University of Toronto Logo

CENTRE FOR TEACHING SUPPORT & INNOVATION

Home » Annual Reports » 2017-2018 Annual Report

2017-2018 Annual Report

Message from the Directors

It’s been a year of opportunity and change at CTSI. Carol Rolheiser undertook a six-month study leave and Diane Horton, a faculty member in the Department of Computer Science, stepped in as Acting Director from January through June 2018, which allowed CTSI the chance to extend our connections and gain from the experience and knowledge of an award-winning instructor and member of the Teaching Academy.

We’ve titled this report Intersections because we believe this best describes CTSI’s work. Intersections demonstrates the breadth and depth of our activities and commitment to collaborating with our peers, our leadership on teaching matters and scholarship, and our contributions to pedagogical and technological initiatives at the University of Toronto.

Our partnerships have impact across the University and provide tri-campus support for teaching at the U of T. For example, through a massive communication campaign and consultative process, CTSI collaborated with a number of U of T offices, including Information Technology Services (ITS), to select, promote and integrate the University’s new Academic Toolbox – Quercus. In rolling out this initiative, every corner of our institution has been touched. From the initial consultation process in 2016 to selecting a platform, training users and creating resources for the full implementation in Fall 2018, CTSI has been involved at every stage and with every division.

In Fall 2017, CTSI helped develop a conceptual framework for Integrated Learning at the University of Toronto that touches on important experiential dimensions of undergraduate education – research and innovation, community, workplace and international experiences – to best enhance the learning and engagement of students and instructors. This framework is a foundational organizer for the Integrated Learning Experience workshop series that CTSI developed with the Office of the Vice-Provost, Innovations in Undergraduate Education. New sessions have also been scheduled for 2018-2019.

CTSI’s commitment to inquiry and the improvement of teaching is evident through our professional development models that are grounded in research, evidence and collaboration. This past year we saw the second cohort of the Peer-to-Peer Faculty Mentoring for Teaching Program and the creation of new programming, including the 2018-19 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Cohort Program for U of T instructors interested in conducting research into their own teaching.

We are looking forward to the upcoming year, working with U of T’s Teaching Fellows (a new model that brings three Teaching Stream instructors to CTSI to work on a two-year teaching initiative), our cohorts, and a range of colleagues from across the University.

The University of Toronto is a world leader in higher education. CTSI is proud to play a central role in pedagogical and technological advancement and to connect with our community to enrich the teaching and learning experiences for both instructors and students.

Diane Horton (January-June 2018)
Acting Director, CTSI and Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, Computer Science

Carol Rolheiser (on leave, January-June 2018)
Director, Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation and Professor, Curriculum Teaching, and Learning, OISE

Foundational and Institutional Intersections

Enhancing lines of communications and supporting mechanisms for collaboration are prime objectives for the Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation (CTSI). This annual report is one mechanism for sharing our work this past year, 2017-2018.

CTSI teams and individual staff members support instructors and initiatives across the University through programming, resources and consultations. The partnerships listed below demonstrate some of the long-standing and continuing collaborations that are the bedrock of CTSI’s involvement in, and influence with, the University of Toronto year-after-year.

Online Learning Strategies

CTSI’s Academic and Collaborative Technologies (ACT) team is supported by a partnership with Information Technology Services (ITS) and Online Learning Services (OLS). Working with OLS this past year, ACT established the Augmented/Virtual Reality Network to share initiatives and approaches, and create a community of learning and support around this emerging technology. The ACT team also provides continued support for OLS for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) at U of T – both in progress and in-development.

This past year, OLS and ACT worked on a variety of projects funded by the Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Development (MAESD) and administered by e-Campus Ontario. These projects include an Open Textbook Startup Kit, two Open Textbook Creations and two Open Textbook adaptations, four Open Module projects and a Virtual Labs with Labster Pilot (a web-based, 3-D virtual lab technology). The Data Driven Design (D3) project, in collaboration with the OLS and SoTL teams in CTSI, developed models that allow already available data to inform course design decisions and encourage effective implementation through a peer-based, collaborative faculty development initiative.

