CTSI Programming & Communications

Through CTSI’s programming and communications initiatives, we continue to champion the pursuit of great teaching and innovations in teaching at the University of Toronto. Through partnerships, resource development, community-building initiatives, programming that supports innovation and excellence in teaching, and our showcases of superlative practices across campuses, CTSI plays a leadership role in enhancing the culture of teaching across the institution.

COURSE DESIGN/RE-DESIGN INSTITUTE
Flagship Event
In 2017, CTSI responded to increased demand for our flagship event and ran two iterations of our annual 2-day Course Design/Re-design Institute, one in May and one in June. Each Institute welcomes up to 30 faculty members from across divisions and campuses, and introduces the principles of course design to tenure stream and teaching stream faculty members who are developing a new course or who would like to hone their course design skills and refresh a course they’ve already taught. Over two days, participants learn how to design or redesign a course of their choosing in order to enhance students’ learning experiences.

*NEW* PEER -2- PEER
Faculty Mentoring for Teaching Pilot Project
As part of this evidence-based initiative, instructors committed to supporting their colleagues and working in a reciprocal mentor-coach relationship to improve teaching. Through engagement in peer observations of teaching, mid-course feedback, regular peer interactions and three CTSI training workshops, participants had the opportunity not only to work on their own teaching, but think about how these practices could be applied in their home departments. 32 faculty members (both tenure stream and teaching stream) paired up for a mentoring program focused on enhancing teaching practice.

11TH ANNUAL TEACHING & LEARNING SYMPOSIUM
Flagship Event
Intersections: Where Instructional Design Meets Learning Science, presented in partnership with the Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking (DCIT), welcomed attendees to a plenary session featuring a keynote talk by Professor Sanjay Sarma of MIT and a provocation hosted by Mihnea Moldoveanu of the DCIT, followed by concurrent sessions. CTSI looks forward to our continuing collaboration with the Desautels Centre for Integrative thinking on this initiative.

Communication 
Through stories and videos, CTSI continues to highlight the excellent work of the University of Toronto’s teaching community.

  • This year marked the official launch of Re:Think, the University of Toronto’s institutional teaching publication. With a highly successful print run and a continuing multimedia online presence, Re:Think provides a platform to showcase U of T’s exciting teaching stories.
  • This year marked the official launch of Re:Think, the University of Toronto’s institutional teaching publication. With a highly successful print run and a continuing multimedia online presence, Re:Think provides a platform to showcase U of T’s exciting teaching stories.
  • CTSI developed accessibility guidelines and templates for our resources, ensuring that our websites and guides meet accessibility standards and are user-friendly.
  • CTSI produced 22 video resources (See Appendix D), ranging in subject from interviews on curriculum mapping to effective practices in using webinar resources for online courses.

Resources
Staff within CTSI regularly engage in resource development, providing University of Toronto instructors with evidence-based resources that support their teaching. This year, we developed a number of online resources, including a Peer Observation of Teaching Guide for individual faculty member as well as departmental/divisional use, and a revised Gathering Mid-Course Feedback Guide.

Online modules focused on learning outcomes and on policy for teaching assistants provided flexible options for both faculty members and TAs. A steward for pedagogical discourse, CTSI continued its efforts this year, releasing the full Faculty Mentoring for Teaching Report and two related tip-sheets – a research project that looked at mentoring for teaching practices at the University of Toronto and beyond.