It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the inaugural issue of the Teaching Centre magazine. The launch of the Teaching Centre on March 4th, 2013 signified an important reaffirmation of the University of Lethbridge’s commitment to excellence in teaching and learning. Through its commitment to scholarship, research, and best practices in teaching and learning, the Teaching Centre strives to promote and enhance the professional development of university level instruction.
Although less than a year old, the Teaching Centre has several professional development opportunities available to all UofL instructors. I thought I would take this opportunity to highlight a few new initiatives we are proud to offer.
The new Teaching Centre website contains a growing library of teaching resources focused on specific pedagogical skills ranging from assessment to classroom management.
The Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) is a four-day workshop, offered each summer, focused on constructive strategies and individualized peer feedback to help you refine your own approach to teaching.
(He)art of Teaching is a casual, confidential, drop-in peer mentoring session offered throughout the year providing instructors an opportunity to put your feet up, and talk to other teachers who’ve been there.
The New Faculty Teaching Development (NFTD) program is intended to provide new faculty with the professional skills, understanding, competencies, and confidence to demonstrate excellence in teaching and to provide exemplary learning opportunities for students.
New for the 2013/2014 academic year the Teaching Development Workshops and Tutorial sessions provide all faculty with quality collegial and collaborative professional development opportunities focused on understanding and praxis concomitant with exemplary teaching and learning.
The Teaching Centre magazine is our newest initiative and an extension of our belief in the importance of scholarly research and publication on teaching and learning at the U of L. This yearly publication provides an opportunity for U of L faculty to engage in the scholarship of teaching and learning, share best practices, and present their views, opinions, and research on teaching at the University of Lethbridge.
This is the first year of the magazine and we are grateful to the hard work of our colleagues who helped to bring this idea to fruition. I want to encourage everyone to provide me with your feedback on the magazine and how we can improve it for next year. I hope you enjoy reading the articles and columns within, and consider writing your own article for next year's publication.