Faculty Certificate in Teaching Excellence

The Instructional Skills Workshop  is an internationally recognized program designed to enhance the teaching practices of both new and experienced educators. Using an intensive experiential learning approach, participants explore the theory and practice of teaching adult learners, develop learning outcomes with accompanying lesson plans, discuss approaches for engaging students in their learning, and examine assessment practices that support learning.

Note: the ISW-O and Teaching at the University Level programs also fulfill this requirement.

Faculty Learning Communities (FLC) bring colleagues together around an area of common interest in teaching and learning. FLCs provide a supportive community wherein members can informally share teaching practices and engage in collegial conversation and inquiry.

Join an interdisciplinary group of faculty members who meet regularly to explore a common area of interest in teaching and learning. Earn credit by attending 3 or more meetings. The CTL’s FLCs currently include the following Communities of Practice.

• Generative AI Community of Practice
• Inclusive Teaching Community of Practice
• Research on Teaching and Learning Community of Practice

Through participation in one of the following programs, participants will develop teaching and/or assessment plans that effectively promote student engagement and learning. They will explore a variety of pedagogical practice and theories and relate these to their unique teaching context.

• Faculty-Student Collaborative: Assessment (Re)Design Studio

For the independent component of the Certificate, participants can choose between three types of projects. Faculty can: (1) prepare a teaching dossier that describes their teaching philosophy and brings together their teaching experiences, (2) develop a proposal for a research on teaching and learning project, or (3) propose an Educational Leadership project.

1) Teaching Dossier

Participants in the Certificate may choose to prepare a cohesive teaching dossier that accurately reflects their philosophy of teaching, teaching experiences, and innovations in teaching and learning. 

For more information, see the Teaching Dossiers and Teaching Philosophy Statements pages.

Participants might also consider attending an informational workshop on developing a teaching philosophy and dossier. For the next workshop date and details, please check the Faculty Mentor Program workshop page.

2) Research on Teaching and Learning Proposal

To fulfill the Independent Project component of the Faculty Certificate in Teaching Excellence, you may choose to prepare a Research on Teaching and Learning Proposal. This option requires the following:

1. A review of relevant knowledge sources on research on teaching and learning in post-secondary education (e.g., five scholarly articles).
2. An identification of one or more critical issues for learning in your discipline.
3. The articulation of a question that explores these critical learning issues.
4. A proposal for the way the question could be explored.

You may choose the format for your proposal. For example, it might be an academic poster, a 10-page written paper, a podcast, an in-person or recorded presentation, or a webpage. Regardless of format, submissions should demonstrate meaningful and scholarly engagement with the project equivalent to a 10-page written proposal.

Below is a link to a possible structure to guide your proposal drawn from Western’s Human Research Ethics Board (HREB) protocol. This structure is only meant to be a place to start if that is helpful to you. Given the diversity of ways of knowing, this structure may not reflect your approach to exploring questions about teaching and learning, such as anti-oppressive, decolonial, and disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to research. Please use whatever structure and project format best reflects your approach to these types of questions.

• Human Research Ethics Board Protocol (shortened form)

Resources to help you get started:

• Human Research Ethics from a Research on Teaching and Learning Perspective
• Research Western Tips and Templates
• SoTL resources

If you have an idea, please contact our  Educational Developer, Ken Meadows, for helpful hints on getting started.

Participants can also consider enrolling in the Western Institute for Research on Teaching and Learning, a three-day hands-on workshop designed to support faculty members in the development of a research project on their own teaching.

3) Educational Leadership Project Proposal

Educational leadership is the practice of engaging colleagues in developing and implementing shared visions, values, and goals that support learning for all students. Educational leaders promote meaningful changes that have a deep impact beyond their courses. Because learning varies across the disciplines, faculty members are uniquely positioned to facilitate improvements to student learning experiences within their department, Faculty, or discipline.

Faculty members who choose this option for the Independent Project component of the Certificate will develop an Educational Leadership Project Proposal for a faculty development initiative that meets a specific instructional or pedagogical need and promotes a culture of teaching and learning in their home department, Faculty, or disciplinary context by inspiring, organizing, and supporting collaborative faculty communities.

Certificate participants are encouraged to explore scholarly discourse on understanding, critiquing, and improving teaching and learning in the university setting. The goal of the proposal is to think beyond one-off workshops to develop practical, sustainable, and enduring plans for change within their context(s).

Proposed educational leadership projects could include a broad range of activities that facilitate the growth and renewal of knowledge, skills, and attitudes towards teaching and learning. Such initiatives may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• developing capacity and pathways for inclusive, decolonial, and/or Indigenous teaching and learning approaches within their context(s);
• developing discipline-specific teaching resources for the department;
• integrating digital learning opportunities into the instructional experiences across the curriculum;
• bringing faculty together to address assessment strategies, challenges, and opportunities;
• establishing a community of instructors interested in enhancing their teaching practice and student learning (e.g., by exploring inclusive pedagogies, community engaged learning, digital learning);
• helping faculty to incorporate student-centred practices and approaches in their courses, regardless of course format, including active learning techniques or other novel ways of engaging students;
• developing resources or programs for mentoring new faculty or graduate students (e.g., establishing a graduate supervision retreat)
• addressing department-specific learning needs (e.g., undergraduate writing competencies) or departmental challenges (e.g., first year enrollment and retention); or
• creating initiatives to encourage faculty/student collaborations (e.g., start a research or grant-writing group).

Proposal Guidelines

You may choose the format for your proposal. For example, it might be an academic poster, a 10-page written proposal, a podcast, an in-person or recorded presentation, or a webpage. Regardless of format, submissions should demonstrate meaningful and scholarly engagement with the activity equivalent to a 10-page written proposal (see below for an example format for a 10-page written proposal).

1. Login to Western Connect with your Western username and password.
2. From your dashboard, go to the tab at the far right labelled Event Registration. The Event Title, Event Date, Location, Date Registered, and Registration Status will be listed for each event.
   NOTE: this tab will display all event registrations within Connect, so be sure to check that the "Module" column indicates Centre for Teaching and Learning.
3. For event attendance earlier before May 1, 2016, go to Dashboard and select My Messages just below the tab options. Older attendance records from our previous database will be listed here.

If you have any questions or problems accessing your attendance records, please contact ctl@uwo.ca.

1. Login to Western Connect with your Western username and password.
2. In the left side menu, select the Certificates Overview link under the Centre for Teaching and Learning section.
3. Select Faculty Certificate in Teaching Excellence, and then click on Show my Registrations.
4. You can view or edit the form and save using the button at the bottom right of the page, edit by clicking the black circle with 3 white dots in the bottom right corner (a black right navigation bar will appear and under actions select "Edit"). You can come back and add information or upload documents at any time.

When you have completed all the components of the certificate and are ready to submit, please

1. Login to Western Connect with your Western username and password.
2. In the left side menu, select the Certificates Overview link under the Centre for Teaching and Learning section.
3. Select Submit my Certificate for Review and follow the instructions.
4. A CTL staff member will review your submissions and contact you to schedule a feedback appointment. If you do not receive a response within one week, please email ctl@uwo.ca to notify us of your submission.