For Graduate Students
Centre for
Teaching and Learning 2008-2009
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Programs and Services for Graduate Students The Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) offers an extensive range of programs specifically for graduate students. These include programs for Teaching Assistants and International Graduate Students to support your development as instructors.
Teaching Assistant Development Professional Development Day for Teaching Assistants (TA Day)
is offered each year by the Centre for Teaching and Learning. This daylong conference is an opportunity for all TAs to meet and learn about new and interesting developments in teaching and learning. A featured guest keynote speaker focuses on key aspects of the roles and responsibilities of TAs in undergraduate teaching. Concurrent professional development sessions provide opportunities to develop general teaching skills as well as skills specific to individual disciplines. This year the conference will be held on Friday, September 5, 2008. NOTE: The workshops taken at TA Day can be used for the Certificate Program in University Teaching and Learning.
International Graduate Students All new international English graduate students whose Communication Assessment (ECA) first language is not
English are required to be assessed for oral proficiency in English before they can be assigned a Teaching Assistantship which includes duties other than marking. This assessment is required regardless of whether at the time of application to graduate school students submitted a TOEFL, Michigan or other approved written English language test. The ECA is administered by the Centre for Teaching and Learning at the beginning of the fall and winter semesters. This year the ECAs are scheduled for August 25, 26, 27 and 28, and September 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, 2008. Assessments will also be offered in the Winter term (dates and times to be announced). International graduate students can schedule their ECA by contacting the CTL by email at ctl@queensu.ca Depending on the results obtained on the ECA, students may be required to enroll in the communication skills course SGS 802: Communication Skills for Teaching Purposes. This is a term length course which is offered in both the fall and winter semesters at no cost to you.
www.queensu.ca/ctl/
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SGS 802: English Language Communication Skills for Teaching Purposes is a twelve
week non-credit course offered in the fall and winter terms. This course is designed for graduate students who are nonnative speakers of English and would like to be teaching assistants at Queen’s. SGS 802 has four objectives:
* to provide you with the necessary teaching skills to be effective teaching assistants * to improve your English language and communication skills within the context of their duties as a teaching assistant * to provide you with insight into the culture, attitudes and assumptions that prevail in the Canadian university classroom and * to create a support system as you make the transition into life at Queen’s In the Fall term classes will be held every Tuesday from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm (beginning September 16) or Wednesday from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm (beginning September 17). In the Winter term it will be offered every Friday from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm (beginning January 14). To enroll in this course, please contact the CTL directly.
Teaching and Learning Development SGS 901: Teaching and Learning in Higher Education is a graduate level course offered in the winter term and is intended for graduate students across the disciplines who want to become skilled, thoughtful, and confident teachers in higher education. The goal of this course is to foster understanding and reflection about learning approaches and effective teaching in a university setting. The course is intended primarily for Ph.D. students, particularly those who have completed their comprehensive examinations. Others, including master’s level students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty members, may attend, depending on enrolment. It is highly desirable that participants have some prior teaching experience (for example as a TA) and/or be acting as a TA or teaching at the time the course is offered. This term length course is offered in the Winter term only on Wednesdays from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm.
www.queensu.ca/ctl/
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Teaching and Learning Development continued... Consultations As part of the Expanding Horizons Series of workshops for Graduate Students, the CTL will offer sessions which focus on teaching and learning in higher education. They will be offered during the Fall and Winter terms on Wednesday afternoons from 4:00 - 5:00 pm in the Faculty and Staff Learning Facilities where the CTL is located. Specific dates and title sessions will be posted on our Calendar of Events that can be found under Programs and Services on our website.
Certificate Program in University Teaching and Learning (PUTL)
This program provides an opportunity for graduate students to receive formal recognition for their participation in training and development activities. There are three separate program certificates: Scholarship, Practical Experience, and Professional Development. Graduate students may complete as many of the three certificates as they wish, at their own pace, and in any order that they choose. For further information and to register, go to the CTL home page and click on Community, then on Graduate Students.
Teaching Assistants are invited to contact the CTL for one-to-one support, advice, and/or feedback on their teaching. Consultations can be carried out in person or by email. We can help you collect feedback on your teaching by doing in-class observations, arranging a videotaping of their tutorial or lab session, and/or offering advice and resources with respect to mid-term and end-of-term student questionnaires.
CONFIDENTIALITY All consultations are strictly confidential. Information about anyone who uses our services will not be released to any other person or department unless the user requests and authorizes the release of such information.
