The forum began with welcoming remarks by facilitators of the event, Stuart Poyntz, FCAT Teaching Fellow, Kathryn Ricketts, TLC FCAT Educational Consultant, Jennifer McRae and Deanna Rogers, Experiential Education Project Coordinators, followed by a message of “diversified teaching and learning” from VP, Academic, Jon Driver. Sure enough, the event not only encouraged diversity in teaching and learning, it also demonstrated it. The first five, fast-firing presentations were based around Pecha Kucha format and highlighted dynamic exemplars of innovative teaching practices. Next were the concurrent workshops wherein three faculty members presented a course/problem overview, then the participants asked clarifying questions and provided suggestions and strategies.

The day ended with mobile dialogues which allowed the participants to drive the discussion to any topic they are most interested in. Some of the topics discussed were engaging with the complexity of text, teachers as curators of information, value of reflective journaling in class, and classrooms as incubator of practice.

Eighteen graduate students participated in the spring 2013 Certificate Program in University Teaching and Learning (CPUTL). As the above photo illustrates, the graduation ceremony on April 9 was a true celebration. Peter Liljedahl (centre, wearing a jacket and an elegant gray vest), Associate Dean, Graduate Studies, and associate professor in the Faculty of Education, addressed the graduands.

The CPUTL program was led by Russell Day (left), a senior lecturer in the Department of Psychology, along with Kathryn Ricketts and Erin Aspenlieder, both TLC educational consultants. Here they pose with Jay Park, a graduate student in Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology, who proudly displays his graduation certificate while Kathryn exercises a stabilizing influence.

TLC staff members Vea Banana and Kathy Borneman played key roles in organizing the display and then donned sailor’s caps to engage with visitors.

President Andrew Petter was one of many visitors to spin the compass. In return for answering questions or completing activities, participants were granted the right to reach into a treasure chest full of chocolate.

Dozens of visitors wrote responses to questions like “What is your passion?” and “Who has helped you to succeed?” on paper fish and stars, which were then posted on a large board. The result was a visual demonstration of the importance and impact of teaching and learning.

We are now looking for someone with Erin’s expertise, commitment, and enthusiasm to fill the soon-to-be-vacant position of educational consultant. If you are interested, or know someone who might be, please take a look at the job posting and job description under “Administrative/Managerial & Professional Positions (APSA)” on SFU’s job postings page.

On Thursday, February 7, 2013, members of the Teaching and Learning Centre formed a huddle in celebration of Sweater Day, a national event designed to raise awareness of the concrete actions all of us can take to conserve energy and reduce greenhouse gases. SFU Facilities reduced the temperature setting within buildings by two degrees for the day, and SFU employees were encouraged to wear sweaters. Some TLC staff members clearly struggled with the chill, but most managed to maintain their smiles.

The Experiential Education Dialogues and Casebook Project is a series of peer dialogue events beginning in early 2013 at which SFU instructors will share their experiences of using experiential education in their teaching. The initiative is being organized by the Teaching and Learning Centre in collaboration with the Experiential Education Project and others. At the end of the dialogue series, the cases will be compiled and published as a casebook, available within and outside SFU.

The aim of the project is:

1. To inspire reflection among faculty members and to prompt the cross- and inter-disciplinary transfer of good teaching practice
2. To situate experiential education practice at SFU within the scholarship of teaching and learning
3. To showcase and celebrate experiential education at SFU through public acknowledgement of instructors’ practices

Dialogue sessions

The sessions will be convened around themes such as large classrooms, community engagement, or using dialogue in your classroom. They will start with two or three instructors sharing their experiences of teaching using experiential education methods, and will include open dialogue among participants. Dialogue participants will learn about experiential education and how it could enhance their teaching and their students’ learning.

The casebook

The compilation of examples of experiential education will culminate in a casebook, the SFU Experiential Education Casebook: Cases of University Teaching, to be published and openly available on the Internet. Instructors who have shared their story in the dialogues could contribute to the casebook, and cases will also be drawn from other sources.  Each written case will include a discussion of its relevance to teaching and learning in higher education, especially with respect to transferring the methods to other courses, contexts, and disciplines. Instructors who are published in the casebook will be recognized for contributing to faculty peer development and will have their teaching practice showcased within and outside SFU.

The participants

The project is primarily for faculty, lecturers, and sessional instructors, and secondarily for teaching assistants, non-academic staff who teach, and educational developers. It is anticipated that the casebook will draw interest from a wide audience within the higher education sector. If you would like to be a case contributor for a dialogue and/or the casebook, please contact Vivian Neal, TLC educational consultant, at vneal@sfu.ca.

Related links:

Experiential Education web page (Teaching and Learning Centre)

List of scheduled dialogues

Vivian Neal’s profile page

Our designers had fun with this card. The snowman is real – you can visit him in the TLC Burnaby office – and was filmed by Adam O. Thomas, our TLC visual designer, with the help of Jason Toal, interaction specialist. The backdrops and graphic elements were sourced or created by Shantala Singh, our media designer. And the assembly was done by Adam in Adobe After Effects. The wishes expressed come from all of us in the Teaching and Learning Centre. Have a great break!

Lisa O’Neill joined the Teaching and Learning Centre on a full-time basis on November 13. She will serve as Manager, Educational Media, and will lead a group of designers and media professionals with expertise in the selection, creation, and use of media resources such as videos in the classroom. Lisa and her team will work with faculty members and programs to extend instructors’ capabilities in the area of media for teaching and learning.

Lisa holds a master’s degree in distributed learning and has worked in the fields of technology, education, and training for 20 years. During that time she has designed, developed, and administered workshops, courses, and programs for the BC Institute of Technology, Vancouver Community College, Douglas College, eBay, and Creo/Kodak. She is currently enrolled in a PhD program at the University of Calgary, specializing in educational technology. Her doctoral research is focussed on identifying the essential conditions for effectively embedding educational media into the higher-education learning experience.

Most recently, Lisa was an instructional designer, project manager, and faculty development coordinator in the Learning and Teaching Centre at BCIT. She has presented her ideas and applied research findings at international conferences including the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE) EdMedia World Conference, the IADIS International Conference on E-learning, the Canadian Network for Innovation in Education (CNIE) Conference, and the mLearn World Conference on Mobile and Contextual Learning.

You can reach Lisa at lisa_oneill@sfu.ca.

Apple runs an international program called Apple Distinguished Educators for educators at various levels, including the post-secondary level. According to Apple, “ADEs work closely with Apple to lead innovation in education. They advocate using new technology to help engage students in new ways — and share their expertise with other educators and policy makers. They advise Apple on the realities of integrating technology into learning environments. They author and publish valuable insights, lessons, and best practices. And they work together as ambassadors to develop and promote powerful ideas for improving teaching and learning worldwide.” Applications for the 2013 ADE program will be accepted between November 2, 2012, and January 15, 2013.

For a general description of the ADE program, visit www.apple.com/education/apple-distinguished-educator/.

To apply online, visit https://ade.apple.com/apply/.