Message from the Directors

It’s been a year of opportunity and change at CTSI. Carol Rolheiser undertook a six-month study leave and Diane Horton, a faculty member in the Department of Computer Science, stepped in as Acting Director from January through June 2018, which allowed CTSI the chance to extend our connections and gain from the experience and knowledge of an award-winning instructor and member of the Teaching Academy.

We’ve titled this report Intersections because we believe this best describes CTSI’s work. Intersections demonstrates the breadth and depth of our activities and commitment to collaborating with our peers, our leadership on teaching matters and scholarship, and our contributions to pedagogical and technological initiatives at the University of Toronto.

Our partnerships have impact across the University and provide tri-campus support for teaching at the U of T. For example, through a massive communication campaign and consultative process, CTSI collaborated with a number of U of T offices, including Information Technology Services (ITS), to select, promote and integrate the University’s new Academic Toolbox – Quercus. In rolling out this initiative, every corner of our institution has been touched. From the initial consultation process in 2016 to selecting a platform, training users and creating resources for the full implementation in Fall 2018, CTSI has been involved at every stage and with every division.

In Fall 2017, CTSI helped develop a conceptual framework for Integrated Learning at the University of Toronto that touches on important experiential dimensions of undergraduate education – research and innovation, community, workplace and international experiences – to best enhance the learning and engagement of students and instructors. This framework is a foundational organizer for the Integrated Learning Experience workshop series that CTSI developed with the Office of the Vice-Provost, Innovations in Undergraduate Education. New sessions have also been scheduled for 2018-2019.

CTSI’s commitment to inquiry and the improvement of teaching is evident through our professional development models that are grounded in research, evidence and collaboration. This past year we saw the second cohort of the Peer-to-Peer Faculty Mentoring for Teaching Program and the creation of new programming, including the 2018-19 Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Cohort Program for U of T instructors interested in conducting research into their own teaching.

We are looking forward to the upcoming year, working with U of T’s Teaching Fellows (a new model that brings three Teaching Stream instructors to CTSI to work on a two-year teaching initiative), our cohorts, and a range of colleagues from across the University.

The University of Toronto is a world leader in higher education. CTSI is proud to play a central role in pedagogical and technological advancement and to connect with our community to enrich the teaching and learning experiences for both instructors and students.

Diane Horton (January-June 2018)
Acting Director, CTSI and Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, Computer Science

Carol Rolheiser (on leave, January-June 2018)
Director, Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation and Professor, Curriculum Teaching, and Learning, OISE