Since 2010, CTSI has collaborated with University of Toronto Libraries (UTL) in the Partnering for Academic Student Success (PASS) initiative. This past year, seconded librarians Tim Neufeldt (Instruction, Music Library) and Heather Buchansky (Student Engagement, UTL) participated in the planning and delivery of CTSI programming, including: Tune into Teaching: Assignment Design; the Course Design/Redesign Institute; and, the Undergraduate Research Workshop, a part of the Integrated Learning Experience workshop series.

The MADLab, now in its 5th year, supports innovation in mobile app development and other emerging technologies at U of T through one-on-one consultations, workshops, talks, and events. The MADLab presented on 3D printing for students in a number of Faculties and departments this past year, including OISE’s Critical Thinking and the use of Technology for Teaching and Communication course (in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning), virtual and augmented reality apps for Computer Science 2nd Year Learning Communities and Canadian Studies’ Digital Tools in a Canadian Context, and on mobile app development for the iSchool, the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education and the University of Toronto Libraries.

The MADLab also provides app development services for U of T departments and outside clients, and has employed work study students from U of T to assist with these projects, including the development and distribution of the PharmaOTG app with the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, and developed a new version of the Best Practice in Surgery app for Android and iOS in collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine’s Department of Surgery.

MADLab’s reputation as a leader in 3D printing and app development at U of T was recognized by its inclusion in the proposal for the new Faculty of Arts & Science minor in Digital Humanities (that passed governance in February 2018) as a campus resource that has enriched the curriculum and student experience in hosting 3D printing workshops for students in Woodworth College’s Intro to Digital Humanities, a required course.

CTSI supports the MADLab through faculty and staff consultations, resource development and mutual programming.

CTSI’s work is enriched by long-standing collaborations with teaching and learning centres across the university – Centre for Teaching and Learning (UTSC), Robert Gillespie Centre for Academic Skills (UTM), Faculty of Arts & Science, and Centre for Faculty Development (Faculty of Medicine). Over this past year, CTSI and the Centre for Faculty Development initiated a U of T Educational Developers’ Network. The network provides a collegial space for educational developers across the University to share experiences, resources and ideas to advance teaching and learning at U of T, building on existing connections and supporting future collaborations.

Academic & Collaborative Technologies 

The Academic & Collaborative Technologies (ACT) team provides support, consultations, training and resources to the university community, whether it be a new online learning project, a teaching and learning grant (for submission, project planning and implementation), an interest in a new technology, or the migration and integration of institution-wide technologies. Team members contribute to regular CTSI and TATP programming (e.g., workshops on strategies for writing U of T grants and using multimedia in the classroom), support U of T’s Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), and produce new online resources (e.g., Teaching with Social Media guide).

ACT Team Highlights

Moving to Quercus

With the institution-wide move from Blackboard to Canvas as the University’s new Academic Toolbox scheduled for September 2018, the ACT team has played an integral role in the selection, promotion and integration of this new system – known as Quercus.

Starting with an early adopters’ pilot and designing a migration strategy, ACT Support staff provided specialized training to U of T educational technologists and instructors. This included three Quercus Day events (one on each campus), numerous training sessions (in-class and online) and individual consultations.

Members of the ACT team participated in the Training and Support Working Group, the Communications Working Group, the Technical Working Group, and the Integrations Working Group, connecting with colleagues across the University and planning the rollout of the new system. Using a ‘train the trainer’ model, the ACT team, in close collaboration with the ITS group, held sessions for educational technology support staff in every Faculty and division, and developed resources and sessions to help instructors and staff build Quercus courses and migrate content from the old system.

Awareness Presentations: The ACT Support team participated in nearly 100 divisional and departmental meetings to raise awareness of the Quercus migration.
CTSI-led Training Sessions: 30 CTSI-led Quercus training sessions
Divisionally-led Training Sessions: The ACT Support team participated in 50 divisionally-led Quercus training sessions.

Certina Ho
Lecturer, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy
“With the help of ACT Support (ITIF) staff, we were able to learn about resources and key elements for best practices in online learning … we were able to storyboard 5 online modules of patient/medication safety, of which one of them was developed and pilot tested.”

