Not sure what to pick out as the highlights of the two visits - there are many points of contact and similarity and some different ways of looking at issues. The agenda covered Student evaluation of teaching; academic integrity; learning management systems implementation and change; institutional change and how to run an educational development centre. The formality of the academic integrity process at Carleton is forbidding but reassuring at the same time. Also interesting that the staff in the Educational Development Centre maintain their discipline teaching opportunities - it is not often you see a set of skulls decorating the windowsills in the EDC. But they also have created a most welcoming environment in their relatively new premises with super pictures. As I was being shown around Maggie let me into the main seminar/training room, and explained that they had failed to sway the designers into allowing them flexible and movable tables and chairs. A very well designed room nevertheless and able to be used in a reasonably flexible way. (see picture below) .
Ottawa University's Teaching and Learning Support Services has an extensive array of technology support activities as well as more traditional academic development. I enjoyed seeing (and hearing) a truly bilingual university at work - and observing some of the additional challenges that poses.
Today has been a busy one at Windsor, co-facilitating with Michael a workshop on "Capturing Excellence" in PhD supervision. We had a fun time and the participants engaged fully, even to the extent of putting coloured posit notes on their papers without being given a rationale. As in Canterbury, some excellent practices in PhD supervision/advising are going on and there were plenty of instances where people became aware of there being "another way" compared to their standard personal or departmental practice. This event was jointly sponsored by the Dean of Graduate Studies, endorsed by the VP Research and CTL, and is hopefully the beginning of a suite of activities for staff and students int his area. Much of the workshop planning was informed by similar activity going on at the University of Canterbury and the development of the working relationship with the Postgraduate Dean there too. Practices can be universal or at least similar and fine tuned for the location. In his opening remarks the Dean of Graduate Studies referred to Windsor's peripheral location which is sometimes depicted negatively in Canada and said that whilst there was little that could be done about that, the faculty had within their own control the opportunity to ensure that the students' have a positive master's or PhD study experience. A lesson for us all to remember.
Photos today are the seminar room at Carleton and Michael wondering about excellence this morning.
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