Facilitator Spotlights

Individuals dedicated to teaching and learning sharing their experiences, learning, and highlights as an Institute Facilitator.

Amber Shaw

Lecturer, AEP
Academic English Program, UBC Vantage College

Neil Leveridge

Assistant Professor of Teaching, Communication Strategies
Department of Wood Science

“We facilitated an interactive, multi-access workshop on Enhancing Accessibility through Sustainable Affective Feedback. We had the pleasure of co-facilitating with Ainsley Camps (CTLT) to take a hands-on approach to using screencasting for feedback in order to enhance student and instructor well-being. Seeing how creative UBC instructors are in using this type of technology in their teaching practice was an incredible privilege.”

“Do it [to those considering participating/facilitating a CTLT Institute workshop]! This is a unique opportunity to connect with other participants from across different disciplines and faculties. The range of ideas generated in such a short time and supportive space creates such an exceptional experience. These workshops are the power squats of professional development. You won’t be disappointed!”

Rebecca Carruthers Den Hoed

Assistant Professor of Teaching
School of Journalism, Writing, and Media

I thoroughly enjoyed facilitating the workshop Preparing Students to Write: Using Team-Based Learning to Boost Student Confidence at both the Winter Institute and Spring Institute in 2021/2022. I find CTLT workshops and institutes to be ideal opportunities to share ideas and connect with faculty from across the disciplines: I’m always pleasantly surprised when I meet someone from a different field of study who is experimenting with similar teaching tools or techniques. Some of the most generative and collegial connections I’ve made at UBC have been through the CTLT, and I am grateful for the space it offers for discussion and learning. I always come away from a CTLT even having met someone new who inspires me to think differently about how teaching and learning work and why (and to whom) they matter.


Katie Lee Bunting

Assistant Professor of Teaching
School of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy

Katie co-facilitated the workshop, Can I Submit That? Using Student Assessment to Challenge Power Structures in Our Learning Environments with CTLT’s Judy Chan and three students in the 2022 Spring Institute.

“It is deeply important to me to collaborate with MOT students as facilitators. They have such a wealth of knowledge, experience, and they are the ones directly impacted by the decision I made to redesign my course assessment. All too often, student perspectives are less valued than professors and administrators, and I’m so keen to see that change–this is one small and meaningful step toward that!

Words from the MOT student facilitators:

Nicole

“I had the privilege of participating in the CTLT Spring Institute as a student facilitator alongside Professors Katie Lee Bunting and Judy Chan, and two of my classmates. As a first-year Masters of Occupational Therapy student, I was motivated to contribute to the discussion around traditional student assessments and ways to mitigate power structures in our learning environments. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to offer a student perspective on this topic, and I look forward to the future of student learning at UBC!”

Leeza

“Having the chance to participate in the CTLT Spring Institute alongside MOT classmates and professors allowed me to step out of my comfort zone and share my story! I was motivated to contribute and share my experiences as a student to highlight the ways power structures can be mitigated through course assessments. I am overall grateful to have had the opportunity to offer a student perspective on this topic as this is a small stride towards implementing a change in our learning environment.”

Parmeet

“Having had the privilege of participating in the CTLT Spring Institute along with fellow MOT students and Professors Katie Lee Bunting and Judy Chan has been an amazing experience. I felt an obligation to share my personal learnings with others and participating in this type of a format really helped me feel proud of our learning throughout the semester. I am thankful for the opportunity to participate and continue making positive impacts through my student experience thus far and I look forward to future opportunities as well!”


Irwin Chan

Sessional Instructor
School of Philosophy

“I was glad to have the opportunity to facilitate a workshop at the CTLT and discuss how to use group exams to transform exams into an opportunity for collaborative learning. I hope that the workshop gave the participants some new ideas to explore and experiment with. I always learn so much from attending workshops at the CTLT and leave with new ideas about experimenting with innovative teaching. I look forward to learning about teaching at your workshop in the future!