Two team members on the ACT Support team in CTSI supported ITIF recipients with the development and implementation of five funded projects:

  • Enhancing Dental Students’ Communication Skills Using an Integrated Online Formative Assessment Module, Faculty of Dentistry
  • U of T Libraries Undergraduate Information Literacy Online Modules
  • Web-based Virtual Labs to Enrich Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Biology Curriculum, Department of Biomedical Engineering
  • A Multimedia Resource for Health Professional Students to Provide Safe and Quality Patient Care, Faculty of Pharmacy
  • Collaborative Online Design, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE)

Additionally, longitudinal assessment of the ITIF program was supported through the creation of an online final report template.

ITIF in ACTION

7: Participation in seven sessions to provide ITIS-related support
11: Eleven articles for ACTion Journal – articles drafted to describe the high impact teaching practieces that resulted from previous ITIF projects
3: Two ITIF in Action workshops and one CTL Teaching Showcase workshop at UTSC
17: Seventeen project design and application consultations

Team Intersections

Team projects, collaborations, and initiatives

The ACT team works closely with ITS on a number of projects and initiatives. In the past year, the team supported two large institution-wide initiatives – our new Academic Toolbox Quercus and the instructor and staff migration to Office 365, which also closely involved the Organizational Development and Learning Centre. This involved ACT Support team members providing training and resources for endusers and information technology staff.

ACT Support team members collaborated with the Sexual Violence Prevention & Support Centre, School of Continuing Studies, and the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education to design, build and deploy a university-wide sexual violence education and prevention awareness campaign. These modules were launched via U of T’s Portal and are now available on Quercus.

Course Evaluations

At the University of Toronto, online course evaluations are conducted to collect formative data for instructors to improve their teaching, to provide summative data for administrative purposes and for program and curriculum review, and to provide members of the university community, including students, with information about teaching and courses at the University. Using a unique Cascaded Course Evaluation Framework that provides contextualized feedback, including at the institutional, divisional and individual levels, the Course Evaluations team provides support to fully implemented units and continues to work to implement the framework across the University. Team members provide leadership in the area of online course evaluations in the national and international higher education community, as evidenced by wide-ranging consultations this past year with 20 institutions across four countries.

Course Evaluation Team Highlights

Ongoing Implementation Work with Medicine, Pharmacy and Dentisty

Extensive consultations and staggered integration periods are required when implementing the framework in new divisions and Faculties. For every division, there is an attention to detail and a dedication to providing customized evaluations that fit their context(s). This past year, the CTSI Course Evaluations team worked with the Faculties of Medicine, Pharmacy and Dentistry to design and finalize course evaluation items (instructor and divisional level), pilot courses, and consult on evaluation settings and assessments that best suit the particular and varied needs of these Faculties and their individual units and instructors.

The Course Evaluations team completed implementation with the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education, a culmination of 4 years of consultation and planning. The Course Evaluation team now supports 19 fully implemented undergraduate and graduate divisions across all 3 campuses.

Kathy Vu
Director, PharmD for Pharmacists Program & Assistant Professor, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy
“I worked with Gregory Hum and Tara Wells to bring online course evaluations to the PharmD for Pharmacists program in the Winter 2018 term. I appreciated their willingness to engage with work at any stage of the process. Their knowledge and experience was very helpful during discussions with our team to develop the program-specific questions. I look forward to working with both again as we analyze the results and share them within the program.”

The Course Evaluations team engaged in a large-scale validation study (see link below) of the institutional items of U of T’s Cascaded Course Evaluation Framework. The validation study focused on the evaluation of 3,568 individual course instructors, teaching 11,919 individual course sections, across two academic years (2015/2016 & 2016/2017) for the four largest undergraduate divisions at U of T (Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering, Faculty of Arts & Science, University of Toronto Mississauga and University of Toronto Scarborough). The sample, which included 277,498 submitted evaluation surveys from 54,108 unique students, represented more than 75% of the course evaluation surveys that were collected by the Course Evaluations team in that time period.

The validation study supports the validity and reliability of the institutional items across raters, items and course sections, and contributed to the redesign and revision of various course evaluation materials, including the forthcoming updated interpretation guide for administrators. This work highlights the value of the evidence-based Course Evaluation Framework at the University of Toronto and the value of integrating student feedback into course and assignment design.

https://uoft.me/validation-study

Team Intersections

Team projects, collaborations, and initiatives

The Course Evaluations team’s work touches nearly every Faculty and division at U of T, whether the framework is fully implemented within a unit or still in the consultation and planning stages. The team supports Faculties and individual units through every evaluation period (at the conclusion of each term and session) – from individual support for instructors in selecting items and interpreting results, answering student questions on the process, ensuring course and instructor data matches information at the department level, to sharing response rates and overall system engagement with institution-level administration (e.g., the Course Evaluation Advisory Group).

