Your department will provide you with administrative support, course outlines, resources, and information about other supports within your department. In addition, make sure that you also check out the New Employee Portal for general helpful information to get you started at Camosun. And contact the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) early on for help getting started with D2L (Desire-to-Learn, our learning management system) and other teaching supports.
As you get started teaching, you may wonder: What is my teaching style? How do I create a respectful learning environment? What are effective strategies for facilitating group work? What are some tips for marking and assessing student learning? What technologies should I use? How do I keep learners motivated and interested?
CETL is here to help you with all of your teaching questions. Email: CETL@camosun.ca
"Faculty have a journey that is much like an infinity circle: often looping around and around as they progress through the various stages of their career." Below are four possible phases of your teaching journey (from article by Liesel Knaack, 2017; attached):
Student engagement and learning: Engaging students in meaningful experiences through strategies focusing on successful student learning. This part of the journey is focused on an educator making changes to practice that result in changes to student engagement and learning through a set of new strategies, methods, and/or activities.
Design of learning experiences: Designing classes and courses that provide students with authentic and deep learning opportunities. This part of the journey is focused on the educator making changes to practice that result in significant changes in student learning through innovative design of a course or many courses.
Scholarly reflection and inquiry: Demonstrating excellence in scholarly teaching practices, critical reflections on practice, and inquiry into enhancing student learning. This part of the journey demonstrates development of self and an enabling of colleagues to engage in continual professional learning and scholarly activity.
Leadership and community: Engaging in leadership, community engagement and contributions to teaching and learning across the institution and to the discipline while working to create more inclusive and engaged classrooms. This part of the journey is about influence and dissemination of new knowledge to peers and to the wider campus community.
Learn more in the article below:
Creative Commons License: CC BY-SA 4.0 | Liesel Knaack, Centre for Innovation and Excellence in Learning | Vancouver Island University (2017)
