Project Goals/Deliverables
SLICCs are recognized as a legitimate form of course delivery across campus
Students are more engaged and accountable for their learning
SLICCs become a vehicle for interdisciplinary collaboration and learning
Project Team
Katherine Lithgow: Senior Educational Developer, Integrative and Experiential Learning (Centre for Teaching Excellence)
Mariam Mufti: Associate Professor (Political Science) | Associate Chair, Undergraduate Studies
Emma McDougall: Project Manager, SLICCs TII Project
Key Partners
John Abraham, Academic Dean (United College)
Wayne Chang, Continuing Lecturer (Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business)
Robert Hill, Associate Professor (Physics and Astronomy) | Teaching Fellow (Faculty of Science)
Carrie Mitchell, Associate Professor (School of Planning)
Diane Williams, Continuing Lecturer | Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies (School of Public Health Sciences)
Jennifer Yessis, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream; Associate Director, Professional Graduate Studies, School of Public Health Sciences, (Faculty of Health)
Strategic Advisor
Brendan Wylie-Toal, Sessional Instructor (Faculty of Environment)
Connect with the SLICCs team!
Inquiries about the SLICCs project can be directed to sliccs@uwaterloo.ca
Project Summary
SLICCs are among a growing body of self-directed and experiential learning models in post-secondary institutions, which have been linked to improving students' ability to become effective, self-regulated learners. The traditional course structure is removed in a SLICC, with the instructor providing desired learning outcomes in broad strokes, prescribing little in terms of what will be learned and even less on how it will be learned. In a SLICC, defining these aspects of the course is in fact the student’s responsibility. A student’s plan outlines their proposed learning experience and how they will complete it. Additionally, they must audit the skills they currently possess and those they would need to develop to achieve results. And finally, students determine how they will assess themselves as they complete their proposed learning experience. Therefore, SLICCs offer a flexible, personalized, student-centered approach to learning that empowers students to actively participate in the co-creation and evaluation of their learning.
In 2020, a LITE grant conducted an initial evaluation of how the SLICCs framework can be adopted at the University of Waterloo. Since then, interest in integrating the framework has continued to increase across campus. A Faculty Learning Community that met biweekly in 2021-2022 focused on best practices for teaching SLICCs. It attracted 20+ participants from 4 faculties and 3 academic support units. Emerging from the discussions of the faculty learning community was another LITE grant (2022-2023) that developed an Instructor’s Toolkit for designing and teaching SLICCs. To date, 545 students have enrolled in SLICCs taught regularly by 9 instructors from 4 faculties. Five new courses are currently in development.
Findings from the LITE grants and discussions of the faculty learning community indicate that SLICCs are valued by both instructors and students at UW. The next step would be to scale up and offer SLICCs more widely across campus. However, to achieve scalability we need to first, centralize expertise and effort and second, legitimate SLICCs as a form of course delivery that is both recognized and rewarded by the University. This project therefore aims to address the following questions:
- How can SLICCs be recognized as a legitimate form of course delivery at UWaterloo?
- What are the institutional barriers to offering SLICCs and to what extent can these be addressed to make SLICCs available to students across campus?
- Do SLICCs promote more student engagement and student accountability for learning?
- How might SLICCs be implemented to serve as a vehicle for interdisciplinary collaboration and learning?
Project Resources
What is a SLICC?
A self-directed experiential learning and reflection framework designed to help students develop skills required to succeed in the volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world they will encounter. This framework can be integrated into a course or an extra-curricular project wherein the instructor sets the learning outcomes in broad strokes, and the student is responsible for planning, proposing, carrying out, and evaluating a learning experience of their own creation that aligns with the learning outcomes. This approach encourages self-directed learning, fosters creativity, develops learning and assessment literacy, and allows for a personalized experience that aligns with the student's interests and career aspirations. Instructors typically provide guidance or support as students take the driver's seat.
