The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning

Workshops and events

Explore the workshops and events available at The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning.

February

Innovate, Reflect, and Excel: Transforming Teaching Through Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Inquiry

Unlock the potential of your teaching with the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), an interdisciplinary field focused on improving educational practices through rigorous research. This self-paced asynchronous UM Learn course is designed for faculty members from all disciplines who are eager to explore innovative teaching methods, enhance student learning, and contribute to the academic community by sharing their findings.

Through a series of engaging modules, faculty members will gain a foundational understanding of SoTL, learn to formulate research questions related to their teaching practices, and develop their own SoTL projects. The training modules also provide hands-on guidance for designing research studies, analyzing data, and crafting successful SoTL grant proposals, helping educators to apply for funding for their research.

With a flexible learning format, this course allows faculty members to proceed at their own pace, making it ideal for those new to SoTL and seasoned scholars. Whether you're looking to refine your teaching methods or deepen your involvement in educational research, this course will provide the tools and insights needed to make a meaningful impact on both your teaching and student outcomes.

Training Modules now active. Registration will remain open until March 17, 2025, or until full.
Location: Remote - UM Learn
Facilitator: Halyna Malyk

Experiential Learning Community of Practice Brown Bag Conversations: AI Powered Critical Reflection

Bring your lunch and connect with other members of our community of practice! There is no formal agenda for these casual meetings just good people and conversation! Everyone is welcome to share their thoughts and experiences as we explore different topics in experiential learning.

Topic: AI powered critical reflection. Are your students using AI to complete reflection assignments? What challenges are you experiencing? What might be some strategies to overcome those challenges?

Date and time: Thursday, February 13, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Location: Room 223 - The Centre (65 Dafoe Road)
Facilitators: Meaghan Ewharekuko and Gerardo Villagran

Manitoba Academic Integrity Network (MAIN) Speaker Series

The Centre is excited to host the 2024-2025 Manitoba Academic Integrity Network (MAIN) Speaker Series, a collection of six professional development opportunities related to academic integrity. A Certificate of Completion will be awarded to individuals who register and attend all six sessions in this series. Visit the Manitoba Academic Integrity Network Speaker Series website for more details.

Session 5: Neutralizing the “Threat”: A Practitioners Guide to Re-Evaluating Student Assessments to Maintain Academic Integrity

Technology and various tools have the power to disrupt learning and compromise academic integrity. The onslaught of genAI has caused many of us to reconsider our assessments, yet the task of assessment redesign can be daunting, and we may not know where to begin. This presentation discusses four broad "filters" through which educators can consider how to best move forward (or not) with an existing assessment. When considered with other concepts, theories, and contextual factors, these filters may help enrich our decision-making. The four filters are, Abandon, Monitor, Enhance, & Adopt, and they all intended to help "neutralize the threat" to assessments. Overall, these filters are intended to provide a guide or framework for faculty (or used by those who coach or work with faculty) when they are considering assessment redesign while promoting academic integrity.

Date and time: Tuesday, February 18, 2025 , 10:00 a.m. to 10:55 a.m.
Location: Remote - UM Zoom
Special presenter: Dr. Cory Scurr, Manager of Academic Integrity, Conestoga Library & Learning Services and Chair, Academic Integrity Council of Ontario (AICO)

Pedagogies of Care: Universal Design - Curb Cutting the Academy

Join us for a series of four monthly 50-minute sessions designed for graduate students, instructors, and professors committed to exploring pedagogies of care. These sessions offer strategies that foster care, inclusion, and broaden perspectives in higher education, including insights into how brain science can enhance teaching effectiveness. Each session will provide practical tools for creating inclusive, engaging, and empowering learning environments, drawing on research into neural connections, brain plasticity, and how these processes affect learning, memory retention, and student engagement. Whether you're teaching in-person or in an online format, this series will equip you with neuroscience-based strategies and pedagogical approaches that cultivate caring and inclusive educational spaces.

