#UofTBTS16: Orientation is for faculty too

lavende4 — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 13:19:04 +0000

lavende4 Fri, 09/09/2016 - 09:19

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Orientation sessions give new faculty members the chance for a more personal conversation with a range of people, says Carol Rolheiser, director of the Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation (photo by Wes Adams, CTSI)

Terry Lavender

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Terry Lavender

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Back to School

Faculty

Teaching

Instructional Technology

Orientation

Orientation at the University of Toronto isn’t just for students. Hundreds of new faculty members also have to prepare for the start of the school year at an unfamiliar institution.

So Carol Rolheiser and her staff at the Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation (CTSI) are here to help, guiding new instructors on everything from teaching tools to grading.

New faculty from 46 different departments and all three campuses initially attended full-day orientation in late August, introducing them to the research, teaching and service components of their roles. This was followed by a week of teaching-focused workshops, which included topics such as teaching tools for a diverse classroom, myths about grading, strategies to support active learning and the top challenges faced by students.

“It’s a chance for new faculty to have a more personalized conversation with a range of people, and to get some support and resource material, Rolheiser told U of T News. But, she stressed, new faculty orientation is more than a one-off event.

“It’s part of a cycle of ongoing support and engagement, and networking and professional learning opportunities that go beyond the first week," she said.

Tim Sayle, an assistant professor in history, was one of the hundreds of new faculty members who attended the sessions. He didn’t teach any courses in his previous position at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, but now at U of T he’ll be leading two large classes of 475 and 200 students respectively.

“As a former student at U of T, I knew it was a big institution," Sayle said. "What I didn’t realize was what was behind the curtain. There is an enormous range of resources that help backstop teaching, and this part of the university has done a very good job explaining to new faculty who they are and how they can help. Teaching is not a solo project – and that’s a relief. I’ve been able to draw on colleagues in different parts of the university for advice and support.”

Irene Boeckmann spent two years at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center as a post-doctoral fellow before joining the U of T sociology department as an assistant professor. She is looking forward to a new role that combines teaching and research.

“Hearing about student experiences at U of T and their perspectives on what helps them learn was very useful,” she said. “I was surprised to learn of the wealth of resources and faculty support available.”

Rebecca Woods, who recently joined the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, said she was surprised at the size of U of T.

“I didn’t realize it was quite this big, and I was very impressed with its degree of economic, ethnic, and geographical diversity,” said Woods, who will be teaching courses in the history of technology. “The staff members were excellent models for engaged and meaningful pedagogy, and I came away convinced of the value of active learning strategies.”

Rolheiser's staff try to ensure a mix of new and returning faculty, and a range of examples of best practices from all three campuses.

“It’s important that new faculty and experienced faculty see the range of things that are happening beyond their discipline, beyond their department, beyond their campus because that’s a way to spark innovation,” Rolheiser said.

Just as student orientation is designed to leave the students excited and energized about their new home, so are the sessions for new faculty.

“I’m excited about getting back into teaching, interacting with students, getting to know my new colleagues and becoming part of the academic life of the sociology department,” Boeckmann said.

Innovations in teaching: Teresa Kramarz wants to bring the world to the classroom

lavende4 — Mon, 20 Jun 2016 14:32:31 +0000

Innovations in teaching: Teresa Kramarz wants to bring the world to the classroom lavende4 Mon, 06/20/2016 - 10:32

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Teresa Kramarz leading a Munk One class: it's important that students gain international experience, she says (Johnny Guatto photo)

Terry Lavender

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Terry Lavender

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Global

Instructional Technology

International Collaboration

Teaching

“I have a thousand ideas,” says Teresa Kramarz. “And thanks to this fellowship, I now have the time to pursue one of them.”

Kramarz is an assistant professor and director of the Munk One program at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs. The idea she’ll be pursuing – thanks to her 2016-17 University of Toronto Teaching Fellowship – is to develop a toolkit that will allow instructors to bring the world into their classrooms by collaborating with classes at other institutions around the world. She’s been seconded to U of T’s Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation for 50 percent of her time over the coming academic year to turn that idea into reality.

Find out more about some of U of T’s many innovative teachers

Kramarz calls her idea the Global Classroom. “In the global classroom, two or more instructors will use technology platforms to deliver lectures for the students in both locations. And the students will work together as international teams to complete project work, jointly conduct research, or develop case studies informed by their unique experiences and perspectives.”

It’s important that U of T students gain international experience, Kramarz says. However, for a variety of reasons, not all students are able to travel abroad to gain that experience.

“I’m the international liaison for Munk, so I do as much as I can to get students to go abroad,” she says. “Munk is a practical and professional school where we really ask our students to engage with problems, not just by learning about them, but also by designing ways to address them. For example, if students are studying the palm oil industry in Indonesia, how do I get them there so they can better understand that industry? It’s expensive to get them all there, so can we bring Indonesia here?”

Kramarz hasn’t picked out a particular international institution to partner with yet, but there’s one thing she is sure of: the collaboration has to be an equal one. Too often, researchers and students travel to other parts of the globe from Western universities and gain much in the way of knowledge and experience, but give little or anything in return. “In my idea for the global classroom, there is a heavy emphasis on co-designing the course, so that the people participating from abroad and the people participating from here have equal input into the course design and evaluation.”

It will be important to find the right technologies to use, she says. She wants the experience to be interactive and in real time – not just an instructor giving a lecture while students listen passively. “There’s a wealth of educational technology that can facilitate this, and that space is continually growing so we’ll have a lot to choose from.”

Although she'll be spending half her time on the Global Classroom project,Kramarz will continue to teach and direct the Munk One program. “It’s very near and dear to my heart.”