the learning & teaching office · faculty programming !!! dossier mentorship program (new...
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Introduction As the Director of the Learning & Teaching Office (LTO), I am proud to present the executive summary of the highlights and achievements of our office between August 2014 and July 2015. Based on Ryerson University’s new Academic Plan, “Our Time to Lead,” the LTO continued its mission of professional development for Ryerson’s entire teaching community. LTO programs and communications serve all full and part-‐time faculty, and teaching and graduate assistants, no matter where or when instruction takes place. This dedication to inclusiveness means that all LTO programming, from workshops to support from faculty teaching chairs, is targeted at and available to instructors teaching day, night, weekend, summer and distance education courses.
Under the leadership of Dr. Christopher Evans, Vice Provost, Academic, the LTO was able to raise the breadth and depth of our programming, and ventured into valued partnerships across the Ryerson community. Many of our initiatives were in collaboration with, among others, the G. Raymond Chang School for Continuing Education, the Ryerson University Library & Archives, Student Learning Services, the Ted Rogers School of Management, the Ryerson Health Centre, the Director of e-‐Learning, and the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.
Two of our largest events, New Faculty Orientation and the Faculty Conference, drew unprecedented numbers, which reflects the willingness and commitment of Ryerson’s teaching compliment to continued professional training and the upgrading of skills.
This year, we are also thrilled to announce that one of our most popular programs, the University Teaching and Development Program (UTDP), is now accredited through SEDA UK.
The methods and technologies that underlie teaching and learning are changing at a rapid pace. The LTO is committed to not only keeping up with change, but being ahead of the curve as a transformative and supportive outlet for the enhancement of teaching and learning at Ryerson.
Dr. Eric Kam,
Director, LTO
The Learning & Teaching Office
Annual Report 2014-2015 Executive Summary
LTO Vis ion The Learning & Teaching Office fosters a culture of best teaching practice that is grounded in the scholarship of teaching and learning.
Mission Statement The mission of the Learning & Teaching Office (LTO) is to provide professional development in teaching for faculty at all stages of their careers. To achieve this, the LTO provides services and programs that are focused on improving student learning, addressing diversity through appropriate teaching methods, engaging faculty in interdisciplinary experiences, and strengthening the connection between teaching and research.
Highl ights and Achievements
Highl ights and Achievements
Some major highlights and major achievements of the 2014/2015 academic year are listed below.
• Attendance at the 2015 Faculty Conference was a record breaking 606
• The LTO hosted two New Faculty Orientations with a total attendance of 96
• The LTO hosted 41 (17 core, 6 e-‐Learning, 11 Teaching Chair and 7 co-‐sponsored) workshops for faculty in 2014/2015 with a total attendace at these workshops of 1,450
• Due to popular demand the UTDP was run in Fall 2014 and again in Winter 2015 with participation of 29 faculty members over both semesters
• The UTDP (along with Levels 1 and 2 of the Graduate Professional Development in Teaching Program) is now accredited by SEDA UK
• The highly successful Dossier Mentorship Program was launched in September 2014. Since then, 52 faculty have registered in this program.
• In 2014/2015 the LTO hosted 16 TA/GA Orientations with a total attendance of 507 and 30 workshops with a total attendance of 605.
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2011-‐2012 2012-‐2013 2013-‐2014 2014-‐2015
Numbers of Pardcipants in LTO Faculty Programming
1416 1623
1934
2378
New Faculty Orientation Each year the LTO hosts New Faculty Orientation (NFO), a 2-‐day event in the Fall and a 1-‐day event in the Winter for new and incoming Ryerson faculty. This year 62 new faculty attended NFO in the Fall and 34 attended in the Winter.
Faculty Conference and Workshops
Faculty Conference The 2015 Faculty Conference was held on May 21, 2015.
The theme of this year’s conference, Tomorrow’s Classroom, provided faculty with the chance to share theory and practice on the future of university teaching and learning, innovative new teaching styles, technologically enhanced learning and evolving learning outcomes to engage and inspire the heterogeneity that is our twenty-‐first century learners.
The LTO is proud to have hosted Bonnie M. Patterson, President of the Council of Ontario Universities, as the keynote speaker for the 2015 Faculty Conference. She gave a presentation on "Fanning the Flame: Teaching with the Next Generation.”