Key collaborations to highlight:

  • Working with the University of Toronto Business Intelligence (UTBI) unit to add the course evaluation data set to the institutional data warehouse.
  • Working with the UTBI and the Academic & Collaborative Technology (ACT) team to establish, test, document and implement a new data verification procedure that greatly streamlines the process of reviewing institutional and departmental evaluation data.
  • Working with the CTSI and TATP programming teams to design and deliver workshops for both instructors and graduate students on course evaluations and how to incorporate the findings into course and assignment design. CTSI consultations are also provided for instructors on how to interpret the data for the purposes of annual reviews, as well as tenure and promotion processes.

Programming & Communications 

Over this past year, CTSI’s Programming and Communications team continued to enable, support and promote innovations in teaching and learning that enhance the culture of teaching at the University of Toronto. Workshops, roundtables, and special events covering a range of topics on teaching, learning, and pedagogical issues were offered throughout the year for faculty, librarians, graduate students and staff. Our commitment to capacity-building was further emphasized through the valuable collaborations formed with a number of departments, offices and communities to develop and support University-wide initiatives in teaching, learning and technology.

Programming & Communications Team Highlights

Integrated Learning: Experiential Learning at the University of Toronto

In partnership with the Vice-Provost, Innovations in Undergraduate Education, CTSI held three full-day workshops for the Integrated Learning: Experiential Learning at the University of Toronto series (Work-Integrated Learning; Undergraduate Research Opportunities; Community-Engaged Learning). Leading faculty members from U of T and peer institutions came together to share best practices and provide direct support in the development of course and program offerings connected to our new Integrated Learning Experience (ILE) framework. This programming culminated in U of T’s Teaching and Learning Symposium – Experience: Integrative Learning, a tri-campus event held on April 30, 2018.

Ahmed Allawala
Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, Department of Human Geography, University of Toronto Scarborough
“The full-day event on community-engaged learning was extremely helpful … I greatly appreciated that the event brought together stakeholders and practitioners from the curricular and the co-curricular side of the university, intentionally taking a broad and holistic approach to experiential learning that creatively blurs institutional boundaries. [The event] offered important context for the recent increased interest in experiential and work-integrated learning in Ontario.”

Following the success of the pilot cohort, the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Faculty Mentoring for Teaching at U of T program entered its second year with eight peer pairs of faculty participating in a reciprocal mentor-coach relationship to enhance teaching and learning experiences. Over a six-month period, instructors attended three CTSI-facilitated workshops designed to build skills in mentor-coaching, observation of teaching, and giving and receiving feedback. They also reviewed course evaluation data to identify strengths and areas of improvement, engaged in peer observation, collected mid-course feedback from students, and had regular conversations with their mentor/coach. Mentoring practices developed by participants will feed back into departments, encouraging effective teaching practices and enhancing the strong teaching culture of the U of T.

Team Intersections

Team projects, collaborations, and initiatives

The Programming and Communications team connects and works closely with other CTSI teams and U of T colleagues to promote and share news and information about U of T’s new Academic Toolbox – Quercus. Team members sat on the Quercus Communications Working Group and helped prepare statements and timelines for announcing the selection, guidelines and promotion for the Name the New Portal Contest. To support this on-going and multi-layered migration initiative, team members produced videos to announce the new name and platform, interviewed early adopters (for video and an online Q & A), created posters and information toolkits for departments and faculty, helped coordinate and promote training and information sessions, and directed users to information on migration and support.

For the third year, CTSI partnered with the Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking (DCIT), Rotman School of Management, to plan, promote and host the 12th Annual Teaching & Learning Symposium Experience: Integrative Learning. Not only does CTSI appreciate the opportunity to work closely with another office to coordinate and host this event, it is also grateful for the chance to connect with and learn from the 45 presenters and 287 attendees from across the University. Similarly, the Integrated Learning Experience (ILE) series, presented in partnership with the Office of the Vice-Provost, Innovations in Undergraduate Education, provided the opportunity to work with different faculty across the institution, as well as colleagues from the University of Victoria, University of Alberta, and the University of British Columbia on this important and timely topic. The Programming and Communications team also worked with the Office of the Vice-Provost, Innovations in Undergraduate Education and presenters to produce follow-up videos and resources for this series.

