Tyler Hopper has gotten in the habit of turning off the lights when he leaves a room.

Sometimes the second-year business and marketing student will opt to crack the spine of a book rather than fire up his computer, particularly since learning it would take three Earths to sustain his energy consumption.

It wasn’t a complicated calculation in math class that told Hopper a change of habits was necessary, however. Nor was it anything he read in a textbook that tipped him off.

It was an online sustainability course with a large gaming component that helped it hit home for Hopper that he’s doing the world a favour when he powers down. “It was ‘Oh wow, I’m definitely not as sustainable as I thought,’” he recalled about the revelation.

The course that enlightened Hopper was taught by Shaun Iles, a Mohawk sociology professor who’s winning over students — and teaching them the importance of treading lightly on Mother Earth — by incorporating gamification in his classes.

If that sounds like an excuse to play video games for credit, it’s not. Gamification is pervasive outside the classroom, from getting bonus drug store points for buying a certain hair gel to receiving a free coffee after five fill-ups at the gas station. In an academic setting, it bucks traditional “chalk and talk” teaching by using challenges and rewards to foster learning.

In Iles’ case, he sends students a congratulatory video or awards bonus grades for acing quizzes.“Once they find out there are bonus grades, they really put in the extra effort to get 100 per cent,” Iles says.

A cell phone scavenger hunt app highlights eco-friendly features on the Mohawk campus while a video game about a fictional island lets students put the theories they’ve learned into practice. Players learn instantly, and at their own pace, whether their choices about resource management are sustainable. More than that, however, the game helps students relate to course material.

“It was a tool to access whenever we wanted to beat it off the bat or to learn about modules about food or water,” Hopper says.

Stellar final marks are celebrated with a prizes such as reusable water bottles or solar-powered cell phone charges.

His is the kind of course that Iles would have enjoyed taking while growing up in Oshawa. Gamification might have kept him from dropping out of high school.

“I hated teachers telling me how I should be learning,” Iles recalls. “if I had educators that were a lot less rigid, it would have changed my fate, and I could have stood a little more engagement on my part. But at the time, I’d have rather played drums or snowboarded.”

In many ways, his own experience with teaching made him the perfect candidate for head of the class. Iles understood the importance of giving students the chance to learn and relay information in ways thatworked for them.

At Mohawk, he finally met teachers that inspired him to excel academically when he was accepted to study general arts and science at the college after growing frustrated with going nowhere. He flourished at the college, tackling university next. Iles studied at McMaster before getting his master’s degree in education from the Universityof Toronto.

He returned to Mohawk to teach in 2008 and soon after learned about gamification at a conference where world-renowned game builder Jane McGonigal was a speaker. Something clicked for Iles, who was a video game fiend growing up.

“I started seeing the educational merit in the games (my daughter) was playing but there was no way to bring that to the forefront (in an academic setting),” he recalls.

Still, he set to work on a template to bring gaming into the classroom without taking away from the course itself. The simulation of life on that fictional island was designed by Vuk Pejovic and Garrett Tyler at iDeaWORKS, Mohawk’s research and innovation department.

“When designing a game for a course, the challenge is making educational components entertaining and enjoyable,” Pejovic said. “We felt that Shaun had a really strong script to follow, which helped build the game.”

And it’s helped build Iles’ career into one of storybook proportions. That guy who once gave up on school is now an award-winning teacher, most recently winning the Online Learning Excellence Award from Pearson.

Looking back, he’s convinced he could have shown his 17-year-old self the way, too.

“He’d have probably called me a sellout,” Iles says with a laugh. “But if I could have sat down with 16 or 17-year-old Shaun, I could have convinced young Shaun this was cool.”

This article was originally published in the 2015 volume of Quanta, Mohawk College’s annual celebration of research and innovation.

Author Tiffany Mayer is a freelance writer based in Hamilton and Niagara. 

If you ask Ron McKerracher where his creativity as a professional and as an instructor is leading him, he’ll give you a surprising answer.

“Language.”

