The Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities requires Ontario College Diploma students to complete a minimum of two general education elective courses as part of the curriculum. The purpose of general education courses is to broaden students’ perspectives beyond the students’ field of professional study. However, developing a relevant and interesting general education elective course that serves this purpose has a few challenges including student motivation, flexible course delivery, and the inclusion of students from year one to year three from a wide range of range of professional fields of study. The “Social Spaces” course was developed as an innovative approach to meeting these challenges while providing an authentic learning experience that would encourage students to become interdisciplinary thinkers of various social spaces.
The purpose of this workshop is to highlight and explain the innovations used (hybrid learning design, field-based learning experiences, and critical reflection) in the delivery of this general education elective course. Both the professor and students from the course will be on hand in this workshop to share their perspectives of the course’s successes and (epic?) fails to challenge our thinking about where, when, and how students learn. Participants in this session will be inspired to consider the advantages of a hybrid learning design to encourage students to move outside of the traditional classroom to explore authentic, field-based learning experiences.