Launching the new Instructor Resources Repository in the LOR of LEARN


The summer
is a great time for catching up on projects that get lost in the flurry of the busy fall and winter terms. With the roll out of LEARN (replacing UW-ACE) and all the associated changes and transitions that we have been facing, one part of the old UW-ACE system that is in my prevue and that was getting short shrift is the Instructor Resources Repository (IRR). However, with LEARN more on course and the slower pace of the spring term, I’m glad to say that we have almost completed the migration of the IRR to the Learning Object Repository (LOR) in LEARN. Continue reading Launching the new Instructor Resources Repository in the LOR of LEARN

The Teaching Excellence Academy – Veronica Brown

I have been staring at the computer screen trying to decide what to tell you about the Teaching Excellence Academy (TEA). The TEA is a four-day course design workshop held each year in April. At first, I thought I would share some interesting facts with you.

  • The TEA has been completed by over 100 participants during the past eight years.
  • Members of all six Faculties and all four affiliated colleges have attended.
  • Each year, there are six facilitators including two TEA alumni (thus far, 10 faculty members have returned as facilitators).
  • Participants include new faculty, mid-career, and senior faculty members.

Then, I thought, perhaps I could talk about what we do at the TEA. The workshop covers key topics in course design focused on creating an “aligned” course. On the first day, we explore the content and concepts of your course as well as the context in which you are teaching (e.g., class size, level, core/elective/service, TA support, other resources, etc.). Based on the content, concepts, and context, you create learning outcomes for the course on Day 2. Finally, in an aligned course, the teaching methods, learning activities, and assessments are related to these outcomes. We explore these areas on Day 3 and finish the workshop with the creation of a new course outline on Day 4, which is shared at the celebration in the afternoon of Day 4. Continue reading The Teaching Excellence Academy – Veronica Brown

Teaching Cafe for New Graduate Instructors – Matt Roth

If my experience is any indication, teaching a course for the first time is a daunting prospect. My previous experience of being at the front of the classroom was limited to a few guest lectures in classes in which I was a Teaching Assistant.  Co-teaching a history course in the fall of 2011 was something completely different. While excited at the opportunity to finally impart knowledge in a classroom setting, I was still uncertain of my teaching ability because of my limited experience. Thankfully, I discovered a program that eased my apprehensions and developed my teaching skills.

In the 2011 fall term, I participated in the Centre for Teaching Excellence’s [CTE] Teaching Café – an informal learning community for graduate students who were teaching for the first time. I found the CTE’s learning community to be immensely helpful in preparing me to co-teach my first course at the University of Waterloo.

There are many reasons why I was glad that I had decided to participate. Foremost among these was that I learned a considerable amount about classroom pedagogy and acquired many invaluable tips which I could bring to the classroom. I was able to develop my teaching skills and to gain knowledge of the latest trends in education.

My involvement in the Teaching Cafe also provided me with the opportunity to benefit from the teaching experiences of my peers. During each meeting we were able to relate our latest experiences in the classroom, which gave us the opportunity to provide advice to one another. We also benefited from the experiences of the group leaders who had taught classes in the past. One example that immediately comes to mind is the advice I received regarding the teaching evaluations that students fill out at the end of a course. Others in the group informed me of the importance of obtaining evaluations for future use as part of a teaching dossier. As a result, the professor I co-taught with accommodated my request to have students write two separate evaluations, so that I had one that was based solely on my teaching abilities. This is just one of the many ways in which I benefited from my experience in the Teaching Cafe.

One of the strengths of the group was that it included individuals from a wide variety of academic disciplines. This allowed members of the group the opportunity to discuss a wide range of teaching practices that were unique to their respective departments. It is rare within academia to have a forum in which one can hear from such a diverse range of perspectives. It is also uncommon to meet with peers who are experiencing similar challenges in teaching. As I was one of only a few who were teaching for the first time in my department in the fall of 2011, there were not many people I could turn to who shared my level of teaching experience. Thus, in many ways, the Teaching Cafe also served as a kind of support group for those of us who were teaching for the first time.

I would strongly encourage other first-time teachers to participate in the CTE’s Teaching Cafe. I am thankful that there was a program available that helped me to learn more about teaching at the university level. The Teaching Cafe provided me with the advice and support I was looking for as a first-time teacher.  Most importantly, I believe that the students I was teaching benefited from the knowledge I gained through my participation in the CTE’s Teaching Cafe.

Matt Roth is a PhD student in the Department of History.

Instructional Skills Workshop — Veronica Brown

Sunset on Georgian Bay, Pointe au Baril, ONWhen I first heard about the Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW), I didn’t immediately run to sign up. The idea of someone videotaping me teach made me squirm (it still does). What? You want to not only tape my teaching but then someone is going to critique it and I have to watch it that night? Ugh.

[Insert loud sigh here] OK. This is probably good for me. I am sure I wave my hands too much, I have been known to say ’cause instead of because, I wonder if I seem as distracted as I feel…yes, there are some things I can work on. Continue reading Instructional Skills Workshop — Veronica Brown

Piazza – web-based discussion forums for university courses — Paul Kates

Piazza.com offers students and professors a smart-looking , easy-to-use discussion forum for question & answer communication in university and college courses. It is free to use and free of advertising. and is proving popular enough to use at some of the technical schools in the USA (e.g. Stanford, Berkeley, Georgia Tech) and Canada (e.g. University of Waterloo, University of British Columbia, University of Toronto). Continue reading Piazza – web-based discussion forums for university courses — Paul Kates

Effective Communication: Barriers and Strategies (podcast) — Mark Morton

The podcast version of the CTE Teaching Tip document called “Effective Communication: Barriers and Strategies” is now available. You can listen to it via the player at the bottom of this blog posting or by clicking here. If you want to subscribe to CTE’s Teaching Tips feed in iTunes, click here. To read the original Teaching Tip document, with all of its references and additional resources, click here.

Who do you love, me or Kate? — Mark Morton

CTE has a series of about a hundred online documents — each about a page or two in length — that provide advice on a wide variety of teaching issues. We call them “Teaching Tips,” and they are the most popular resource on the Continue reading Who do you love, me or Kate? — Mark Morton