The Role of Classroom Design in Supporting the Deployment of an Active Learning Curriculum

This event is part of the 2023 Celebrate Learning Week, taking place from May 2–9, 2023.

In this talk, Visiting Associate Professor of Teaching Dr. Olivier St-Cyr will outline his work around building an active learning curriculum in User eXperience Design (UXD) in the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto. He will first start by explaining how the curriculum was developed for the needs of a professional Master of Information (MI) degree. Dr. St-Cyr will then explain how he designed and oversaw the construction of two novel learning spaces at the Faculty of Information to support the deployment of the UX curriculum. These spaces to support a mix of active learning and hands-on teaching approaches, specifically enabling studio-based pedagogical activities. Thoughtful consideration was given to the human factors of space design and the relationships among the architecture of the physical space, the methods of teaching deployed in the space, and the knowledge acquired by students. These two learning spaces have transformed teaching and learning in the UXD Concentration and in the Faculty of Information, more generally. Following Dr. St-Cyr’s talk, two additional Panellists (Dr. Firas Moosvi and a representative from the CTL) will facilitate a discussion about Active Learning classrooms with the audience.

Speaker Bio:

Dr. Olivier St-Cyr is an Associate Professor, Teaching Stream in the Faculty of Information (iSchool) at the University of Toronto. During the 2022/23 academic year, he is a Visiting Associate Professor of Teaching in the School of Information at the University of British Columbia. His research interests are in the areas of HCI/UX Education, Active Learning (AL) Pedagogy, Active Learning Classroom (ALC) Design, Technology Enhanced Active Learning (TEAL) Classrooms Design & Evaluation, Studio Education, and Community-Engaged-Learning (C-E-L). Prior to joining the Faculty of Information, he taught several courses in Computer Programming, User Interface/User Experience Design (UI/UX), and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). He also spent eight years working in the industry on HCI-related projects in organizations such as the University Health Network, IBM, and Atomic Energy of Canada.

Facilitators:

• Dr. Olivier St-Cyr, Associate Professor of Teaching at University of Toronto in the Faculty of Information
• Dr. Firas Moosvi, Lecturer at University of British Columbia Okanagan in the Faculty of Science and CMPS department
• Representative from CTL (TBC)

Note to Non-UBC Participants:

In order to register for this program, non-UBC faculty, staff, and students will need to create a UBC Basic CWL. To do this, please go to the CWL page and scroll down to the accordion tab that reads “Basic”. Follow the instructions there for creating and activating a Basic CWL, then please return to this page to register for the program.

This event will be hosted online on Zoom and in-person on UBC Okanagan Campus.