Casey Keulen, PhD, PENG

Assistant Professor of Teaching
Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science

“It was my honor to present our session: ‘Hybrid Courses: Lessons Learned from Multi-Campus Instruction’ with my collaborator, Christoph Sielmann at the 2021 Winter Institute. This was a follow up to our session from the 2020 Winter Institute: ‘Challenges and Benefits of Multi-Campus Learning’. This work started from a need within our new undergraduate program, Manufacturing Engineering, which is the Faculty of Applied Science’s first program taught across both campuses. We realized there were quite a few similarities between multi-campus instruction and hybrid courses, which have become very common these days, and wanted to share our experiences. I look forward to continuing our work in this area to benefit our program and the teaching community as a whole.


Christoph Sielmann, PhD, PENG

Assistant Professor of Teaching
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science

It was a delight to facilitate “Hybrid Courses: Lessons Learned from Multi-Campus Instruction” alongside Dr. Casey Keulen at the 2021 Winter Institute, a follow-up to last year’s session on “Challenges and Benefits of Multi-Campus Learning.” Multi-campus and hybrid formats are challenging contexts in which to teach, but they also offer extraordinary opportunities to reach new communities, overcome language barriers, and collaborate across cultures. I am grateful for the engaging feedback and participation from all attendees of our workshops, and I am excited to see how pedagogy evolves alongside technology as more programs and institutions explore these and other technology-enabled instructional formats.


Benjamin Cheung, PhD

Lecturer and Indigenous Initiatives Coordinator
Psychology, Faculty of Arts

“I helped facilitate the session, Walking The Talk: Sharing Our Practices Engaging with Indigenous Initiatives in the Spring of 2021 by sharing my motivation and journey in making Indigeneity an important part of my work. As a settler and a junior scholar, it is important for me to do what I can to get things right when engaging with something so important and sensitive. All of this work has been immensely humbling, and I couldn’t have done this without the Indigenous students I’ve had the chance to work with. I encourage all settler faculty and staff to engage with the CTLT Indigenous Initiatives crew, and to do your own learning as well, so that we can all appropriately engage with Indigenous topics, people, and cultures.”


Sarika Bose, PhD

Lecturer
English Language Studies, Faculty of Arts

“I enjoyed facilitating What I Learned from Working Online with TAs with my co-panelists. The collaborative work between the panelists and attendees inspired my own pedagogical strategies. As a long-time instructor at UBC, I am interested in evolving my teaching practices, and in engaging with my fellow instructors. As co-facilitator of CTLT’s Contract Faculty Community of Practice for the last 7 years, I have found the opportunity to share ideas and techniques with other educators to be valuable. The cross-disciplinary nature of CTLT workshops opens our minds to new possibilities and new collaborations, and I look forward to continuing to work with colleagues in becoming the best educators that we can.”


Jonathan Graves, PhD

Assistant Professor of Teaching
Vancouver School of Economics

I really enjoy facilitating and participating in workshops and other events at the CTLT. Since I get to learn from others and connect with the broader teaching community here at UBC and beyond, it’s always a rewarding experience. For example, when I facilitate workshops addressing assessment and the COVID-19 pandemic, I have the chance to not only share some of my own experiences, but also, to hear about the challenges and solutions other people are exploring. I always come away with a better idea of what other people are working on, as well as, a deeper understanding of my own perspective. Highly recommended!


Xiaowen Xu, PhD

Assistant Professor of Teaching
Chinese Applied Linguistics, Faculty of Arts

I have worked closely with Doctors Bosung Kim and Trish Varao-Sousa from the CTLT to explore how to enhance students’ academic communication skills via implementing group projects in medium-sized undergraduate courses. Each time we deliver our workshops, my co-facilitators and I aim to connect, communicate, and collaborate with our participants, many of whom have either pedagogical practices themselves, or have plans to implement group projects in their courses across a diverse range of disciplines. From this experience, I have also acquired pedagogical fellowship, new inspirations from my participants, and renewed courage to find more effective solutions for various group project situations. I have benefited just as much as our workshop participants. All in all, I fully believe that the CTLT Institutes are a charging station for all teaching members who are keen to provide the best learning experience for their students at UBC.”