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This month, we have an interactive example of best practices. This group of videos and documents comes from MERLOT ELIXR, a site that has collected case studies demonstrating exemplary teaching at numerous North American institutions.
Making Your 1st Class Session Really First Class was put together by Joe Grimes and Cynthia Desrochers from California State University, and features video interviews with five different faculty members as well as downloadable reference materials.
From our own Ryerson faculty, we have ideas culled from the "Teaching Large Classes" workshop held by the LTO on November 4, 2009. The full notes from the meeting are available as a pdf on the LTO's resource page on teaching large classes.
Our faculty agreed that on the first day of class, it is important to:
- Establish ground rules from day one, including policies and expectations, and then make sure to follow through on them.
- Not underestimate the importance of the first class - model all aspects of your course (group work, activities, participation, computer support, etc.) in that first class, especially if what is coming is different from the norm.
- Remember that prevention is always a better strategy than damage control. Be organized and plan ahead! Winging it may work in a seminar, but in a large class it is usually disastrous.
- Get the student buy-in by involving them in creating the class contract around norms, behaviours, expectations, etc. Make sure to cover lateness, disruptive behaviour, and distractions such as laptops and cell phones.
This month the LTO will be running Part 2 of the New Faculty Orientation 2009/2010. It will taking place on Tuesday, January 5, 2010, from 8:30 am - 3:00 pm, at the Oakham House, 63 Gould Street, Thomas Lounge. Register for the New Faculty Orientation.
The LTO will be welcoming guest speaker Debra Dawson, Director of Teaching and Learning Services, University of Western Ontario. She will be giving a talk entitled "Using the National Survey of Student Engagement to Enhance Student Academic Success: Best Practices on Canadian Campuses." Register for just the NSSE session.
The Learning & Teaching Office has prepared a page of resources specifically for New and Returning Faculty. These links will direct faculty members to helpful statistics and academic policies, as well as useful Ryerson offices and facilities.
The results of the NSSE, as well as student surveys and key statistics about Ryerson students can be found on the Understanding Your Students section of the LTO page for New and Returning Faculty.
The section on Professional Development contains several helpful resources for faculty members heading into their first day of class, some of which are excerpted here:
New and returning faculty might also find our page on course design of use. We have provided some resources on developing new courses, designing a syllabus, and understanding learning styles and domains.
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There are several books available at the Ryerson Library that the LTO recommends:
Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research, and Theory for College and University Teachers
By Wilbert J. McKeachie. Lexington, MA: D.C. Health. 1994.
Call No.: LB1738 .M252 1994
What the Best College Teachers Do
By Ken Bain. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. 2004.
Call No.: LB2331 .B34 2004
Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses
By L. Dee Fink. San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass. 2003.
Call No.: LB2331 .F495 2003
Advice for New Faculty Members
By Robert Boice. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. 2000.
Call No.: LB1778.2 .B63 2000
Faculty in New Jobs: A Guide to Settling in, Becoming Established, and Building Institutional Support
By Robert J. Menges and Associates. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 1999.
Call No.: LB2331.72 M46 1999
Ryerson University provides faculty and students with a variety of helpful services and programs, covering everything from digital media assistance to english language support. New faculty might be interested in exploring the Student Services directory to see what other Ryerson offices might be of use to their students.
This month's featured Ryerson office is The Learning Succes Centre. John Hannah, Learning Skills Strategist for the LSC offers this introduction to the services provided by The Learning Succes Centre:
"Our hearty welcome to new faculty from the Learning Success Centre!
As you start to negotiate the Ryerson terrain and begin considering how to best serve the students you teach, it may be useful to know some of the student support services that are here to help. The Learning Success Centre can be a very good partner in the service of student learning.
We like to think of ourselves as makers of bridges to help span the various gaps between teachers and students, between information and knowledge, between content and meaning. In other words, to help pave a clearer way for students to get meaningful access to the things teachers want them to learn.
We do this because from time to time, despite your very best efforts, there is the occasional student who has difficulty finding their way to academic success. Obviously, this can be for a variety of reasons and, while it is always our contention that the very best learning occurs when there is a good connection between teachers and students, between students and content, we know this connection is not always easy to make. So we are here to help. We offer a variety of workshops for students, one-on-one consultations, tutoring, study groups, online resources and specialized, in class workshops in collaboration with faculty to help students learn how to learn whatever it is you are teaching. You take care of the what and we help with the how.
Check us out online or contact your faculty specific learning strategist to explore possibilities for collaboration."
"The LTO Best Practices" is produced monthly by The Learning & Teaching Office of Ryerson University. Our February issue will be on assessment and evaluation.
Do you have any thoughts, suggestions, or best practices that you would like to see appear in this newsletter? How do you design your exams? How do you manage grading? What are the best ways to get feedback from your students? Please send all submissions to michelle.schwartz@ryerson.ca. We look forward to including your contributions in our next issue!
Location: Kerr Hall West, room KHW373.
Phone: 416.979.5000 x6598
Email: lto@ryerson.ca
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