February 2008

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.

Student Motivation: Strategies that Work [TA ProD Series]
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
6:30 PM ~ 8:00 PM, MacLaurin D116 [PLEASE NOTE CHANGE IN LOCATION]
Learn how to engage and motivate your students throughout the year, in either intimate or large classroom settings. Become the effective, engaging, and inspiring teacher you want to be at the same time as your students benefit from a deeper knowledge of your course material. This workshop is based on a large body of human motivation research known as "Self-Determination Theory". Any member of campus welcome.
TA ProD Series Information

Perfectionist Writers
Thursday, February 7, 2008
1:00 PM ~ 2:30 PM, HHB 128
Presenter: Laurie Waye, The Writing Centre Coordinator, and Joe Parsons, Learning Skills Director
Does your need to be perfect get in the way of writing? Do you edit as you write or do you feel free to fix mistakes later? For writers who get in their own way, Joe Parsons from Learning Skills and Laurie Waye from The Writing Centre (The Writing Centre) will provide a session on how to overcome perfectionism in writing. Please note that the January 29, 2008 session covered the same material.
TWC Seminar and Workshop Information

Googling to a Degree: Integrating Information Literacy into your Teaching
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
12:30 PM ~ 2:00 PM, HHB 128 [Lunch included]
With Pia Russell, McPherson Library
Similar to concerns surrounding student writing, instructors consistently lament that undergraduate students struggle to understand what constitutes scholarly research. Studies show that most students believe the internet has more worthwhile information for them than an academic library (OCLC, 2005) and that students “rely on information-seeking habits formed prior to arriving at college” (Madden & Jones, 2002). Most often Google is the first and only source students seek out. In an effort to help students better understand library research and the value of scholarly communication, universities are adopting information literacy and research-based learning as core curriculum goals. Key partners in the realization of these goals are the university library and, specifically, subject librarians. This workshop will introduce instructors to the concept of information literacy and will provide initial guidance on how to integrate information literacy learning experiences into their teaching. Examples of current UVic information literacy activities from various academic disciplines will be highlighted. Workshop participants will leave with an emerging Information Literacy Action Plan.

Teaching Tips Series #5 ~ Optimizing the Multiple-Choice Test Item
Thursday, February 14, 2008
10:00 AM ~ 12:00 PM, HHB 128
With Professor Marty Wall, Department of Psychology
Multiple-choice tests appear deceptively simple to prepare but are arguably among the most difficult to produce well. What features of student learning do such tests really discriminate? We will re-examine various pre-and post-test criteria that can be used to assess and improve the quality of individual multiple-choice test items. These include the format of the question stem, the cognitive level of the item, and the discriminability of the item as a predictor of overall performance. Multiple-choice testing might not always be an optimal instrument for assessing student learning, but if used it should follow best practices. It does make a difference.
Teaching Tips Series Information

Instructional Technology Group (ITG) ~ UVic and Educational Technologies of the Future - Group Discussion
Thursday, February 14, 2008
1:00 PM ~ 2:00 PM, HHB 128
With Dr. Valia Spiliotopoulos, Associate Director, Learning and Teaching Centre
This one-hour group discussion will examine some of the emerging technologies in the next 5 years and will help us consider which ones will best meet the needs of UVic students and instructors. A list of these emerging technologies can be found in the 2008 Horizon Report published by the Educause Learning Initiative - a leading organization advancing learning through information technology innovation (http://www.educause.edu/eli ). As a follow-up to this workshop, we have invited two specialists in the field, Alan Levine and Scott Leslie, who are on the Advisory Board of the 2008 Horizon Report. Their session is from 2:00 PM ~ 3:30 PM on Monday, February 25th at the Learning and Teaching Centre.
Everyone is welcome to join the discussion.
ITG Series Information

Course Redesign Workshop (CRW)
Monday, February 18, 2008 ~ Friday, February 22, 2008 inclusive
8:30 AM ~ 3:30 PM daily, HHB 128 [Lunch and nutrition breaks included]
Instructor: Dr. Ed Ishiguro, Department of Biochemistry & Microbiology
The Course Redesign Workshop (CRW) provides a collegial environment and extensive support for instructors to design a new course or to redesign a current course that they feel is not as effective as it could be.Over the five days of the workshop, instructors will examine their course content and identify and explain the intended outcomes of their redesigned—or newly designed—course.They will learn about and make informed choices regarding instructional methods to increase student engagement and learning. Additionally, they will learn to design ways of assessing learning that are congruent with the intended outcomes that they had previously identified.Finally, they will learn about appropriate strategies to build a sense of community in their courses and ways to give and receive feedback so that the course stays on track and students feel supported.As a result of their participation, instructors will be able to apply the design/redesign process to other courses.
Previous participants in this workshop have described the CRW as a “transformative experience” and have expressed a renewed sense of enthusiasm for teaching. If you are interested in the CRW, please contact 721-8571 or ltc@uvic.ca.
THIS WORKSHOP IS NOW FULL
CRW Information

Educational Innovation in Teaching with Special Reference to Large Classes: The Pedagogy of Clickers and Beyond
Thursday, February 21, 2008
12:00 PM ~ 2:00 PM, HHB 110 [Lunch provided]
With Dr. Timothy J. Stelzer, Research Associate Professor in Physics, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana
Another clicker workshop, but this time with a difference. In this session, sponsored jointly by the Learning and Teaching Centre and the Faculty of Science at UVic and by I-clicker, the focus will be on pedagogy. The keynote presenter, Dr. Timothy J. Stelzer, is a high energy particle theorist who is also a key member of the Illinois Physics Education Group where he is recognized for his contributions in the development of tools for the assessment of educational innovations in introductory courses and in the use of web technology in physics pedagogy. He was the recipient of the BP Amoco Award for Innovation in Undergraduate Education in 2005 and is a co-developer of the I-clicker. Dr. Stelzer’s presentation will be interactive for the benefit of those unfamiliar with I-clickers and will focus on the design of questions and on successful strategies for employing clickers in the classroom, discussed at a level that will be applicable to any discipline. We hope this workshop will motivate non-users to try clickers in their classes. There will also be ample opportunity for discussion, and we will encourage users to exchange information on how they use clickers to enhance student learning.
FYCIC Series Information

What's on The Horizon: An Emerging Technology Conversation
Monday, February 25, 2008
2:00 PM ~ 3:30 PM, HHB 128
With Alan Levine, Vice President, Community & Chief Technology Officer of the New Media Consortium, and Scott Leslie, Project Manager for the BC Campus Shareable Online Learning Resource
Each year the New Media Consortium - an international consortium of nearly 250 learning-focused organizations dedicated to the exploration and use of new media and technologies - produces The Horizon Report (http://horizon.nmc.org/wiki/Main_Page), an attempt to forecast some of the emerging technologies and forces that will effect education in the coming years. Join two of the Horizon Report's advisory board members for an open discussion about the newly released 2008 report, as well as an opportunity to share your own experiences with a host of innovative and disruptive technologies, from social bookmarking, to online storytelling tools and virtual worlds that are offering both new challenges and opportunities for educators.

Presentation Skills Workshop (PSW)
Participants must attend all three days, HHB 128
Thursday, February 28, 2008, 6:00 PM ~ 8:00 PM
Saturday, March 1, 2008, 9:15 AM ~ 5:00 PM
Saturday, March 8, 2008, 9:15 AM ~ 5:00 PM
This workshop is designed to facilitate participants in giving an effective presentation in an academic environment. Each participant will give two 10-minute presentations designed for different contexts and will provide constructive feedback for the presentations of others. $50 registration deposit (refundable upon completion of the full program).