team

Photo of Nick Feinig

Nicholas Feinig

Elena Djordjic is in her first year of her Masters of Information in User Experience Design. She's raising an aloe plant named Chloe.

Elena Djordjic

Light bulb icon as a placeholder

Adi Poddar

Light bulb icon as a placeholder

Simmy Saini

Photo of Mia

Mia Sanders