Provost's Taskforce on Pedagogical Innovation

The University of Guelph places high value on being a leader in post-secondary teaching and learning, as well as providing students enriched learning experiences. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented changes to how instructors teach, how students learn, and what society expects a university education to look like. To adapt to these changes, in 2020, the University of Guelph Provost, and Vice-President (Academic) Gwen Chapman, established the Provost’s Task Force on Pedagogical Innovation. The objective of this Task Force was to create space for individuals to engage in deep discussions and consultations about the future of the University of Guelph’s learning experience. The Task Force identified teaching and learning models/approaches/initiatives that could be developed and expanded at the University, as well as developed plans to promote and support the implementation of these approaches.

The Task Force was a cross-campus collaboration with a broad range of faculty, staff, and students. It was made up of four working groups including: supporting diverse learning environments, inter-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary teaching and learning, alternative forms of assessment and evaluation, and experiential and community engaged teaching and learning. In the Experiential and Community Engaged Teaching and Learning Group, CESI was represented by Dr. Melissa Tanti, the Community Engaged Teaching and Learning Coordinator. 

Each of the Provost’s Task Force on Pedagogical Innovation working groups produced outputs and reports to share their processes and recommendations. One of those outputs included the Addressing Pedagogical Gaps in a Post-COVID Educational Setting report created by the Experiential and Community Engaged Teaching and Learning Working Group. In this report, the working group proposed five recommendations, all of which focused on the Community Focused Learning pedagogical model designed “to work with students coming from a variety of contexts to acquire a range of introductory academic and community-engaged knowledge, skills and values in a supported learning environment.” The Experiential and Community Engaged Teaching and Learning Working Group also created an informational Community Focused Learning infographic which features the benefits of this type of learning. 

Despite the challenges to teaching and learning that these unprecedented times have brought, the pandemic has offered instructors and students a valuable learning opportunity. The Task Force on Pedagogical Innovation provided the opportunity for faculty, staff, and students at the University of Guelph to collaborate on envisioning a better future for teaching and learning.