During the Universal Design - Curb Cutting the Academy session:

Participants will be able to discuss learning activities that incorporate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles, ensuring accessibility for all students.
Participants will evaluate existing course materials and assessments to identify opportunities for enhancing accessibility and inclusivity.

Date and time: Tuesday, February 25, 1:00 p.m. to 1:50 p.m.
Location: Room 223 - The Centre (65 Dafoe Road)
Facilitator: Cintia Costa, Johnathan Bevan, and Lori Doan

Open Educational Resources: What, Why, and How

The term open educational resources (OER) describes a wide range of materials in teaching and learning that are available for public use with an open license or in the public domain. Examples of OER include full courses, course modules, syllabi, textbooks, lectures, assessments, and datasets. In this workshop, participants will learn why OER are valuable, and how to locate them, how to evaluate them using a rubric. The workshop does not assume prior experience with these topics.

Date and time: Thursday, February 27, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Location: Remote - UM Zoom
Facilitator: Janice Winkler and Iwona Gniadek

Universal Design for Learning in Practice: Clarify the Meaning and Purpose of the Goals

Join us for the last Thursday of each month in an ongoing series, where participants will review discreet elements of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Participants will work together to develop pedagogical practices that align with the UDL principle being discussed that month.

Topic: This session will focus on CAST's UDL principle of clarifying the meaning and purpose of the goals and how it can be directly applied to pedagogical practice. There will be a brief presentation of the core elements of this principle followed by a question-and-answer session where participants can collaborate with the facilitator to develop their practice.

Date and time: Thursday, February 27, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Location: Remote - UM Zoom
Facilitator: Johnathan Bevan

March

Generative AI in Teaching and Learning

This workshop focuses on ethical and responsible instructional uses of generative artificial intelligence (genAI) to support student learning in higher education. Participants will gain a foundational understanding of how genAI works and explore its capabilities, limitations, and ethical issues. The core of the workshop will involve discussion about basic learning theories supported by the cognitive sciences and how genAI can enhance and hinder the learning process. Through individual and group reflections, discussions, and activities, participants will critically assess how to use genAI ethically and responsibly in ways that support student learning.

Date and time: Wednesday, March 5, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Location: Room 223 - The Centre (65 Dafoe Road)
Facilitator: Renato Bezerra

Teaching and Learning Research Colloquium Series: Session 3

The 2024/25 Teaching and Learning Research Colloquium Series shares the important work of University of Manitoba scholars and educators, whose research sheds light on student support needs, barriers to support seeking, and strategies for supporting students’ learning. Over a series of three research talks, faculty, instructors, and support staff will learn from and with each other about supporting diverse learners. Each talk will be followed by a discussion period and refreshments.

Session 3:

Barriers to Support: Metastereotypes and Help-seeking Among International Students

International students face unique challenges adapting to living and studying abroad, which may influence various aspects of their postsecondary studies. The resources and support services offered by university staff, instructors, and classmates are, therefore, essential for academic success and an overall positive university experience for many international students. Dr. Matthew Quesnel’s work examines how international students’ metastereotypes of how they are viewed by Canadian faculty, staff, and students on their campus, predict whether they seek out peer support and support services offered by their postsecondary institutions. In this session, Matthew will share his research findings on international students’ metastereotypes and its relationship to their help-seeking on campus and explore how this can inform strategies for fostering a more inclusive campus environment, promoting international students’ help-seeking and academic success and well-being on campus.

Date and time: Thursday, March 6, 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Location: Room 325 - Education Building (71 Curry Place)
Facilitator: Matthew Quesnel

Pedagogies of Care: Science of Learning - Firing and Wiring the Neurons

During the Science of Learning - Firing and Wiring the Neurons session:

Participants will discuss the basic principles of how brain processes, such as neural connections and plasticity, influence learning and memory retention.
Participants will explore brain-based strategies to their teaching methods, fostering environments that enhance cognitive engagement and student learning.

