Teaching and Learning at the U of A spotlights instructors in the classroom and beyond. Through these stories, we hope to inspire others in our shared commitment to teaching and learning.
Online course offerings may be common nowadays, but in 2000 when Sabina Valentine began teaching NUTR 100: Nutrition and Well-being virtually, it was a different world. “Back then, there wasn’t really much support for online learning,” says Valentine, an Assistant Lecturer in the Faculty of Agricultural, Life & Environmental Sciences.
In fact, Valentine created the online version of the popular course herself. At the time, two of her mentors in the faculty, Catherine Field and Rhonda Bell, had developed an online textbook for NUTR 100. They thought offering an online class would be a good idea, and tasked Valentine with leading the charge, sharing what they covered in their lectures and the textbook they’d created but giving her the freedom to supplement or create additional content to bring the course to life online.
Valentine relished the challenge, and has continuously improved and refined the course over the years, with tools like embedded lecture questions, asynchronous videos and interactive content. “Nutrition 100 is my baby. I’ve taught that course online for 26 years and it’s one I still teach.”
As a result of her hands-on experience, Valentine has supported many other instructors in transitioning to online teaching over the years as well as delivered workshops on best practices for online learning. And, she now teaches both an online and in-person version of NUTR 100, adapting her teaching style to the delivery format.
“I definitely think my experience with online learning has given me tools and approaches I can use for my in-person classes as well,” says Valentine. For example, when designing asynchronous modules for online learning, she had to build in structured assessments and low stakes practice questions so students could gauge their understanding before moving forward in the content. She now uses that same approach in the classroom, embedding real-time practice questions and short applied problems into lectures. “This ensures students are actively processing material rather than passively listening.”
Her drive to provide the best learning experience for her nutrition students is simply an extension of Valentine’s lifelong commitment to health and wellness — growing up in a family of competitive swimmers, she saw the importance of healthy eating and exercise from an early age.
Though she earned an undergraduate degree in biochemistry, she knew the lab wasn’t the right environment for her, and went on to a Masters of Science in Nutrition. “Nutrition was a great opportunity for me to be able to apply my passion for health as well as my passion for working with people,” says Valentine.
During graduate school, she discovered she really enjoyed keeping up with the latest knowledge in her field, which propelled her towards teaching.
Valentine got her first taste of teaching outside of academia as a swimming instructor. Though her many years of instructing students in the water gave her the basics on how to plan lessons and progress a student’s knowledge, in the university classroom, she soon saw the ways she wanted to change her approach. Her style has evolved considerably over the years from a more traditional lecturing format to a student-centred, interactive and inclusive approach that seeks to address different learning styles.
“I use active strategies, embed opportunities for reflection and feedback and leverage educational technology to enhance engagement, especially in online courses.”
Interaction is one of the key priorities for all of Valentine’s courses, whether in person or online. Particularly with NUTR 100, a class that contains about 300 students per section, Valentine knows simply lecturing wouldn’t be the most impactful way to give students the knowledge they need. Instead, she facilitates opportunities for them to interact, both with her as an instructor and with one another as peers. “I believe that learning is most effective when students understand the purpose behind the content, feel supported and are given opportunities to apply their knowledge in meaningful ways,” she says. “I especially enjoy watching students make connections between nutrition concepts and real-world issues and hearing how the course has inspired lasting change.”
Inclusion is another core tenet that drives Valentine’s teaching, both in terms of the classroom environment she creates and the content she puts together. Over the years, she has adapted the language used in her courses and even included examples of different cultural foods in an attempt to make her courses as inclusive as possible. “Everyone comes with different ideas and experiences, and I think really embracing them, respecting them and integrating them into things that we are talking about is so valuable,” says Valentine.
Valentine regularly guest lectures across campus in health-related programs, motivated by the desire to combat health misinformation. And, in addition to the variety of undergraduate nutrition courses she has taught over the years, focusing on everything from sports nutrition to applied food theory, she plans to continue shepherding NUTR 100 students through the course for years to come. Despite over 25 years in the classroom, her passion for teaching has never dulled.
“I love that I’m still learning too, it never stops,” says Valentine. “That’s one thing I truly love about my job — it’s never stagnant. There’s always something new to learn or reflect on.”