Successful teaching and learning flows from well-designed and planned instruction that prioritizes student engagement, access, and well-being. The sections below provide a number of resources and links that you will find helpful, in addition to ideas around professional development as an instructor.
Our Instructional Associates can assist you with mapping your course. A course map is a detailed outline of your course and an important tool in the course design process. A course map:
- Helps you to organize the content of your course for effective teaching and learning;
- Shows how you will construct and assess each of your course learning outcomes;
- Helps you to plan how you will deliver your teaching and learning activities;
- Follows a backward design model that explicitly connects learning outcomes, assessments, teaching and learning activities, and course content.
Additional Resources:
Engaging students in well-planned and authentic learning activities is key to the effective delivery of any class, whether online or face-to-face, synchronous or asynchronous. Ideally, learning activities should give students a chance to practice something they will eventually be assessed on, as well as provide an opportunity for reflection and feedback. Check out these resources for more information:
- Active learning (Queen’s University);
- Active learning activities (University of Waterloo);
- Techniques to check for understanding
- Active learning in first year university math (video, 6 min) – UBC;
- Student Engagement Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty (VCC Library, e-book);
- Small Teachings: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning (VCC Library, e-book).
Your classroom is made up of individuals with diverse identities, backgrounds, and experiences. When students feel that they are welcomed, respected, and included, they are more likely to engage in their learning and persist in their studies. Promoting a positive learning environment is the responsibility of all of us. Follow the links below for more information:
Setting up a classroom learning environment that is inclusive, engaging, student centered, and welcoming is the first and most important step in creating an effective learning space. Your students will represent a group with diverse backgrounds, experiences, learning preferences, language skills, and cultures. At some point, you will need to facilitate a conversation on a controversial topic, navigate student behaviour concerns, or deal with inappropriate language/microaggressions. Use these resources to prepare yourself.
- Best practices in classroom management Toronto Metropolitan University;
- Conflict management for instructors. Tips for prevention and management of classroom conflict – University of Waterloo;
- Navigating controversial topics in the classroom – Iowa State University (Video, 14 min);
- Microaggressions – Vice-President, Equity & Community Inclusion – Toronto Metropolitan University.
As with in-person classes, online instruction requires careful planning and execution. Both synchronous and asynchronous online classes should be well-designed to use technology in a way that engages and motivates students, while facilitating their learning and assessment. For example, one important design principle is balancing the three types of engagement in a blended/online environment: instructor to student, student to student, and student to content. Find out more below:
- Principles of Online Learning – Guiding questions and tips to support your course design from VCC’s CTLR (PDF);
- Facilitating Online Learning – CTLR workshop handout;
- Guiding Principles of Blended and Online Course Design – University of Calgary (PDF).
- Cultivating Rich Learning Experiences in Moodle – Where to find instructions to accomplish specific course-building tasks in Moodle (Word)
- Using Microsoft Teams in your class
Multilingual students can be domestic or international, and they speak English alongside other languages. Teaching multilingual students involves strategies and practices tailored to support the varied needs of this diverse group of students, helping them to engage more fully in your class. Follow the link for some strategies and resources to help you work more effectively with multilingual learners.
Reflective practice is a crucial part of an instructor’s professional development. Regularly examining your own beliefs and teaching practices helps to ensure that the instructional decisions you make are in the best interests of your students. You can also collect formative feedback from students (for example, using the Moodle Feedback tool) early on or mid-term to find out how things are going and to adapt your teaching as the course goes on. Using self-assessment allows you to better serve the needs of your students and continue to develop your skills.
- Reflective Teaching – Guiding questions and strategies in 5 domains of teaching practice (University of Alberta);
- Best Practices in Evaluating your Teaching – Toronto Metropolitan University (PDF).