Teaching Development Conference (TDC)

8:30 - 9:00am

Welcome and Sign In

Coffee will be available at this time.

Biosciences Complex, Atrium

9:00 - 10:30am

Welcome and Opening Plenary Session

Plenary: Fostering engagement:  How can difficult discussions foster deep learning?  
Moderator: Karalyn, Centre for Teaching and Learning

Panelists: Dax D’Orazio, Department of Political Studies; Ali Na, Department of Film and Media and Department of Cultural Studies;  and Lenora Duhn, School of Nursing

Encouraging students to speak up and be active participants in class is a common challenge across disciplines, as well as in online and in-person environments. Learning to engage in challenging conversations can help students connect course content with broader local and global societal challenges. As educators, developing strategies on facilitating difficult conversations can help promote student participation, as well as support the development of skills in critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, inclusion, and mutual respect. This panel discussion will feature educators from across disciplines who will come together and share their strategies on how they promote student engagement in their own teaching. They will share what has worked, what hasn’t worked, and strategies you might try in the year ahead!

Biosciences Complex, Room 1102

10:30 - 11:00am

Nutrition Break

Biosciences Complex, Atrium

Concurrent Sessions A

11:00 - 12:00pm

A.1 PANEL: Ask a TA! Navigating Teaching Assistantships at Queen’s
Moderator: Kim Hill-Tout, Department of Geography and Planning
Panelists: Paul Akpomuje, Faculty of Education; Hebatalla Ouda, School of Computing; and Monica Garvie, Department of Biology

What kinds of responsibilities will I have as a TA and what things do I need to know? What can I do as a TA to be inclusive and equitable? How can get the most out of my TA experience? Join Kim and a panel of experienced TAs from a variety of disciplines to discuss the joys and challenges of TAing at Queen’s. Our panelists will speak on their past experiences, resources they’ve found useful, and discuss strategies for the upcoming semester. This session is open to new and experienced teaching assistants. Got questions about TAing? Come join the discussion and ask a TA!

Biosciences Complex, Room 1102

A.2 Faculty Roundtable: Insights into a New Context
Moderator: Yasmine Djerbal, Centre for Teaching and Learning
Panelists: Kate Rowbotham, Smith School of Business; Fauzia Husain, Department of Sociology; and Erin Meger, School of Computing

In this session, we will hear from junior, mid-career, and senior faculty members, and learn first-hand about their experiences, things they wish they had known when they first started, and advice they have for new(er) colleagues. We also highly encourage participants to make use of this time and space to build community and network with peers from across campus and across disciplines!

Biosciences Complex, Room 1120

A.3 Lesson Planning
Facilitator: Yunyi Chen, Centre for Teaching and Learning

Have you already taught at Queen's? Are you considering how to lesson plan more effectively? This session is for you! Whether you are teaching a 3-hour lecture, group tutorial, or laboratory, planning your lesson effectively can help provide guidance for both you and your students. Lesson plans can help ensure that your learning activities align to the course learning outcomes and assessments, as well as build in opportunities for student-centered discussion and activities.  A well-designed lesson plan can increase your confidence when leading lectures and tutorials for the first time, as well as help you prepare you for unexpected situations as they arise. This interactive session will focus on practical strategies for lesson planning; through small groups, participants will practice designing lesson plans and collaborate with colleagues from other disciplines.

Biosciences Complex, Room 2109

12:00 - 1:00pm

Lunch Break

Biosciences Complex, Atrium

Concurrent Sessions B

1:00 - 2:00pm

B.1 The What and Hows of Leading Your First Tutorial
Facilitator: Nevena Martinovic, Centre for Teaching and Learning

Teaching Assistants are instrumental to delivering course content and cultivating academic communities, especially in courses with tutorials. This session will provide you with frameworks and suggestions for running small-group sessions, from developing community agreements to fostering student engagement and managing challenging conversations. This session will be beneficial for TAs from across all disciplines and academic levels. We invite you to bring your most pressing tutorial queries, as there will be time for a Question and Answer period.  

