ELATE @ McGill

ELATE Annual Teaching and Learning Conference – held every year 

ELATE hosts its Annual Teaching and Learning conference in the spring of each year. The one-day event features one or two keynote presentations / workshops from renowned researchers and practitioners in the field of teaching and learning in higher education. The keynote is followed by a strategy exchange about instructional and assessment strategies used by engineering faculty.

Past speakers have been:

• Professors Richard Felder and Rebecca Brent, pioneers in the field of STEM education;
• Professor Barbara Oakley, co-creator of the world’s most popular MOOC – Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects;
• Professor Michael Prince, from Bucknell University;
• Professor Ken Bain, author of the bestselling book ‘What the best college teachers do’
• Professor Eric Mazur, creator of the Peer Instruction teaching strategy
• Professor Peter Ostafichuk, from the University of British Columbia and co-author of Getting Started with Team-Based Learning
• Professor Robert Talbert, from Grand Valley State University and author of Flipped Learning: A Guide for Higher Education Faculty
• Professor Pooja Agarwal, from Berklee College of Music and co-author of Powerful Teaching:  Unleash the Science of Learning
• Professor Sean Maw, from the University of Saskatchewan
• Professor Nishant Balakrishnan, from the University of Manitoba
• Professor Jay Roberts, author of Risky Teaching: Harnessing the Power of Uncertainty in Higher Education
• Professor Fiona Rawle, from the University of Toronto

Mid-Course Evaluations

To receive valuable feedback from students during the term while still allowing for adjustment to ongoing courses, ELATE invites engineering professors to conduct mid-course evaluations. Mid-course evaluations can include administering an online survey, setting up an anonymous discussion board on McGill’s Learning Management System (myCourses), or having a facilitated mid-course evaluation session.

The facilitated mid-course evaluation involves the following:

1. An initial meeting between the instructor and facilitator takes place one or two weeks before the evaluation session to discuss what the instructor would like feedback on from their students.
2. The day of the evaluation, the instructor leaves the classroom 20 minutes before the class ends. The facilitator distributes an anonymous feedback survey or has students discuss in small groups: a) what they like about the course, b) what they suggest can be improved, and c) any other specific feedback the instructor requested (such as opinions on the use of educational technology, specific teaching or assessment strategies, etc).
3. After the session, the facilitator compiles the feedback data for the instructor.
4. One week later, the facilitator and instructor meet to discuss the student feedback..

Coffee & Chat 

These sessions, taking place every two weeks, are opportunities for instructors to gather in informal settings to discuss teaching and learning and to hear from other instructors who are implementing active learning strategies in their classrooms, trying new instructional methods to enhance student learning, and seeking ways to foster student engagement.

Teaching and Learning Workshops

A series of workshops covering a broad range of topics including the accreditation process, accessible teaching and learning, active learning, curricular alignment, and assessment are conducted every year for new and experienced faculty.