Authentic Assessment

Authentic Assessment is a six-week course that will introduce you to the principles and practice of this approach to assessment of student learning. Authentic assessment takes into account the contexts in which learning might actually be used once students leave the university. It is an attempt to assess what students actually know, value, and can do in a way that is well-integrated into the entire learning environment of a course. In this course you will learn how to align assessment with intended learning outcomes, how to design meaningful assessment measures that motivate students and even design assessments that help students learn as they are being assessed.

By experiencing a variety of authentic assessment methods in the student role, reading about them, and practicing adaptations of them, you will be in a better position to judge which of these methods you can use in your own courses, as suits your personal teaching style and disciplinary needs. Most importantly, you will have the opportunity to create an authentic, well-reasoned assessment measure that you could use in your own disciplinary context – with feedback and help from your instructors and colleagues.

Blackboard Learn Training Face-to-face Sessions - Instructors and their Assistants

Blackboard Support is virtual!

Given the current situation with dealing with the COVID-19 Coronavirus, CTL's LMS Team members and CoOp students are available with virtual help, in the BB Cafe Organization site Virtual Classroom (link works only when logged in) or if that link doesn't work, use the guest link
Hours and updates are posted on our COVID-19 Preparedness Workshops page.
If you require something customized that can't be addressed in the virtual classroom, please submit a ticket at uwindsor.ca/bbhelp and specify what you would like to discuss. We will try to arrange a mutual time to virtually discuss your topic. Please note - the volume for requests is high at this time so we will do our very best to support you based on availability. We appreciate your patience!

We have many options to support you!

Hands-on workshops
Instructors and their assistants can join virtual classes which include some pedagogical best practices along with hands-on exercises detailing parts of Blackboard to prepare for online course delivery in 2-3 hour segments.


Sprint sessions
On a tight schedule but still want to see how to use the important assessment and grading tools in Blackboard, or other featured topics? Join in a Sprint Session, geared to demonstrating the essentials in under an hour.

Are you Decaf or Espresso?

Some of the hands-on sessions have been designed with activities and pace geared to your technological comfort level. Please choose the session that is right for you!

Decaf Level
This option will offer a relaxed, and slower-paced workshop by placing an emphasis on step-by-step learning. This category is suitable for the emerging technical explorer or the learner who is new to using learning management systems.


Espresso Level
This option will offer a fast-paced more technically driven workshop. This category is suitable for the learner who is confident using learning management system tools, or other online systems, who possess a high comfort-level in learning and adopting new technology.

Previously Recorded Webinars from Workshops

Want a workshop but don't see one listed? Visit the Webinars Revisited page to see previously recorded sessions you can enjoy in your own home at your own pace. Just like being in a class, but you can control the start and stopping of the session to your preference!

Online Self-Paced Courses

• Online Blackboard Training Courses Registration page

Office of Open Learning

• Office of Open Learning Workshops (including Blackboard Collaborate Introduction)

Blackboard Learn Training - Online Self-Paced Courses

Blackboard Learn is the Learning Management System (LMS) that the University of Windsor supports. These online courses featured below, are designed to provide valuable information and corresponding self-learning activities for instructors and their assistants, to help learn, use and configure Blackboard Learn. Please note, these courses are NOT facilitated, and there won't be any instructor interaction. If you would like face-to-face support we would be happy to help, so check out the Name Your Topic! offerings at http://www.uwindsor.ca/bbworkshops

Brightspace Workshops

More information coming soon

Course Design

This course introduces participants to the principles and practice of effective course design, including developing effective outcomes, devising methods and strategies to help students master difficult concepts and theories, and aligning assessments. Participants will have the opportunity to design (or redesign!) a course of their choosing, receiving feedback at each step. This course is offered in a 6-week format and a two-week intensive format.

CTL Teaching and Learning Workshop Series

The Centre for Teaching and Learning sponsors and facilitates an ongoing series of workshops focussing on the teaching and learning issues that impact on student engagement and the student experience at the University of Windsor. These free events are open to the whole University community and facilitate discussion about strategically important teaching and learning issues for the University.

Developing Your Teaching Dossier Series

The "Developing Your Teaching Dossier Series" is a sequence of four 45-minute self-paced modules for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows exploring strategies to reflect on their teaching and develop their teaching dossier.