McKerracher isn’t a professor of communications or English literature. He’s a Registered Massage Therapist (RMT) with his own practice in Toronto and is a part time professor of massage therapy at Mohawk College.

Although he works primarily with his hands, McKerracher believes it is important to share with his students and clients the importance of words.

“In any medical setting there is a disconnect between medical language and its understanding,” explains McKerracher. ”I love the idea of taking complex knowledge and articulating it so that people can have an empowered understanding of their circumstances.”

McKerracher’s emphasis on communicating medical language is intentional. In his practice and in his teaching, he’s reflecting a paradigm shift about how we think about massage therapy.

“Historically, the place has been outside the healthcare field as an alternative field,” says McKerracher about the identification of massage therapy as a ‘day at the spa’. “The nice thing about our field is that it is growing and becoming more mainstream. With that there is a responsibility to become really integrated as a healthcare practitioner in the context of other healthcare practitioners.”

McKerracher is dedicated to helping the next generation of massage therapists understand their place within the healthcare treatment model- where physician referrals for ailments such as back pain have become more commonplace.

Within the classroom, and at Mohawk’s Massage Therapy Student Clinic, he believes that students must master more than just technique; they must also have a strong understanding of how to develop goal-oriented treatment plans that can effectively help a client with their physical pain. And unquestionably, they must also be skilled communicators.

“As a therapist, we have the unique opportunity to have an hour at a time with our client, so we can relate complex issues in a way they understand. We can become a resource to them.”

This article was originally published in the 2015 volume of Quanta, Mohawk College’s annual celebration of research and innovation.

Author Andrea Johnson is Promotions and Industry Liaison Officer for iDeaWORKS and the editor of Quanta.

Turns out, leading a horse to water may be a bigger coup than gettinghim to do anything once you arrive.

Just ask Anne Porteous. A rider for most of her life, the Mohawk nursing professor has recently learned how significant it is to simply walk with an equine companion. In fact, it can be life-changing.

Unlike other animals — say, a loyal pooch keen to please — horses only stay by one’s side because they choose to do so, and the effects of that can be a profound reminder of the value of clarity.

“You’re able to lead a 1,000-pound animal. It’s a powerful message for a person: ‘When I’m clear, I can pretty much do anything,’” Porteous says. “It’s very powerful when a horse chooses to stay with you. It’s very dynamic, very powerful for someone who has been abandoned in life or has experienced isolation”.

For the past year, Porteous has been exposing others to those positive effects through equine assisted learning and therapy programs offered at her Rockwood farm. She has seen communication, self-respect, boundary setting, empathy, problem solving, confidence and accountability flourish in the people who participate. Those changes haven’t gone unnoticed by her nearly 200 clients either, including corporate types, Mohawk faculty and those receiving psychotherapy. Most recently, it was a group of First Nations youth, from Mohawk’s Project Pathfinder, who benefited from spending time with horses.

“When they left, they said ‘I understand the importance of boundaries.’; ‘it helped to build my confidence’; ‘it increased my understanding of what it means to be an effective leader’. These are things I’m seeing in others as well,” Porteous says. “The thing about this work is it’s totally non-judgmental. You’re working with a horse. Horses don’t have ego’s, they don’t know how to lie, and always tell the truth.”

Porteous’s work stems from her own studies of natural horsemanship, an area of inquiry which she took up 10 years ago when she bought her farm and began working closely with her herd. Through that, she really learned about a creature she’d spent much of her life certain she already knew. Horses are intuitive and provide instant feedback to others, either by being relaxed and accepting of someone, or tense, uncertain and stressed. As prey animals, they’re sensitive to the feelings and intentions of people (the predator), and respond accordingly in the moment, sometimes doing what their human companion wants them to, sometimes not. They respond positively to clear, respectful, confident communication. They also mirror people’s inconsistent behaviours, ones their bipedal charges may or may not be aware of, and which may be holding them back in life.

Now Porteous would like to take the anecdotal evidence she has gathered over the past years and turn it into something more formal. In Fall 2014 Porteous joined faculty from McMaster University to form Learning Beyond the Fence. This committee wants qualitative and quantitative data to demonstrate to others of the merits of equine assisted learning and therapy; and how it can complements other experiential education or healing that’s available.

