Accessibility in Teaching & Learning

Creating accessible teaching and learning environments is an important aspect of equitable and student-centred pedagogy. In this seminar we will discuss approaches to accessibility and accommodation, consider how principles of universal design might be applied to your to teaching contexts, and exchange ideas with other instructors.

Starting: October 2019 - click the registration button for more details

Classroom Assessment Strategies

Do you ever feel that you are receiving blank stares from your students? Are you looking for a way to gauge their understanding that can be completed during class time? Join us for an upcoming seminar series that will provide techniques and useful discussions for Classroom Assessment Techniques (CATs). By the end of the seminar series you will develop the tools to measure students' comprehension in real time.

Starting: January 2020 - click the registration button for more details

Collecting Midterm Student Feedback

Participants in this seminar will be introduced to various techniques and strategies to collect feedback on student learning, as well as their own teaching approaches and practices. In this seminar, participants will collect student feedback in their current courses with the aim to make small but effective changes in their teaching.

Starting: September 2019 - click the registration button for more details

Course Refinement

A Course Refinement is a process where one or two MacPherson staff come to your class to anonymously collect honest, useful, personalized, formative, and timely student mid-term feedback. The feedback is consolidated and returned directly to the instructor, along with consultation and discussion regarding possible enhancements or suggestions.

By Request - Please Visit the Request Form by September 13th, 2019 for Fall 2019 courses.

Get HIP with Experiential Learning! Critical Reflection as Assessment in High Impact Practice (HIP)

Interested in integrating experiential learning (EL) into your teaching but have questions such as: How do I add EL to my course? How do I assess learning through reflection? How do I write good reflection questions? Join this seminar to gain a deeper understanding of experiential learning and how to assess students’ higher-order learning through critical reflection as High Impact Practice (HIP). We will examine a number of reflection frameworks, draft reflection assignments and explore ideas and resources for adding experiential learning into your course.

Starting: Soon! Check back for details shortly.

Increasing Student Participation Online

Enabling and managing online student participation is an evolving and important part of teaching. This workshop focuses on how to effectively plan and manage online discussions and collaborative work. Together we will explore learning spaces, content and tool options that can increase efficiency and keep students involved and engaged.

Starting: June 2020 - click the registration button for more details

Introduction to Scholarship of Teaching & Learning (SoTL)

Participants will have the opportunity to learn about different conceptions, frameworks, and methodologies that inform the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) in higher education and explore examples of SoTL within their own disciplines.

Starting: June 2020 - click the registration button for more details

Peer Observation of Teaching

This seminar is an opportunity for faculty to gain new insight into their teaching through a process of reciprocal classroom observation and self-reflection. Participants in this seminar will practice observing teaching as well as giving and receiving feedback on. This seminar will culminate in a 90-minute follow-up meeting where participants can reflect on what they observed and the feedback that they received from their peers in their teaching square.

Student Engagement and Motivation

Creating a classroom space where students are excited to learn can be a challenge. This three-part seminar will explore techniques to deeply involve students in their own learning, encourage them to be leaders in their own success and discuss ways to create a lively and dynamic classroom which meets the needs of a diverse group of learners.

Teaching in Active Learning Classrooms

Active Learning Classrooms are spaces designed to support teaching and learning in an atmosphere conducive to engaging students actively in their own learning. Teaching in these spaces, however, may be different than teaching in a traditional classroom. Participants in this three-part seminar will leave the sessions with several ideas to effectively teach in McMaster’s Active Learning Classrooms and will have practiced teaching in an active learning approach that fits one’s discipline

Starting: November 2019 - click the registration button for more details

Teaching and Assessment in Large Classes

As enrollment increases many instructors find themselves teaching to a great number of students each year. In this three-part seminar, we will discuss techniques for 'scaling up' classroom activities, assessment strategies which are practical for large groups, and maintaining academic rigour.

Starting: February 2020 - click the registration button for more details

Teaching Contentious Topics

Increasing international political and ideological polarization has revived questions about academic freedom and freedom of expression in Canadian universities. This seminar provides an overview of how these issues apply to the McMaster context and suggests strategies for teaching topics that may elicit strong responses or contentious opinions from students. In particular, we will consider instructional techniques for encouraging students to explore unexamined assumptions, for using the tools of their disciplines to engage with each other as intellectual peers, and for creating classroom spaces that balance inquiry and the pursuit of knowledge with the institutional and pedagogical responsibility to provide a safe and secure learning environment.

Starting: March 2020 - click the registration button for more details

Teaching Effectively Online

This seminar is appropriate for instructors who are looking to introduce new online pedagogies or enhance existing practices and strategies, whether their course be web-facilitated, blended, or fully online. Participants in this three-part seminar will leave sessions with guiding resources, new ideas regarding effective design and delivery of online learning experiences, and will have the opportunity to practice and obtain peer feedback on an online pedagogy of relevance to their course context.

Starting: November 2019 - click the registration button for more details

Video Made Easy

Online video accounts for 74% of all online traffic. Video is increasingly a part of our everyday lives, both in and out of the classroom. Using basic principles taught by seasoned professionals, this workshop will explore simple tools and techniques to create engaging videos. No experience necessary. Requires access to a phone with a camera and a laptop.

Starting: April 2020 - click the registration button for more details