Are you excited about student engagement? Do you wonder how to facilitate Effective Tutorials and incorporate Dynamic Discussions into your curriculum? Have you experienced the silent classroom?

How do you get your point across? How do you explain complex ideas to confused people who have just graduated high school? Surprisingly, 40 minutes of pointless droning rarely helps students understand.

In your past, can you identify one or more favourite laboratory experiences in your undergraduate courses? If so, what was it about those experiences that made them stand out in your mind? This session will provide information and ideas to assist GAs/TAs in performing the various duties that will offer undergraduate students a positive laboratory learning experience. Two experienced GAs and a Laboratory Coordinator will facilitate interactive discussions to encourage participants to share their experiences and develop best practices. Although the focus will be on Science laboratory experiences, the information can be applied to laboratories in other areas of study.

As GAs and TAs you will begin to encounter copyright issues in both the classroom and your own work. This session will help you to understand how copyright can affect you as a scholar and discuss the evolving academic publishing landscape. Publishing your thesis or your first article and want to know how to reach the broadest audience possible? Wondering about what rights you have as an author when you publish with a journal? Want to clarify some of the confusion around how you can use academic resources in the classroom? Then please join in!

The University of Windsor has one of the most diverse student populations in Canada. As an instructor you need to understand the challenges and opportunities that this situation brings. This workshop will highlight the issues encountered when teaching Canadian-style to a diverse group of students. Communication and learning styles can get in the way of learning.

Do you find data or statistics intimidating? Do your students? No need to fear the numbers! This workshop will present the basics of finding and using data and demonstrate tools and websites that can be useful in your teaching, whether you are teaching statistics, a methods class, or just want to bring concepts alive with current, hard data. We will share tips we’ve derived from years of teaching basic data concepts to students at a variety of levels and in a variety of disciplines. We will also discuss how the Academic Data Centre (ADC) in Leddy can help you use data, statistics, and statistical software in your teaching as a GA/TA (and as a student too). Bring questions!

What is plagiarism? How can we define it, identify it, and educate students about it? This session will focus on ways that you, as a Graduate Assistant (GA) or Teaching Assistant (TA) at the University of Windsor, can maintain and foster academic integrity in the learning environment. For many students, learning how to acknowledge other sources and cite them properly is a challenge, and as GA/TAs, we can help students to understand what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it. In this workshop, we will discuss the various types and trends of plagiarism in digital culture and the various reasons why a student might plagiarize. We will look at ways to detect plagiarism in student writing and what to do if you encounter it; we will also examine the University of Windsor Senate Policy (E3) concerning conduct of exams and tests. This session will focus on the values supporting academic integrity.

Are you excited about student engagement? Do you wonder how to facilitate Effective Tutorials and incorporate Dynamic Discussions into your curriculum? Have you experienced the silent classroom?

Grading can be very challenging, as it requires fair and reasoned evaluation, as well as an ability to provide meaningful suggestions to help students improve -- all in a very short period of time. In this workshop, we will discuss strategies for making the grading process more efficient, effective, and manageable.   

This workshop will investigate crucial issues surrounding professionalism for teaching and graduate assistants in a 21st century setting. It incorporates issues relating to professionalism both in person and online in this cyber-centred world. In this workshop, you will learn how to effectively communicate with students and instructors in both online and offline settings. Selected topics of this workshop include: responding to e-mails, monitoring discussion boards, respecting instructors and their visions, negotiating relationships with instructors, understanding professional boundaries with students, and serving as a role model for students. You will be invited to participate in activities throughout the workshop, and feedback will be provided.

In your past, can you identify one or more favourite laboratory experiences in your undergraduate courses? If so, what was it about those experiences that made them stand out in your mind? This session will provide information and ideas to assist GAs/TAs in performing the various duties that will offer undergraduate students a positive laboratory learning experience. Two experienced GAs and a Laboratory Coordinator will facilitate interactive discussions to encourage participants to share their experiences and develop best practices. Although the focus will be on Science laboratory experiences, the information can be applied to laboratories in other areas of study.

