INstitute for INnovation and Scholarship in Teaching and Learning (INSTL)

FEEDBACK SUMMARY

Prepared by Wendy Maxwell.

Title: Conversations about Teaching and Learning

Date:December 10, 2013

Time:9:00 am – 1:00 pm

Location:Surrey Campus, Fir 3414

Agenda:9:00Meet and Greet Light Refreshments

9:30 Dr. Sal Ferreras, Provost - Vision for Teaching and Learning at KPU

Dr. Jane Fee, Deputy Provost

Dr. Diane Salter, Vice Provost Teaching and Learning - ‘Engaging Students in

Learning’

11:00Pedagogical Speed Dating - Creating Exceptional Student Learning Experiences

This technique is an informal way for spreading the word quickly on a number of

different topics related to teaching and learning in a fast-paced, roundtable

format. After a brief intro from your ‘date’ you will have a chance to ask

questions and discuss the topic before the next topic is brought to your table.

12:15Lunch with special guests from the KPU community

Guests: Todd Mundle, University Librarian

Lyn Benn, Director, Student Development and Success

Harry Gray, Vice Provost, Finance and Administration

Stephanie Howes, Associate Dean, Community & Health Studies

Wayne Tebb, Dean, School of Business

Speed Dating Panel:

Jane Fee, VP Academic, Deputy Provost (Academic Governance)

Diane Salter, Vice Provost Teaching and Learning (Planning a Lesson for Engaged Learning)

Meg Goodine, Manager Learning Technology (Using Moodle for Engaged Learning)

Sam Newton, School of Business Instructor (Faculty Perspective – Ideas for Engaging Students)

Hayley Woodin, KPU graduate (Student Perspective – What Engages Learners?)

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Participants: / Department / No. of participants
Accounting / 1
Academic and Career Preparation / 1
Anthropology / 2
Access Programs for People with Disabilities / 1
Biology / 2
Business / 5
Chemistry / 1
Co-op / 1
Design / 2
English Language Studies / 1
Finance & Admin / 1
Health / 2
Horticulture / 1
Human Resources / 1
Information and Education Technology / 1
INSTL / 4
Learning Centre / 2
Modern Languages / 1
Nursing / 4
Provost / 1
Sociology / 2
Student / 1
VP Academic / 2
TOTAL / 40

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Participant Feedback:
(5 point scale) / What is your overall rating of this session as a learning experience? / 4.6
What is your overall rating on the usefulness of the ideas? / 4.5
  1. What were your main expectations/objectives in attending this session?
Comments:
  • To meet new people (x 7)
  • Learning about teaching approaches being used at Kwantlen (x 3)
  • To review and learn current teaching/learning concepts and strategies (x 2)
  • Hear what others are doing in their classrooms (x 2)
  • To learn more about INSTL (x 2)
  • To improve teaching skills (x 2)
  • To learn new ideas for teaching including use of Moodle
  • To become energized and learn new ways to be creative in class/with students
  • Gain new ideas to engage students
  • What non-traditional teaching strategies are available
  • Learn about KPU’s T&L philosophy
  • Learning different resources out there
  • To develop a teaching strategy for my upcoming course and to get a sense of the KPU teaching style/culture

  1. Were your expectations/objectives met? Please comment on how or how not.
  • Yes – all respondents
  • Comments
  • Technology, interactive teaching methods
  • It goes beyond my expectations. I know the university better. I learned some good practices in education and exchanged views with other instructors.
  • Met and exceeded! I enjoyed the diversity of perspectives (Meg, Jane, etc.) in speed dating. The journalism student gave a voice to student perspective.
  • Plenty of new ideas, now I need some time to process
  • The combination of Sal’s overview and Diane’s content – we are serious and embarking on an exciting journey
  • I learned a new technique of asking students to summarize the lesson and asking questions at the end of the class
  • Well done. A lot of new ideas presented in different formats by different people. Great to include a recent student as part of speed dating
  • Appreciate the student perspective
  • Additional resources and contacts are also very useful
  • Above and beyond. Really appreciate Sam and others’ contributions re technology use
  • Established contacts to have follow up conversations

  1. What changes, if any, would you suggest for future sessions?
  • Be able to mingle with other tables (x 5)
  • Have more of these sessions (x 4)
  • More time for speed dating (x 3)
  • Include more of what students would like to see; evidence based practices
  • Briefer initial overview of provost etc., nice to know but could have been more targeted to today’s goals/where we fit with what we were hearing
  • The speed daters need to present bullet-point summaries and emphasize how we can follow up or find references later
  • Provide more focussed sessions, delivered by specialists in education

  1. Is there anything else that you would like us to know?
  • C & HS needs a workshop on the opportunities to teach “praxis”
  • “Transitions” is both a process and a destination. KPU needs to legitimize the transitions process!
  • Could you have a session about research in this area too? How we can do more research and share it?
  • What styles lead to best outcomes?
  • Do you do individualized sessions with specific programs?
  • I was surprised to know what support is available from Moodle, etc. Could be more “visible”/advertised and accessible (limited time for drop-ins, timely responses, downtime, etc.), videos/other ways of learning Moodle (for after hours support)
  • This should be part of every new faculty member’s orientation

  1. Are there topics from today’s session that you would like to follow up on in future sessions? If yes – which?
  • Moodle resources (x 3)
  • Socratictechniques (x 2)
  • Maybe some education about the roles of management and governance
  • All of them AND more specifics on the integration of T&L with Research and Scholarship
  • It would be nice to hear more from the students and their perspectives of our teaching. How can we collaborate between faculties to help our students more?
  • How to connect with others who might want to research specific techniques
  • Lesson plan
  • More on integrating technology to further engage students
  • Thinking about questions

  1. What other topics for future sessions would be of interest to you?
  • Technologies (x 2)
  • Assessments of learning (x 2)
  • Professional development
  • The generation gap (Boomers to Gen X’ers), how to shift thinking
  • Student engagement – university resources, examples of success stories
  • Successes. Sessions on how we know we are being successful
  • Research; sample of what works and doesn’t work in class; how can we help other institutions?
  • assessment
  • Working with small groups within a large class
  • Using Moodle to engage students learning online
  • Incremental changes – if you are not a complete risk taker, what can you do safely?

  1. If future sessions are offered that are of interest to you, what day of the week and time are you most likely to be available for future sessions?
Time of year
  • End of the semester (x 2)
  • Summer
Time of day
  • Mornings (x 3)
Day of the week
  • Fridays (x 2)
  • Wednesday (x 2)
  • Saturday or evening
  • Not Fridays
Open or unsure (x 2)
  1. Are there ideas from today that you plan to incorporate into your teaching? If yes, which ones?
  • Think, pair, share
  • Strategies for active learning
  • Asking students to summarize the lesson
  • A few of the concept/feedback ideas (to initiate feedback with students)
  • Technology and feedback
  • Lesson plan
  • Moodle
  • Focus on objectives
  • Focus more on open questions than content

Other comments
  • I’d like to know what happened to the Instructional Skills Workshop Course – I imagined it would be an extension of today’s session

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