EDC Pre-Conference Workshops: February 18, 2010
We offer two invited pre-conference workshops as part of the annual Educational Developers Caucus (EDC) conference, hosted in 2010 by Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC. Each year, we invite one workshop to highlight the educational development work of the host university and one workshop on another topic of interest to EDC members. Both sessions take place on Thursday, February 18, 2010; 10:00 am - 4:00 pm. Pre-registration is required. Refreshments will be available from 9:15 am, and lunch is served from 12:30 - 1:30 pm. See other details on the conference website and the schedule-at-a-glance about bus shuttles from the Town Lodge Hotel, and the opening reception on Thursday.
Workshop #1: OM2211
Developing a Canadian Agenda for Research on the Practice of Educational Development
Facilitated by: Ros Woodhouse, Academic Director, Centre for the Support of Teaching, York University; Carole Dence, Educational Developer, Higher Education Research and Projects; Paola Borin, Curriculum Consultant, Ryerson University and Erika Kustra, Director Teaching and Learning Development, Centre for Teaching and Learning, University of Windsor
Goals: To develop a national agenda for research on the practice of educational development, and to establish collaborative networks to conduct this research.
Rationale: There is increasing recognition of the need to enhance post-secondary teaching and learning. The importance of adopting research-informed teaching practices and approaches is widely accepted. Educational developers play a central role in informing the post-secondary community of these practices and in supporting faculty members and departments in adopting them. While there is a growing body of research literature devoted to teaching practices, there is very little research available to guide educational developers in their practice as professionals, especially in the Canadian context. In the current environment of budgetary restraint, having evidence to guide decisions and refine programming is critically important. This session is intended to help the Canadian community of educational developers to begin to address this deficit.
Approach: You will engage in a collaborative, consensus-building process to define and prioritize research issues of most salience for our community and to establish networks of colleagues and Centres to advance this research. We will build on work initiated at STLHE in 2008 by including as many members of the EDC community as possible.
We will work toward these goals using collaborative methods to:
- Reflect critically on our practice
- Identify aspects of practice and issues that are of shared interest
- Develop consensus on priority issues for a Canadian agenda for research on educational development
- Establish collaborative working groups on priority topics
- Develop action plans
Facilitator Bios
Paola Borin, M.Ed., is a curriculum consultant at Ryerson University. She has over 10 years experience in educational development and over 20 years experience in private and public education in Canada and the USA.
Carole Dence, MA, has over 17 years experience in the field of educational development. The founding director of the Teaching and Learning Resource Centre at Carleton University, she recently retired from the position of Interim Director of the Centre for University Teaching /Centre de pédagogie universitaire at the University of Ottawa. Carole also works as a private consultant and researcher in educational development and the scholarship of teaching and learning.
Erika Kustra, Ph.D., has over ten years of experience in educational development and has been teaching at the university level since 1992. She co-authored an STLHE Green Guide, Leading Effective Discussions. Erika has been part of university- and national-level award-winning teams for exemplary collaboration in university teaching and for community development. She has been engaged in research in education with colleagues for the past five years.
Ros Woodhouse, Ph.D. has over fifteen years of experience as an educational developer in medical/health professional education and in the wider university setting. Her practice, teaching and research integrate her interest in learning processes and outcomes in students and faculty, and how these are influenced by instructional/development approaches, curriculum and the wider educational environment. Ros was also a contributor to the founding of the Educational Developers Caucus.
Workshop #2: OM2221
Making Connections: Teaching through the Experience of Place
Facilitated by Dr. Lyn Baldwin, Biological Sciences; Tina Block, Philosophy, History, and Politics; Ila Crawford, Visual and Performing Arts; Dr. Kim Naqvi, Geography; Ginny Ratsoy, English and Modern Languages; Elizabeth Templeman, ESL, and Coordinator, Supplemental Learning; and Tom Waldichuk, Geography
This workshop will provide an opportunity for you to contemplate and share your reflections on whether and how place matters to your teaching. Many have argued that place is of increasing importance for academic institutions and their surrounding communities in the context of cultural and economic globalization, both to recognize the unique qualities of local phenomena and local knowledge, and to meet the academic and social needs of an increasingly international student body. Place-based education is gaining recognition as an engaging and attractive approach which increases student achievement and student retention in primary and secondary schools, yet little attention has been devoted to place-based education in post-secondary institutions in Canada.
In this workshop you will use exploration and reflection to investigate two “iconic” places in the winter landscape of Kamloops, BC one urban and one natural. A series of hands-on, interdisciplinary exercises will provide concrete strategies to help embed place in your own teaching. The workshop facilitators are currently developing an interdisciplinary course for TRU students on the importance of place. During the final segment of this full day workshop, we will solicit your feedback and explore opportunities for potential collaboration.
Participants will be provided with relevant readings for review prior to the Conference. This workshop will include two extended walks outside in Kamloops. Participants should be prepared with appropriate footwear and warm clothing.
Facilitator Bios
Dr. Lyn Baldwin (Biological Sciences) is a landscape ecologist who investigates the impacts of large-scale deforestation on plant communities in the southern interior of British Columbia. She has recently investigated the educational value of using illustrated learning journals in plant ecology and evolution courses.
Dr. Tina Block (Philosophy, History, and Politics) is a Canadian historian who focuses on religion, gender, and family in post-World War II British Columbia. Her current research examines the ways in which the Pacific Northwest has, in religious terms, been constructed as a distinct place.
Ila Crawford, MFA (Visual and Performing Arts) also holds a Bachelor of Social Work. Her professional practice as an artist is informed by feminist concerns. She teaches courses in Art Foundations and Drawing, as well as courses in Painting, and Screenprinting. She looks for opportunities to incorporate visual thinking in other disciplines.
Dr. Kim Naqvi (Geography) is a development and economic geographer with a special interest in the cultural underpinnings of economic change, and the impact of technology change on industry-based models of development and economy.
Ginny Ratsoy, MA (English and Modern Languages) teaches Canadian literature and has published articles on both novels and plays that are set in the Kamloops area. Her research and writing on teaching have focused on place in another way – by exploring the impact of different service learning models on students’ perceptions of their connection with community.
Elizabeth Templeman, MA (ESL, and Coordinator, Supplemental Learning) teaches literature and writing in an advanced ESL program, and coordinates an academic support service. She has been involved in various initiatives to support and enhance teaching and learning, and also writes creative non-fiction.
Dr. Tom Waldichuk (Geography) is a human geographer who teaches courses related to the environment, attitudes toward nature, and Japan. He is interested in rural sustainability, urbanization, the rural to urban land conversion process, and landscape change, particularly in Japan.