GATA awards season is well underway, making it a great time to begin working on your teaching dossier. A teaching dossier is a portfolio designed to demonstrate your teaching and inspire self-reflection. This portfolio allows for responsibilities, approaches, contributions, and evidence to be presented in a professional manner that summarizes the quality of one’s academic teaching. Furthermore, it allows you to articulate your beliefs about teaching and learning through a philosophy statement and highlights your teaching-related activities and accomplishments.
Not sure what goes into a teaching dossier? The Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology at the University of British Columbia provides a brief summary of what should be included.
If you need help getting started with your teaching philosophy statement, the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching Effectiveness at the University of Saskatchewan, provides excellent sample teaching philosophy statements written by Faculty members and GAs from a range of disciplines.
For a teaching dossier template and brief description try the UCAPT-Teaching-Dossier-Guide.
Still need help getting started? Consider reaching out to the CTL for consultation regarding your teaching dossier.
Reminder: GATA Award nominations are due May 16, 2016 by 5:00pm. The official call for nominations can be found on CTL’s website. Questions and comments may be directed to Dr. Pierre Boulos, boulos@uwindsor.ca.
‘Tis the season for exams, and too often, nervous breakdowns. However, perhaps we can look past the induced fear and pandemonium to recognize that there are ways to minimize the stress associated with exam taking. Here are a few helpful tips:
1) Plan Ahead
Planning is key to success; by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. This means organizing notes and resources, dedicating time in your schedule to studying, and actively eliminating distractions.
2) Take Breaks
Sure, perseverance is important in life, but so are breaks! Don’t allow yourself to get so caught up in your studying that you forget to shower, eat, or sleep. Allowing yourself to overlook these important necessities can actually hinder your chance of success.
3) Don’t Panic
In your personal and professional life, it is important that you believe in yourself and maintain a positive attitude. Understand that exams are not the end of the world, and remember that mistakes and failures are actually fantastic learning opportunities.
Check out this YouTube video for some study tips that are backed by science!
Also, be sure to refer to our previous post about Understanding Exam Stress for more helpful tips and resources.
Finding Support For Your Students
There is a growing awareness about mental health issues on campus at the University of Windsor. @UWinMentalHealth, the Twitter handle of the Mental Health Awareness club, is an excellent resource on and advocate for mental health issues on campus and in the community.
The Student Counseling Centre also continues to provide a range of services supporting students’ mental health. As this page explains, it’s really easy to make an appointment with them, too. Good2Talk, a free, bilingual, provincial-wide help hotline dedicated to post-secondary students, is also available 24hours a day, at 1-866-925-5454.
If you’re taking to proactive approach, you should also encourage your students to sign up for one of the exam preparation workshops with the S.T.E.P.S. team. Look for more sessions on how to prepare for exams, including those pesky multiple-choice exams, in the Winter 2016 S.T.E.P.S. Schedule.
Some students are highly motivated by grades and may overlook the relationship between grades and learning. Sure, there are those students that have an interest in learning something in their classes, although they often have the unfortunate impression that the grade they earn is the true currency of the marketplace, not what they’ve managed to learn. As a result, many students are memorizing information in order to attain high grades rather than learning information in order to master a skill or concept.
What does it mean to be grade oriented?
Grade oriented students are interested in appearing competent or better than others, regardless of the achieved level. These students often sick to tasks that are familiar or known quantities. Often, grade oriented students regard failures as evidence of a lack of competence and therefore attempt to avoid making mistakes
What does it mean to be learning oriented?
Learning oriented students are mainly interested in learning and mastering content or a given skill. Learning oriented students intentionally take on difficult tasks beyond their present capability because they consider mistakes and failure as learning opportunities.
Some researchers continue to debate whether these orientations are two separate dimensions or whether they actually exist on a continuum. Nonetheless, it is encouraged that you evaluate what kind of orientation you most often exhibit. This consideration can allow for a deeper understanding of your relationship to your own success and failure, and might also initiate a change in what you chose to focus on.
If you’re interested in learning more about your own orientation, try using this self-assessment to evaluate where you place the most emphasis.
Also, check out our recent blog post about being a lifelong learner.
The UWill Discover Conference will occur in the CAW Centre on Tuesday, March 29, between 8:30 am and 5:30 pm.
The conference requires the help of twenty or thirty people to support our conference guests. In particular, we are hoping that our graduate students and senior undergrads might serve as room moderators, introducting the presentations. If you are able to help out for all or part of the day, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Krisa Cunaj, at cunaj@uwindsor.ca.
Volunteers will be given a conference t-shirt, and are entitled to a free lunch.
Your help is appreciated!
Imagine Explore Discover
Lifelong learning can be regarded as the continuous, voluntary, and self-motivated pursuit of knowledge throughout one’s earthly existence. Lifelong learning fosters an open mind and encourages adaptability when faced with change. Lifelong learning can also support you in your quest to discover meaning in life.
