Humanizing Deep Learning

Hello Reader,

What happens when you ask over 68 graduate students and post-docs to share their experience and thoughts about teaching and learning in higher education? On August 7, 2026, ITeach held its annual Graduate Students/Post-docs Teaching in Higher Education: Empowering the Next Generation of Instructors Conference with 288 unique participants, who maintained attendance throughout the whole day.

The conference began with a thought provoking keynote by Ian Jarvis, a PhD Candidate in Theatre and Performance Studies at York University, Toronto, Canada, titled Inhabiting Uncertainty: Digital Embodiment, AI, and What It Means to Learn and ended with a closing plenary by Misha Kaur Lidder, a MBA Candidate at Simon Fraser University in the Beedie School of Business, Vancouver, Canada, titled Applied Understanding for Higher Education: The Transformative Learning Model and the SER Framework. In between these two talks were over 52 sessions in four concurrent streams. Overall, two key themes surfaced throughout the conference - the need for humanizing deep learning in post-secondary education today.

Several sessions emphasized how these emerging instructors are humanizing teaching and learning by slowing down, listening deeply, and fostering reflections in and on their teaching. They advocated for interpersonal care, revealing the hidden curriculum, developing a sense of academic belonging for students, employing grace and guidance in teaching, building trust, and engaging in a lot of meaningful dialogue with students and colleagues. They are doing this is by making feedback a two-way dialogue, co-creating learning strategies with students, finding innovative ways for students to participate, using trauma-informed teaching methods, and acknowledging achievements (such as giving students stickers!). Presenters shared ideas on how to humanize their teaching through small acts, such as learning students names and learning the stories behind their names, Overall, the message was - be human and authentic.

Providing deep learning opportunities centred around the need for critical thinking in the age of artificial intelligence (AI) by incorporating active learning, encouraging curiosity (research engagement), consolidation pauses during lectures, structured writing, incorporating games and serious play, and collaborating with AI as a learning companion. Rather than assuming deep learning will happen - many spoke about the need to be intentional when designing courses and lessons to support deep learning. This means paying close attention to how you set up the conditions for learning. As one presenter stated, "Accuracy is not understanding."

Finally, the importance of documenting your teaching from the very beginning was emphasized. Record everything you do as an instructor so that you have evidence about how you supported students. Keep a teaching journal and all artifacts you create as a teaching assistant, instructor, or in other teaching roles.

If you are interested in viewing the wonderful presentations and materials, you can access them by logging into the conference learning management system.

To your teaching success!

Dr. Cynthia Korpan, Director, ITeach: Certification in Higher Ed Inc.