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Connect with colleagues, get inspired, and thrive in your teaching

Need help with course design, revamping an assignment, writing your teaching philosophy, using a new Moodle function, or want to build community with colleagues? We鈥檙e here to help. 精童欲女 is committed to supporting the learning goals of faculty and instructional staff through a variety of programs. This calendar will help you know when some of our regular offerings are coming up.

Available Year-Round

Certificate in University Teaching - Academic Instructional Skills Program (AISP)

The Academic Instructional Skills Program (AISP) is a series of self-paced online modules for instructors, postdocs and graduate students who are currently teaching at 精童欲女 or who are interested in teaching at a post-secondary level in the future. The program provides you an opportunity to develop evidence-based teaching expertise and skills that are relevant across disciplines in postsecondary education. For more details and to self-enrol visit the AISP page.

Show Up and Write

Show Up and Write sessions are hosted in the Teaching and Learning Centre (Robertson Library, Room 230) a couple of times each week for faculty, post-docs and graduate students. Reach out to a friend or colleague and bring along any writing project. Join us for an hour of focused writing. The time slots change depending on the semester, so check with anyone on the TLC team for the current days and times. You don't need to RSVP, just show up and write.

August 

Orientation for New Faculty, Librarians, Clinical Nursing Instructors, and Clinical Veterinary Professionals

This university-level orientation is meant for all newly hired faculty of all ranks and tracks and complements orientation programming offered by your unit and Human Resources. Our event will introduce you to several senior administrators, colleagues from a variety of teaching, research, and support units as well as the 精童欲女FA, our faculty union. Our orientation sessions will include background info, a review of key university policies, and tips to support faculty and student success to help your transition to 精童欲女 be as smooth as possible. Invitations will be sent in early August. If you are a new academic member of the 精童欲女 community, and you haven鈥檛 received an invitation or wish to ensure you receive the invitation, please contact the Teaching and Learning Centre at tlc@upei.ca.

Faculty Academy

Faculty Academy is an onboarding session designed to support new and recently hired sessional instructors and faculty. This session gives colleagues the opportunity to explore:

• Instructional design support and professional development opportunities available through the Teaching and Learning Centre
• Moodle, 精童欲女鈥檚 Learning Management System
• Universal Design for Learning (UDL) - strategies to design courses where all learners can access, engage, and succeed
• Assessment best practices, including grading, feedback, and considerations for generative AI
• Syllabus essentials, including guidance on incorporating Gen AI statements

These sessions happen in late August/early September and in January. Details are shared through the TLC newsletter, 精童欲女 Campus Notices, the TLC learning events calendar, and the campus events calendar.

September

Let鈥檚 Talk Teaching

At the start of the fall semester join colleagues for a practical, teaching-and-learning focused workshop focused on activities you can implement in your classes right away. Come prepared to engage in active learning!

Topics change from year-to-year. Details are made available through the TLC newsletter, campus notices, the TLC learning events calendar, and the campus events calendar.

Peer Mentorship Program

Early-career and experienced faculty members are invited to participate in our Peer Mentorship Program. Interested faculty members are often matched with a colleague from another discipline. Mentorship partners can choose to focus on specific aspects of their faculty role or take a holistic approach discussing teaching, research and service. Mentorship conversations might include elements of psychosocial support (emotional and personal support including Indigenous forms of mentorship), instrumental support as they explore approaches that they might want to incorporate into their teaching practice (team-based learning, online teaching, ungrading, etc.), guidance through bureaucratic processes, ideas on navigating the challenges of setting up a research project, and sponsorship  through letters of recommendation or introductions to colleagues. Our peer mentorship program offers a flexible, rewarding experience without a huge commitment of time. Mentorship partners are generally connected in late September. Contact tlc@upei.ca if you are interested. 

Teaching Squares Program

The Teaching Squares program provides an opportunity for instructors to gain new insight into their teaching through a process of reciprocal classroom observation and self-reflection. Four faculty members from different disciplines work together to visit each other鈥檚 classes once over the semester. Participants commit to visiting one hour of one class for each colleague in their Teaching Square. Groups coordinate which class sessions are the most suitable for classroom observation. Groups then meet to discuss what they learned about their own practice through the observation process. The goal of the program is to provide an opportunity for faculty members to observe active learning and classroom management in a range of disciplinary settings and class sizes and become familiar with strategies they may try in their own teaching. Teaching squares are generally connected in late September/early October. Contact tlc@upei.ca if you are interested in participating in one.

September to December

Lunch and Learn Sessions

Lunch and Learn sessions crowdsources effective and innovative teaching practices from across campus and creates a space for conversations take place. We bring people together in an informal atmosphere around the noon hour throughout the semester to collaborate and learn. Sessions are led by colleagues from different areas of campus and cover a wide range of topics. If you have an idea for a lunch and learn session that you would like to attend or would be interested in leading one, please reach out to the Teaching and Learning Centre by email: tlc@upei.ca. Check 精童欲女 Campus Notices, the TLC learning events page, or the monthly TLC newsletters for details on the Lunch and Learn sessions planned for the fall semester. 

Internal Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Research Grant

The Internal SoTL Research Grant (ISRG) program supports research pursuits in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) through the funding of fully-developed research proposals. Researchers are encouraged to provide high-quality student training opportunities and to propose collaborations with others from different, but complementary, disciplines. The call for proposals is typically issued in the fall with results shared by the end of January. 

Open Education Resource (OER) Development Program

The Open Education Resource Development Program at 精童欲女 is a partnership with the Student Union, University, and Province which provides funds for the creation, adaptation, adoption, and review of open education resources (OERs).