Users can choose to take any one of the modules or can choose to complete all four of the modules in the series. Upon successful completion of each module, users will receive a certificate of completion. Completing the entire sequence of modules can allow you to explore a range of different considerations in your teaching dossier development process, including:

• exploring and reflecting on your teaching experience;
• identifying teaching-related transferable skills;
• effectively defining and narrating your teaching values and practices and their impact on student learning;
• describing components of a teaching dossier and begin writing various sections of your teaching dossier; and
• articulating teaching skills and experiences for academic and non-academic careers.

Indigenous Curriculum & Pedagogy

Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW)

This is an intensive three-day workshop. Each day involves a workshop in the morning, followed by a microteaching session in the afternoon, where each participant will be video-recorded teaching a lesson and will receive constructive written and verbal feedback from the other participants. Participants will also be given a video recording of their lesson each day for review at home. At the end of the course, participants will receive a certificate of completion.

The Instructional Skills Workshops take place in small group settings and are designed to enhance the teaching effectiveness of both new and experienced educators. The facilitators are part of a group of higher education instructors who have undergone training as facilitators in the ISW process.
In the ISW, participants will have opportunities to:

• work closely with other participants to improve each other's teaching;
• practice a variety of instructional strategies and techniques;
• increase awareness of participatory learning concepts;
• recognize the importance of establishing a positive learning environment; and
• increase knowledge of yourself as a teacher.

More specifically, participants will practice:

• using learning objectives to inform learners of expectations and intentions;
• writing useful, practical lesson plans;
• using questions and question sequences effectively during a lesson;
• using basic techniques to test for learning; and
• giving and receiving constructive feedback.

Please note: The ISW involves 24 hours of commitment distributed over 4 days.

Leading Effective Discussions

Leading Effective Discussions introduces the basic skills involved in promoting, leading, and sustaining educationally effective discussions. Students will experience a variety of discussion-based active learning lessons, and will have an opportunity to facilitate a discussion, and receive feedback on their teaching from the instructors and other participants. By the end of this course, students will be in a better position to judge which methods they would like to use in their own classes, and how they can be adapted to suit personal teaching styles and disciplinary needs.

By successfully completing this course, participants will have made progress toward completion of the University Teaching Certificate (UTC) program.

If you are interested in the full program, or would like more information, visit: http://www.uwindsor.ca/ctl/463/university-teaching-certificate. Note: Students interested in participating in the UTC, must apply to the Program and receive a formal acceptance.

Learning-Centred Teaching in Higher Education

This six-week half-credit course will explore and evaluate the principles and theories of learning-centred teaching in higher education. Participants will use research findings and pedagogical publications to inform their own teaching and learning practice, engaging with a wide range of empirically proven approaches to improve instruction systematically. The course provides a rich opportunity for the examination and application of these approaches in varying post-secondary learning cultures and academic settings.

Lecturing

Lecturing is a half course that will introduce you to basic skills and techniques of communicating successfully to students. In particular you will learn about explaining complex ideas, grabbing and holding attention, phrasing, communicating nonverbally, and generating emotional response.

Supporting Early Career Faculty

Early Career Faculty (ECF) Mentoring Program

Are you an early career faculty member? If so, you’re invited to join one of our small mentoring groups led by experienced UWindsor faculty. These once-a-month sessions are dedicated to supporting you in balancing your teaching, research, and service expectations. Two mentors with different experience and background will meet with their group of 6-8 early career faculty each month throughout the academic year (F22 & W23). The sessions are informal in structure, offering opportunities for ECF to meet with colleagues, make professional connections, share information that can assist with their professional development, and demystify the RTP process. The mentors working together with the mentees shape the meetings on topics and themes relevant to thriving at the UWindsor and accommodating their teaching, research, service, and work-life demands! Our past participants have found the hour-long sessions a comfortable venue where they can discuss challenges and concerns, and learn how to navigate the academic/ institutional landscape. We look forward to you joining our ECF workshop community.

University Teaching Practicum

This course takes a practical approach to teaching development and as such, much of the content will be driven by you, the learners. As part of the requirements of this course, you will be an observer and a facilitator in the teaching context. Class meetings will address teaching and learning issues, topics, and concerns that have been identified by the class. You will be expected to come prepared to contribute to the learning of our community by participating in and facilitating discussions of challenges faced in higher education. As this course is the final requirement for participants in the University Teaching Certificate, it will be expected that you have an understanding of the basic principles of higher education. The course also provides you with the opportunity to build on and apply information learned in other courses in the UTC to your own teaching. *This course is only open to students enrolled in the University Teaching Certificate Program.