“I’m seeing things that I say ‘Wow, that would be great for research,’” she says. “How do you quantify something like this? To reach the doubters, we need to increase the level of research.”

And there’s no reason why she can’t, particularly given her connection with Mohawk. Porteous hopes to pilot a program that would help high school students transitioning to college life and use the results to officially back up what she knows to be true. Once she gets ethics approval, Porteous plans to chronicle the effects of equines on her subjects during the program, then check in with them later to see if they are still applying what they learned in the sessions.

Coping with transitional anxiety, non-verbal communication, leadership and teamwork are some of the directions she can take her work.

“There are just so many avenues that we can take this,” Porteous says. “You have to be clear in your body language and mind when communicating with animals. In this time where everyone is texting, you can’t text a horse. You have to be very clear in what you want.

“It’s not just being around horses,” she adds, “Horses can by our greatest teacher if we are open to the truth.”

This article was originally published in the 2015 volume of Quanta, Mohawk College’s annual celebration of research and innovation.

Author Tiffany Mayer is a freelance writer based in Hamilton and Niagara. 

SURGE is Mohawk’s Entrepreneurship Connection and for the past year, the on-campus resource has been stimulating and fostering a culture of entrepreneurship across Mohawk College while providing students access to start their own sustainable businesses. Run through the McKeil School of Business alongside iDeaWorks and the Faculty of Engineering Technology SURGE aims to reach out to the entire Mohawk student population across all campuses and programs of study, as well as the greater Hamilton start-up community.

SURGE Project Coordinator Karen Reiner introduces the vital players of SURGE:

Melanie Sodtka
Professor and Coordinator of Small Business and Entrepreneurship Program and SURGE Faculty Lead

How are you connected to SURGE?

In 2014, I was asked to lead the On Campus Entrepreneurship Activities and Initiatives on behalf of the McKeil School of Business and Mohawk College by my Dean and Associate Dean. I am thrilled to have the opportunity not only to mentor and coach students and clients, but to also connect them to resources that will help springboard their entrepreneurial aspirations to new levels.

Through different partnerships within the Hamilton community, such as with Innovation Factory, the Small Business and Enterprise Centre, Alumni, iDeaWorks and the Agency, SURGE has been successful in offering students multiple opportunities to learn the critical points and pathways of a start-up. This initiative has gathered tremendous support from all angles and the momentum is strong going into 2015/2016.

How do you see SURGE evolving in the next year, and what are your hopes for the future of the program?

We have big hopes for SURGE in the upcoming year. Based on the levels of success and engagement we’ve experienced, we will offer customized event programming for multiple Academic Programs. We will continuously support students who are currently highly engaged with SURGE, as well as those new start-ups that express interest in the program. To date, we have helped one student entrepreneur who hopes to change the way the world operates with 3-D printing, and another one who aims to add tremendous value to the health and technology sector by developing a new app for those who suffer from Celiac Disease. These are only a couple of the exciting initiatives and examples that SURGE has had the privilege of supporting.

What do you think is the most important piece of business advice to give to a young entrepreneur that is just starting out?

Never, ever, ever give up. There will be scary and doubtful moments where the negative self-talk will take over. It’s so important to keep your perspective and listen to your soul. That is where you will get the truest of answers and guidance.

Aaron Perras
Mohawk College Entrepreneurship Club President

Describe your role as President of the Mohawk Students’ Association Entrepreneurship Club and your involvement in SURGE

I find the title of President to be somewhat of a misnomer. My role is not about leading or directing. The role, as I see it, is about finding the students who might have a seed of interest in starting their own businesses and encouraging it to grow. The Club is a space where students can hash out their business ideas and get constructive feedback from students, faculty, and guests.

One of the main goals I have for the Club is to create a nexus where students from different programs can find or trade the skills they need for their ventures without having to worry about funding. My job is simply to connect people together.

