Events

Wednesday August 7
10–11:30 a.m.
Online via Microsoft Teams
Register for the event

Dalhousie’s Centre for Learning and Teaching (CLT) has several Teaching and Learning grants that are awarded each year. This session will briefly describe the grants, their requirements, and the rubrics we use to assess proposals. We will also explain the grant application process, and provide some tips and tricks about how to write your grant proposal to maximize your chances of success.

There will be time to ask questions and discuss which grant(s) might be right for the project you have in mind.

Presenter

Kate Thompson, Educational Developer (SoTL), Centre for Learning and Teaching

Wednesday, August 14
10:30-11:30am
MacRae Library, Room 218 & 219, Truro Campus [in-person]
Register for the event

In "Indigenization as inclusion, reconciliation, and decolonization: navigating the different visions of indigenizing the Canadian Academy" (2018), Gaudry and Lorenz urge readers to "envision a university that is a treaty-university, or a dual institution" that is at its core, respectful of the autonomy and co-existence of Indigenous peoples and their knowledges. As Gaudry and Lorenz describe, such an idea would need a lot of support to be actualized and for power to be relinquished at an institutional level. Inspired by Gaudry and Lorenz's idea of a treaty-based university but unsure of how to advocate for such drastic systemic change, I endeavoured to promote the idea of treaty-based teaching and learning from the ground up through the creation of a new CLT studio course offering, “Treaty-Informed Teaching.”

“We are all treaty people” is a frequently heard phrase, but it's often spoken tokenistically, without deep consideration for the true meaning and implications of these words. In response, the “Treaty-Informed Teaching” course has been designed to aid faculty members in considering how they can root their approach to teaching in a deeper understanding of treaty relations, within the context of Mi'kma’ki. In this 1-hour session, I will elaborate of the impetus behind the course, discuss the course learning outcomes, and provide an overview of materials drawn on within the course. In addition, Dr. Tudor Borza, Faculty of Agriculture, will be invited to share his experience of the course and detail the impacts taking a treaty-informed approach has had on his teaching within the Department of Plant, Food, and Environmental Sciences.

Facilitators

Rachelle McKay – Educational Developer, Indigenous Knowledges & Ways of Knowing
Dr. Tudor Borza – Department of Plant, Food, and Environmental Sciences

Intended Audience

• Faculty
• Graduate Students

Friday, September 20
10 a.m.-12 p.m.
Killam Library, Room B400*
Register for the September 20 session

Facilitators

Joanne Mills, Psychologist, Student Health & Wellness, and two Stay Connected Peer Support workers (who are students themselves).

The MH101 session is limited to faculty, instructors, and staff at Dalhousie and King's.

In any given year 1 in 5 Canadians will experience a mental illness, and according to Statistics Canada youth aged 15-24 are the most likely group to suffer the effects of a mental illness, substance dependency and suicide. Considering most university students are within this age group it is essential that those working with University students are provided the necessary knowledge and resources to recognize and respond to students in distress.

MH101 is a short yet informative presentation developed for university faculty and staff to increase awareness and understanding of mental illness and mental health problems, thus increase your confidence in supporting students. 

*Please note that the B400 classroom is in the basement of the Killam Library. We are aware of, and apologize for, the accessibility barriers associated with this room. If you require the use of an elevator to reach this room, one of the CLT staff will have to access the elevator with you, using their key card. Please let us know in advance so that we can facilitate a smooth and timely transition to the basement.

We also ask that participants be respectful of those with significant allergies and avoid wearing perfume, aftershave, cologne, and highly scented hairspray, soaps, lotions, and shampoos.

Wednesday, September 25
11:30 am-12:30 pm
Online via Microsoft Teams
Register for the event

COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) is a teaching model that is primarily used for internationalization of academics. It has been broadly used by instructors who are (i) interested in expanding students’ intercultural and global perspectives (ii) keen on offering inclusive and digitally accessible learning experiences, and (iii) seek innovative teaching and learning experiences through diverse perspectives of knowledges and ways of knowing.  According to Jon Rubin who coined the term COIL in 2006 for virtual exchange educational programs, “in its most essential and typical form, COIL is a bilateral exchange and corresponding pedagogy, embedded into existing courses across two, or sometime more, institutions.”

