Program Courses

This course offers the opportunity to explore and evaluate the principles and theories of learning-centred teaching in higher education. Through a diverse range of class activities, readings, reflection, and peer-reviewed class facilitation, students will develop skills in teaching critical thinking; mentorship; and active learning. Students will also use research findings and reflection on teaching practice to inform their own teaching development. This course is of particular interest to graduate students and instructors, but prior teaching experience in higher education is not a prerequisite.

Credit Weight: 1.5  |  Contact Hours: 18

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Plan, facilitate, and evaluate group work to foster active learning and interpersonal interaction.
2. Evaluate and synthesize research on teaching and learning from multiple sources.
3. Explore the challenges and implications of contentious issues in teaching and learning.
4. Articulate the ethical implications of teaching and learning practices in terms of equitable education, student access, and success in higher education settings.
5. Provide constructive formative feedback to peers on teaching facilitations.
6. Evaluate, reflect on, and apply approaches to learning-centred teaching practices.
7. Reflect on their own learning and progress, and development of their teaching identity.

This six-week course introduces participants to the principles and practice of effective course design, including developing effective outcomes, devising methods and strategies to help students master difficult concepts and theories, and aligning assessments. Participants will have the opportunity to design (or redesign!) a course of their choosing, receiving feedback at each step.

Credit Weight: 1.5  |  Contact Hours: 18

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Design a course with assignments and teaching strategies that inspire and support deep learning.
2. Design effective learning outcomes, aligned with teaching methods, assessments and intended learning experiences.
3. Use scholarly information on teaching and learning to guide pedagogical decision-making.
4. Critically evaluate the relevance of key concepts and integrate into a course design:
   1. Learning experiences
   2. Threshold concepts
   3. Bottlenecks
5. Respond constructively with a scholarly approach to some common issues in course design, such as:
   1. Accessibility, diversity, and inclusivity
   2. The coverage fallacy
   3. Student preparation and background
6. Communicate the course design to students through a learning-centred syllabus (including communicating with integrity, humility).
7. Incorporate a plan to evaluate, reflect, and where appropriate, adapt course design.

This course explores the principles and practice of authentic assessment of student learning. Authentic assessment is a type of assessment which assesses what students know, value, and can do in a way that is well-integrated into the entire learning environment of a course and considers the contexts in which learning might be used once students leave the university. Students will learn how to create assessments that are aligned with intended learning outcomes, and will be able to design reliable, valid, and meaningful assessment measures that motivate students and help them learn.

Credit Weight: 1.5  |  Contact Hours: 18

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Design authentic assessment measures, tools, and techniques that will inspire and support deep learning.
   
   Write effective learning outcomes aligned with assessment tasks.
2. Find and evaluate scholarly information on authentic and effective assessment and use it to guide practice.
3. Critically reflect on the effectiveness of their own assessment practices and adapt according to contextual variables and actual outcomes.
4. Evaluate assessment tools and tasks in terms of their authenticity, rigour, reliability, validity, fidelity, and transparency.
5. Respond constructively to some common issues in assessment in higher education, including but not limited to academic integrity; grade inflation and transactional grading; accessibility, equity, diversity and inclusivity; and large classes.

This course will introduce students to the skills and techniques of effective lecturing. Students will explore storytelling, rhetoric, nonverbal communication, as well as additional theories and approaches to creating and delivering lectures that are clear, well-organized, engaging, and learning-centred; and will be able to adapt these strategies to suit their own personal teaching style and disciplinary needs. Students will also have the opportunity to apply the skills and concepts they are learning by designing and delivering microteaching sessions and providing and receiving constructive feedback from peers.

Credit Weight: 1.5  |  Contact Hours: 18

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Design and use lecturing-based lessons that inspire and support deep learning.
   Draw on multiple lecturing strategies, background knowledge, and reflective insight to adapt practice, such as:
   1. Organization and structure
   2. Rhetorical devices
   3. Narrative and storytelling as a lecturing device and structural framework
   4. Strategic, intentional use of voice and body
   5. Strategic Questioning
2. Respond constructively to some common issues in post-secondary teaching and learning, such as:
   1. Habitual lectures vs. strategic, intentional lecturing
   2. Meandering lectures, freedom of speech challenges, and tensions
   3. Misaligned lectures vs. lecturing as an aligned teaching method
   4. Unanchored abstraction
   5. Misused or ineffective external tools
   6. The neglect of voice and body
   7. Poor questioning
   8. The role of the students in lecturing
   9. Attention, distraction, and/or attendance
3. Support student learning by building rapport with students, attending to approaches to learning, proactively minimizing non-pedagogical conflict, and otherwise creating learning-centred classroom atmosphere.
4. Reflect on their own learning and progress as teachers.

This course introduces students to the skills and theories involved in leading and sustaining educationally effective discussions. Students will experience a variety of discussion-based active learning lessons, and will have an opportunity to facilitate a discussion, and receive feedback on their teaching. By the end of this course, students will be in a better position to judge which methods they would like to use in their own classes, and how they can be adapted to suit personal teaching styles and disciplinary needs.

Credit Weight: 1.5  |  Contact Hours: 18

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Plan, design, and facilitate effective active-learning lessons in a learning-conducive classroom using discussion-based teaching methods.
2. Formulate discussion-conducive questions using teaching and learning theories and models.
3. Adapt discussions for use in multiple contexts.
4. Design rubrics to evaluate discussions and the results of discussions.
5. Articulate and implement strategies for preventing and resolving conflict.
6. Provide learning-centred feedback to motivate and guide student development.
7. Use multiple communication techniques to improve teaching and facilitate student learning.
8. Reflect on their own learning and progress as teachers.

This course defines and interrogates the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL), and its value to teaching, learning, and higher education. Students will consider different types of SoTL projects and research methods, determining approaches that might help them identify and answer questions and explore areas of interest. At the end of this course, students will have a SoTL project underway and a plan moving forward.

Credit Weight: 1.5  |  Contact Hours: 18

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Define SoTL and interrogate its relevant questions, issues, and assumptions.
2. Design a SoTL project, and plan for its mobilization and dissemination.
3. Find and evaluate relevant SoTL sources.
4. Select an appropriate type and methodology to address a specific SoTL question/project.
5. Evaluate the ethics, feasibility, and applicability of SoTL.

This course addresses current and emerging teaching and learning issues, topics, and concerns, and serves as a forum where students can explore and challenge their teaching and learning assumptions. Students will learn about theories and models of reflective practice and communicating their teaching identity. They will also have the opportunity to observe and practice teaching and learning concepts and theories learned in the Graduate Diploma in University Teaching (UTD). As this course is the final requirement for participants in the UTD, it is expected that students have an understanding of the basic theories and principles of higher education.

Credit Weight: 3  |  Contact Hours: 36

Course Learning Outcomes

1. Design and facilitate a teaching session that draws on scholarly principles and practices of effective teaching.
2. Apply and interrogate scholarly information on teaching and learning.
3. Extend and predict practical applications of key concepts in university teaching and learning.
4. Provide constructive criticism/feedback to peers to support and enhance their teaching.
5. Design an authentic, well-organized teaching dossier.
6. Reflect on their own learning and development of their teaching practices and identity.