Biosciences Complex, Room 2109

B.2 Strategies for Facilitating Difficult Conversations
Facilitator: Dale Lackeyram, Centre for Teaching and Learning

Difficult conversations come in many forms in the classroom.  For example, some are rooted in course content, while others are related to current events that intersect with course content.  Join me in this session as we explore approaches to creating responsible and accountable learning spaces.  
At the end of the session, you should be able to
•     identify what makes a conversation difficult for you
•    and integrate concrete strategies that you can utilize to navigate and facilitate difficult conversations

Biosciences Complex, Room 1120

B.3 Crafting your Teaching Dossier:  Starting to collect feedback and putting together your story
Facilitator: Karalyn McRae, Centre for Teaching and Learning

This session will introduce the structure and main components of a teaching dossier. More and more, universities require that candidates submit teaching dossiers when they apply for academic positions, awards, or as part of their package for renewal, promotion, or tenure. Your teaching dossier is a curated document that showcases your accomplishments, strengths, and directions as a teacher.  In this session we will discuss ways that you can develop your dossier by crafting a story of who you are as an educator, from your values to what you do in the classroom!

Biosciences Complex, Room 1102

2:00 - 2:20pm

Wrapping up our day, but continuing the learning journey…

Join us in a final wrap-up session to reflect on the learning from today as well as an overview of what can be next in your professional development – from next week, next month, to next year!

9:00 - 10:00am

TAs and TFs: Understanding Your Collective Agreement and Union Resources
Emerson MacNeil, and Kavya Harshitha Jidugu, Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) 901

This is a session for TAs and TFs on understanding how the Collective Agreement operates at Queen's, what it offers TA/TAs in terms of benefits, standardized hiring practices, grievance procedures and more.  TAs and TFs are encouraged to attend to learn how the Collective Agreement benefits them and what changed during the last round of bargaining.

10:30 - 11:30am

Getting to know onQ
Karla Coleman, Centre for Teaching and Learning

This session is for designed for new users to onQ. In this introduction, we will be giving you a brief tour of the essential tools to get you started in onQ. These include Announcements, Content, Assignments, Grade Book, Classlist and Classlist Email.

1:30 - 2:30pm

Crip Pedagogies: Establishing the Classroom as a Site of Praxis and Care
Kate Brothers, Arts and Science Online

The concept of “cripping” a course — adapting and transforming traditional educational practices to be more inclusive — encourages educators to think creatively and innovatively about their teaching. This concept originates from disability studies and is rooted in the idea of challenging and transforming conventional norms in education that often marginalize individuals with disabilities.

In this session, participants will explore how learning environments can exist as opportunities to practice care, co-created collective access, and community. They will learn how to bring principles of disability justice into their teaching practices for the benefit of all bodies. The session will also cover where to find opportunities to crip a course, and how to incorporate accessible practices without compromising personal wellness.

Where's Agnes?
Nasrin Himada, Agnes Etherington Art Centre

This workshop is designed to help educators, students, and staff know about upcoming exhibitions, programs, events and workshops facilitated by Agnes, and to hopefully incorporate it into your curriculum or routine at Queen's.

9:30 - 10:30am

Speak Up! Supporting students with communication skills for academic success
Alyssa Foerstner, Student Academic Success Services; and Lydia Skulstad, Student Academic Success Services and Queen's University International Centre

In this interactive session, we will explore academic communication in learning spaces and consider what successful communication strategies look like, and how we as educators can support our students in developing the communication skills they need to thrive at Queen's and beyond. We will share with you how we at SASS can complement the teaching you do in the classroom and engage in a participatory demonstration of one of our core programs, Speak Up, to model a session that can be embedded in any tutorial, seminar, lab, or online class. 

11:00 - 12:00pm

Establishing Classroom Culture: Community Agreements
Emma McCallum, Human Rights and Equity Office

Creating an inclusive learning environment is crucial to student success and engagement. Community agreements are one-way educators can work to set the tone and expectations around their classroom space and culture. This workshop on Community Agreements uses discussion, self-reflection, and planning activities to better prepare educators with the tools and strategies to establish and maintain a supportive and inclusive classroom. Recommended Pre-learning: 1. Read the 2023 Shift Survey Report 2. Complete the Anti-racism module from the Human Rights and Equity Office 3. Complete 1or more modules of your choice from the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Pedagogy and Practice Modules Estimated pre-learning time: 1. = 15 minutes / 1. and 2. = 45 minutes / 1. 2. and 3. = 1.5 hours

1:00 - 2:00pm

Strategies for Effective Teaching in the Laboratory  
Karalyn McRae, Centre for Teaching and Learning

Teaching happens in many different places and spaces, and for some of us, it means preparing to teach in our laboratory and clinical learning environments. Teaching in science, engineering and health science disciplines are all enhanced through the hands-on experimentation that happens in laboratory sessions. As a TA, how can you best prepare for in-lab teaching sessions? What are some of the common challenges of teaching in a lab space? This session will focus on introducing some essential strategies and practices that you can use as either a TA or new course instructor in a lab setting.