August Teaching Institute

Opening Prayer
Elder Evelyn Day

Welcome
Dr. Deanna Davis, Executive Director, Centre for Teaching and Learning

10 - 10:45 a.m.

Bringing Land-Based teachings into your course
An individual’s connection with the land matters—for your own learning and growth, for community relationships and care, and for sustainability for the land. No matter your field or area of study, land as pedagogy is intrinsic and valuable. Participants will engage with perspectives on land-based pedagogies and engage with these as they could be used in the classroom.

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• identify the integral connection between learning and the land;
• explore aspects of land as pedagogy for your teaching;
• create strategies to engage in land-based learning opportunities.

11 - 11:45 a.m.

A roller coaster method to foster student engagement
Teaching can be a bit like a roller coaster—anticipation, anxiety, excitement, ups and downs, and the unexpected loops and twists. This session will demonstrate how you can use the roller coaster method to plan and provide more engaging and exciting learning opportunities for your students.

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• explain what the roller coaster method is;
• connect the concepts from the roller coaster method to your own teaching;
• deconstruct a lesson to determine how to implement the roller coaster method.

12:45 - 1:30 p.m.

Co-creating a community agreement for your course
Co-creating a community agreement with your students on the first day of class can help establish an equitable, diverse, and inclusive space for learning. It gives students a sense of belonging, voice, and accountability in the expectations and boundaries for upcoming discussions and collaborations. It also provides guidance and language for moments of tension. In this workshop, you will learn how to help students articulate their values and write clear, impactful community agreement statements.

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• explain the value of co-creating community agreements during a course;
• connect the experience of co-creating a community agreement to your own teaching;
• translate your teaching values into a draft community agreement.

1:45 - 2:30 p.m.

Universal Design for Learning: A case study in supporting students with ADHD
In this session, participants will identify aspects of UDL that improve the learning experience for all students, including students with ADHD. The proposed UDL Guidelines 3.0 (2024) offer instructors ways to design learning experiences for greater accessibility and equity. Together, we will imagine practical, sustainable strategies to engage ADHD students and support their accessibility, engagement, and learning.

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• identify aspects of UDL essential to overall accessibility and to ADHD in particular;
• explore common strengths and challenges for ADHD students in their engagement and learning;
• co-develop practical and sustainable strategies to amplify strengths and mitigate barriers for ADHD students in courses.

2:45 - 4 p.m.

Connection and reflection
This session provides opportunities for you to engage with CTL's Lead Educational Developers as well as Library staff in an informal setting. Ask more about what you have learned in the morning sessions, get advice on your teaching or consult with library staff about their services. Spend time with colleagues and make new connections.

Mapping learning outcomes and assessments
Alignment between learning outcomes and assessment is an essential component of effective teaching, revealing more clearly what students have learned. In this workshop, you will learn how to craft clear learning outcomes, align them with diverse assessment types through practical coding techniques, and apply these skills directly to enhance your course assessments.

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• explain what makes an effective learning outcome;
• match learning outcomes to various assessment types;
• review and code learning outcomes and assessments in your own course(s).

Be prepared to:

• access documentation from one of your own courses you have taught/will be teaching in order to review the learning outcomes and assessments.

10 - 10:45 a.m.

Co-creating a rubric: AI, students, peers, and you
A well-designed rubric clearly communicates expectations and helps ensure marking consistency. Co-creating rubrics with students encourages a sense of ownership in the learning process. In this workshop, you will learn how to bring students’ voices into the design of an assessment and its rubric. We will also explore prompts for AI to help in the rubric creation process.

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• explain the way accountable, transparent rubrics can be developed through partnerships with AI, students, peers, and reflection;
• connect the method of utilizing Generative AI, student input, peers, and reflection to the process of rubric design;
• implement the multi-voice (AI, Students, Peers, and You) method of designing rubrics for a course.

11 - 11:45 a.m.

Nice to meet you! Creating positive instructor-student interactions
Positive relationships between instructors and students create a foundation for student engagement, belonging, and learning. In this workshop, instructors will practice three strategies for nurturing connection, regardless of class size. Participants will also have the opportunity to share experiences and advice on relationship boundaries in teaching and learning.

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• explain three strategies for creating connections with students;
• tailor the strategies to your own course or field of study;
• practice implementing the three strategies in authentic and meaningful ways.

12:45 - 1:30 p.m.

How to initiate discussions about Generative AI in your courses
How do you initiate a discussion of Generative AI with your students? In this session, you will walk through some steps to help you! You will have opportunities to use a visual AI tool to develop a foundational understanding of how neural networks recognize images and generate output. Discover the iterative processes which train and develop machine learning models as well as building AI literacy and a collaborative set of expectations for student (instructor) AI use in your course(s).

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• create a shared foundational understanding of how AI machine learning and generative AI works with students;
• determine ethical considerations which correspond to specific generative AI use cases;
• plan a set of co-created generative AI use expectations in your course(s).

1:45 - 2:30 p.m.

Two-stage quizzes in the classroom: Maximize student interaction and inclusion
A two-stage quiz provides a low-stakes opportunity for students to demonstrate their understanding of the material individually (stage 1) and then engage in peer learning (stage 2), ultimately reducing the stress of higher-stakes assessments. Stage 2 promotes peer feedback, collaborative problem-solving, and building a learning community. In this workshop, you will experience a simulated two-stage quiz and discover how you could use this type of formative assessment in your teaching.

By the end of this session, you will be able to:

• explain the educational value and efficacy of two-stage quizzes;
• connect the experience of creating two-stage quizzes to your own formative assessment design;
• implement (and adapt) two-stage quizzes (or variants) for your course(s).

2:45 - 3:30 p.m.

Closing Keynote: Imposter syndrome in teaching
Dr. Cosette Lemelin, Assistant Director, CTL

In teaching literature, imposter syndrome is identified as stage fright, fear of public speaking, communication apprehension, and a type of performance anxiety. These feelings can be uncomfortable (even debilitating) for instructors until, with more experience and skill, they can be managed. In this year's closing remarks, Cosette will explore strategies to overcome imposter syndrome, drawing on 20+ years of higher education teaching experience and 30+ years of performance in national and international athletic competitions.

3:30 - 4 p.m.

Connection and reflection
This session provides opportunities for you to engage with CTL's Lead Educational Developers in an informal setting. Ask more about what you have learned in the morning sessions or get advice on your teaching. Spend time with colleagues and make new connections.