How have you benefited from SURGE and what do you hope to gain from it in the future?

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of being involved with an initiative like SURGE is having the opportunity to meet and converse with people who are creating, or have created, their own entrepreneurial endeavours. Knowing that people are actually doing these things is inspiring and the lessons I have learned from them have become important tools in my entrepreneurial lexicon.

In the upcoming year, I expect I will be able to learn much more from SURGE events and the people participating in them. Once I am finished at Mohawk, I am also hopeful that these new skills will set me apart from the crowd.

In last year’s Startup Weekend (Maker Edition) you were part of team that won first prize –explain your winning app idea Crosspoint and what the next steps are inyour venture?

The idea behind Crosspoint is to find a way that allows people with similar interests to find each other so that they can participate in activities. Too often, we find ourselves looking for something to do or somewhere to go; only to find our circle of friends are either uninterested or unavailable. With the Crosspoint app, we can expand that circle to people who do what you want to do.

The next steps for Crosspoint is to continue development into a working and testable platform. Once that is completed, we will launch a beta test that will allow us to measure and determine its usability and, more importantly, popularity.

Brodie Dawson
Owner, Dawson’s Hot Sauce

As an entrepreneurial alumnus of Mohawk College, how was your experience as a mentor with the Speed Networking event for the SURGE Launch in May 2015?

I thoroughly enjoyed my time during the SURGE speed networking portion of the event. It was refreshing to hear new ideas, developed and undeveloped, from students with passion in self-employment.

Describe your company; how long have you been in business, do you have any employees, who are your biggest supporters, where do you hope you will be in a year from now?

Dawson’s Hot Sauce is a small batch gourmet company that focuses on quality ingredients and a hands on approach. We are in our third year of business and we are growing steadily.

We have some part time assistance in the cooking and packaging process. Our biggest supporters are the people who take the time to comment after tasting on our Facebook and Twitter accounts. It means a lot to see positive reviews from people who are just trying it for the first time and becoming fans. We hope to have a strong presence in Toronto in the next 12 months.

How do you feel Mohawk College has helped you prepare for your entrepreneurial journey?

When I was a student I knew very early that I wasn’t going to work in the field of Journalism. Instead, the time spent at Mohawk built my networking abilities. Building larger groups of peers allowed me to understand how important a solid foundation of believers is to start a venture - independent or otherwise. Without the networking skills being an entrepreneur would be even more challenging.

Describe one negative and one positive experience that you have gone through since you launched your business.

Great perk, you make your own hours and the only person who gives you any grief is yourself.

Big downside, you make your own hours and the only person who gives you any grief is yourself.

Anders Knudsen
Lawyer from Simpson Wigle Law LLP

Can you tell us about your initial involvement with SURGE?

Simpson Wigle has been involved with SURGE since its inception, and as a young business lawyer I jumped at the opportunity to work with SURGE in mentoring, teaching, and partnership capacities. I have given talks on contractual issues for start-ups and judged the SURGE Pitch It to Win it competition back in April 2015. It is exciting to meet entrepreneurs at the beginning of their careers. Young entrepreneurs and young lawyers have a lot in common; we are interested in creative solutions, adopting new technologies, and responding quickly to the adapting market.

What do you think is the most important piece of legal advice to give to a young entrepreneur that is just starting out?

Know what your limits are in respect to what you can handle by yourself. There is a vast amount of free information of dubious quality and a temptation to cut corners early in one’s career. Get your first commercial lease fully vetted; same thing applies to employment agreements and contracts especially those you will use again and again. Never assume that an entity you are contracting with has your best interests at heart or that what a representative of that entity tells you is in the contract is really there. The contract is paramount and the fine print can have a huge impact.

What is the biggest challenge and opportunity, respectively, you most commonly encounter with new start-ups?

I have had the pleasure of dealing with a number of new start-ups and I have been impressed by their drive, creativity, and solid understanding of their market. As a factor of my own early-stage career, I am still building the long-term relationships with these entrepreneurs. But I also understand why an entrepreneur doesn’t want to spend a lot of money on legal advice, so one challenge is having the same kind of business continuity with an entrepreneur as I have with some of my more established clients. Thanks to SURGE, I can network and meet future business leaders of the region without necessarily having to bill my time, which is refreshing andexciting.