Faculty Conference Attendance – 606, Concurrent Sessions – 51, Posters – 31
Faculty Workshops Workshop Title Attendance Core LTO Workshops Breakfast with the Vice Provost Academic 37 Classroom Management Strategies 38 Effective Teaching in Large Lectures 27 F2014 Google Drive Workshop 27 Liberate Your Course Material: Open Access and Copyright Free Resources for Your Teaching
25
Creating Your Teaching Dossier 63 Group Work: Dealing with Conflict 30 Keeping Students Inspired 41 Outside the Classroom: Experiential Learning 55 The Supportive Classroom 51 The Connected Classroom 46 W2015 Google Drive Workshop 33 The Diverse and Inclusive Classroom 38 Lunch with the Vice Provost Academic 32 The Night Classroom 41 The Affordable Classroom: Open Access Textbooks 24 The Graded Classroom 27 E-‐Learning Workshops (6) 187 Teaching Chair Workshops (11) 181 Hosted Workshops (7) 447 Total Workshop Attendance 1450
Faculty Programming
Dossier Mentorship Program (New Program for 2014-2015) Ryerson faculty are required to submit teaching dossiers as part of the hiring process and for tenure and promotion. In addition, many internal and external teaching awards also require a teaching dossier. Previously, the LTO has offered workshops, provided online resources and one-‐on-‐one assistance to faculty members working on preparing their teaching dossiers.
In Fall 2014 the LTO launched the Dossier Mentorship Program. With this new program, faculty now have an opportunity to have their teaching dossier assessed by a trained faculty member who provides a written report with suggestions for improvement. This program is voluntary and completely confidential.
This program has been met with overwhelming success this past year. Twenty-‐three faculty members with expertise in teaching dossiers (e.g. Teaching Chairs, UTDP graduates) were trained as mentors in three separate trainings by the Educational Developer. Since its launch, 52 faculty members have registered with the program. As we anticipate a growth in popularity of this program in 2015/2016, more faculty mentors will be trained to assess teaching dossiers and to provide written reports with suggestions for improvement.
Teaching Assessment Program In this program trained evaluators visit the classrooms of new teachers to provide them with feedback about their teaching. The program is voluntary and the feedback is used only for personal improvement of teaching. Assessors were trained both in group and one-‐on-‐one settings. Requests for teaching assessments were sent directly to the LTO and the assessment was arranged. The assessors visited the new teacher’s classroom at a pre-‐arranged time, assessed their teaching using materials provided by the LTO, and a report was written. These reports were returned to the LTO and forwarded on to the new teachers. In 2014/2015 19 faculty participated in the Teaching Assessment Program.
Open Door Program The goal of the Open Door Program is to expose faculty to a variety of successful teaching methods. Faculty who are known for their strong teaching practice (e.g. award winners) are ‘opening the doors’ of their classroom to allow other faculty members to observe them teaching. The teaching faculty who volunteer to open their doors have provided a list of days and times that they are willing to have guests in their classroom. These days and times were made available to any faculty member upon contact with the LTO so that they might attend one or more of these classes. Visiting faculty were instructed to email the teaching faculty prior to coming to the class, as a way of limiting the number of visitors. Previously only new faculty were allowed to participate in this program, however, based on requests from tenured and long-‐term part-‐time faculty, we now allow any faculty member to visit these excellent teachers. This year 26 faculty members participated in the Open Door Program.
Faculty Programming
University Teaching Development Program (UTDP) The UTDP is a voluntary program that has been designed to meet the needs of faculty at various points of their careers, both new academic teachers and mid-‐career faculty. The primary goals of the UTDP are to provide new academic teachers with a solid foundation in university teaching and learning, to help reinvigorate teaching of mid-‐career faculty, to provide all participants with an opportunity to improve their practical teaching skills and to help them become more reflective practitioners. These goals are achieved through engagement in pedagogical issues pertaining to higher education during workshops and seminars, and through the application of practical skills. For the first time ever, to meet continued strong demand for the program, the UTDP was offered twice in 2014/2015, in both the Fall and Winter semesters, with a total participation of 29 faculty.
