Workshops on Effective Teaching

Facilitated by Lauren Spring

There’s no denying that generative and assistive AI tools are catalysts for change in higher education. There is much discussion about how these tools impact assessment and academic integrity, but less exploration of the impact they have on Teacher-Student relationships.
In this workshop, participants will be invited to reflect on important questions about trust, values, transparency, and power dynamics in the age of AI-infused post-secondary education. We will use exemplar scenarios to measure our own experiences and feelings against scholarly findings on the topic.

Facilitated by Lauren Spring

This teaching basics workshop includes a) a brief introduction to the unique characteristics and needs of students in their first semester of post-secondary education (with special consideration given to first-generation students), b) an overview of college resources available to help these learners, c) a discussion about best-practices faculty can employ to help ease the transition to post-secondary while supporting students’ ongoing development, d) a debrief in which outstanding questions and suggestions for teaching first semester students are shared

Facilitated by Nasreen Sultana

This teaching basics workshop includes a) a brief introduction to common classroom management challenges b) evidence-informed suggestions and innovations to start the semester off on the right foot, taking into account the importance of creating an inclusive classroom community c) a discussion about how novice vs expert faculty tend to respond to classroom management challenges d) an opportunity to apply knowledge to a case study where participants can practice preventing and responding to classroom management incidents that may arise.

Facilitated by Adrienne Vanthuyne and Marcia Chaudet

This teaching basics workshop includes a) a brief introduction to managing group work and the variables that can impact student success, b) a chance to match and assess effective group work components and requirements c) an opportunity to draft set of checkpoints for setting up a group assignment and discuss with a peer, d) a debrief in which outstanding questions and suggestions for effective group work practices are shared.​

Facilitated by Marcia Chaudet

Facilitated by Ada Sharpe

Essays, multiple choice quizzes, and exams are standards of assessment, but other options exist in designing assessment tasks. Are you interested in infusing some creativity in your assessment design? Join this workshop to share ideas and explore possibilities to energize and innovate your assessments. We will explore alternatives to traditional assessments that support student learning with an emphasis on choice, creativity, and originality.

Facilitated by Adrienne Vanthuyne and Nasreen Sultana

Have you been stressed by piles or files waiting to be attended to? Have you gotten stuck and not known where to start? Join your colleagues and examine 3 possible work flows and debate their pros and cons. Choose strategies that will help you manage time and reduce stress for both you and your students. Prepare to give efficient and effective feedback to promote learning and explain marks.

Facilitated by David Baidoo-Anu ,Monsurat Raji and Ada Sharpe

This workshop invites you to explore the potential for assumptions and biases to negatively impact grading practices.  We will reflect on our own experiences, as well as look to the literature to support self-awareness.  We will discuss proven practices in grading and assessment design that can work to mitigate challenges.  Let’s come together to explore how we can begin to understand and reduce the impact of bias on our grading practices.    

Facilitated by Jesslyn Wilkinson

Have you ever wanted to annotate a webpage, PDF or YouTube video, or build a discussion board around one? This workshop will use Hypothesis, a third-party app licensed by Conestoga. We will develop ideas for easy assignments and tasks to get started with social annotation and provide you with ready-to-use instructions. It doesn’t matter if you’re teaching humanities, business, STEM, or the health professions, or if you’re teaching face-to-face or online — you’ll get strategies from this workshop that you can add immediately to a learning task in your course. Come away from this session with a clear idea about how to start incorporating collaborative annotation.

Facilitated by Evelyn Schmidt

This workshop is designed for those who have already added Panopto to a course and have videos in their account. Come explore some of the advanced features Panopto can offer, including smart chapters, editing captions, interactive quizzes, and more!

Facilitated by Evelyn Schmidt

With Office365, you can support and track group-based assessments! This hands-on workshop will provide you with the skills and experience you need to have students creating and sharing documents, collaborating on projects, and actively co-constructing learning as they demonstrate it to you. We will experiment with how to use the OneDrive to plan group projects using shared documents and calendars. We will test out adding comments to provide feedback and tracking individual student contributions to group products. Finally, we will determine where students may encounter issues, and create strategies to help manage group work in the digital environment.

Facilitated by Launa Gauthier, Juliet Conlon, Carrie Barrett, and Danya Goldsmith

In this workshop designed for new SoTL researchers, participants will explore the rich landscape of SoTL literature and the essential step of connecting our SoTL research projects to existing research. In the workshop we’ll define a traditional literature review with an emphasis on understanding where and how to search literature related to your SoTL topic.