This article was originally published in the 2015 volume of Quanta, Mohawk College’s annual celebration of research and innovation.

Author Karen Reiner is the project coordinator for SURGE. SURGE receives its funding through an On-Campus Entrepreneurship Activities (OCEA) grant as part of the Ontario Youth Jobs Strategy. This funding was issued through the Ontario Centres for Excellence (OCE).

Dan Popowich, Professor at Mohawk College, believes that it is essential for educators to evolve in order to meet the needs of their students. “Education, like Anthropology, is survival of the fittest. I was faced with Darwinism and I didn’t want to become extinct.”

Along with fellow professor Alan Bourke, these two forward thinking individuals have been driving innovation in the Humanities and Social Sciences Department, exploring different avenues and new technologies to engage their students. Bourke and Popowich realize that students and their needs have changed exponentially in the last decade.

“The change has been dramatic, especially with the development of on-line teaching and learning platforms,” says Alan Bourke, Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences, author and visual artist. “Students have changed. Students are learning in diverse ways and professors must try to accommodate to different types of learning styles. Now they sit in class with tablets and cell phones.”

“If we reflect what students see on television, we need to match that technology in the classroom,”adds Popowich.

Popowich, who is also an author and textbook development reviewer, has been with Mohawk for 12 years and recalls using an overhead projector in his early lectures. “I would sketch images that I could create a discussion about. Then we started using PowerPoint.”

Rather than creating a PowerPoint presentation that was inundated with writing, he used a combination of text and pictures. Next, Popowich added a little bit of humour to his presentation slides with great response from his students. “Lectures are a performance. I like to see their lights come on and by the end of the first class they are leaving and saying, ‘Thanks that was awesome,’” says Popowich. “There is no greater reward than students expressing their gratitude.”

Nonetheless, it wasn’t until his son became interested in graphic novels that Popowich realized the effect that varying teaching strategies can have on individuals. “My son brought home a mythological graphic novel and I started getting into the content with him. I understood more about the way he learns when we took a family trip to Greece. He was our tour guide and recalled the mythological Gods from the graphic novels he had read,” states Popowich.

Immediately, Popowich brought the idea of using graphic novels in lectures back to the College. Bourke, who has an art background, was very receptive to the idea. “For the students, graphic novels take an intimidating topic and helps demystify it,” explains Bourke. Bourke finds the use of graphic novels in the classroom beneficial for both teachers and students. “As a professor, it can help me achieve my learning outcomes by differentiating the mode of instruction and how I deliver the information. I use the visual and textual elements of graphic novels as a way to present information to and engage with students on line. Graphic novels make the lectures visually appealing and are an effective and useful balance,” says Bourke.

Their commitment to innovation is one of the reasons why Popowich is recognized internationally when he attends conferences. “They see the name Mohawk College on my name tag and know exactly where I am from,” states Popowich. Mohawk College, who is renowned for their innovation, has continued to move in a forward motion with help from professors like Dan Popowich and Alan Bourke.

Popowich jokes that Neanderthals came up with the concept. “They weren’t predicting the future,they just weren’t the greatest communicators,” he explains.

With an open door policy to students and a commitment to out of the box teaching, Bourke and Popowich will ensure that Mohawk’s Humanities and Social Sciences department remains on course and in-line with educational trends and effective teaching strategies.

So what is next for Popowich and Bourke? “Game Based Learning (Gamification) is underway, as is the continued development in the virtual technology and applying a ‘Create Your Own Adventure, element to courses,” states Popowich. Unlike the Neanderthals, with Bourke and Popowich at the helm, innovation will prevail and continue to be a focus in education at Mohawk College.

This article was originally published in Quanta, Mohawk College’s annual celebration of research and innovation.

Author Jill Tham is a freelance writer and educator who writes frequently about people making waves in their profession and in their communities.