October 2012

Unless otherwise indicated, sessions occur in the Learning and Teaching Centre (LTC) Classroom in the Harry Hickman Building (HHB), Room 128.

If the register buttons are not working, please contact us by email.

Learning without Borders (LWB) Curricular Development Fund ~ Submission Deadline
Monday, October 1, 2012
4:00 PM, HHB 126
Information and Application Form

Senior Instructor and Teaching Professor Scholarship Fund ~ Submission Deadline
Sunday, October 7, 2012
4:00 PM, HHB 126
Information and Application Form

Developing Your Teaching Dossier Workshop [Teaching Assessment Series]
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
9:30 AM ~ 11:30 AM, HHB 128
Facilitator: Dr. Marty Wall, Department of Educational Psychology & Leadership Studies, and the Learning and Teaching Centre
Developing your teaching dossier is the most effective way to document your teaching for reappointment, tenure and promotion, as well as for winning awards. The most important part of the dossier is the narrative statement that guides the reader through the supporting documentary evidence. This workshop will discuss the role of the teaching dossier in the assessment process at UVic, assist you in developing your narrative, and outline an effective structure for organizing your materials. The workshop is also useful for graduate students who plan to apply for teaching jobs!
Open to all those who are involved, or plan to be involved, in instruction.
Teaching Assessment Series

Huddling in the Trenches: a candid chat with an experienced TA. Come and ask all of those burning questions - slander, gossip and naiveté welcome. [TA ProD]
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
2:00 PM ~ 4:00 PM, HHB128
Facilitator: Edward White (TAC), Department of Sociology
An open and honest conversation with Sociology TAC, Edward White, about the realities of TA'ing. The session is open to both new and experienced TA's looking for answers to questions that may not be addressed elsewhere.
TA/Graduate Student Workshops

Introduction to Academic Writing for International Students [TWC Workshop]
Thursday, October 4, 2012
1:00 PM ~ 2:20 PM, Library Room 129 – FOR MASTERS STUDENTS
Friday, October 5, 2012
3:30 PM ~ 4:50 PM, Library Room 129 – FOR PHD STUDENTS
Facilitators: The Writing Centre (TWC) Staff
This workshop introduces the basics of North American academic writing to students from another culture. Come and learn the expectations of academic writing at UVic!

Registration opens on September 4, 2012 at 10:00 AM. Please go here to register. Once a workshop is full, you can add your name to the waitlist by sending an email to TWCdir@uvic.ca. Please include your name plus the title and date of the workshop you would like to be waitlisted for.
Please note that you cannot register for a workshop through email.
TWC Workshop Information

Quick Guide to Student FAST
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
9:30 AM ~ 11:00 AM, HHB 128
Facilitator: Nadia Munro, Training Coordinator, Student Systems Support Services Office of the Registrar Division of Student Affairs, University of Victoria
Need help getting reports or lists of students in your program areas? Wish you could find lists of students who have convocated or who have applied to graduate? Wish you could see historical records of GRADED class lists to compare course grades from year to year? Are you an instructor who needs help with grading your classes or importing large class grades from an existing Excel document? Get help with these commonly asked questions and many other features of the FAST Student Reporting system with Nadia Munro. Taught in an informal and easy to understand format.

Need a hand with any of your Student-Based Systems? Contact Nadia Munro to set up a tutorial to walk you through any feature that you are less familiar with or just think there may be a better way to approach. Sessions are booked for groups or one-on-one.