A more holistic definition developed by Rubin (2021) is that “COIL utilizes the Internet to empower students and instructors around the world to develop curiosity, flexibility, and generosity in concert with their academic partners. This benefits two or more classrooms of collaborating students, usually located in different countries, who have had different life experiences. COIL is also a way for students and instructors to learn about their discipline from a new perspective and can be a method for engaging those with other experiences and perspectives about how this knowledge might be applied.”

In this 1-hour interactive introductory session, participants will be introduced to COIL as I respond to What, Why, and How questions you may have on your minds about COIL. Dr. Leanne Stevens (Faculty of Science) will be invited to share her initial thoughts on COIL as she plans to introduce the model for Faculty of Science as the Associate Dean Academic.

Keywords

international, intercultural, inclusive, global

Presenters

Dr. Leanne Stevens, University Teaching Fellow and Associate Dean Academic, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Faculty of Science

Dr. Shazia Nawaz Awan, Educational Developer, Internationalization and Intercultural Competency, Centre for Learning and Teaching

Intended Audience

• Faculty, Staff and Graduate Students who are interested in international and intercultural teaching and learning experiences
• Open to all

Monday, November 4
1-3 p.m.
Online via Microsoft Teams
Register for the November session

Facilitators

Joanne Mills, Psychologist, Student Health & Wellness, and two Stay Connected Peer Support workers (who are students themselves).

The MH101 session is limited to faculty, instructors, and staff at Dalhousie and King's.

In any given year 1 in 5 Canadians will experience a mental illness, and according to Statistics Canada youth aged 15-24 are the most likely group to suffer the effects of a mental illness, substance dependency and suicide. Considering most university students are within this age group it is essential that those working with University students are provided the necessary knowledge and resources to recognize and respond to students in distress.

MH101 is a short yet informative presentation developed for university faculty and staff to increase awareness and understanding of mental illness and mental health problems, thus increase your confidence in supporting students. 

*Please note that the B400 classroom is in the basement of the Killam Library. We are aware of, and apologize for, the accessibility barriers associated with this room. If you require the use of an elevator to reach this room, one of the CLT staff will have to access the elevator with you, using their key card. Please let us know in advance so that we can facilitate a smooth and timely transition to the basement.

We also ask that participants be respectful of those with significant allergies and avoid wearing perfume, aftershave, cologne, and highly scented hairspray, soaps, lotions, and shampoos.

Tuesday, August 27
10-11 a.m.
Killam Library, Room B400*
Register for the event (link opens in new window)

In this session we will go over the basics of the student learning experience questionnaire (SLEQ): The timing of the SLEQ process, when you can add questions, what to do if you do not receive the email and how to monitor your response rate. We will also discuss how to add questions, why you might want to add questions and what questions are available to add. We will also discuss how to keep students engaged in the process. Tips on increasing response rates. And how to talk to students about providing constructive feedback.

Intended audience

Anyone who engages with the SLEQ including Instructors/Staff/Teaching Assistants.

Presenter

Bruno Roy, Student Feedback and Evaluation Coordinator

*Please note that the B400 classroom is in the basement of the Killam Library. We are aware of, and apologize for, the accessibility barriers associated with this room. If you require the use of an elevator to reach this room, one of the CLT staff will have to access the elevator with you, using their key card. Please let us know in advance so that we can facilitate a smooth and timely transition to the basement.

We also ask that participants be respectful of those with significant allergies and avoid wearing perfume, aftershave, cologne, and highly scented hairspray, soaps, lotions, and shampoos.

Tuesday, August 27
11:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m
Killam Library, Room B400*
Register for the session (link opens in new window)

This info session will provide attendees an overview of the Faculty Certificate in Teaching and Learning program and its required components (the Foundations course, studio courses, peer observations and the teaching dossier workshop). Attendees will also get to hear from current and past program participants during an informal panel in the latter half of the hour.

Presenter

Kate Crane, Educational Developer

Intended Audience

Anyone holding a faculty appointment is welcome!

*Please note that the B400 classroom is in the basement of the Killam Library. We are aware of, and apologize for, the accessibility barriers associated with this room. If you require the use of an elevator to reach this room, one of the CLT staff will have to access the elevator with you, using their key card. Please let us know in advance so that we can facilitate a smooth and timely transition to the basement.