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) team works with instructors, and occasionally departments and the VPIUE to support research on teaching and learning in U of T’s classrooms. These investigations can take the form of an interest in reading pedagogical research, joining a roundtable discussion on a particular topic or journal article, participating in CTSI SoTL workshops, or specialized programming, applying for one of the University’s teaching and learning grants, or conducting and presenting their own research project. CTSI understands the importance of connecting individuals and divisions across the University to share experiences and research and encourage the rigorous pursuit of pedagogical scholarship.

Thanks to the interest of CTSI and others, SoTL is now part of the University’s Institutional Strategic Research Plan (ISRP).

SoTL Team Highlights

SoTL Programming and Resources

This past year has been one of reflection and planning as the SoTL team reviewed their contributions to the university community and Canadian higher education. The Peer-to-Peer Mentoring (P2P) for Teaching Pilot Report was published in Fall 2017. Of note, the report highlighted that the majority of participants were highly satisfied with their mentee-mentor relationship and greatly valued the P2P resources (e.g., the CTSI Peer Observation of Teaching Guide). The findings informed the subsequent 2017-2018 P2P Mentoring for Teaching program and resources. The team developed a series of SoTL resources (e.g., tip sheets) that provide both practical and theoretical guidance for instructors engaging in SoTL. Those resources drew on the collective expertise of CTSI staff, librarians and experienced SoTL faculty members. Over the past year the SoTL section of the CTSI website also underwent revisions to align with resource additions.

Ananya Tina Banerjee
Assistant Professor and Associate Program Director, Social & Behavioural Health Sciences, Dalla Lana School of Public Health
“I really appreciate the dialogueI have with the staff at CTSI that exemplifies a shared vision of teaching excellence and enables faculty to advance their scholarly activities related to teaching and learning. I am very new to research on teaching and learning. I received a 2016 LEAF grant to examine the impact of movement breaks in undergraduate classrooms at U of T. CTSI introduced me to the array of evidence-based literature and services that support me to evaluate innovative teaching methods and encourage critical thinking skills.”

From January-April 2018, the CTSISoTL team laid the groundwork for the inaugural 2018-19 Scholarship of Teaching & Learning Cohort Program, responding in part to the findings from a CTSI-led SoTL survey and an increased interest from instructors regarding SoTL. The Call for Applicants opened in April 2018 and CTSI received a far greater number of applicants than anticipated – a testament to the interest and commitment to SoTL at U of T. The full-day launch workshop occurred on June 14, 2018.

This program engages 14 continuing appointment faculty across three campuses to develop their own SoTL project from inception through to publicly sharing their inquiry/research experiences.

Team Intersections

Team projects, collaborations, and initiatives

CTSI connects with U of T instructors, staff and librarians on SoTL issues through its listserv – now with 279 members. This is an opportunity for the U of T community to share ideas, experiences and information among peers.

The SoTL team worked with other CTSI teams in planning and presenting at the University of Toronto’s Teaching and Learning Symposium (April 30, 2018) and delivering and assessing the second iteration of the P2P Faculty Mentoring for Teaching Program. The team also collaborated with Online Learning Services on the Data Driven Design (D3) Innovation Network Project Final Report (for e-Campus Ontario) and the Data Driven Design (D3) workshops (4 in total). The D3 project highlighted ways to use data in course design.

Members of the SoTL team presented three papers at the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL) conference in Calgary, Alberta, in October 2017, and also led a webinar on peer mentoring for teaching for the Council for Ontario Educational Developers (COED) in June 2017.

Teaching Assistants’ Training Program 

The Teaching Assistants’ Training Program (TATP) is a leader in teaching development programming for graduate students at U of T. Through workshops, online resources, large scale events, and individual consultations, the TATP provides support for teaching assistants and graduate students at all stages of their teaching development. The TATP staff and their team of senior graduate student trainers and coordinators develop resources, lead training sessions and job training days, and design and facilitate teaching development workshops on all three campuses. The TATP connects with graduate students and teaching assistants, instructors, and staff across the University, reinforcing existing collaborations and building new partnerships.