Instruct ional Ski l ls Workshop The Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) is a comprehensive three-‐tiered instructor development program that serves as the foundation for several professional development activities. The ISW is offered within a small group setting (8 to 10 participants) and is designed to enhance the teaching effectiveness of both new and experienced educators. Using an intensive experiential learning approach, participants are provided with information on the theory and practice of teaching adult learners, the selection and writing of useful learning objectives with accompanying lesson plans, techniques for eliciting learner participation and suggestions for the evaluation of learning. Participants review basic ideas about teaching, check current practices, and within the safe environment of the workshop, try new strategies and techniques. In 2014/2015 the LTO offered 5 ISWs (2 for faculty and 3 for TA/GAs).
Engl ish Language Support
English Language Support for Faculty is a group of programs for faculty whose first language is not English. Through these programs, faculty have access to an English Language Specialist who assists them with their English language needs. These needs can range from pronunciation, to vocabulary, grammar and writing. The programs include one-‐on-‐one private sessions, one-‐on-‐one private online sessions, writing assistance, and group conversation sessions. All of the programs are voluntary and completely confidential. In 2014/2015 27 faculty members held one-‐on-‐one sessions with the English Language Specialist.
SEDA UK SEDA is a professional association for staff and educational developers, promoting innovation and good practice in higher education. SEDA is seen by many as the shaper of thought and initiator of action in staff and educational development, not only in the UK but internationally as well. The UTDP and Levels 1 and 2 of the Graduate Professional Development in Teaching Program have all received external accreditation from SEDA UK. By way of this accreditation, participants who complete these programs will earn internationally recognized credentials.
Faculty Programming
Teaching Chairs In this program, mid-‐career faculty who have been noted for excellence in teaching are selected to provide leadership in their faculties and liaise with the LTO in this provision. The teaching chairs establish faculty committees made up of mid-‐career faculty from each of their faculty’s departments and schools and these committees assist the teaching chairs in determining the teaching needs of their faculty. In consultation with the LTO, the teaching chairs develop action plans to address these needs. The LTO assists with the application of these plans and provided resources and expertise as needed.
E-Learning The LTO continued to offer a number of e-‐Learning workshops for faculty over the Fall and Winter semesters. Planning of these workshops was managed by the LTO and workshops were developed in collaboration with the Digital Media Projects Office, the Digital Education Strategies Office and the director of e-‐Learning.
E-‐Learning Workshop Title Attendance Blogs & Wikis 25 Web Conferencing 18 Online Facilitation Strategies 24 Online Videos 34 Online Course Design 61 E-‐Assessment 25 Total E-‐learning Workshop Attendance 187
The LTO has subscribed to over 130 online seminars on teaching and learning, and administration though Magna Commons.
Faculty Teaching Awards The LTO recognizes and honours excellent educators through the Ryerson Faculty Teaching Awards. The 2014-‐2015 faculty teaching award recipients are:
• Chancellor's Award of Distinction: David Schlanger, Department of Entrepreneurship and Strategy, TRSM • President's Award for Teaching: Maureen Reed, Department of Psychology, FA • Provost's Experiential Teaching Award: Jennifer Lapum, Daphne Cockwell School Of Nursing, FCS • Provost's Innovative Teaching Award: Andrew Laursen, Department of Chemistry and Biology, FoS • Provost's Interdisciplinary Teaching Award: Graham Hudson, Department of Criminology, FA
2014-2015 Teaching Chairs Faculty of Arts – Stephen Want
Faculty of Communication and Design – Marsha Barber
Faculty of Community Services – Linda Cooper
Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science – Medhat Shehata
Faculty of Science – Tetyana Antimirova
Chang School of Continuing Education – Linda Koechli
Ryerson University Library – Don Kinder
Grants
LTEF Projects Ryerson University promotes and supports innovative faculty in the classroom. As such, we have developed a grants program, the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Fund (LTEF), to support and promote both innovation in the classroom and scholarly research around higher education teaching. The theme for the 2014-‐2015 call for proposals was Transformation and Tomorrow’s Classroom. The focus of the call for proposals was to encourage proposals that involve the adoption of innovative strategies and research methodologies that promote student engagement in higher education.
