Designing effective learning experiences that prioritize student-centered outcomes requires a solid foundation in course design fundamentals rooted in pedagogical principles. In this workshop, participants collaborate to create a learning activity that incorporates recognition of prerequisite skills and learning outcomes aligned with both…

The rapid and widespread adoption of competency-based education (CBE) has brought into sharp focus long-standing tensions built into education systems, particularly for graduate and professional schools. We all share the desire to produce graduates equipped to respond capably in a rapidly changing world. However, many of us struggle with the…

Curriculum mapping can be used to document, align, visualize, and assess curricular data, such as learning outcomes, assessment materials, instructional techniques, and student pre- and post-testing scores. A cross-disciplinary Curriculum Mapping Initiative currently underway at the University of Toronto Mississauga aims to: (1) develop guidelines…

Strategic planning in universities is frequently positioned as vital for clarifying future directions, providing a coherent basis for decision-making, establishing priorities, and improving organizational performance. Models for successful strategic planning abound and often present the process as linear and straightforward. In this essay, we…

In October 2014, the University of British Columbia Vancouver campus (UBCV) ran a campus-wide survey to establish baseline information on teaching practices and attitudes among faculty, to measure the impact of existing teaching and learning initiatives and to identify the conditions leading to change in practices and attitudes around teaching.…

This study presents a post-secondary campus experience with systematic and global promotion of Universal Design for Learning. It analyzes data collected over a 24 months period, relating to course instructors' responses to the framework, through the lens of the initial hypothesis that successes and failures in adoption might be explained by the…

Confronted by the increasingly changing and varied nature of disabilities in higher education (Bowe, 2000; McGuire & Scott, 2002), disability service providers across North America are progressively moving away from targeted remedial assistance focusing on the disabilities of students to a less frontline role involving the sensitization of…

This paper shares insights into how university faculty understand and integrate internationalization and global citizenship ideas into their pedagogical practices. The study worked with a broad base of faculty to come to an understanding of what it means for scholarship to embrace internationalization in teaching and then to explore ways of…

In response to recent social, economic, and pedagogical challenges to tertiary-level teaching and learning, universities are increasingly investigating and adopting eLearning as a way to engage and motivate students. This paper reports on the first of a two-year (2009-2010) qualitative case study research project in New Zealand. A snapshot of each…

First-year university students are a diverse group of individuals with various abilities and needs. Failure of the university and its teaching faculty to meet the needs of first-year students may result in abandonment of the pursuit of a degree. This project informs instructors about the practices that strengthen a learning-centred approach and…

This paper describes the implementation of a peer observation program at the University of Victoria called the Lecture Club. The observers are not interactive during the class--they are the proverbial flies on the wall. The paper identifies the program as self-developmental, discussing the attributes of this learning-to-teach and peer-sharing…

This paper highlights program-level assessment of learning outcomes in an 8-month Faculty Certificate Program (UBC-FCP) on the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) at the University of British Columbia (UBC). The aim of the UBC-FCP is to enhance SoTL in multidisciplinary settings. Essentially, SoTL is an approach to academic work that…