In May 2009, timed to coincide with the launch of our new website, CTE began to use the centrally-supported Enterprise Learning Management system through Human Resources, just like the Safety Office before us, and other support units considering the same system on campus. You can use the self-service function in myHRinfo (not far from where you can see your paycheque and benefits!) to register yourself in most of our workshops and events. For specific instructions, click on the tab “Registration Procedures” from our CTE Events page. Continue reading CTE launches new registration system – Trevor Holmes
CTE’s New Website Launched – Mark Morton
The Centre for Teaching Excellence launched a new website this week, one that is not only more aesthetically pleasing than our old site, but is also designed to provide more resources, more functionality, and more user-control. Here are some of the enhancements: Continue reading CTE’s New Website Launched – Mark Morton
Troublesome workshop invited us over the threshold – Trevor Holmes
Relying heavily on one of higher education’s most recent door-opening concepts to run a workshop on, well, door-opening concepts, Gary Poole took a FLEX lab full of people through our paces Tuesday morning, May 5th, 2009. After his Presidents’ Colloquium talk on the Monday, in which he addressed the powerful phenomenographic notion of deep versus surface learning (more on that another post), Continue reading Troublesome workshop invited us over the threshold – Trevor Holmes
Faculty event: panel on writing reference letters for your graduate students – Trevor Holmes
Three experienced (and successful) writers of reference letters for graduate students, Sandra Burt (Political Science, Associate Dean of Arts, Graduate Studies and Research), Ian Rowlands (Environment and Resource Studies, Associate Dean, Research, Faculty of Environment) and Ralph Haas (Civil and Environmental Engineering, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, FRSC), will share their advice and expertise. Continue reading Faculty event: panel on writing reference letters for your graduate students – Trevor Holmes
Laptops and Student Learning – Katherine Lithgow
I was involved recently in an interesting email “discussion” prompted by a query from a professor interested in how other profs manage student conduct in class. The professor had been experiencing a significant number of students using their laptops, cell phones, and iPods during the lecture and was asking for suggestions on how other instructors were addressing situations where students were using laptops during classes to answer emails, look at unrelated web sites, play games etc. Continue reading Laptops and Student Learning – Katherine Lithgow
Teaching Excellence Academy 2009 – Trevor Holmes
This year marks the fifth time the Teaching Excellence Academy (TEA) has run at the University of Waterloo. Fifteen faculty members at a variety of career stages were nominated to attend this four-day course redesign workshop, culminating in an event to which their Chairs, Directors and Deans are invited to see the results, displayed as posters showing “before and after” course outlines. Continue reading Teaching Excellence Academy 2009 – Trevor Holmes
Classroom Disruptions: The Common Cold of the University Classroom – Amanda Clark
I’m sure you’ve all experienced disruptions in the classroom at one point or another. In fact, they are as prevalent as the common cold – and equally bothersome I might add. Whether it be excessive chattiness, overly argumentative students, late comers/early departers or students engaging in non-class related activities like reading a newspaper or playing on their laptop, we all face some sort of disruption challenge at one point or another. Many instructors I’ve encountered take a hard line on this topic and strictly enforce classroom guidelines for acceptable behaviour while others seemingly ignore the glaring disruptions. Continue reading Classroom Disruptions: The Common Cold of the University Classroom – Amanda Clark