The 2010 Summer Series on Teaching and Learning
The Centre for Teaching and Learning invites faculty, staff, sessional instructors, students and the community to the 4th annual Summer Series on Teaching and Learning: Developing independent and autonomous learners.
Developing learners who are able to think and work independentlyand autonomously is an overarching goal of post-secondary education, and is implicit in both the undergraduate and graduate degree level expectations for the University of Windsor. Learning environments that support and develop these skills in students can be highly rewarding and engaging for both the student and the instructor. Strategies that promote independent and autonomous learning can also lead to more efficient teaching for instructors, with learners who are able to problem-solve for themselves, spend more time on their own learning, and have the ability to learn with less direct instruction from the teacher. This series will explore some of the myriad of approaches that can be applied to enhance these skills in your students. Workshops will explore sub-themes of accessible classrooms and universal instructional design, learning and teaching technologies, and assessment practices.
Past offerings
Monday, August 23, 2010
Self Assessment as the Foundation for Developing and Encouraging Independent Learning
The Centre for
Teaching and Learning's 2010 Summer Series on Teaching and Learning
will kick off with “Self Assessment as the Foundation for
Developing and Encouraging Independent Learning” Monday, August 23,
from 1:30pm-4:30pm. The workshop will be facilitated by Dr. Don
Woods, emeritus professor of chemical engineering at McMaster
University, and winner of numerous awards for leadership and
teaching including the prestigious 3M Teaching Fellowship and the
OCUFA Teaching Award.
The workshop will focus on the notion that developing student confidence, skills, and attitudes surrounding peer and self assessment can help promote increased responsibility and encourage independent learning.
During this session, participants will learn how to request and assess written self-reflections and learning journals, and to use these forms of evidence to indicate student self-directedness and independence in learning. Participants will also experience part of a mini-workshop that they can adapt to help students in their own classes develop these skills. Participants will leave the session with a variety of tools that can help their students understand how prepared they are for independent learning through enhancing their abilities in self-assessment.
Dr. Woods has over 400 publications and has given over 500 workshops on effective teaching and process skill development, problem-based learning, and motivating and rewarding teachers to improve student learning all across the world. His research interests include improving student learning and developing skill in problem solving, troubleshooting, group and team work, self assessment, change management, and lifetime learning.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
9:30 AM
Aim for student success: Accessibility in the classroom
How can you make your classroom even more accessible, to ensure that everyone has the best opportunity to learn? This workshop is interactive session exploring strategies of universal design for instruction (UDI) that will best promote learning for all of your students. The new government Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) requires changes in the way that universities teach and provide professional development for all of their employees. Through this workshop, you will become aware of your personal responsibility under the new Act, as well as learn and share successful strategies that will help your students learn most effectively.
By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
- identify alternative ways to encourage more effective interaction and communication with differently challenged students- in person, in print, or on- line.
- begin to incorporate the AODA regulatory principles of inclusion and equal opportunity with the application of pedagogical principles of universal instructional design.
- identify professional supports and resources available to help develop accessible course material and a barrier free learning environment.
1:00 PM
Encouraging Self-Directed Learning
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
9:30 AM
Using CLEW to support independent learning
Learning Management Systems are ubiquitous in modern higher education. Systems such as the University of Windsor’s CLEW are used to enhance flexibility in learning and teaching and to improve learning opportunities. There is evidence that using tools such as CLEW in your teaching can also improve student self-direction and autonomy in learning, by providing students with options that may be more suitable to their learning style, greater flexibility to study on a schedule that suits them, enhancing motivation to learn, support for perseverance in challenging courses, and improved self-monitoring and metacognitive skills.
This workshop will explore some of the teaching techniques that can be used with the support of tools in CLEW to enhance student learning and autonomy.