TATP Team Highlights

Programming and Resources

On March 9, 2018, the TATP held a Course Design Day, the first in a new series of day-long events on special topics. Led by TATP’s Course Instructor Coordinator and TATP staff, the event was modeled on CTSI’s successful Course Design/Redesign Institute, and was an important initiative in meeting the needs of U of T’s graduate student Course Instructors. The day was broken into two parts – Fundamentals of Course Design: From Outcomes to Assessments, and Crafting Better Classroom Experiences for Your Students – allowing participants to register for both or individual sessions depending on their needs and availability. With high attendance numbers and positive feedback from participants, the successful event will be run again in 2019 with new areas of focus.

Over this past year, TATP staff have developed a number of resources, including the newly designed Graduate Student Course Instructor Resources section of the TATP website. While written with the U of T audience in mind, these resources are readily available to any graduate student or TA looking for support and ideas when designing a course or assignment. The Course Design Guide, Innovative Pedagogical Approaches to Access and Mental Health Guide, the Mini-Assessment Writing Guide, and the TATP Creative Teaching Videos as are also available on the CTSI website – updated with University of Toronto faculty-specific information and resources.

NEW TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR TAS
The TATP, working with the ACT and Communications teams at CTSI, continue to work on a series of one-hour online training modules to provide an alternative format to in-person training for First Contract teaching assistants. Two modules – Policies and Procedures for Teaching Assistants at the University of Toronto and Skill Development: Supporting Student Writing – are complete, have been piloted, and will launch in Fall 2018. Six others are in various stages of production – from research, to storyboarding, to design and building – and will launch in the 2018-2019 academic year.

Kris Kim
Learning Strategies Specialist, Academic Success, Recipient of 2015 TA Teaching Excellence Award and former TATP Trainer
“I was lucky to have had the chance to continue working with Mike Kasprzak this past semester as an Online Instructional Designer to storyboard online training modules for TAs. The TATP is so diverse (in both team members and projects) that there’s an exciting collaborative learning opportunity around every corner. These experiences [with the TATP] have also opened my eyes to a world of possible careers where I get to collaborate with and support staff, faculty, and students in a higher education environment.”

Team Intersections

Team projects, collaborations, and initiatives

The TATP works with departments, Faculties and teaching centres across the University’s three campuses to provide institution-wide TA Training. With their campus partners, the TATP is preparing for the increase in mandatory First Contract training hours from 3 hours to 4 hours beginning in Spring 2018, and to revise and adapt job training days and tutorial training workshops, and the Tri-Campus TA Day for new and returning TAs.

The TATP maintains numerous partnerships across the University and regularly collaborates with offices, communities and divisions, including UTSC’s Centre for Teaching and Learning and UTM’s Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre, on a number of initiatives.

For Student Life, the TATP’s guide on mental health was adapted as a framework for a new faculty training website and resources, and TATP staff members served as reviewers of the new content.

The TATP and the School of Graduate Studies through the Graduate Professional Skills Program have a close partnership, sharing resources, providing guidance on projects and programming, and ensuring that U of T graduate students have access to a wide range of professional and teaching development opportunities.

Celebrating Teaching 

CTSI provides support for faculty members and divisions preparing submission packages for institutional and national teaching awards, including teaching dossier and course evaluation consultations, maintains an online database of U of T teaching award recipients (institutional, national, and international) and administers the Teaching Excellence Awards for Teaching Assistants and graduate student Course Instructors.

U of T Teaching Fellows

The University of Toronto Teaching Fellows work closely with CTSI and the Office of the Vice-Provost, Innovations in Undergraduate Education. They have regular access to mentoring and support by CTSI staff and contribute to CTSI activities. Their two-year teaching and learning projects focus on planning and design, and implementation and assessment of program (curriculum-level) review or renewal or course renewal or development. As well, the Teaching Fellowship program supports emerging pedagogical leadership in the Teaching Stream. Three recipients were selected for 2018-2020.

  • Toula Kourgiantakis, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work
  • Kathleen Liddle, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Department of Sociology, University of Toronto Scarborough
  • Sarah Mayes-Tang, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Arts & Science

Kathy Liddle
Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Sociology, UTSC, and U of T Teaching Fellow
“I eagerly anticipate my next two years as a University of Toronto Teaching Fellow. Having the time and resources to systematically investigate ways in which I can improve student engagement in large enrolment courses will benefit the students I teach in the years to come and the students whose professors are able to learn from the resources that I develop and disseminate. The opportunity to form a cohort with other Fellows who share a strong commitment to teaching will be invaluable, as will the mentoring provided through CTSI.”

