The 2024 CTLT Winter Institute will take place in-person and online from December 9-11. This year, we’re reimagining the Winter Institute as a “wellbeing potluck,” co-created by the UBC teaching and learning community. Hear about the “secret ingredients”—ideas and strategies for fostering and enhancing learning environments that benefit everyone: faculty, staff, and students.
Session materials and relevant resources are being curated on the UBC Wiki to support your ongoing learning.
Please see below for a detailed schedule and to register for sessions.
Deepening Our Understanding of Wellbeing: Reflections from the UBC Community
December 9, 2024 | 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | In-person (Irving K Barber Learning Centre, Chilcotin Room 256)
This panel discussion brings together staff and faculty who support various wellbeing initiatives in their classrooms or at UBC. Beyond learning about their contributions, we will invite them to reflect on how the teaching and learning community has expanded its understanding of wellbeing and where challenges persist for individuals and systems.
Facilitators:
- Judy Chan, Faculty Associate, Faculty Liaison (Land and Food Systems)
- Ainsley Camps Educational Developer, CTLT
Panelists:
-
Gail Hammond, Associate Professor of Teaching, Food, Nutrition and Health, UBCV
-
Kshamta Hunter, Lecturer, Curriculum and Pedagogy; Manager, Transformative Learning and Engagement, Sustainability Hub, UBCV
-
Matt Dolf, Director, Office of Wellbeing Strategy, UBCV
-
Sarika Bose, Lecturer, English Language and Literatures, UBCV
-
Richard Price, Professor, Political Science; Director, Graduate Studies, Faculty of Arts, UBCV
Unlearning Scarcity: Building a Culture of Flourishing and Reciprocity at UBC
December 9, 2024 | 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. | In-person (Irving K Barber Learning Centre, Chilcotin Room 256)
The CTLT invites you to join a World Café discussion designed to spark deep reflections and collaborative dialogue around wellbeing at UBC. This year, we are exploring what it means to approach wellbeing as a shared, collective responsibility—one that reaches beyond individual actions and advocates for systemic change across our teaching and learning community.
Facilitators:
- Judy Chan, Faculty Associate, Faculty Liaison (Land and Food Systems)
- Ainsley Camps Educational Developer, CTLT
Using Labour-based Grading in Undergraduate Science Courses
December 10, 2024 | 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. | In-person (Irving K Barber Learning Centre, Chilcotin Room 256)
In this workshop, participants will delve into the core principles of labour-based grading and explore its application in undergraduate science courses. By the end of the workshop, participants will have acquired practical knowledge, tools and strategies to incorporate labour-based grading in their science courses, creating a more engaging, flexible, supportive, inclusive, and collegial classroom environment for all.
Facilitator: Christine Goedhart, Science Edcuation Specialist, Botany, UBCV
Why Do I Avoid My Student Evaluations of Teaching?
December 10, 2024 | 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. | In-person (Irving K Barber Learning Centre, Chilcotin Room 256)
At this roundtable session, we will acknowledge and honour the difficult emotional aspects of the SEI and provide an opportunity to discuss this in a collegial and empathetic environment.
We will not be discussing the reliability and validity of SEI, but rather will focus on what we need to do to take care of ourselves as instructors who receive SEIs reports and/or other anonymous comments about our teaching from students.
Topics of our conversation will include:
- Sharing approaches to reading and/or responding to anonymous student comments
- Managing emotional reactions to SEIs
- Reaching out to colleagues for support
- Instructor wellbeing
Facilitators:
- Judy Chan, Faculty Associate, Faculty Liaison, Land and Food Systems
- Ainsley Camps Educational Developer, CTLT
Making Teaching, Learning, and Even Meetings More Joyful Through Improv and Theatre Games
December 10, 2024 | 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. | In-person (Irving K Barber Learning Centre, Chilcotin Room 256)
In this 90-minute workshop, we will share our experiences as educators, students, and staff in bringing embodied exercises, improv and theatre games into our practice. And, more importantly, we will lead you in some improv activities you can bring back to your respective contexts. These theatre games and exercises are designed to be quick, fun, and accessible to all.
Facilitators:
- Jude Walker, Associate Professor, Adult Learning & Education, Department of Educational Studies
- Erica Mohan, Adjunct Professor, Educational Studies, Faculty of Education (and Founder and Acting Director of Community Education Partnerships)
Safer Spaces – Practices to Support Safety and Wellbeing in Learning Environments
December 11, 2024 | 9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. | Online (Zoom)
Join members of UBC’s Workplace Wellbeing and Student Health Equity and Education teams for a dynamic session focused on showcasing some essential ingredients to create sustainable, inclusive and flexible classrooms. Participants can expect to leave with a number of evidence-based, practical resources and practices that centre safety and wellbeing, specifically from the lenses of health equity, psychological health and safety, and trauma-informed practice. The safety and wellbeing of everyone who engages within working and learning environments at UBC, is a key prerequisite to meaningful, transformative learning and growth.
Facilitators:
- Miranda Massie, Workplace Wellbeing Practices and Learning Consultant
- Erica Altomare, Workplace Learning Specialist
- Kelsey Wright, Coordinator, Student Wellness Centres
- Louella Monaghan, Health Promotion Specialist
- Sarah Carten, Workplace Wellbeing Practices and Learning Consultant
Social Wellbeing in the Classroom Environment (Findings from Voice 6): Find Your Ingredients to Create a Classroom that Supports Student Retention, Social Wellbeing and Success
December 11, 2024 | 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. | Online (Zoom)
We will present the findings of an on campus Community-Based Participatory Action Project (Voice 6) exploring factors that influence social wellbeing. Research methodologies and results will be presented, followed by interactive discussions to consider how to use these data to enhance the classroom environment.
Facilitator: Melissa Feddersen, Manager, Campus Wellness & Education UBCO
Tracking Mastery of Learning Outcomes in Canvas
December 11, 2024 | 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. | Online (Zoom)
Join us in this workshop to learn how to link learning objectives with specific assignment questions and rubrics in Canvas, resulting in an individual Learning Mastery Gradebook for each student. This supports student and instructor wellbeing by providing updated feedback throughout the term on how students are progressing toward the course/program learning objectives and allow instructors to make practical adjustments to their lesson plans if necessary.
Facilitators:
- Andres Verhola, Program Director of Forest Management and Forest Operations programs, Assistant Professor of Teaching, Department of Forest Resources Management, UBCV
- Bosung Kim, Educational Consultant: Learning Design, CTLT
Developing Learning Ecosystems
December 11, 2024 | 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. | Online (Zoom)
There is a large body of literature that supports the idea that developing mastery of a subject can be achieved through learning-by-teaching. In this workshop, we will discuss some of the ways this type of mastery can be fostered, even in traditional higher education classrooms. Participants will be introduced to a tool to aid in matching learners in study partnerships “study buddies” and we will consider situational factors that may influence the success of specific peer teaching-learning relationships. We will revisit the flow of information in classrooms, consider ways to encourage effective lateral transfer, along with the potential benefits and challenges this approach may bring to learning.
Facilitator: Eden Fussner Dupas, Assistant Professor of Teaching, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine UBCV