Fall Perspectives on Teaching Conference

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Fall Perspectives on Teaching 2022:
Wednesday August 31st from 9:00AM to 3:30PM


9:00 am to 9:15 am Opening Remarks (HSB 40)

Stephanie Horsley (Associate Director, eLearning, Centre for Teaching and Learning)

9:15 am to 10:30 am Keynote Session (HSB 40)

Campbell

Where do we go from here? Uncovering the Hidden Curriculum (in person – hyflex option available)

Nicole Campbell, Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences, Western University

The past two years have revealed many challenges in higher education, but they have also highlighted opportunities for change. It is unlikely that we will return to our previous practices, which has left many educators wondering how to re-engage students in this new academic landscape. Many people are also aware that students will need support going forward, but are unsure how to effectively and sustainably offer it.

In this session, Dr. Nicole Campbell will share her journey supporting student mental health and the impact this has had on her students and herself as an educator. She will also discuss how she believes embedding skill development directly within the curriculum can proactively support students and promote equitable education. Dr. Campbell has recently been dedicated to leading a cross-sector, cross-institution eCampus project titled, Uncovering the Hidden Curriculum, which she is excited to share with you all. The hidden curriculum refers to the unwritten and unofficial lessons learners acquire implicitly, but are not taught formally, which can create equity and accessibility gaps in education and ultimately impact academic success. Dr. Campbell hopes that her session will convince you of the power of humanizing the curriculum as we are all wondering where do we go from here.

Dr. Nicole Campbell's Biography

Dr. Nicole Campbell is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology and the Director of Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University. She teaches undergraduate students and is leading a new course-based MSc in interdisciplinary medical sciences. She has received several awards for teaching and innovation, including the Marilyn Robinson Award for Teaching Excellence in 2019 and the Schulich Excellence in Education Award (2021). She has also been one of Western’s Teaching Fellows and Experiential Learning Scholars. Dr. Campbell’s scholarly interests include supporting student mental health and embedding skill development in the curriculum.

10:30 am to 11:00 am Refreshment Break (outside HSB 40)

11:00 am to 12:00 pm Concurrent Sessions A

A - 1 (HSB 35)
Students as Partners Showcase (in person)

Aara Suksi & Matthew Dawkins (Faculty of Arts & Humanities)
Sarah McLean & Priya Modi (Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry)
Lindi Wahl (Faculty of Science) & Kurt Loedige (Schulich) 

Description

The “Students as partners” model is a powerful approach to effecting change in higher education - one that challenges existing non-democratic and hierarchical structures of the classroom and instead advocates for reciprocal and even student-led initiatives in teaching and learning. Join us to hear from three successful student-faculty partnerships at Western to learn about how they implemented change at the course, program, and Faculty levels. Panelists will discuss a syllabus co-designed with students (Science), a digital media student internship (Schulich), and a student-led anti-racist pedagogy initiative (Arts & Humanities). Participants will gain insights into promising practices and strategies for implementing students-as-partners initiatives in their own contexts.

A – 2 (HSB 40 – presenter on Zoom)
Moving Toward Decolonizing Your Teaching (Zoom)

Candace Brunette-Debassige (Faculty of Education)

Description

Amidst increasing to calls to decolonize and Indigenize the academy, university programs and instructors are being called to include more Indigenous and decolonial perspectives into the curriculum. Decolonization however is both a theory and a methodological praxis in research and teaching. As part of ongoing Indigenous curriculum change work underway at Western, this session will introduce instructors to two new online modules as part of a unique Indigenous Teaching and Learning Series developed in partnership with Indigenous Teaching Fellow, Candace Brunette-Debassige and the Office of Indigenous Initiatives’ Sara Mai Chitty. The first two online modules launched as part of this series are geared toward university instructors with the goal to increase their understandings of the colonial roots of the academy and knowledge, and inspire and assist them in moving themselves toward decolonizing their pedagogies.

12:00 pm to 1:00 pm Break

1:00 pm to 2:00 pm Concurrent Sessions B

B – 1 (HSB 40)
Reframing Failure (in person)

Melanie-Anne Atkins (Centre for Teaching and Learning)

Description

Should “good” students fail? What are the risks, and what are the potential rewards? When was the last time you allowed yourself to fail…and who knows about it?

Join this in-person workshop to explore how you can use three online resources to (a) reflect on the influence of your own experiences with failure in education, (b) partner with your students to reduce the fear and shame of failure, and (c) reframe failure as an essential component of learning.

B – 2 (HSB 35)
Launching Western Libraries’ New Knowledge Justice Curriculum (in person)

Heather Campbell (Western Libraries)

Description

Making the commitment to decolonize our teaching means that we must name many hidden elements of our curriculum: whose voices are missing or excluded from our disciplines? Which of our readings or pedagogies may be causing harm? While we may be personally committed to EDI-D and Indigenization work, getting started can feel difficult in isolation, or without examples to consider. How do we know if we’re getting it ‘right’?


2:00 pm to 2:15 pm Refreshment Break (outside HSB 40)

2:15 pm to 3:30 pm Closing Plenary (HSB 40 – presenter on Zoom)

McNeill

Teachable Moments: Creating the Conditions that Foster Academic Integrity (Zoom)

Laurie McNeill, English Language and Literatures, UBC

For many students, the expectations of academic integrity seem opaque, exclusive, even arbitrary – yet the stakes for not meeting these expectations can be very high. How can we make academic integrity – a foundational set of practices and principles – more accessible and achievable for all? How might we shift our focus from punishing misconduct to rewarding integrity – and why such a change worth making? This presentation shares research, resources, and strategies to help faculty, staff, and administrators build a culture of integrity, one in which students better understand not only how to meet the expectations of academic integrity but also why they should. Participants will leave with specific practices and resources they can adapt for their own courses and programs.

Dr. Laurie McNeill's Biography

Dr. Laurie McNeill (she/her) is Professor of Teaching in the Department of English Language and Literatures. Since 2015, she has been leading initiatives at UBC related to rethinking academic integrity (AI) policy, procedure, and pedagogy, including as principal investigator of a large teaching and learning project in first-year writing courses. Most recently, she has published the chapter “Changing “Hearts” and Minds: Pedagogical and Institutional Practices to Foster Academic Integrity” in Academic Integrity in Canada: An Enduring and Essential Challenge, edited by Sarah Elaine Eaton and Julia Christensen-Hughes (Springer, 2022). In 2022, her contributions were recognized with a Tricia Bertram Gallant Award for Outstanding Service from the International Centre for Academic Integrity.


Conference Information

Registration

Registration Instructions

  1. Login to Western Connect using your Western username and password.
  2. Go to the Centre for Teaching and Learning section and select Event Calendar.
  3. Search for and select the event you wish to register in. Details and a description of the program will appear.
  4. Select the Register for this Event button and follow instructions to select your sessions of interest.
  5. You will receive an automated confirmation email to your Western email account.

If you have any questions or problems registering for this event, please consult our help guide or contact ctl@uwo.ca.

Audience

This event is open to all; however, it is designed with instructors in mind.

Offered

  • Spring Perspectives - annually in May
  • Fall Perspectives - annually in August/ September

What to Expect

Offered twice a year, Perspectives on Teaching is a conference designed to showcase teaching innovations at Western, and introduce instructors to best practices in student-centered instruction which can enhance the student experience.

Faculty members are invited to present innovative teaching approaches or research on their teaching during Spring Perspectives each year.  

Previous Conference Programs

Visit our Youtube Channel for keynotes from past conferences.