Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation

This workshop will introduce you to the fundamentals of course design, from outcomes to assessments. We will outline the elements of effective outcomes and assessments, approached within a Universal Design for Learning framework. During the session, you will draft and receive feedback on the basic elements of course design, and you will leave the session […]

Experiencing setbacks and failures is common in academia. Unfortunately, academic culture is often characterized by competition and individualism, where experiences or recognition of failure are unwelcome. The purpose of this community discussion is to bring together teaching assistants to challenge the culture of silence around failure and co-create strategies to compassionately support students who are […]

This workshop is a continuation of the first workshop of Course Design Week (Fundamentals of Course and Assessment Design), in which we discussed how to determine the types assessments you should use in your course. Exams are one of the most frequently used assessment types, yet most CIs do not receive training on how to […]

In this workshop, we explore different types of data that you can use to optimize your course design and delivery. First, we will discuss “learning analytics”, which has been identified by Educause as one of the six new technologies expected to have a significant impact on postsecondary teaching and learning. We will discuss what learning […]

In this workshop, we will explore with participants the realities of what it’s like being womxn and non-binary in STEM, focussing on information specific to the Canadian context. We will draw inspiration from our Community Discussion on Gender Bias in STEM (held in February 2022), to highlight themes such as current gender gaps across career […]

As TAs, providing grading rubrics for our assignments is often an effective way to demonstrate our expectations to students. At the same time, rubrics might also carry some cultural “baggage” (i.e. connotations, assumptions, and norms) that can create challenges in an intercultural environment and/or those who study in English as an additional language. For example, […]

The teaching dossier is a comprehensive record of teaching activities and accomplishments that is now required in applications for permanent positions at the University of Toronto and at an increasing number of institutions across North America. In this session, we will review the elements of a successful teaching dossier and discuss how to use it […]

Teaching assistants often provide personalized support to their students, whether it takes the form of office hours, extra help with course content, disciplinary guidance, or conversations about mental wellness. Such personalized support can be crucial to student success, especially when educators are striving to maintain accessible, equitable learning environments. However, the labour associated with these forms of care and individualized connection can often be difficult to […]