Monday, March 2, 2020

Open Education Week 2020 begins

A message from the Open Scholarship Committee.

March 2 through 6 is Open Education Week, which raises awareness of open education and its impact on teaching and learning.

There are several Open Education Week events taking place this both week and beyond:

• Open Educational Resource Workshop (Copyright, Licensing, Searching, and Selection), presented by Kathryn Blair and Kari Weaver, Tuesday March 3, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon, LIB 323. Contact kblair@uwaterloo.ca or kdweaver@uwaterloo.ca;
• Open Education: Good for you, good for your students, presented by James Skidmore, Wednesday, March 11, 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., MC 2036. Register at https://uwaterloo.gosignmeup.com/public/Course/browse?courseid=4098
• Off-campus events are listed on www.openeducationweek.org/events

Of additional interest are two readings:

• A Place for Policy: The Role of Policy in Supporting Open Educational Resources and Practices at Ontario’s Colleges and Universities
• Textbooks Could Be Free if Universities Rewarded Professors for Writing Them

For further information about open education or to become involved in raising awareness, visit Open Scholarship at Waterloo.

Conference graphic licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Global Impact: Math is the new microscope

This is an excerpt of an article originally published in Waterloo Stories as part of an ongoing Global Impact series.

Breakthroughs in technology and computing are changing the way researchers approach medicine. Early scientists wielded the revolutionary tools of their time, such as the microscope, to understand human health. Today, researchers increasingly use math as a microscope to understand biology and medicine, dictating the need for scientists to navigate between the worlds of computations and medicine comfortably. “It’s important that the next generation of scientists have the know-how of computational techniques, skills and the necessary knowledge of medicine,” says Anita Layton, the Canada 150 Research Chair in Mathematical Biology and Medicine at Waterloo.

Read how Layton is training future scientists to walk comfortably in both the computational and medical worlds.

The return of Nutrition Month Myth vs. Fact

by Sandra Ace.

Welcome to March and Nutrition Month! For the ninth consecutive year, I have been given the opportunity to share evidence-based insights and advice with Daily Bulletin readers, accumulated through almost 40 years of practice as a Registered Dietitian. That’s long enough to remember the humble origin of the largest nutrition-related public awareness campaign in Canada, which started at a community level over 30 years ago as “Nutrition Week.” National Nutrition Month now informs millions of Canadians every year.

Along with sharing tips and links from this year’s campaign, More Than Food, I’ll also examine timely, misunderstood or controversial nutrition and food topics in a myth vs. fact format. Check for a new topic every weekday during the month of March to learn more. You are always welcome to forward comments to Sandra Ace, MPH, RD, Health Services Dietitian, at sace@uwaterloo.ca. 

Beyond the Headlines and other notes

The first in a series of engaging conversation on current affairs torn straight from the headlines takes place tonight. The Beyond the Headlines lecture series is being held in partnership with the CBC and kicks off with Who is Defending Democracy? Panelists at the event include Waterloo History Professor Daniel Gorman, Waterloo Political Science professors Emmett Macfarlane and Bessma Momani, with the CBC's Craig Norris providing moderating duties. The lecture takes place at 7:00 p.m. in the Waterloo Memorial Recreation Complex's Hauser Haus.

A student-run international development conference is taking place on Thursday, March 5 at Federation Hall. The annual conference is organized by International Development students in the Faculty of Environment and is open to all students, faculty, staff and members of the community. The conference will discuss the theme of 'conscious consumerism' and will include interactive workshops, speakers and a panel presentation. Tickets to the conference are $7 each and can be purchased at indevconference.com or in-person in the Environment buildings. Lunch and refreshments will be included.