Alastair Summerlee contends student success can oftentimes be found outside the classroom.
Summerlee, University of Guelph president and vice-chancellor, will deliver the keynote session at the Spring Perspectives on Teaching Conference on May 14. Presented by the Teaching Support Centre, the one-day conference runs 9 a.m.-4 p.m. in Social Science Centre, Room 2050.
In his session, entitled Student Engagement: The Key to Deep and Effective Learning, Summerlee argues there is considerable evidence to show the amount of time and energy students engage in university and community activity outside the classroom is directly related to their ultimate success and performance. In fact, engagement activities intentionally linked to educational strategies lead to better student performance and higher levels of satisfaction.
The implications are clear, Summerlee says, we need to think deliberately about student engagement as a key to deep and effective learning.
Summerlee will be joined by numerous other presentations during the conference including:
- Improving Wikipedia improves more than Wikipedia: Using the Wikipedia Canadian Education Program to promote critical thinking, information literacy, and communication skills. Lead by Jonathan Obar, Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media, Michigan State University, and Tom Haffie, Department of Biology, Western;
- And the Moral of the Story is …: The Use of Narrative in Teaching. Lead by Nadine LeGros, Teaching Support Centre, Western;
- New OWL (powered by Sakai): New Learning Management System Implemented at Western. A panel discussion with instructors who were part of the winter pilot of the new OWL (powered by Sakai);
- Promoting Student Socialization into a Discipline: A Curricular Innovation. Lead by Tom Haffie and Tricia Gray, Department of Biology, Western;
- Engagement and Deep Learning in the Disciplines: Examples from Exemplary Western Faculty (Closing plenary session). Join three of Western’s most effective instructors –Chantelle Richmond, Geography and First Nations Studies; Christopher Viger, Philosophy; and Tim Wilson, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology – for a demonstration of their teaching methods followed by a panel discussion about the strategies they employ to motivate and engage students in their classrooms. Reflect on the ways in which these approaches might translate to your own teaching context.
Register for the conference at its website.