Tell us about navigating classroom accommodations! The Innovation Hub and Accessibility Services (St. George) want to know about your experiences navigating accommodation from instructors. Tell us about what happened, what works and what doesn’t, how it’s hard, and more. We want to hear from…
Delving into the Digital Campus: The Many Faces of Vulnerability
By Ayaan Hagar, Design Researcher & Project Team Lead
This blog post is part of Delving into the Digital Campus, a four-part series in collaboration with the Digital Community & Connectedness Project, aimed at understanding how students find and make connections in digital spaces. Each post is a written reflection from our Design Researchers, sharing how the insights from their project has resonated with them in their own lived experiences.
What does it mean to connect in an age where we’re constantly connected?
It’s a question that’s been on my mind since the start of the pandemic; with a parent working on the frontlines, I heard accounts of the virus’ impact that didn’t give me much hope for returning to campus anytime soon. I had always had a bit of hard time finding my place on campus until I switched my program last year and became a part of a tight-knit, cohort of students. It wasn’t until the pandemic hit that I realized how much of that connection was forged over months of FaceTime, group trips to Kensington Market, shared triumphs and troubles over coffee, and daily lunches in the student lounge. With my younger brother entering university in the fall, I wondered what his experience and so many other new students would look like.
Transforming the Instructional Landscape: What We’ve Learned About Transcripts
Written by Georgia Maxwell (Senior Research Assistant) and Marcus Lomboy (Design Research Assistant for Transforming the Instructional Landscape)
For the past four years, the Innovation Hub has teamed up with the Learning Space Management (LSM) Team to examine how learning environments can be improved for both instructors and students.
Delving into the Digital Campus: Birds of A Feather, Do Flock Together
By Sanskriti Maheshwari, Design Researcher
This blog post is part of Delving into the Digital Campus, a four-part series in collaboration with the Digital Community & Connectedness Project, aimed at understanding how students find and make connections in digital spaces. Each post is a written reflection from our Design Researchers, sharing how the insights from their project has resonated with them in their own lived experiences.
Ever been told that opposites attract?
Through taking a course on Interpersonal Relationships, I uncovered something quite eye-opening. ‘Opposites attract’ is just a fantastical expression used to keep us invested in the romantic relationships and friendships that play out in front of our TV and movie screens. In reality, I have found that birds of a feather do in fact flock together. For example, in my own life I have observed that most of my closest friends have identical hobbies, personalities, political views, and so on. When meeting new individuals, any differences in interest or personalities can seem more pronounced than they really are. Possibly because a foundation built on a shared purpose hasn’t been established just yet. This is also something I learnt from my experience conducting the Stories from a Distance Sessions and The Digital Community & Connectedness Project.
The Academic Integrity Project: Designing Student-Centered Academic Integrity at U of T
By Shankeri Vijayakumar – Data Analysis Researcher and Hai-Dao Le Nguyen – Data Analysis Researcher
Academic Integrity is essential to learning at the University of Toronto as students learn to engage with knowledge and ideas in a way that is respectful and honourable. This past year, the Innovation Hub partnered with U of T’s Provost’s Office to explore what academic integrity means and how it is experienced by students at the university.
An Exciting Opportunity to Learn Design Thinking and be Involved with the Innovation Hub!
We are thrilled to be launching our Design Thinking Experience Program this summer! Running weekly on Tuesdays from 2:00-4:00PM between June 1st until August 3rd, this is a 10-week boot-camp style program that will provide you with:
- An introduction to innovation and Design Thinking
- Experience conducting qualitative research
- Teamwork skills and connections on campus
- An opportunity to generate ideas to improve the student experience at U of T
What’s Your Greatest Comeback Story?
Life is filled with adversities. Without warning, it can place us in front of an obstacle we’d never imagine ourselves to be in. Yet somehow, we find a way to come out the other end no matter the year, month…
In Community: the Importance of Reflection & Meaningful Work
By Betelehem Gulilat – Lead Editor & Writer
ZOOM, lockdown and asynchronous. These are some of many words that come to mind for this academic year. It’s also been a year of many firsts. Many more students have been attending classes remotely, campuses have transformed, and the Class of 2020 has celebrated their graduation virtually in their homes within their bubbles.
The uncertainty unearthed many concerns for the future both near and far. Whether its deciding where to study or spend time with friends, or travelling amongst a sea of students, losses have been felt all around. For others, the pandemic might have also felt like an unexpected gift to reflect on what’s important. Perhaps it’s been a mix of everything, too! We have seen these realities in our work, both through research projects and in our own teams. Reflection on what we have accomplished this last year not only helped us learn from our experiences, but it also reaffirmed why holding space for meaningful work is so important.
‘Let’s Talk About Failure’ Call for Participation!
We are excited to share another upcoming call for participation for all students of the UofT community! When was the last time you experienced failure? What was your experience with failure like? Academic Success and the Innovation Hub would like to hear your story! We will be hosting…
‘Tell Us About Your College Experience’ Call for Participation!
Our team is excited to share our first call for participation for the year with our UofT student colleges community! The Colleges System at the St. George Campus brings together students from across the world to become part of a close-knit community that supports students in their academic and university journey at UofT. The Student Experience Working Group (from the Provost’s Review of the…