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Architecture students gaining in-demand digital design skills; nutrition students being trained in digital storytelling to enhance their workplace preparation; and professional communication students being given access to flexible, online modules and interactive learning activities. All three groups of students will be directly impacted by the classroom innovation grants awarded in 2010/11 through the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Fund (LTEF).

"We created the LTEF to support learning and teaching excellence, a key priority of Ryerson's academic plan," said Maureen Reed, director, Learning and Teaching Office (LTO). "It gives faculty additional opportunities to apply innovative learning strategies in the classroom, lab and studio, and allows us to support scholarly research around higher education teaching."

The LTEF grant program is funded by the Office of the Provost and administered by the LTO. The seven inaugural recipients were announced in January. Here's a closer look at three current projects:

Empowering architecture students with in-demand digital skills
Recognizing that many of their students spend several hours commuting to school each day by GO Train and subway, Department of Architectural Science professors Vincent Hui and Albert Smith decided that rather than spending precious studio time talking about how to use all the various architecture design software available to them, they would show them - online. more

Preparing food and nutrition students for the complexity of practice
Storytelling has figured prominently in Food and Nutrition Professor Jacqui Gingras' research and teaching career. As a process of narrative inquiry that requires discernment and questioning, Gingras has integrated it into a fourth-year course as a way for students to grapple with the often big ethical issues before they enter dietetic practice. Students take their observations from their volunteer placements, write about them, and then bring them back to the classroom for discussion. Now, thanks to a LTEF grant, the students' stories are going digital. more

Developing flexible hybrid courses for future business communicators
Introduction to Professional Communication is one of the School of Professional Communications' longest running and most popular courses. With increasing enrolments of over 450 students per semester, Professors Joanne DiNova, Wendy Freeman and Catherine Schryer wondered how they could leverage existing technology to engage students in a growing class. As successful recipients of LTEF funding, they were able to explore one possible option: a hybrid course. more

Applications are now being accepted for the second round of LTEF funding, "Teaching Today's Learners." Deadline for submissions is September 30, 2011. To learn more about the application process, visit the LTO's website here.

Empowering architecture students with in-demand digital skills

Recognizing that many of their students spend several hours commuting to school each day by GO Train and subway, Department of Architectural Science professors Vincent Hui and Albert Smith decided that rather than spending precious studio time talking about how to use all the various architecture design software available to them, they would show them - online.

Hui produced approximately 50 narrated instructional videos illustrating in-depth how to use existing software and 3D modelling tools (equating to almost 40 hours of instruction time). The videos were hosted online and made available to first-year students for downloading to their smart phones and iPads, and for viewing during those hours they spend commuting to and from school. 

"There was an absolute night and day difference in the digital design capabilities of first-year students from two years ago to today," said Hui. "By second year, they were able to conceive and present their conceptual design ideas in digital and 3D format. Once fourth-year students got wind of these online tutorials, they were clamouring for the same type of content for their upper year classes."

That's where the LTEF grant comes into play. It is allowing Hui to augment the existing video tutorials with content for advanced learners, including larger-scale implications of digital design and the iterative design process. Hui believes that by broadening access to digital tutorials, students, who are increasingly visual learners, are empowered both academically and professionally through their strong grasp of architecture design software and 3D imaging; critical skills that are being demanded by today's employers. In the past, architecture schools invested a great deal of class time into teaching technical skills; today it is about becoming a better designer and knowing how to best use software to translate design ideas not onto a static form like paper but into dynamic 3D models on the fly.

Preparing food and nutrition students for the complexity of practice

Storytelling has figured prominently in Food and Nutrition Professor Jacqui Gingras' research and teaching career. As a process of narrative inquiry that requires discernment and questioning, Gingras has integrated it into the fourth-year Advanced Issues in Professional Practice course as a way for students to grapple with the often big, ethical issues before they enter dietetic practice. Students take their observations from their volunteer placements, write about them, and then bring them back to the classroom for discussion. Now, thanks to a LTEF grant, the students' stories are going digital.

"By moving storytelling from the written to visual, I expect that more students and practitioners will be able to access these narratives," said Gingras. "They can be used as case studies, as a recruitment tool, for advocacy and information sharing, and for encouraging community building because they bring people together."

Through a collaboration with the not-for profit Centre for Digital Storytelling, students will receive training on how to produce digital stories. Then, a small group of them will partner with practicing dietitians, to interview them and co-create digital stories from their interview texts. With the authors' permission, the digital stories will be shared at conferences, professional workshops, and with first-year food and nutrition students as well as with incoming fourth-year students to prepare them for the next phase of storytelling. Gingras has created a sustainability element in the project in that the first group of students trained by the Centre for Digital Storytelling will go on to train the next group of incoming students.

The project is further supported by Jennifer Brady, a Ryerson School of Nutrition graduate and current PhD student at Queen's University, Alex Bal, Image Arts professor, and Jason Nolan, Early Childhood Education professor and director of the Experiential Design and Gaming Environments (EDGE) Lab, who will provide the hardware, server storage and necessary software.

Developing flexible hybrid courses for future business communicators

Introduction to Professional Communication is one of the School of Professional Communications' longest running and most popular courses. With increasing enrolments of over 450 students per semester, Professors Joanne DiNova, Wendy Freeman and Catherine Schryer wondered how they could leverage existing technology to engage students in a growing class. As successful recipients of LTEF funding, they were able to explore one possible option: a hybrid course.

The team assessed how they could restructure the course which is traditionally delivered in a three-hour workshop format. They developed a series of seven online modules and interactive learning activities that replaces one hour of lecture time but supports two hours of workshop interaction. The modules focused on a variety of core competencies such as how to write standard business communication but also allowed the team to introduce more focus to additional concepts such as visual communication. The online modules were also structured to ensure opportunities for student collaboration, a skill that is very much in keeping with current business communication.

The hybrid course was piloted during the winter 2011 term, and evaluation of its impact on both students and faculty through surveys, interviews and course usage information is on-going. Initial student response was positive and feedback allowed the team to further refine the module content.

"A hybrid course isn't just about the online modules," said Freeman. "It is about supporting what happens in class and preparing students to come to class ready to learn. When developed and integrated properly, the hybrid format allows a student's online learning to flow and relate directly to what is being taught in the classroom."

While the pilot phase is complete and evaluation is underway, the team intends to develop additional content including a module on social media in communications. And for Freeman, she sees the potential to apply the overall strengths of the hybrid model to other professional communication courses.