Two exciting events coming soon at UW – the Opportunities and New Directions conference (May 6) and the Learning about Teaching Annual Symposium (May 4 & 5).
The first annual “Opportunities and New Directions: A Research Conference on Teaching and Learning” will take place at UW at Conrad Grebel on May 6. Conceived by a sub-committee of the Teaching-Based Research Group (TBRG) and the Centre for Teaching Excellence, the event is supported by Geoff McBoyle, AVPA. Continue reading Learning about Teaching – Researching the Practice and Practicing the Research Nicola Simmons
How’s the weather? I asked one of my students in an email message.
I like maps. This may seem odd, given that I have no sense of direction (either literally or metaphorically) and that I don’t like to travel. But it’s true, I can happily pore over maps of cities that I’ve never heard of and countries that I’ll never visit. Perhaps it’s the illusion of of order that maps provide: everything is in its place, fixed into position by the mighty power of the cartographer’s pen. This may also be why I like concept maps and concept map software. 
Struggling to find a topic for my blog entry today, I decided that I’d write about my how teaching practice has informed my research, which has, in turn, re-informed my practice! Last winter, CTE colleague Sheila Hannon and I conducted a survey of all UW students who had taken an English course through Distance Education within the past year.
The spring clock change. For me, it’s a time of shifts and re-framing, some of it good, like stargazing for another few weeks on my early morning walk, and some of it challenging, like waking up an almost 14 year old daughter who’s sure it’s not time yet. There’s no question that it also disrupts our patterns – sleep patterns and cognitive patterns (Kamstra, Kramer, & Levi, 2000; Kuhn, 2001)(if you don’t have a teenager you may have noticed these changes in your colleagues or yourself!).