Two recent research reports issued by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario have put postsecondary teaching effectiveness in the spotlight.
A Western-authored report into teaching-assistant training programs at Western discovered a program enhanced with significant intercultural components has a positive impact on the development of international graduate students – not only as teachers, but also as graduate students. Bridging the Gap: The Impact of the ‘Teaching in the Canadian Classroom’ Program on the Teaching Effectiveness of International Teaching Assistants was authored by Debra L. Dawson, Nanda Dimitrov, Ken N. Meadows and Karyn Olsen, all of Western.
A second report, The Role of New Faculty Orientations in Improving the Effectiveness of Postsecondary Teaching, Part 2: College Sector, called for increased collaboration and sharing of best practices between colleges and universities as well as more incentives to encourage and reward innovation in teaching and learning. This report builds on the findings of a previous study, The Role of New Faculty Orientations in Improving the Effectiveness of University Teaching.