at Laurier A NEWSLETTER FROM THE TEACHING AND LEARNING COUNCIL
WINTER 2014
WELCOME MESSAGE from DR. PAT ROGERS
IN THIS ISSUE
As Chair of Laurier’s Teaching and Learning Council, I am
Teaching & Learning Announcements and Events
pleased to bring you this inaugural issue of our newsletter,
Important Deadlines
What’s New in Teaching & Learning at Laurier
Teaching and Learning at Laurier. Each term the newsletter will feature news, events, deadlines and opportunities for professional growth and learning. We will highlight significant issues affecting the teaching and learning
EVENTS
environment and raise awareness of what our very talented
Congratulations to
teaching body is doing and thinking about. So, we need to
Carol Duncan on her 2014
hear from you! Have you been trying (or heard about)
3M National Teaching
something particularly effective or innovative? Do you have
Fellowship! Join us to honour
concerns about a particular teaching or learning issue? Have
Carol on this recognition of
you discovered a really useful resource, book, website, idea or
her exceptional teaching and
program? Teaching and learning is a community enterprise
educational leadership.
and we would love to fill each newsletter with articles written
March 12, 2014 | Hawk’s Nest Fred Nichols
by faculty, teaching assistants and other teaching professionals
Campus Centre, Third Floor, 3:30 p.m.
at Laurier. Two centres at Laurier are dedicated to working with students and faculty to enhance the learning experience: Teaching Support Services (TSS) and Learning Services (LS). Each has been renamed recently to more adequately highlight the important role they play in furthering Laurier’s teaching and learning mission. TSS becomes the Centre for Teaching Innovation and Excellence (CTIE) and LS becomes the Centre for Student Success (CSS). Both centres work with faculty and educational professionals in designing experiences and spaces that stimulate students’ imaginations and learning. Much of the content in this issue of the newsletter is related to their work – we hope to hear from you in the next issue!
Faculty are invited to Laurier’s Annual 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition. Drop in throughout the morning to cheer on our graduate students. March 4, 2014 | Paul Martin Centre.
GET INVOLVED
Integrated and Engaged Learning Conference Join us for our upcoming conference in May 7 - 9. With three keynotes and six concurrent sessions, the conference promises to be a wonderful opportunity to showcase and share our collective experience, innovation and achievement in improving the quality of post-secondary education. Session proposals have been received from many Laurier community members as well as colleagues across Canada (Northern BC to Newfoundland) more information/register
Designing Curricula for Effective Writing with Scientific and Quantitative Data Join us on April 29 for a day-long event consisting of a keynote address by Dr. John Bean, an expert in writing pedagogy from the University of Seattle, an informal ideas exchange over coffee and a hands-on workshop. In addition, Dr. Bean will meet with various academic programs on the morning of April 30 to discuss how to promote and support student writing at the course and program level. This event is a collaboration between Educational Development and the Writing Centre. more information/register
EVENTS continued…
Foundations in University Teaching (for doctoral students and post-docs) April 8 - May 1, 2014 Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1 - 4 p.m. Waterloo | BA208 more information/register
Designing Curricula for Effective Writing with Scientific and Quantitative Data April 29 - 30, 2014 | Waterloo more information/register
Integrated & Engaged Learning Conference May 7 - 9, 2014 | Waterloo more information/register
DEADLINES
2014/2015 Laurier Teaching Fellows Applications: April 14, 2014 more...
OCUFA Teaching Award Nominations: May 23, 2014 more...
3M National Teaching Fellowship Nominations: August 31, 2014 more...
DID YOU KNOW?
Community Service Learning (CSL) has moved! CSL is now a department within the Centre for Teaching Innovation and Excellence. Managed by Gail Roth, CSL is offered in 15 different courses across the Waterloo and Brantford campuses this semester. CSL integrates meaningful community service with classroom instruction and critical reflection to enrich teaching and learning experiences while strengthening communities. Ever thought about offering CSL in one of your courses? more information
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Centre for Teaching Innovation and Excellence welcomes Matt Farrell, who joins the centre on March 3, 2014 as an Educational Developer at Brantford.