Facilitated by Evelyn Schmidt

As educators, we are often tasked with creating or modifying PowerPoint Presentations, either inherited from someone else or slides that you are creating from scratch. This workshop focuses on technological tips and best-practices for effectively creating or editing slides to suit your own teaching style and to comply with accessibility requirements. Topics discussed include. copywriting, slide layout, accessible design, and colour choices.

Facilitated by Jesslyn Wilkinson

If your course uses an eText, come to this session to learn some of the features of the Texidium eReader app which can be used to enhance learning. In this session, we will explore some of the key challenges posed by eTexts for learners. Considering these, we will explore some ways to support learners in interacting within an eText. Experiment with features that connect to particular learning strategies, and leave with a few ready ideas to incorporate into your teaching or course development.

Facilitated by Kevin Brown

The Bookstore has entrusted VitalSource as our new eReader for the eText program. Join us for a first look at switching out your course link and at the VitalSource Bookshelf eReader features. We’ll guide you through its intuitive tools, making you feel right at home. Experiment with the tools, ask questions, and discover how they enhance your teaching toolkit. Share ideas on leveraging eReader tools for effective course delivery. We’ll walk you through the seamless shift to VitalSource so that you’ll be well-prepared through the Fall 2024 transition.

Facilitated by Launa Gauthier

In this workshop, participants will examine various methodologies used in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning research. Participants will gain insights into effective data collection strategies, enhancing their abilities to conduct rigorous and impactful research studies. Participants will also be introduced to some of the key ethical considerations associated with SoTL methods and research more broadly.

Facilitated by Launa Gauthier

In this introductory workshop, participants will explore the fundamental principles of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) also known as teaching and learning research. We’ll examine the overall process for developing an impactful SoTL research project. Participants will learn how to transform their teaching-related inquiries into researchable questions and envision a project that helps them explore improvements and impacts on student learning in classrooms. Participants will also be introduced to some of the key ethical considerations of SoTL research.

Facilitated by Ada Sharpe

How can you provide feedback in fair and honest ways that encourage critical and creative thinking without telling students what to do? This workshop focuses on feedback within an inquiry-based learning approach. Come and explore effective inquiry-based feedback strategies and consider how they apply to your course.

Facilitated by Evelyn Schmidt

Are you wondering how collaborative documents can encourage participation in your teaching and assessment activities? This workshop will showcase how accessible collaborative documents can be used with in-person, synchronous and asynchronous learning environments. You will also explore multiple strategies for using collaborative documents in activity design, while ensuring that these resources are fully accessible to your learners.

Facilitated by Evelyn Schmidt

Looking for ways to boost participation and engagement in your courses? Welcome to this interactive, introductory level webinar about Mentimeter! Hosted by the Mentimeter team in collaboration with Teaching and Learning, this session will go through the basics of Mentimeter and walk you through using this interactive polling tool in any teaching mode. These dynamic questions will help increase interaction in your course and create engagement in your bridges, pre or post assessments. In this session, you will learn how to set up and use Mentimeter for in-person, synchronous or asynchronous classes. Leave with some new ideas, a template slide deck you can adapt to your own needs, and access to your Conestoga provided, fully licensed Mentimeter account! 

Facilitated by Evelyn Schmidt

Are you interested in creating videos you can use and reuse in your courses? Conestoga has recently licensed Panopto, a full feature video service for exactly this! Create screenshares, role plays, equipment demonstrations, whiteboard diagram demonstrations and more. Use Panopto much like YouTube to create, edit, transcribe and share videos, but with the added benefit of unlimited storage and retention, and integration and analytics with your eConestoga courses. Work on a brief sample video, and gain some hands on experience building videos in Panopto. Learn some principles of educational video creation along side technical tips and leave with greater confidence in creating your own teaching and learning videos.

Facilitated by Adrienne Vanthuyne

This workshop will help you to derive the benefits of using Bloom’s Taxonomy in your lesson planning and delivery. We will explore how low to high level thinking skills can be activated, practiced and measured using active learning strategies and formative assessments.

Facilitated by Cory Scurr and Carla Mangahis

In this workshop, participants will receive an overview of Conestoga’s Academic Integrity policies and procedures. We’ll explore how to communicate to students when misconduct is suspected and how to file an incident using the Employee Portal. Finally, we’ll review best practices and some available resources.

Facilitated by Jesslyn Wilkinson

This workshop is designed to enhance how educators plan their lessons. Participants will explore using Microsoft Copilot to streamline lesson planning and create dynamic, engaging activities. Discover techniques for prompting Copilot to generate lesson bridges, pre-assessments, participatory activities, and post-assessment ideas that align with the BOPPPS lesson planning model and Conestoga’s educational standards. In this practical session, you will learn to use Copilot to design and revise lesson plans with variety and interest.