Principal investigator Project Title Alexander Alvarez LMS supported Multiple Choice Questions with feedback for Calculus and Linear Algebra Umberto Berardi Virtual Acoustic Trip: learning and teaching architectural acoustics by listening to a room Lesley Campbell Designing and Testing Urban Productive Gardens: An Experiential Learning Initiative Deborah Fels The gamification of two undergraduate multimedia and social media courses Wendy Freeman The TrendLab: A professional communication learning experience Steven Gedeon Self Reflective Learning Outcomes User-‐Generated Content to support Flipped Classroom in
Entrepreneurship Don Kinder Essential Research and Citation Management Skills for Graduate Students – An Interactive Video
Tutorial Series Jennifer McArthur Building Information Management (BIM) Model Integration into Architectural Science Curriculum: A
toolkit for Third Year and Foundation for Future Integration Jasna Schwind Mindfulness practice as a strategy in teaching-‐learning of university students Janice Waddell Development of an On-‐line Curriculum Development Guide to assist Schools of Nursing to Develop
Context-‐Relevant Curriculum Focused on Violence Against Women and Children
TDF Projects Ryerson University promotes and supports inclusivity in the classroom. The provost has established a multi-‐year Teaching about Diversity Fund (TDF) that will enable faculty members to develop new courses, infuse diversity and inclusion into existing courses, support conference attendance, conduct research into issues of building a diverse and inclusive curriculum, and support the development of workshops and training. The theme of the call for proposals was Diversity In and Outside of the Classroom.
Principal investigator Project Title Marusya Bociurkiw Social Justice Media: Networks of Diversity Kosha Bramesfeld The examination of a role-‐playing game approach to learning about diversity Lorella Di Cintio Design Activism and rMark: Engagement via Social Innovation Jean Golden Kenya Village Project: phase three Dalia Hanna Developing Dynamic Template for Syllabus with Universal Design for Learning Principles Kevin Manuel Our Stories: An LGBTQ* Educational Portal Gordon Pon Advancing the Pedagogy of Anti-‐Black Racism:
A Multi-‐University Symposium at Ryerson Julie Tomiak Engaging Indigenous Perspectives, Ways of Knowing, and Diversity in the Development of New
Indigenous-‐-‐-‐Focused Courses (SOC 108 and SOC 427) Enriqueta Zafra Community Engaged Learning & Teaching In CSPN 402
TA/GA, Publicat ions and Contact
Teaching Assistant/Graduate Assistant Programs The LTO continues to offer professional development in teaching opportunities for teaching assistants (TAs) and graduate assistants (GAs). The program offers orientations, workshops and seminars on various topics as well as a professional development in teaching certificate program that is externally accredited through SEDA UK.
Event Attendance TA/GA Orientations (16) 507 TA/GA Workshops (30) 605 Learning and Teaching in Higher Education I 64 Learning and Teaching in Higher Education II 54 Total Attendance 1230
Publ icat ions The LTO produces a number of electronic newsletters on various topics related to learning and teaching including the LTO Best Practices and LTO Best Practices – TA/GA Edition which spotlights timely topics in education and provides tips and resources on those topics, and the Research Digest, which highlights new scholarly publications in learning and teaching.
Date Best Practices Best Practices – TA/GA Edition
Research Digest
Aug. 2014 First Day of Class -‐ -‐ Sept. 2014 Designing and Assessing Learning
Outcomes The First Day of Class The Testing Effect and the Impact of Exams
on Student Learning Oct. 2014 Designing Your Dossier Providing Feedback Classroom Response Systems Nov. 2014 Designing a Final Exam Self Evaluation of Teaching Final Exams Jan. 2015 Ideas to Improve Attendance Presentation Skills Attendance in the University Classroom Feb. 2015 Teaching Adult Learners Classroom Management Adult Education Methods Mar. 2015 Course Redesign Group Work Course Design Apr. 2015 The Open Access Classroom Classroom Management Open Access Textbooks and Courseware May 2015 The Flipped Classroom -‐ The Flipped Classroom
Contact Dr. Eric Kam, Director [email protected]
Dr. John Paul Foxe, Manager, Learning & Teaching [email protected]
Michelle Schwartz, Research Associate [email protected]
Tunu Sodhi, English Language Specialist [email protected]
Amira Rezkalla, Program Assistant [email protected]
KHW-373 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5B 2K3
www.ryerson.ca/l t