Meet the inaugural cohort of the Graduate Teaching & Learning Fellowship Program
The GATA Network is proud to introduce the first cohort of Graduate Teaching and Learning (GTL) Fellows in the Faculty of Engineering: Haleh Nazemi, Haesung Ahn, and Sheldon Fetter. As Fellows, Haleh, Haesung, and Sheldon will contribute to the experience, abilities, and support for graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants in the Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Human Kinetics by spearheading educational development initiatives in partnership with students, faculty, and academic staff.
Building on the existing support of the GATA Network, the GTL Fellowship Program was constructed with the objective to distribute the Network’s centralized efforts by providing direct and targeted support within individual faculties or academic units. The core focus of the program is to improve the experience, abilities, and support for graduate and undergraduate students that are involved in assisting with the teaching and delivery of courses either as GA/TAs or otherwise.
In the Fellowship role, graduate students have a chance to develop skills in project design, teaching and learning innovation, leadership, and public scholarship and outreach. The program challenges GTL Fellows to fine-tune and utilize creative skill sets (e.g., design thinking, prototyping, communication strategy) to disseminate what is being learned through educational development initiatives, e.g., the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), peer observations, workshop design and facilitation, resource development, etc. Through their involvement, graduate students are exposed to intellectual spaces at the University of Windsor where innovation in teaching and learning is occurring – within collaborative projects between academic units, the GATA Network, and the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL).
Dr. Van Heyst, Dean of Engineering, notes that he is “eager to build on the existing support from the GATA Network to provide targeted professional and pedagogical development to GA/TAs in Engineering in an effort to improve teaching, learning, and student success.” Highlighting the multifaceted benefit of the Fellowships, he adds, “as Fellows, graduate students will also enhance their own skills in educational leadership, innovation, and public scholarship and outreach.”
Come Winter 2023, two more GTL Fellows in the Faculty of Human Kinetics will also join the Fellowship Program. Linda Rohr, Dean of Human Kinetics, emphasizes that the Faculty is “committed to optimizing the student experience through impactful teaching and course delivery methods. We are excited to continue to support the educational journeys for Human Kinetics graduate students who will facilitate innovative and collaborative projects within our Faculty and across campus as Graduate Teaching and Learning Fellows.”
For inquiries about the GTL Fellowship Program, contact Laura Chittle (Laura.Chittle@uwindsor.ca).