The Instructional Skills Workshop is an intensive, four-day workshop that gives participants the chance to enhance their teaching skills in a small group setting. The ISW is designed for faculty, instructors, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, and strengthens instructional skills in lesson planning, teaching, giving and receiving feedback, and critical reflection (Dawson et al., 2014).
The ISW uses an intensive, experiential learning approach, in which participants design and conduct three “mini-lessons” and receive feedback from other participants who have been learners in the mini-lessons. Participants are provided with opportunities to explore teaching concepts, build on their existing teaching skills, practice new teaching approaches, apply pedagogical theory to practice, and engage in thoughtful discussion with their peers.
To register in a workshop, please add your name to our waitlist. When we schedule the next workshop you will be notified.
Benefits of the ISW
The ISW gives participants a chance to develop lesson plans and actively practice teaching, as well as receive and deliver feedback in a supportive environment. The ISW has been shown to increase participants’ use of learner-centred teaching practices, and to enhance their engagement in reflective practices, such as reflecting on their own assumptions; encouraging their students to reflect; and embracing feedback from others (Dawson et al., 2014).
Facilitator Development Workshop
When demand permits, the EDU also offers the Facilitator Development Workshop. The FDW is a four-day, intensive workshop for ISW graduates who are experienced instructors and wish to enhance their group facilitation skills. After completing the FDW, participants become part of a larger network of ISW facilitators and are able build teaching capacity across campus by leading the ISW in their own departments, schools and faculties.
References
Dawson, D., Borin, P., Meadows, K., Britnell, J., Olsen, K., McIntrye, G. 2014. The impact of the instructional skills workshop on faculty approaches to teaching. Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario.