Facilitated by Marcia Chaudet

This session is designed to support the preparation of your hybrid course, focusing on setting up the course shell to effective teaching practices that enhance hybrid learning. We’ll explore practical examples of asynchronous learning activities and examine how they integrate with the various modalities of a hybrid course structure.

Facilitated by David Baidoo-Anu

Did you know that eConestoga now provides an Assessment Analysis feature that can help you reflect on assessment items as well as your teaching and feedback strategies related to assessments? Join this workshop to learn more about three assessment analysis features visible only to faculty. Together, we will explore how you can use these to reflect on reliability and validity and adjust your assessment practices.

Facilitated by Sara Kafashan

As one semester wraps up and another begins, let’s take time to reflect on our teaching practices. In this workshop we’ll discuss a) why we might be hesitant to identify what goes well and what goes badly in our classrooms; b) the difference between reflecting “in” action and reflecting “on” action; and c) why these practices are beneficial for both students and faculty. You will receive formal frameworks for reflection and straightforward evidence-based tools you can make use of before, during, and after each semester.

Facilitated by Sara Kafashan

Whether intentional or not, hateful actions and words harm and exclude valuable members of our community. What should faculty do when a racist or hateful comment is made in their classroom? In this workshop, we will discuss practical examples of how faculty can respond swiftly and appropriately to racism and hate that may show up in teaching contexts.

Facilitated by Marcia Chaudet

This workshop addresses practices for establishing effective student groups, ensuring that students recognize the roles and responsibilities associated with group work. Practical strategies will be introduced, discussed, and applied.

Facilitated by Evelyn Schmidt

In this session, we explore ways to deliver interactive lessons that engage students and support learning using some features of Zoom best suited for teaching and learning.  Learn tips and strategies for sharing Zoom links in eConestoga, pulling attendance lists, annotating and demonstrating on shared screens, supporting and monitoring breakout room, and recording your Zoon session.

Facilitated by David Baidoo-Anu and Monsurat Raji

Given the socio-economic, educational and cultural diversity among students at Conestoga, this workshop is designed to equip you with the knowledge and strategies necessary to implement socio-culturally responsive assessment practices in your classrooms. We will explore how assessments can be tailored to meet the diverse needs of students and will discuss ways to identify and address potential biases in assessment design and grading practices to promote equity and fostering a more effective learning experience for all students.

Facilitated by Laura Stoutenburg

Come join your colleagues on-campus and re(visit) classroom technologies, delivery, interactions and processes

Facilitated by Elan Paulson

We will explore the new “Generative AI Toolkit” developed by Library Services, which provides students with information about key AI issues, including academic integrity, copyright, accessibility, and more. Together, we’ll reflect on how we can integrate relevant sections into our teaching activities and assessment information, as well as ways to encourage students to use the Generative AI toolkit on their own to further their learning.

Facilitated by Monsurat Raji and David Baidoo-Anu

In this workshop, participants will explore strategies for supporting student learning in high-stakes end of term assessments, including final exams and major summative assignments. We will focus on small but meaningful practices faculty can introduce in their courses in the final weeks of term to prepare students academically for end of term assessments, while mitigating learner anxiety and cultivating strong study skills.

Facilitated by Launa Gauthier

In this workshop, participants will be guided through the step-by-step process of developing a SoTL project. We’ll discuss an overview of research questions, research design and data collection methods. Participants will spend some time exploring how Generative AI can support different stages of the research process.  Participants will be given a SoTL project planning template to take away from the session which offers a structured approach and resources to help them implement their project. 

Facilitated by Jesslyn Wilkinson

Want to gamify an exam review period to help relieve anxiety and have students practice material? This session will provide two ways you can do this! You’ll experience the games and leave with some templates and ideas you can readily use in your own teaching.

Facilitated by Glenn Wagner

In this workshop, faculty will explore hidden bias and how it can show up in the post-secondary classroom. We will discuss examples of when faculty may experience bias from students, and how bias can show up in our own teaching. Come explore the topic of hidden bias and gain practical strategies to mitigate the impact of implicit bias on teaching. 

Facilitated by Glenn Wagner

All students arrive to your class with their gifts and challenges as learners.  In this workshop, we will focus on the challenges of teaching students who are ‘neuro-diverse’, meaning that they engage and learn differently than ‘neuro-typical’ students.  Expect to learn about the different characteristics of neurodiversity, the strengths and challenges neurodiverse students bring to your class, and how to engage neurodiverse students to maximize their full potential. 

Facilitated by Cory Scurr and Carla Mangahis

This course will provide a high-level overview of using, understanding and interpreting Turnitin and its various features on eConestoga. During the two-hour workshop, participants will learn the best practice to set up Turnitin on their course shell, examine examples of similarity scores and understand the new AI detector