Today@Dal

Call for Proposals: 23^rd Annual Dalhousie Conference on University Teaching and Learning (DCUTL)
May 1 & 2, 2019
Dalhousie University, Rowe Management Building, Halifax, Nova Scotia

The Dalhousie Conference on University Teaching and Learning aims to promote the importance of university teaching and learning among faculty, staff, and graduate students.  It is both a showcase for current research and an opportunity to foster new projects. 

This year's theme is "Diving Deep: Engaging Students through Active Learning."

Call for Proposals

'Active learning' has become a catchphrase in university teaching and learning. For decades, the value of providing opportunities for students to move from being passive receptacles to active participants meaningfully engaged in the learning experience has been clear. Active learning experiences can enhance students' learning, which results in higher engagement, improvement in grades, and course/program completion.  

However, in a recent study of over 2000 STEM classes in North America, researchers found that "students primarily listened to the instructor, answered instructor questions, and asked questions" (Science, 30 March 2018, Vol 359 (#6383), p. 1469). Despite increased emphasis on providing opportunities for experiential learning, undergraduate research, and work-integrated-learning – all forms of active learning – many instructors are still using traditional approaches to teaching and learning, even while other high-impact practices may, concurrently, be part of the curriculum.

So why aren't we providing students with more opportunities to engage with active learning?

More specifically, we invite you to consider: How can active learning pedagogies promote students' deep learning? How can active learning in our face-to-face, blended, and online classrooms enable students to engage more deeply with the course material, acquire relevant skill sets, prepare for other forms of experiential learning, and learn more about themselves in the process?   

Presentations and workshops may be based on research findings, theory and practice in learning and teaching, and/or specific tools/strategies that speak to the theme of the conference. 

Colleagues are invited to submit proposals for sessions that might consider, but are not limited to, the following questions:

• How can we use active learning as a way to foster students' interest and passion in our disciplines? 
• How does active learning facilitate students to prepare to be global and local citizens, to explore diverse perspectives, to tap into their creativity, or to develop teamwork, leadership and resilience?
• How can active learning ensure success for all learners, recognizing the complexity of students' identities and experiences?
• How have flexible classroom spaces enabled active learning activities and opportunities?
• How do we engage students in active learning in fully online courses?
• How do classroom technologies (e.g. Panopto, student response systems) integrate with active learning pedagogies?
• What kinds of active learning are possible in large classes? Seminars? First year courses? Upper year courses?
• How does active learning in the classroom interconnect with course assessments?
• How can we use peer instruction as a form of active learning to engage students?

Session Formats

25-minute Research Papers:This format provides the opportunity for presenters to involve their peers in an engaging paper related to new or ongoing research. Presentation should include opportunities for questions and discussion, within the 25-minute time-frame.

50-minute Presentations:Designed for sessions that describe examples of creative approaches to teaching and learning and their impact on student learning, a conceptual tool that you have found useful, or a systematic inquiry that you may have conducted on the impact on student learning of a particular strategy. Presentations may have multiple authors. Presentation proposals should include opportunities for interaction and discussion.

50-minute Interactive Workshops:The workshop format is designed to provide a forum for the collaborative development and discussion of creative approaches to teaching and learning. Workshop proposals should clearly indicate how participants will actively contribute to the session.

50-minute Panels:Panel sessions are designed to foster discussion by illustrating different points of view. In a 50-minute time span, several presenters (one of whom will serve as a moderator) will present issues pertinent to the conference theme, and the moderator will facilitate discussion among the panelists and the audience.

Individual or group submissions are welcome, and joint submissions with students are highly encouraged. 

For Submission Procedures and Proposal Format details, visit the Conference website.

The Dalhousie Conference on Teaching and Learning is sponsored by the Dalhousie University Centre for Learning and Teaching and the Office of the Provost and Vice-President Academic. ​