CTSI provides administrative support for the institution-wide President’s Teaching Award and the CTSI Director participates in the selection committee and co-chairs the U of T Teaching Academy. We congratulate this year’s winners and welcome them to the Teaching Academy. (See next page for this year’s recipients).

  • Pier Bryden, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine
  • William Cluett, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering & Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
  • Jennifer Murdock, Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, Department of Economics, Faculty of Arts & Science
  • Fiona Rawle, Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, Department of Biology, University of Toronto Mississauga
  • Jayne Baker, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Department of Sociology, University of Toronto Mississauga
  • Sohee Kang, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Department of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough
  • Jamie Kellar, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy
  • David Liu, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream, Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Arts & Science

TA Teaching Excellence Awards 

  • Edward Escalon, Study of Religion/Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies, Faculty of Arts & Science
  • Jennifer Fraser, Institute for History and Philosophy of Science & Technology, Faculty of Arts & Science
  • Devorah Kobluk, Department of English, Faculty of Arts & Science
  • Pedram Mortazavi, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
  • Shawn Xiong, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Arts & Science

9 Departments submitted nominations for the 2018 Graduate Student Course Instructor Teaching Excellence Award – the most in the award’s
four-year history.
48 Instructors nominated a TA for the 2018 TA Teaching Excellence Award.
499 Students submitted nominations for the TA Teaching Excellence Award, celebrating TAs who made a difference in undergraduate classroom.
80 TA Nominations were considered by the selection committee for the 2018 TA Teaching Excellence Award.

Graduate Student Course Instructor Teaching Excellence Award  

  • Laine Zisman Newman, Centre for Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies, Faculty of Arts & Science

2018 3M National Teaching Fellowship presented by the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education to Alison Gibbs, Department of Statistical Sciences, Faculty of Arts and Science.

Publications, Presentations and Award Funding

External presentations

Acker, S., McGinn, M. Wagner, A., & Vander Kloet, M. (2017, May). What does SSHRC want? Paper presented at the Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education at the Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON.

Anstey, L., Bortolin, K., Freeman, T., Funk, M., Holmes, T., Maloley, C., Moore, A., Scow, S., Nu’yam’tsa, Scow, S., Taylor, R., Vander Kloet, M., & Xulsimalt. (2018, February 14). Engaging with truth and reconciliation: Thinking through the role of educational developers as allies in responding to the calls to action. Preconference workshop delivered for the Educational Developers Caucus Conference, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC.

Burnett, M. & Hum, G. (2017, May). Engaging the campus community in online teaching evaluation. Workshop presented at the International Forum on Teaching Evaluation, Windsor, ON.

Burnett, M. & Rolheiser, C. (2017, June). Faculty mentoring for teaching: What do we know and what are we doing about what we know? [Webinar]. For Council of Ontario Educational Developers (COED).

Fukuzawa, S., Caldecott, M., Vander Kloet, M., Frake-Mistak, M., & Cassidy, A. (2017, October). SoTL aspirations: Multidisciplinary writing groups as an entrance into the practice of SoTL for contingent instructors. Poster presented at the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning conference at the University of Calgary and Mount Royal University, Calgary, AB.

Heikoop, W. (2017, October). Implementing online training for remote faculty development: Tips, Strategies and lessons learned. Workshop presentation at the Learning Technologies Symposium, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON.

Hum, G., Bramesfeld, K. & James, V. (2017, August). Response rates: Drawing insights from this (not so) simple metric. Research presented at the Bluenotes Americas Conference, Louisville, KY, USA.

Irani, A. & Kasprzak, M. (2017, April). The UT SoTL community: Technology & pedagogy partnerships. Presented at the 9th Annual Celebration of Teaching and Faculty Showcase at the University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, ON.

James, V. & Hum, G. (2017, August). A tale of two faculties: Course evaluation implementation at a large university, a study of contrasts and lessons learned. Presented at the Bluenotes Americas Conference, Louisville, KY, USA.