Understanding and Accommodating Privacy in the Online Classroom from the Instructor's Perspective [Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Series]
Wednesday, October 10, 2012 [Brown Bag Lunch]
11:30 AM ~ 12:30 PM, HHB 128
Facilitators: Lynne Siemens and Catherine Althaus, School of Public Administration
The rapid increase in online education in a university setting has inspired myriad inquiries into its impact on learning outcomes, teaching strategies, and the interpersonal interactions that are central to the classroom experience. While pedagogical and technological scholars have studied many elements of online learning, the relationship between online learning and privacy has received little attention.  In particular, there is little understanding of instructors' understanding and expectations for privacy in this virtual classroom and the ways in which they respond to students' concerns.  This paper will explore these understandings and expectations in the UVic setting within the Human and Social Development faculty with recommendations and lessons for UVic on ways to accommodate privacy while ensuring engagement with course material.
SoTL Series Information

Strategies for the First Class [Teaching Tips Series #2]
Thursday, October 11, 2012
10:00 AM ~ 12:00 PM, HHB 128
Facilitator: Dr. Marty Wall, Department of Educational Psychology & Leadership Studies, and the Learning and Teaching Centre
As an instructor, you might be tempted to dismiss the special significance of your first meeting with your class and not take advantage of the opportunity that it provides to set a positive and engaging beginning to your course. First impressions are important and, particularly in a large class, difficult to change. We will discuss the "do's-and-don'ts" for the first class and consider the impact of different strategies. Come prepared to compare notes on how best to establish an optimal start to a course.
Teaching Tips Series Information

Avoiding Death by Paper: Surviving Essay Marking [TA ProD]
Thursday, October 11, 2012
1:00 PM ~ 3:00 PM, HHB 128
Facilitator: Edward White, (TAC), Department of Sociology
This workshop provides a variety of ideas to minimize the time and pain of marking student essays. Tips on time management, constructive criticism, rubrics, and fair grading procedures will be offered and discussed. This workshop is primarily intended for social science/humanities TA's, though it may be useful for all faculties.
TA/Graduate Student Workshops

Managing Your Thesis or Dissertation [TWC Workshop]
Friday, October 12, 2012
3:30 PM ~ 4:50 PM, Library Room 129
~ OR ~
Friday, December 7, 2012
1:00 PM ~ 2:20 PM, Library Room 129
Facilitators: The Writing Centre (TWC) Staff
This hands-on workshop teaches graduate students strategies for organizing their writing, writing habits and themselves so that they can finish their thesis/dissertation/projects. Those in the depths of dissertation despair are particularly welcome!

Registration opens on September 4, 2012 at 10:00 AM. Please go here to register. Once a workshop is full, you can add your name to the waitlist by sending an email to TWCdir@uvic.ca. Please include your name plus the title and date of the workshop you would like to be waitlisted for.
Please note that you cannot register for a workshop through email.
TWC Workshop Information

Problem-Based Learning in Medical Education: A Canadian and an Australian Perspective [Student Learning Series]
Monday, October 15, 2012
11:30 AM ~ 1:30 PM, HHB 128
Facilitators: Jane Gair, (Medical Genetics), Senior Instructor, Island Medical Program through UBC, in the Division of Medical Sciences, University of Victoria; and Graeme Horton, Senior Lecturer in Medical Education and General Practice, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Australia
PBL is a tool used worldwide in medical schools, and is often discussed as an ideal pedagogy to increase students' engagement, long-term retention and application skills. There is a large body of educational literature documenting the effectiveness of PBL in medical/clinical education, which has been recently reviewed (Neville, 2009; Polyzois et al., 2010; Schmidt et al., 2011). However, surprisingly little is known about the effectiveness of PBL for teaching basic science rather than clinical knowledge/application of basic science to clinical scenarios.  Given the limited research on this topic in the field of medical education, paired with the widespread use of PBL, we were interested in investigating this question at our two institutions.
In October 2011, Dr. Gair travelled to Australia to visit with and observe PBL in the Joint Medical Program at the University of Newcastle, with a particular focus on the basic science teaching and learning. In October 2012, Dr. Horton will travel to Victoria and Vancouver to visit with and observe the PBL process at the medical school at the University of British Columbia and investigate the same process there.
In this session, we will discuss our two programs, how they are similar and different and how PBL fits into the two very different cultures.
Student Learning Series

Advanced Research and Writing, Part I: Writing a top-notch research paper [TWC Workshop]
Thursday, October 18, 2012, 1:00 PM ~ 2:20 PM, Library Room 129
~ OR ~
Friday, October 19, 2012, 3:30 PM ~ 4:50 PM, Library Room 129
Facilitators: Justin Harrison, the Learning Commons Librarian; The Writing Centre (TWC) Staff
Co-hosted by Justin Harrison, the Learning Commons Librarian, this workshop covers how to write effectively and efficiently through strategic planning and revision. Justin will review with students how to conduct a literature search to narrow the topic, predict counterpoints, and fill in the literature review.