We also ask that participants be respectful of those with significant allergies and avoid wearing perfume, aftershave, cologne, and highly scented hairspray, soaps, lotions, and shampoos.

Wednesday, August 28
9–10:15 a.m.
Killam Library, Room B400*
Register for the session (link opens in new window)

This in-person session is designed for those who may be unfamiliar with the required elements of a Dalhousie syllabus or are new to creating a syllabus and are learning what they might want to include.

In this session, we will review the core components of a course syllabus as outlined in the Dalhousie Syllabus Policy. Tips on how to make your syllabus more effective will be discussed. Participants are asked to bring a syllabus they are working on as time will be allotted to reflection and gathering peer feedback. If participants are not currently teaching a course, they are invited to bring a syllabus for a course they taught in the past or would like to teach in the future.

Intended Audience

Anyone working on or with course syllabi, including faculty, staff, postdocs, and graduate students.

Presenter

Elizabeth Gillis, Educational Developer

*Please note that the B400 classroom is in the basement of the Killam Library. We are aware of, and apologize for, the accessibility barriers associated with this room. If you require the use of an elevator to reach this room, one of the CLT staff will have to access the elevator with you, using their key card. Please let us know in advance so that we can facilitate a smooth and timely transition to the basement.

We also ask that participants be respectful of those with significant allergies and avoid wearing perfume, aftershave, cologne, and highly scented hairspray, soaps, lotions, and shampoos.

Wednesday, August 28
10:30 a.m.–12 p.m.
Killam Library, Room B400*
Register for the session (link opens in new window)

Regularly reviewing our course materials is an important step toward evaluating our process in meeting our instructional goals. It allows us to identify areas for improvement and actively work toward enhancing our teaching practices. As one of the first touch points we have with our students, the course syllabus is a foundational document for the course and establishes course expectations and objectives for students. As we work toward creating inclusive, equitable, and accessible learning environments, reviewing our syllabi is one way we can evaluate how we are meeting our goals and how our practice may impact students.

In this session, we will examine how the various ways our syllabi respond to equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility considerations. We aim to have an open-ended, good faith exchange about the application of EDIA principles to courses. This is an interactive session, and workshop participants will be split into small groups with each group carrying out a discussion-based review of sample course syllabi. Time will be provided to review your own syllabi.

Attendees are kindly asked to bring at least one paper copy of the syllabus they are looking to gather feedback on.

Intended Audience

This session is intended for those who have a syllabus for a course they have taught and/or will be teaching and are interested in evaluating and reflecting on their practice. We recognize that participants may have varying levels of expertise in topics related to EDIA – we welcome anyone interested in joining the conversation! This is meant to be a friendly exchange where we all (facilitators included!) learn from each other.

Facilitators

Laurel Schut (Associate Director, College of Sustainability and CLT Faculty Associate)
Elizabeth Gillis, Educational Developer

*Please note that the B400 classroom is in the basement of the Killam Library. We are aware of, and apologize for, the accessibility barriers associated with this room. If you require the use of an elevator to reach this room, one of the CLT staff will have to access the elevator with you, using their key card. Please let us know in advance so that we can facilitate a smooth and timely transition to the basement.

We also ask that participants be respectful of those with significant allergies and avoid wearing perfume, aftershave, cologne, and highly scented hairspray, soaps, lotions, and shampoos.

Dalhousie University welcomes new colleagues to the academic community with our annual New Academic Staff Orientation (NASO). This year's NASO will take place on August 20 and 21 (in-person) and August 22 (online) at the Dalhousie Student Union Building.  Details about the orientation will be available in the coming weeks.

If you have any questions about NASO events, please email us at clt@dal.ca. 

September 4 (in-person) and 5 (online)

The purpose of Teaching Assistant Professional Development Days (TA Days) is to provide teaching assistants with strategies, information, and/or understanding to support them in their teaching activities during the year. These workshops and webinars are meant to provide both new and returning TAs with the opportunity to listen, learn and ask questions about teaching. Participants in the Certificate in University Teaching and Learning (CUTL) can receive up to 5 professional development hours for attending TA Days. Note: This excludes the information session that outlines the CUTL and other programming available, which does not account towards the PD hours.