James, V. & Hum, G. (2018, January). A tale of two faculties: Course evaluation implementation at a large university: A study of contrasts and lessons learned [Webinar].

Kasprzak, M. (2017, June) Online training for teaching assistants: Opportunities and challenges. Presented at the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education at Dalhousie University and Saint Mary’s University, St. Catherines, ON.

Kasprzak, M. (2017, August). Developing online training modules on a shoestring budget: (Relatively) simple online instructional content. Presented at the 4th Annual Digital Pedagogy Institute at Brock University, St. Catherines, ON.

Najafi, H., Harrison, L., Rolheiser, C., & Heikoop, W. (2017, May). A learner-centred perspective on achievement in Massive Open Online Courses. Research presentation at the Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education (CSSHE) Annual Conference, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON.

Najafi, H., Harrison, L., Rolheiser, C., & Heikoop, W. (2018, April). Learner progress in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs): A person-oriented perspective. Roundtable presentation at the American Educational Research Association Annual Conference, New York, NY.

Najafi, H., Rolheiser, C., Harrison, L., & Heikoop, W. (2018, March). Help-seeking behaviours in discussion forums. Poster presentation at the Coursera Partners Conference, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ.

Rolheiser, C., Burnett, M., Hum, G., Graham, A., & McCloy, C. (2017, October). Expanding the SoTL landscape: Using a study on mentoring for teaching to mobilize new research and practices. Presented at the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning (ISSoTL) Conference, Calgary, AB.

Rolheiser, C., Hum, G., Burnett, M., Hamilton, B., & Graniero, P. (2017, October). Student ratings of instruction (SRI): Mediating the process, maximizing interpretive power and magnifying SoTL possibilities. International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL) Conference, Calgary, AB.

Vander Kloet, M., Bloch-Schulman, S., Chick, N., Hewson, K. & Easton, L. (2017, October). Feminist, antiracist and anti-colonial scholarship of teaching and learning?: Creating sites and spaces for critical engagement in teaching and learning work, research and culture. Panel organizer and presenter at International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSoTL) conference at the University of Calgary and Mount Royal University, Calgary, AB.

Vander Kloet, M., Kasprzak, M. & Diskin, A. (2017, October). Amongst a sea of data: Telling meaningful stories from our programming. Paper presented at the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSoTL) conference at the University of Calgary and Mount Royal University, Calgary, AB.

Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation (2017). Peer-to-Peer mentoring for teaching pilot report. Toronto, ON: Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation, University of Toronto.

Greene, M., Vander Kloet, M., & Kasprzak, M. (2018, April). No more horror stories: Reimagining graduate student supervision. University Affairs. p. 48. https://www.universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/careeradvice-article/reimagining-graduate-student-supervision/

Najafi, H., Rolheiser, C., Håklev, S., & Harrison, L. (2017). Variations in pedagogical design of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) across disciplines. Teaching & Learning Inquiry: The ISSOTL Journal, 5(2), 47-64. http://tlijournal.com/tli/index.php/TLI/article/view/100

Rolheiser, C. (2017). Good teaching. In D. Booth and R. Coles (Eds.), What is a “Good Teacher?” (90-91). Markham, ON: Pembroke Publishers.

Teaching Assistants’ Training Program. (2017). TATP course design guide. Toronto, ON: Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation, University of Toronto.

Teaching Assistants’ Training Program (2017). Mini-assessment writing guide. Toronto, ON: Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation, University of Toronto.

Collaborator with the University of Windsor for successful SSHRC Connections Grant: Enhancing the Teaching Culture: Evaluation and Recognition of Teaching. $25,000 (January 2017)

Principle Investigator: Erika Kustra, Windsor
Co-Investigators: Jessica Raffoul, Windsor; Bev Hamilton, Windsor; Phil Graniero, Windsor
Collaborators: Alan Wright, Windsor; Judy Ableser, Oakland; Laura Winer, McGill; Carol Rolheiser, University of Toronto; Megan Burnett, University of Toronto.

Achievements this past year from the grant include the following, with input from collaborators:

  1. International Forum on Teaching Evaluation held at the University of Windsor for 219 people (May 1-2, 2017), where a team from CTSI presented/participated (see above under presentations)
  2. A SSHRC Connection Grant Report submitted in December 2017
Back to Top