The funding program is administered by the Teaching and Learning Centre and the Robertson Library, and provides a variety of funding opportunities including:

• Open Textbook Grant which supports the development of a new open textbook on a topic that is currently not covered by an existing open textbook.
• Open Textbook Adaptation Grant which supports the adaptation of one or more open textbooks to create a new version or edition of an open textbook. This may include, but is not limited to, using chapters from multiple open texts to create a new open textbook, or creating a Canadian edition of an existing open textbook.
• Supplementary Resources Grant which supports the creation of ancillary materials for existing open textbooks, including, but not limited to test banks, slide decks, or interactive media, etc. for an open textbook or other open education resource.

Questions about OERs? More information is available on the . The call for proposals is typically issued in the fall with results shared by the end of January.

January

Faculty Academy

Faculty Academy is an onboarding session designed to support new and recently hired sessional instructors and faculty. This session gives colleagues the opportunity to explore:

• Instructional design support and professional development opportunities available through the Teaching and Learning Centre
• Moodle, 精童欲女鈥檚 Learning Management System
• Universal Design for Learning (UDL) - strategies to design courses where all learners can access, engage, and succeed
• Assessment best practices, including grading, feedback, and considerations for generative AI
• Syllabus essentials, including guidance on incorporating Gen AI statements

These sessions happen in early January.

January to April

Preparing your Tenure/Permanency and Promotion file - Workshop Series

The TLC offers a series of workshops to support colleagues working on their file for tenure/permanency and/or promotion. Refresh your understanding with our and and then bring your questions to the workshops.  

• Teaching Dossiers for Tenure/Permanency or Promotion. Learn what needs to be included in your dossier under our current collective agreement. The session will look at the requirements and the options for documenting your teaching practice.
• Writing YOUR Statement of Teaching Philosophy. A statement of teaching philosophy (STP) is an essential opening for most teaching dossiers, and it signals the central beliefs and practices to be found in your teaching dossier. This workshop will take participants through a variety of strategies for crafting an effective statement, looking at examples from across disciplines. Participants will leave with a sound basic structure for their STP.
• Developing a clinical service dossier. This workshop is in development.
• Putting it all together. A panel of colleagues experienced in working with Tenure/Permanency and Promotion files will share advice about what to do and what to avoid

Workshops start in early January and wrap up in March/April. 

Lunch and Learn Sessions

Lunch and Learn sessions crowdsources effective and innovative teaching practices from across campus and creates a space for conversations take place. We bring people together in an informal atmosphere around the noon hour throughout the semester to collaborate and learn. Sessions are led by colleagues from different areas of campus and cover a wide range of topics. Check campus notices, the TLC learning events page, or the monthly TLC newsletters for details on the Lunch and Learn sessions planned for the winter semester.

February and March

Preparing a successful teaching award dossier - Workshop

A dossier to support a teaching award nomination is different from one you develop to apply for an academic position or for tenure and promotion. Bring your interest and questions about preparing a teaching award dossier and learn more about what is involved. This session is typically offered in late February or early March.

April/May

Teaching Community Conference

The TLC organizes a Teaching Community Conference (TCC) annually creating a space to uplift marginalized voices and ideas while celebrating and sharing teaching methods. It has been effective in breaking down silos, as it involves both faculty and staff, and even students sometimes. To make the TCC as barrier-free as possible there is no registration fee; it is held on campus in a location that has good physical accessibility; and we encourage presenters to consider UDL in their presentations and workshops. Post-secondary colleagues from colleges in PEI are also invited to participate. Information about the current year鈥檚 conference can be .

May

Faculty Development Summer Institute on Active Learning in Higher Education

The Faculty Development Summer Institute (FDSI) on Active Learning in Higher Education is a multi-day institute of talks, activities, and workshops focused on active learning. The goal of this institute is to bring together post-secondary instructors from across PEI who are passionate about engaging their students through active learning. Our research-based program with learning activities will allow participants to learn about active learning approaches that can enhance student learning and develop plans to incorporate active learning into your classes, labs or rotations. Email tlc@upei.ca to find out when the next Institute will be offered.

For general information, please .

June 

Time to Write Retreats

If you have difficulty carving out uninterrupted time for writing, if you struggle with motivating yourself to write, or if you would simply like the supportive collaboration of a writing retreat, consider Time to Write, 精童欲女's faculty writers retreat. Email tlc@upei.ca to find out when the next retreat will be offered.

June and July 

Course Renewal Grant

The Teaching and Learning Centre provides time-based grants for tenured, tenure-track faculty, sessional instructors, librarians, lab instructors, teaching assistants, student service professionals, and any others involved in teaching at 精童欲女 who are interested in refreshing or revamping their course.
The grant provides recipients with dedicated time (40 hours) with the instructional design team to accomplish your vision for the course. The purpose of this grant is to provide instructors with pedagogical and technological support to develop the course experience that is envisioned for their students. Contact the Teaching and Learning Centre to propose a course for re-design.

Periodic Offerings

Teaching Matters! Series

Teaching Matters! is a series of thought-provoking keynote-style talks related to teaching and learning in higher education. Enjoys talks with invited speakers from across the country sharing their perspectives on a contemporary issue impacting university teaching and learning.

Community of Practice gatherings 

There are two communities of practice currently active. 

• The community of practice for clinical educators typically meets twice a year, in May and August/September.
• The community of practice for excellence in graduate supervision meets twice a year, once in the fall and once in the winter semester.