Registration opens on September 4, 2012 at 10:00 AM. Please go here to register. Once a workshop is full, you can add your name to the waitlist by sending an email to TWCdir@uvic.ca. Please include your name plus the title and date of the workshop you would like to be waitlisted for.
Please note that you cannot register for a workshop through email.
TWC Workshop Information

Knowing Mathematics Well Enough to Teach It
Thursday, October 18, 2012
3:30 PM ~ 4:30 PM, HHB 128
Facilitator: Yvonne Lai, University of Michigan
Improved mathematics achievement requires changes in the instructional dynamics in classrooms and in the mathematical education of teachers. Unfortunately, while there is broad agreement on the need for better mathematical preparation of teachers, there is a lack of clarity about what mathematics teachers need to know. To address this problem, we examine actual practice. One result has been the identification of a set of mathematical practices that are key to teaching and learning. We argue that teaching is highly specialized mathematical work, and that the mathematical knowledge drawn upon for teaching is neither elementary mathematics from an advanced standpoint, nor is it a subdomain of mathematicians' knowledge.We will discuss how teachers might develop this knowledge so that they may deploy it in practice.
No registration is necessary. Please join us if you are interested and feel free to forward it to anybody you think may be interested.

The Intellectual Properties of Learning and the Changing Political Economy of Technology in Canada [Technology Innovation in Education Series]
Friday, October 19, 2012
11:00 AM ~ 12:00 PM, Senate Chambers (A180), University Centre
Presented by: The Learning and Teaching Centre and the Technology Integration and Evaluation (TIE) Research Lab
Speaker: John Willinsky, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and Professor at Stanford University
No Registration is required for this event. Everyone is welcome.
Public Lecture Poster
Technology Innovation in Education Information

Andy Farquharson TA Award Information Session
Monday, October 22, 2012
1:00 PM ~ 2:30 PM, HHB 128
Facilitator: Crystal Tremblay, Department of Geography, 2011 Andy Farquharson Award Winner
Are you considering applying for the Andy Farquharson TA Award? One of the recipients of last year's university-wide teaching award for graduate students will share her experiences and the step-by-step process of how she attained this award. In this session, the procedure for applying, the components required, and how to prepare documentation for the award application will be shared.

Defining and Assessing Learning Outcomes [Student Learning Series]
Wednesday, October 24, 2012, 9:30 AM ~ 11:30 AM, HHB 128
And
Wednesday, October 31, 2012, 9:30 AM ~ 11:30 AM, HHB 128
Facilitator: Joe Parsons, Learning and Teaching Centre
We often assume that if we work hard at teaching, our students will learn what we want them to learn, and that student learning will be obvious. Experience and research have shown that this is not necessarily the case. It is therefore important to ask, "How do we know that our students are learning?" and "How do we know that a particular teaching strategy, learning tool, assignment, quiz or exam is helping students achieve desired learning outcomes?" This workshop is designed to help you define learning outcomes and develop assessment strategies. This two-part workshop may be particularly useful to those who are considering submitting a Learning and Teaching Development before the June 15 deadline. Part I (October 24th) will focus on how to define learning outcomes and measures. Part II (October 31st) will provide an opportunity for participants to share their learning outcomes and measures, and receive feedback from one another.
Student Learning Series Information

