September 2006

Unless otherwise indicated, sessions occur in the Learning and Teaching Centre (LTC) Classroom in the Harry Hickman Building (HHB) Room 128.

If the register buttons are not working, please contact us by email.

HHB Audio Visual Orientation
Tuesday, September 5, 2006, Meet in HHB Lobby
9:30 AM ~ 10:30 AM
Hosted by Audio Visual Services staff, this session will provide those teaching in Harry Hickman Building (HHB) classrooms an orientation to the functioning of the classroom systems.

Fall TA Conference
Saturday, September 16, 2006
9:00 AM ~ 3:30 PM
HHB Lobby, 105, 110, 116, 120 and 128
Join us Saturday, September 16, 2006 for the annual Fall TA Conference.  You will gain valuable strategies to improve your teaching skills.  The informal atmosphere will allow you to meet other graduate students and enhance your experience at UVic.

Instructional Technology Working Group ~ WebCT Discussion
Tuesday, September 19, 2006, HHB 128
1:30 PM ~ 2:30 PM
New members always welcome!

Teaching for Critical Thinking Workshop
Thursday, September 21, 3:30 PM ~7:30 PM and Friday, September 22, 9:00 AM ~ 3:30 PM
with Dr. Geri Van Gyn (Physical Education) and Dr. Carole Ford (Curriculum and Instruction)
Critical thinking is at the heart of a post secondary education. Although it is a clearly acknowledged goal of our instruction, we may find that it is a significant challenge to enable undergraduate students to reach that goal.  Engaging in critical thinking requires a tolerance for ambiguity and perseverance in the face of uncertainty, conditions that many students find unsettling and, frequently, overwhelming. Contributing to students' uncertainty is the vagueness of the concept of critical thinking as well as the differences in the ways that various disciplines characterize this concept.  In this workshop, we will follow an educational development model that will help you, as an instructor, to clearly articulate your criteria for critical thinking and to identify aligned instructional strategies that will enable students to attain these criteria. As critical thinking requires the purposeful and effortful engagement of the student, designing instruction for critical thinking, by default, requires that our instruction is learner centred. Subsequently, we will consider ways in which you can assess critical thinking, employing the criteria that you have described.   Through your engagement in this workshop, you will be able to use an instructional development process to design your pedagogical interventions (assignments, in class work, full courses) to facilitate critical thinking.  The intent of these interventions is to improve students' understanding of what it means to think critically and to increase their opportunities to engage in critical thinking, both as a way of learning course content and as a way of learning to think in a manner congruent with the area in which they are studying.  This workshop is based on Green Guide No. 6 published by STLHE.

Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW)
Participants must attend all four days, HHB 128
Saturday, September 23, 2006, 9:00 AM ~ 2:00 PM
Sunday, September 24, 2006, 9:00 AM ~ 5:00 PM
Saturday, September 30, 2006, 9:00 AM ~ 5:00 PM
Sunday, October 1, 2006, 9:00 AM ~ 5:00 PM
Have you ever wished you could practice teaching without it actually counting for anything? If yes is your answer, then ISW could be a worthwhile experience for you. (Times are approximate at this stage) There is no fee to attend, but there is a $25 registration deposit, which is refundable to participants who have completed all sessions.  We will ask for the deposit once your registration has been confirmed.  ALL SESSIONS MUST BE ATTENDED.