May 2013

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

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Using Music to Teach Signals and Systems
Monday, May 13, 2013
10:00 AM ~ 11:30 AM, PLEASE NOTE NEW ROOM LOCATION: David Strong Building (DSB) C108
Facilitator: Iman Moazzen, Electrical and Computer Engineering
It is well known that creating an active and exciting learning environment significantly helps students get involved in the class. This is extremely important in engineering courses which are very complicated in nature. Music is a great tool to make classes more engaging and has been successfully deployed in many areas such as history, social studies and ESL classes. However, it is quite challenging to merge music with the most basic engineering courses, which significantly involve mathematics. One of the basic and quite challenging courses for electrical engineering and computer science students is Signals and Systems. The course contains complicated but very essential materials which form the foundation for digital signal processing and control theory courses. The traditional teaching approach (pure math) of this course makes it very boring for students. Moreover, students with a weak math background consider this course as one of the most difficult courses in the curriculum. In this workshop, taking advantage of music, a teaching approach is proposed that makes the course more attractive and engaging for students.

Learning and Teaching Development Grant (LTDG) ~ Submission Deadline
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
4:00 PM, HHB 126
Information and Application Form

Faculty Development Spring Institute: Deep Learning for Student Success [Vancouver Island Educational Developers' Association (VIEDA)] and [Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Series]
Tuesday, May 21, 2013 to Friday, May 24, 2013 ((8:30 AM - 8:30 PM)
Held at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, but several Vancouver Island faculty members have collaborated on developing it and will be teaching it.
This professional development opportunity offers post-secondary educators a rich learning experience guided by experienced faculty developers, teaching and learning centre directors and award winning faculty, curriculum, teaching and learning specialists and supported by leading-edge research and resources in teaching, learning and technology around deep learning for student success.
Click here for more information and to register.
Poster
VIEDA Information
SoTL Series Information

Quality matters in blended learning: Being more than together and more than apart [Guest Speaker Series]
Thursday, May 30, 2013
1:00 PM ~ 2:30 PM, SSM A110
Facilitator: Dr. Norm Vaughan, Department of Education, Faculty of Teaching and Learning, Mount Royal University, Calgary

‘Blended learning is the organic integration of thoughtfully selected and complementary face-to-face and online approaches and technologies.’(Garrison & Vaughan, 2008, p.148)
As author of an extensive list of publications on blended learning and faculty development, Dr. Norm Vaughan is a national and international authority on the integration of technologies in learning and teaching. He is co-author of the seminal text, "Blended Learning in Higher Education" (Jossey-Bass, 2008) and is currently on the editorial board of five leading academic journals on learning, teaching and technology. He is also co-founder of the Blended Online Design Network and a member of the Community of Inquiry Research Group.

Dr. Vaughan recently wrote, ‘In the words of Gladwell (2000), "We have gone over the “tipping point;” blended learning has become an educational epidemic.’ In his presentation, Dr. Vaughan will explore why he feels ‘blended learning has become the dominant paradigm in 21st-century higher education,’ and will introduce case studies, teaching strategies and tools to demonstrate their application. He will also explain how the Community of Inquiry framework which he has researched (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 2001) can be utilized to create high quality and engaging learning experiences for students and faculty. Whether you are an advocate, a skeptic or just want to understand more about blended learning and what it means, please do take this opportunity to learn from one of the most thoughtful experts in the field.

Garrison, D.R., & Vaughan, N.D. (2008). Blended learning in higher education. Framework, principles and guidelines. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Poster
Guest Speaker Series
Register

Writing @ the Centre
Friday, May 31, 2013 [Includes lunch and refreshments]
9:00 AM ~ 3:00 PM, HHB 105
Facilitators: Staff from The Writing Centre (UVic) plus Royal Roads University, Camosun College and Vancouver Island University
The University of Victoria and The Canadian Writing Centres Association are pleased to announce a one-day, pre-Congress conference, with support from Royal Roads University, Camosun College and Vancouver Island University.
This conference explores writing centre best practices and next practices. Topics will include writing instruction in classrooms and tutorials, academic integrity, and technology in writing support.
Dr. Rebecca Babcock (University of Texas) and Dr. Terese Thonus (University of Kansas), the keynote speakers, will be discussing the topic of researching writing centres.
The keynote session is free and open to the public. The session is 9:15 AM ~ 10:15 AM, HHB 105.
Please note that Writing @ The Centre is not officially a part of Congress. There will be a separate fee for the one-day conference. Register for the conference at the Canadian Writing Centres Assocation website.

• $75 ($65 for students) in advance
• $90 at the door

You do not need to be registered for Congress to attend this event.

June 2013 Events