Connecting the Local with the Global: Experiential Learning, Community Based Research, and International Development [Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Series]
Wednesday, October 24, 2012 [Brown Bag Lunch]
11:30 AM ~ 12:30 PM, HHB 128
Facilitators: Laura Parisi, Department of Political Science & Department of Women's Studies; and Lynn Thornton, Executive Director of VIDEA
This presentation will discuss the results of a colloborative project between WS 316 (Gender and International Development) and the Victoria International Development Education Association (VIDEA) on student learning outcomes around the connections between local iniatives and global issues, such as international development. We will discuss a grant writing project that students participated in with VIDEA partner organizations in Africa.
SoTL Series Information

Formative and Summative Assessment: What They Are, How They Connect, and How to Use Them
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
1:00 PM ~ 3:00 PM, HHB 128
Facilitator: Ed Ishiguro, Department of Biochemistry & Microbiology and the Learning and Teaching Centre
If you have questions on what it takes to create an effective assignment, this interactive workshop is for you. We will focus on assessment strategies and their integral relationship to instructional design and course learning objectives. The importance of formative assessment and early feedback will be discussed. Finally, contrary to popular notion, assessment is not only for students, and we will consider classroom assessment as a means of assessing teaching efficacy.

Helping Undergraduates Succeed: Lessons Learned from Students in ED-D101 [Student Experience and First Year Course Instructors Community (FYCIC) Series]
Thursday, October 25, 2012
10:00 AM ~ 11:00 AM, HHB 128
Facilitators: Allyson Hadwin and Mariel Miller, Department of Educational Psychology and Leadership Studies
In this session, we explore what it means for students to become successful and adaptive learners. Specifically, we discuss how learning unfolds for successful students and how we can support students to overcome common challenges in undergraduate courses. Through interactive case studies, we examine key aspects for supporting students in developing and using strategic learning processes.
Student Experience and First Year Course Instructors Community (FYCIC) Series

Teaching with PowerPoint [Teaching Tips Series #3]
Thursday, October 25, 2012
1:00 PM ~ 3:00 PM, HHB 128
Facilitator: Dr. Marty Wall, Department of Educational Psychology & Leadership Studies, and the Learning and Teaching Centre
PowerPoint can be an effective teaching tool but is instead often a distracting impediment to learning. We will focus on the differences between presenting and teaching in PowerPoint, the PowerPoint teaching strategy of “less-is-more,” the do’s and don’ts of teaching with PowerPoint, and guidelines for animating PowerPoint slides to enhance teacher-student communication. Participants are encouraged to bring questions and examples.
Teaching Tips Series Information

Reducing Students' Anxiety When Learning Statistics
Monday, October 29, 2012
3:00 PM ~ 4:30 PM, HHB128
Facilitator: Stayc Voll, Department of Curriculum and Instruction
This workshop will focus on students' anxiety when learning statistics. A presentation, followed by a discussion, will help us to unearth why many students are anxious when learning statistics, how that effects their learning of statistics, and what learning strategies can help them.

Researching Your Own Teaching and Assessment Practice: an Introduction to Pedagogical Action Research [Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Series] and [Guest Speaker Series]
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
1:30 PM ~ 3:30 PM, HHB 128
Facilitator: Lin Norton, Emeritus Professor of Pedagogical Research, Liverpool Hope University, England
Lin is a UK National Teaching Fellow and, until her retirement in 2010, was Dean of Learning and Teaching at Liverpool Hope. Lin has been a champion of action research in a university context over many years. Her practical approach is described in her book: Norton, L.S. (2009) Action Research in Teaching and Learning. A Practical Guide to Conducting Pedagogical Research in Universities. Abingdon: Routledge

The fundamental purpose of pedagogical action research is to systematically investigate one's own teaching/learning facilitation practice with the dual aim of modifying practice and contributing to theoretical knowledge. In this interactive presentation and workshop, Lin will offer a candid appraisal of action research including its strengths and weaknesses and how it can relate to SoTL and reflective practice.  Participants will be invited to try out a simple action research process and take the first steps in designing a study for themselves.
SoTL Series Information
Guest Speaker Series Information

November 2012 Events