DID YOU KNOW? continued…
ANNOUNCEMENTS continued…
Intercultural Development Office (IDO) The IDO jointly reports to the Centre for Teaching Innovation and Excellence and the Centre for Student Success. Through the IDO, Nadine LeGros offers workshops (e.g., Communication in the Internationalized Classroom and Teaching in the Canadian Classroom) and resources (e.g., Using Language Resources to Develop and Refine Your Academic Language and Top 10 Ways for International Students to Succeed) designed to enhance the conditions of success for international and immigrant students, contribute to the development of intercultural communication competencies at Laurier, and support Laurier instructors who wish to internationalize their curricula at the course and program level. more information or contact Nadine LeGros.
Congratulations to our 2013 Teaching Award Winners! Laura Allan, Business & Economics, Quincy Almeida, Kinesiology, Duane Heide, Education, Colin McLaren, Kinesiology, Sara Matthews, Global Studies, Rob Milne, Geography and Environmental Studies, Jane Newland, Languages and Literatures, Jason Roy, Political Science, Susan Shaw, Mathematics and Kevin Swinden, Music.
Congratulations to our inaugural 2014 Laurier Teaching Fellows! more...
WHAT’S NEW?
Online Research and Learning Strategies Support Do your students struggle with research or need help with learning strategies like critical reading? Online Research SI is a program created by Centre for Student Success and the Library to help students improve research skills and learning strategies. Online Research SI is a series of MyLearningSpace content modules, each with online videos, activities that allow students to apply the skills they learn while helping them complete the course’s major assignment, and grading rubrics. Faculty can import modules into their MyLearningSpace course, choosing the ones most relevant to their course outcomes or assignment. If you wish, students can be awarded grades for completion of the modules (typically 5% - 10%). Tracking of module completion and student questions can be done by the instructor or by CSS using a trained student mentor. Modules include research organization, critical reading and note taking, critical thinking, choosing and focusing a topic, finding scholarly sources, evaluating sources, citing sources, using sources in arguments and creating an annotated bibliography. Online Research SI is being piloted in the 2014 winter term. To participate next fall contact Michael Lisetto Smith or Joanne Oud.
Stephen MacNeil Chemistry
Mercedes Rowinsky-Geurts Languages and Literatures
Congratulations to one of our Athlete Academic Mentors, Bree Chaput, a recent recipient of the McGraw-Hill Ryerson Scholarship!
WHAT’S NEW? Continued…
ANNOUNCEMENTS continued…
MyHelpSpace: Online Academic Support for Students
Introducing our Academic Integrity Officers! For issues surrounding Academic Integrity contact: Brantford, Judy Eaton or Kitchener/Waterloo, Lea Caragata more...
The Centre for Teaching Innovation and Excellence offered a new University Teaching Certificate (UTC) Program for graduate students (full-time and part-time) and post-doctoral fellows, launched in the fall of 2013. more ...
Continuing Studies and the Faculty of Education have partnered to launch a new certificate for K-12 teachers, “Mental Health Issues in the Classroom.” more...
Many academic support services exist at Laurier to help improve student success, but students and faculty may not be aware of them. MyHelpSpace is an online one-stop portal that makes academic support services more accessible and visible. It gathers Centre for Student Success and Library support resources into one spot in MyLearningSpace to provide 24/7 on-demand access for undergraduate students. Faculty can view content by logging into MyLearningSpace using myhelpspace.guest/happyfish and can use a pre-prepared PowerPoint slide to promote MyHelpSpace to students. For further information contact, Melodee Martinuk, Anne Marie Wetter or Joanne Oud.
SOMETHING TO SHARE?
LAURIER’S TEACHING AND LEARNING COUNCIL Past members include: Tom Buckley, Mary-Louise Byrne, Susan Cadell, Ruth Cruikshank, Lesley Cooper, Michel Desjardins, Mark Duffie, Orna Duggan, Gail Forsyth, Shohini Ghose, Sandy Hughes, Donna Kotsopoulos, Stephen MacNeil, Jeanette McDonald, David McMurray, Charles Morrison, Joan Norris, Joanne Oud, Mercedes Rowinsky-Geurts, Michael Steeleworthy, Andrew Welsh and Colleen Willard-Holt. The council is chaired by Pat Rogers and was originally established and chaired by Deborah MacLatchy in 2010. If you would like to join the council, please contact Pat Rogers. more...
Do you have an idea, an upcoming event, workshop or a research project that you would like to share? We would like to hear from you! Submit your ideas to Connie Davison by March 31, 2014.