Of Note: Unlike traditional courses which prioritize the learning product, SLICCs focus on the process and experience of learning. This means that a student can excel in a course that integrates the SLICC framework even if their proposed output is unsuccessful by effectively articulating, with evidence, what they would do differently, and how they will apply these lessons in the future. As such, reflections are central to SLICCs.
The SLICC framework integrates nicely into practicum courses, capstone courses, major project-based courses, e-coop, entrepreneurship courses or courses/programs with volunteer, service-learning, self-directed learning, internships, work experiences and/or research project requirements.
Project Events
Supporting Self-Directed Learning at UW using the Student Led Individually Created Course (SLICC) Framework: Preparing Students for Life After Graduation
What’s Happening at UW
Instructor Panel: Integrating the SLICC Framework
Join us for an engaging panel discussion with instructors who will share their insights and experiences integrating the Student-Led Individually Created Course (SLICC) framework. Learn how this self-directed, experiential learning approach empowers students to take control of their learning, fosters critical thinking, and encourages reflective practice. The instructors will also share their experiences integrating this model into their courses, highlighting key takeaways for other instructors interested in employing the framework. Whether you're looking to implement a self-directed learning framework or simply curious about SLICCs, this session offers valuable perspectives and practical advice.
What do our students say?
Student Panel: How SLICCs Empower Ownership of Learning
Hear from past students as they share their personal experiences undertaking a Student-Led Individually Created Course (SLICC) project. This panel will delve into how SLICCs allow students to take ownership of their education, develop critical skills, and pursue their passions. They share their experiences undertaking the project guided by the SLICC framework, and the different ways they have been able to apply knowledge, skills and mindset gained through the SLICC project after their courses have ended. Whether you're a student curious about SLICCs or an instructor looking to understand the student perspective, this session offers lived experience on the value of SLICCs both inside the classroom and beyond.
Student Led Individually Created Course (SLICC) Instructor Workshop: Introduction to the SLICC Framework
Join Dr. Simon C. Riley (University of Edinburgh) for an interactive workshop on the Student-Led Individually Created Course (SLICC) framework, an approach to self-directed experiential learning developed at the University of Edinburgh. Discover how this innovative approach allows students to design their own learning experiences, fostering critical thinking, creativity, and reflective practice. Simon will share practical insights on implementing SLICCs, discuss their impact at the University of Edinburgh, and share how including the SLICC framework could further benefit the University of Waterloo.
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Workshop: Supporting Interdisciplinary Learning Through SLICCs
Join Dr. Simon C. Riley (University of Edinburgh) as he explores how the Student-Led Individually Created Course (SLICC) framework can be a powerful tool for supporting interdisciplinary learning. In this talk, Dr. Riley will discuss how the SLICC framework is being used in multiple programs at the University of Edinburgh to support interdisciplinarity in education and research. Learn how this innovative framework can be applied in the University of Waterloo context to support our Waterloo at 100 goal of increasing interdisciplinary learning experiences that prepare students for complex, real-world challenges.
Project Updates
SLICCs Workshop Sparks Discussion on Empowering Students through Self-Directed Learning
Earlier this month, two members of the Student-Led Individually Created Course (SLICC) project team, facilitated a workshop at the University of Waterloo’s Teaching and Learning Conference. Aligning with the conference theme, “Sparking and Sustaining Student Engagement,” the workshop centred on cultivating self-directed learners for today’s rapidly changing world.
Connect with Emma McDougall, SLICCs Project Manager to learn more about how you can incorporate a SLICCs framework into your course to enhance student learning.
SLICCs consultations
In advance of work being done as part of the "Adapting Student Led Individually Created Courses (SLICCs) to Encourage Self-directed Learning at University of Waterloo" project, team members will be reaching out in various venues throughout the fall term to share insights about what SLICCs are and their potential value when adapted at UW.
If you have any specific questions about SLICCs, please get in touch with either of the project leads - Katherine Lithgow (klithgow@uwaterloo.ca) or Mariam Mufti (mmufti@uwaterloo.ca) - or contact the TII directly.