Harness technology and social media, both inside and outside the classroom to help you with your work as a GA/TA. From the technophobe to the technophile, there are many tools to help you delight your audiences, organize, communicate, curate, present and archive your work -- not to mention your life! This workshop will introduce you to a variety of tools from CLEW to Facebook that you can use to reach your students, enhance lessons, and build a dynamic classroom environment that encourages learning through effective teaching. You will see a demonstration of some of the features available in CLEW, in addition to a sampling of other cool and fun tools many find helpful in their teaching practice, including Twitter, Google Apps, and Pinterest. You will also learn about the Office of Open Learning and the Centre for Teaching and Learning, which can offer support if you are looking to create video lectures with PowerPoints, interactive videos and websites, host online office hours or meetings, or get CLEW support! We have the gear and the knowledge and we are willing to share both.

Once you have registered for lunch, be sure to email Marilyn at ctlworkshops@uwindsor.ca with any allergies or dietary needs (no later than 12:00 pm on Wednesday, August 27th, 2014).

What is plagiarism? How can we define it, identify it, and educate students about it? This session will focus on ways that you, as a Graduate Assistant (GA) or Teaching Assistant (TA) at the University of Windsor, can maintain and foster academic integrity in the learning environment. For many students, learning how to acknowledge other sources and cite them properly is a challenge, and as GA/TAs, we can help students to understand what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it. In this workshop, we will discuss the various types and trends of plagiarism in digital culture and the various reasons why a student might plagiarize. We will look at ways to detect plagiarism in student writing and what to do if you encounter it; we will also examine the University of Windsor Senate Policy (E3) concerning conduct of exams and tests. This session will focus on the values supporting academic integrity.

How do you get your point across? How do you explain complex ideas to confused people who have just graduated high school? Surprisingly, 40 minutes of pointless droning rarely helps students understand.

Grading can be very challenging, as it requires fair and reasoned evaluation, as well as an ability to provide meaningful suggestions to help students improve -- all in a very short period of time. In this workshop, we will discuss strategies for making the grading process more efficient, effective, and manageable.   

Effective communication does not look the same from culture to culture. As teachers working with students of different cultural backgrounds, it is useful to be able to identify different communication styles in order to increase student success. Participants will engage in experiential learning to challenge some of the underlying assumptions that can interrupt communication and learning in a multicultural/multilingual classroom andpractice strategies that they can use right away.

“If you have any problems with the technology, talk to your GA/TA…” No doubt these are familiar words to most GAs/TAs as many profs. throw them the responsibility of supporting students and managing the educational technology related components of their course! But what are the things you really have to know and be able to do to be an effective GA/TA in online or blended courses? What should you expect? Where do you go for help if you need it? What issues should you look out for and what are the most common challenges you and your students will face in online or blended learning courses? This workshop will discuss these issues and provide some hints and tips for surviving and thriving as an online GA/TA.

Harness technology and social media, both inside and outside the classroom to help you with your work as a GA/TA. From the technophobe to the technophile, there are many tools to help you delight your audiences, organize, communicate, curate, present and archive your work -- not to mention your life! This workshop will introduce you to a variety of tools from CLEW to Facebook that you can use to reach your students, enhance lessons, and build a dynamic classroom environment that encourages learning through effective teaching. You will see a demonstration of some of the features available in CLEW, in addition to a sampling of other cool and fun tools many find helpful in their teaching practice, including Twitter, Google Apps, and Pinterest. You will also learn about the Office of Open Learning and the Centre for Teaching and Learning, which can offer support if you are looking to create video lectures with PowerPoints, interactive videos and websites, host online office hours or meetings, or get CLEW support! We have the gear and the knowledge and we are willing to share both.

Congratulations, you are a Teaching Assistant. But what should you do on the first day of classes? Reading the syllabus aloud while everyone follows along seems a little boring, and you always hated when professors did that. Let me help you make the first day of classes informative and engaging in a way that sets the tone for the rest of the semester. The first day is most likely the first time you will present yourself as a teacher; we will talk about what a teaching identity is and how you can figure out yours. While ensuring the information on the syllabus is understood by students, there are other things for you to think about too. You have the opportunity to set the tone and expectations for what is acceptable in your classroom; and most importantly, it is a chance to get to know your students before the academic pressures of the semester set in. Come spend some time with me where I will help you think through the sort of teacher you want to be and fun ways to get to know your students.