If you think no one considers getting graded fun, you’ve never met kinesiology student Sophia Boucas.

Boucas considers the lab activities in the two required Functional Anatomy courses a highlight of her first year in the Faculty of Human Kinetics.

“My favourites were the Jeopardy and Bell-Ringer labs,” she said. “It definitely made it feel less like work because it was fun. You were playing a game rather than writing a test.”

Professor Dave Andrews revamped the lab activities with input from undergrads who have taken the classes in the past.

Dr. Andrews and six students — Kalina Georgieva, Bradley Mangham, Rebecca Misiasz, Megan Murtagh, Claudia Town, and Robbie Oates — partnered on a project to find more engaging and meaningful activities. They came up with a variety of individual and small-group activities that can be delivered both in-person and online.

They presented their work at the 2022 Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education conference, and their paper about the experience was published in last month’s edition of the International Journal for Students as Partners.

“Creating these labs was a refreshing experience where I could explore more creative endeavours with faculty and students than I was able to do as a student in the course,” said Mangham. “For example, I was able to focus on the content that I really enjoyed when I was in the course, such as the unit on bones, and develop labs related to it. This motivated me to develop creative activities.”

Andrews and his students undertook the project during the pandemic. Andrews — winner of a 3M National Teaching Fellowship, which recognizes excellence in post-secondary teaching — called it “an amazing gift” to work with this group of students on the project.

“I learned many things, many small and impactful things, about what students find important, what things really don’t matter, and what things really do,” Andrews said. “Several times I got feedback about features of the courses that I had stressed over before that I thought were critical, but that they said were not. They also helped me to see the implications of some of the decisions I had made about my courses in the past from the students’ perspective.”

Read the team’s article, “Developing lab activities for an introductory anatomy course: Reflections and recommendations from a student-faculty partnership.”

—Sarah Sacheli

In tandem with the start of the five-year appointment of Clinton Beckford, the Office of the Vice-President, People, Equity, and Inclusion has launched a new departmental website that highlights the projects building equity and justice on campus.

Formerly the Office of the VP, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, the role’s new name captures the expansion of the portfolio, which includes the Department of Human Resources; the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities; and the Office of Human Rights, Equity, and Accessibility, as well as its continuing dedication to people, equity, and inclusion.

With its new look and structure, the website invites campus and community members to explore the work of the VP’s office as it relates to anti-racism, organizational development, employee mental health and engagement, and more. Visitors can also find information on events, professional development and funding opportunities, and institutional reports, as well as links to connect with both community and campus partners.

“The new website highlights not only what we have accomplished since this office’s inception two short years ago, but also where we are going, keeping the campus-community abreast of the latest developments in our initiatives and actions,” says Dr. Beckford. “We hope that our campus community will continue to engage with the office and access the website for the most up-to-date information and to get involved with our events and activities.”

Explore the new VP, People, Equity, and Inclusion, site at www.uwindsor.ca/vp-people-equity-inclusion.

Traditional fuel-powered automobiles, powered by internal combustion engines, give higher mileage on highways than city roads.

It could be expected that a fully charged battery electric vehicle should be able to drive longer on a highway compared to the city. However, the reality is just the opposite, says a UWindsor engineering professor.

In an article published last week in the Conversation, Balakumar Balasingam, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, reports that experiments at the battery management systems research lab found that electric vehicles need more electrical current on highways compared to city streets because the average speed on the highway is higher. Also, their batteries become less efficient at high currents due to energy loss.

Read his entire article, “Batteries in electric vehicles have more mileage in city driving rather than highway driving,” in the Conversation, which publishes news and views from the academic and research community.

Lancer teams finished atop two competitions in the National Esport Collegiate Conference championship tournament: League of Legends and Rocket League.

“We are delighted to see our teams flourishing at the national level after three short years in competition,” says Cindy Crump, director of the Student Success and Leadership Centre.

She attributes the international success of the University’s official esports teams to the drive, strategic thinking, and perseverance of students in leadership roles as coaches, players, and operations staff.

After losing to Sacramento State in an earlier qualifying round of League of Legends, the Lancers won three straight games in the rematch to sweep the best-of-five final. Coach Bryce Everett noted that his team represents a wide swath of campus, with players studying human kinetics, computer science, psychology, medicine, engineering, education, and business.

Rocket League coach Yusuf Naebkhil called his team’s performance in a 4-3 finals victory over the St. Clair College Saints Academy “the best we’ve every played.”

He’ll have to replace graduating captain Luka (Zehnoh) Velimirovic but expects most of his roster to return. Still, Naebkhil notes, there will be openings for interested students.

“You don’t need to be a competitive gamer to participate,” he says. “There are many positions that need to be filled, ranging from finance to marketing, development, graphic design, and many more.”

Find more information on the Lancer Gaming website.