So now that you are able to recognize the value in lifelong learning, you’re probably wondering how you might engage in this journey? It is worth noting that you may be confronted by some commonly perceived barriers along the way, i.e., time, money, information, or location; however, these barriers are simply not enough to unequivocally prevent you from being a lifelong learner.
The following steps are a set of suggestions for how to approach the idea of lifelong learning.
Step 1: Modify your idea of learning to extend outside of the formal classroom.
Step 2: Develop a growth mindset.
Step 3: Set goals for yourself.
Step 4: Ask questions, and then ask more questions.
Step 5: Build a Personal Learning Network (PLN) comprised of both online and in person sources.
Being a lifelong learner takes time and practice. Luckily, technology has come a long way in supporting ubiquitous learning experiences and will likely only continue to develop in this regard. Check out this highly relatable comic that might help to set the tone for your lifelong learning journey.
Best in life and learning,
GATA Network
It is that time of the year again, assignments to be marked, announcements to be posted, well don’t fret, attached is a document containing five quick tips accompanied by screen captures to make the transition to Blackboard seamless.
The role of a graduate/teaching assistant is essential to the overall learning experience. While the instructor sets the objectives and expectations of the course, the success of the students and the course in general also rests on the performance of the GA/TA. While being a GA/TA is certainly something to be taken seriously, it also has its fair share of benefits.
- When the professor and the textbook fail to communicate an understanding of the material, the GA/TA is often the student’s last hope. Whether during office hours, tutorials, or over email, it is necessary that you be prepared to assist students as their GA/TA. This means that you must read the textbook, know what is being covered in class, and be able to provide appropriate answers for coursework and test material.
- It is important to remember that you help to set the tone with regard to integrity and fairness in your assigned course. Accordingly, you should be sure that you approach grading in an objective manner. As the GA/TA, you are further modeling the act of taking initiative and employing self-directed learning. It is also crucial that you are able to return work within a timely manner.
- Being a TA/GA is not only hard work, it is also very rewarding. The role can be used to learn the best (and worst) practices in teaching. As a matter of fact, the GATA Network offers awards for exceptional practice and leadership for outstanding GAs/TAs. Ultimately, the experience as a GA/TA can expand your own personal learning network, and the skills gained as a result serve to be a great asset to any resume.
If you have any questions about being or becoming a GA/TA, feel free to reach out to the GATA Network at gata@uwindsor.ca. Also, check out our Twitter and Facebook for information about free workshops and events being offered.
Dr. Kneale, the Provost and Academic Vice-President of the University, is hoping to get your take on learning and working at the U through his new monthly contest, the Provost’s Question of the Month.
For a chance to win a fabulous UWindsor Hoodie, all you have to do is send him an answer to this question:
How do you define student success? Or, what does student success look like to you?
Please send your response to vpacademic@uwindsor.ca. The response deadline is March 17! One name will be drawn at random from all respondents to win the hoodie (and your chances are pretty good!!)
Now that we have your attention, on Thursday, March 24th, 2016 the GATA Network is partnering with Neil Pettit to offer a free workshop to GA/TAs focusing on conflict resolution techniques.
What: Dealing with Conflict
Where: Lambton Tower 2103
When: March 24th, 2016, 1:30pm-3:00pm
How: To reserve your spot or find out more about this workshop, visit http://cleo.uwindsor.ca/workshops/ctl/52/
Conflict is an inevitable part of being a GA/TA but learning to deal with it in a healthy positive manner is critical. When conflict arises and is ignored or mismanaged it can lead to stress and frustration between both parties. Managing conflict respectfully provides an opportunity for two people to strengthen their relationship and move forward. With marking season underway there is growing potential for disagreements between GA/TAs and students. To help combat this, the GATA Network is teaming up with Neil Pettit to present the latest GATA Network Series Workshop: ‘Dealing with Conflict.’ Through this interactive session, participants will be able to role-play circumstances in which conflict could arise and explore ways to manage these situations.
Note: This is an update to a previous post (Feb 25, 2016).
On Wednesday, March 16th, 2016 the GATA Network is teaming up with Teaching and Learning Specialist Pierre Boulos to workshop the fundamentals of creating a teaching dossier in the latest installment of the GATA Network Series.
What: Creating a Teaching Dossier
Where: Erie G141
When: March 16th, 2016, 3:00pm-5:00pm
With the semester winding down, it is a great time to begin creating a teaching dossier highlighting teaching-related accomplishments and a philosophy statement. This workshop is completely free for GAs, TAs, and those interested in learning about this topic. Workshop leader Pierre Boulos has years of experience with pedagogy and the ins and outs of designing a meaningful dossier as a Teaching and Learning Specialist with the Centre for Teaching and Learning.
To register or find out more about this workshop, visit http://cleo.uwindsor.ca/workshops/ctl/52/
Note: This is an update to a previous post (Feb 29, 2016).
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