STLHE 2016 SAPES

Following the success of its initial Certificate in University Teaching (CUT) program during the 2014-2015 academic year, the Teaching and Learning Centre (TLC) staff at an Ontario university decided to both bifurcate and expand the program for its 2015-2016 offering, creating one stream for faculty and staff and another specifically for teaching assistants (TA’s).

In the course of redesigning and delivering the CUT program for 2015-2016, TLC staff needed to look at the program through “new eyes”. To this end, Garrison and colleagues’ Community of Inquiry (CoI) model (2000) was used as the basis for the program (particularly the online and blended / hybrid components); Wenger-Trayner’s Community of Practice (CoP) model (2015) was also employed, particularly when facilitating the program. Finally, an outcomes-based approach to course design (Biggs & Tang, 2011; Fink, 2003) was followed.

This lightning round presentation will provide background on the origins of the program, a rationale for its redesign, and share the constructivist principles of teaching and learning which the program staff sought to use as design elements and also embed as content within the program. Screenshots of the online learning environment (Blackboard) will be provided, as will discussion of the planning, implementation, and delivery of the program. A reflection on lessons learned will also be included; challenges encountered by the program developers will be discussed. The primary emphasis of the presentation will be on how the program designers / facilitators attempted to model and convey “good practices” in teaching and learning for the benefit of the program participants (i.e. faculty, staff, and grad students) so that participants would feel empowered to experiment, innovate and ultimately try to enhance the design and delivery of their respective face-to-face, blended, and online courses.