Musings on feedback — Gina Passante

 

As a Graduate Instructional Developer at the CTE I spend a lot of my time observing graduate students teaching and providing them with feedback.  I have also recently set up a peer feedback system for research presentations at the Institute for Quantum Computing (where I do my graduate work).  Needless to say, I’ve been giving other people feedback on their teaching quite a lot recently.  But the other day I was the one receiving feedback on my research presentation.  I was nervous, and quite surprised by it.  I’m confident about my presentation abilities, and I know very well that feedback is constructive, and that everyone can improve, but none of this seemed to matter.  It reminded me of how terrible I feel when I get bad student evaluations (even one bad comment out of 100 students is enough to temporarily crush my spirits).

Now, I can understand why student evaluations are often upsetting (many students don’t know how to give constructive feedback, they sometimes pick on aspects of your personality, …), but why was I so scared to receive constructive feedback from my peers?  Indeed, this fear was completely unfounded as the feedback I received was not the least bit scary – but the fear reminded me of something very important: many people get very defensive when they receive constructive criticism.   For example, my mom gets defensive when I suggest a different ingredient into a familiar recipe, as does my partner when I suggest he drive a little further from the car in front of us, and it happens every once and a while when I give feedback on teaching or a presentation or an assignment.  I know that there are things I can do to help prevent this response from my end, and as luck would have it, a few days after these thoughts crossed my mind, a helpful post was written on the Faculty Focus blog on how to give students better feedback.  Although the post written with grading assignments in mind, the advice can be applied in a much broader context.  I suggest you take a look: http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-professor-blog/giving-students-more-effective-feedback/)

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The Centre for Teaching Excellence welcomes contributions to its blog. If you are a faculty member, staff member, or student at the University of Waterloo (or beyond!) and would like contribute a posting about some aspect of teaching or learning, please contact Mark Morton or Trevor Holmes.

Teaching Certificate Programs are becoming more popular world-wide! –Arash Shahi

In my days as an undergraduate engineering student, I was rather disappointed with the teaching quality in a number of my classes. To me, it seemed as some of my high school teachers could do a much better teaching job than some of our first year instructors. Throughout my undergraduate and graduate degrees, I started to pick on the trends of good professors and I couldn’t help but notice that most of our younger professors were much more interested in teaching than the older ones. Continue reading Teaching Certificate Programs are becoming more popular world-wide! –Arash Shahi

Knowing Oneself and Appreciating Others Through Leadership Training — Katherine Lithgow & Mohammad Feisal Rahman

Feisal is PhD  student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Student Leadership Certificate Program (SLP)- “one of the great resources on campus”- Feisal Rahman.
The Student Leadership Certificate Program (SLP) provides an opportunity for any current student (undergraduate or graduate) at UW to develop leadership capabilities which will serve them well on campus and long after they graduate.  For example, among the many workshops offered through the SLP are workshops which address principles of teamwork and collaboration.  The program is designed to encourage all students to participate regardless of whether they are in a leadership role.  The intent of program is to explore and enhance UW students’ leadership capabilities, and to help students gain knowledge and develop skills in leadership on campus and within the community. Continue reading Knowing Oneself and Appreciating Others Through Leadership Training — Katherine Lithgow & Mohammad Feisal Rahman

John Michela’s Response to Gwyn Morgan — Mark Morton


In response to Gwyn Morgan’s Globe and Mail editorial (in which he decries the quality of university teaching), John Michela (of UW’s Department of Psychology) submitted a countering letter to the editor. The Globe and Mail published that letter on October 5, but in an edited form. Here, for the record, is Professor Michela’s unedited letter: Continue reading John Michela’s Response to Gwyn Morgan — Mark Morton

Things I wish I had known my first year teaching – Veronica Brown

Last week, while dropping my children off at school, I watched as the junior kindergarten students arrived for their very first day of school. Most of them were ready to march right into school, a few were less excited. As I walked home, I passed the high school with a big sign that said, Continue reading Things I wish I had known my first year teaching – Veronica Brown

Teaching Conference Worth the Wait – Colleen Whyte

I first learned about the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) after enrolling in the CUT program early in my doctoral studies. For the last few years, I’ve been keeping an eye on the location of their annual conference, waiting for it to come a bit closer to home. The conference finally came to Toronto in June of this year with the theme of “Creative Teaching and Learning: Exploring. Shaping. Knowing,” and it was well worth the wait. Despite the overwhelming security measures that took place for the neighbouring G8 conference, over 600 attendees from Canada, the United States and abroad attended the three day conference. Continue reading Teaching Conference Worth the Wait – Colleen Whyte

What I’ve Learned by Working with an Award-winning Teacher – Afsaneh Nabifar

The teaching practicum for UW’s Certificate in University Teaching (CUT) helped me enhance several of my teaching skills. Through this course, I got the chance to practice lecturing, receive feedback on my teaching skills, and become more self-aware and critically reflective of my teaching style. However, what made my experience special was the opportunity to work with a faculty member who is an award-winning teacher.  Professor Alex Penlidis was my observer and mentor Continue reading What I’ve Learned by Working with an Award-winning Teacher – Afsaneh Nabifar