Resources A Handbook for Teaching Assistants
This CTL handbook offers suggestions on effective ‘TAing’, including leading tutorials and labs, lecturing and presenting, setting and marking assignments, counselling students, and collecting feedback on teaching. Many departments provide their TAs with a copy of the handbook however, it can be downloaded from our website from the CTL Publications page, found under Resources.
www.queensu.ca/ctl/
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Preparing a Teaching Dossier
The teaching dossier is an increasingly popular way for faculty to document their teaching effectiveness, both for self-improvement and for tenure and promotion. For information on how to prepare a teaching dossier, see the CTL’s practical guide that outlines the steps in preparing a dossier, explains what to include, and shows how to review and revise a draft dossier. Authentic dossiers are provided as examples, and useful appendices include a list of possible items for a dossier, instructions on developing a statement of your teaching philosophy, and guidelines for the interpretation of student evaluations of teaching.
Teaching More Students Series
Help on effectively teaching students in large classes is available, including teaching strategies that promote deep learning, encourage cognitive development, and motivate students to take more responsibility for their own learning. The Teaching More Students series is a set of short handbooks that focus on teaching effectively in a time of resource constraints. They were originally developed in Britain at the Oxford Centre for Staff Development. The series has been adapted for use in Canada by the Queen’s University Centre for Teaching and Learning, which purchased exclusive Canadian rights to the materials. Handbooks include topics such as problems and strategies, lecturing, discussion,
assessment, independent learning, course design, labs and practicals. They are about 50 pages in length and each provides an introduction to the topic, case studies, practical exercises, and a bibliography.
Resource Library In addition to the CTL publications listed here, we maintain a resource library consisting of over 5,100 books, articles, journals, and videos on university teaching and learning. These publications are available for loan to Queen’s instructors, and the collection is searchable through an online database at: http://db.library.queensu.ca/ctl/
Our Mission The mission of the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) is to enhance the quality of student learning and support all instructors in their teaching role by: • •
• •
Fostering and sustaining a culture of collaboration through community building Providing services and programs to support the educational development activities of individuals and academic units Encouraging policies and initiatives that value and recognize good practice Promoting the scholarship of teaching and learning.
www.queensu.ca/ctl/
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The CTL’s Strategic Areas of Focus Community: A well-developed teaching
community transcends diversity of disciplines, knowledge and expertise, reduces isolation, provides learning and development opportunities for individual teachers and has the potential to transform the university culture.
Good Practice: Effective
teaching is a scholarly activity, integral to the duties of all faculty members. The CLT’s resources, services and programs are intended to support the ongoing efforts of individuals and academic units to develop good teaching practices.
Leadership: The Centre aims to challenge policies and practices that may serve as barriers to effective teaching and learning, and advocate for policies and practices that value, foster, recognize and reward effective teaching and learning.
Scholarship: The scholarship
of teaching and learning invites teachers to reflect on teaching practices, document methods, outcomes and changes made to improve learning, and share findings with colleagues. Scholarship makes instructional processes public and opens practices to critical debate.
Location of CTL The CTL offices, workshop space and resource library are in the Faculty and Staff Learning Facilities, Room B176, MackintoshCorry Hall. We are open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday.
CTL contact information: Tel: (613) 533-6428 Fax: (613) 533-6735 Email: ctl@queensu.ca
www.queensu.ca/ctl/
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CTL Full-Time taff Staff
Director Joy Mighty, Ph.D.
Director and Professor, School of Business Email: director.ctl@queensu.ca Phone: 613-533-6428
Educational Developers Andy Leger, Ph.D.
Educational Developer and Assistant Professor Email: al7@queensu.ca Phone: 613-533-6000 x 75303
Denise Stockley, Ph.D.
Educational Developer and Associate Professor, Faculty of Education Email: stockley@queensu.ca Phone: 613-533-6000 x74304
Catherine Gurnsey
Administrative Secretary Email: gurnseyc@queensu.ca Phone: 613-533-6000 x75073
Jennie Hill
Secretary/Receptionist Email: jennie.hill@queensu.ca Phone: 613-533-6428
Sandra Murray
Program Coordinator Email: sandra.murray@queensu.ca Phone: 613-533-6000 x75159
www.queensu.ca/ctl/
Centre for Teaching and Learning, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6 Phone: 613-533-6428 Fax: 613-533-6735 Email: ctl@queensu.ca URL: www.queensu.ca/ctl/