Date and time: Thursday, March 13, 10:00 a.m. to 10:50 a.m.
Location: Remote - UM Zoom
Facilitator: Cintia Costa, Johnathan Bevan, and Lori Doan

Knowledge Transfer: Transitioning from Classroom Learning to Clinical Application

Specifically relevant for Clinical Educators: Effective knowledge transfer from the classroom to the clinical setting is an ongoing goal of didactic teaching. Effective knowledge transfer ensures that students perform well not only in their academic journey, but also after graduation when they enter their respective fields. If you would like to learn best practices for enhancing the process of transferring knowledge, this workshop will provide strategies to promote this important aspect of learning.

Date and time: Thursday, March 13, 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Location: Remote - UM Zoom
Facilitator: Nausheen Peerwani and Anna Nekola

Manitoba Academic Integrity Network (MAIN) Speaker Series

Session 6: Transforming Assessment Practices in Higher Education with the AI Assessment Scale (AIAS)

As the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) technologies have become increasingly ubiquitous in higher education, and institutions must equip students with the skills and knowledge necessary for an AI-driven future. Although some institutions have attempted to ban the use of these tools and enforce this through an AI text detection strategy, this session proposes an alternative solution to this challenge. The AI Assessment Scale (AIAS) developed by Perkins et al. (2024), offers a flexible framework for incorporating GenAI into educational assessments while promoting academic integrity and ethical use of these technologies. It consists of five allowable levels of AI use in submitted assessments, ranging from 'No AI' to ‘AI Exploration’, enabling educators to design assessments that focus on areas requiring human input and critical thinking. This intervention will explore the challenges of attempting to use a detection-based approach to dealing with GenAI use in assessments, introduce the AIAS as a possible alternative, and discuss the findings of a pilot study of the AIAS at British University Vietnam which has demonstrated significant benefits in reducing misconduct and supporting student engagement and attainment.

Date and time: Thursday, March 13, 2025 , 6:00 p.m. to 6:55 p.m.
Location: Remote - UM Zoom
Special presenter: Dr. Mike Perkins, Associate Professor and Head of the Centre for Research & Innovation at British University Vietnam.

Small Shifts, Significant Gains: March Session

Looking for ways to revitalize your teaching but don't have time for a big redesign? In Small Teaching, author James Lang argues that small changes in classroom techniques and activities can have big impacts on student learning. Join our sessions to hear practical teaching strategies from faculty guest speakers. Bring your questions and your lunch. Leave with ideas that you can implement right away in your courses!

Lightning Presentation Speakers:

C. Lee Anne Deegan from the Faculty of Social Work
Cheryl Glazebrook from the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management
More details to come.

Date and time: Monday, March 17, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Location: Remote - UM Zoom
Facilitator: Anna Nekola and Renato Bezerra

Experiential Learning Community of Practice Monthly Meeting: Leveraging AI to Enhance Experiential Learning

The Experiential Learning Community of Practice is a growing network of UM faculty, instructors, and staff passionate about experiential education.

Monthly meetings
Join our monthly meetings to build relationships with other Community of Practice members, explore best practices and innovations, and participate in engaging conversations.

Leveraging AI to Enhance Experiential Learning
This month, we’ll explore how AI can enhance experiential learning, showcasing the innovative ways instructors are integrating AI into their teaching. Join us for a dynamic, facilitated discussion that will dive into the benefits and challenges of AI in experiential learning and celebrate the impactful work happening in this field.

Date and time: Wednesday, March 19, 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Location: Remote - UM Zoom
Facilitators: Meaghan Ewharekuko and Gerardo Villagran Becerra

Incorporating the Seven Sacred Teachings into Classroom Teaching Strategies and Giving Feedback

This workshop will focus on an introduction to the Seven Sacred Teachings and how to incorporate them in day-to-day teaching strategies. This workshop will also focus on how to deliver strength-based feedback. We will also put strategies into practice with scenarios.

Date and time: Thursday, March 20, 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Location: Room 223 - The Centre (65 Dafoe Road)
Facilitator: Randi Desmarais

Universal Design for Learning in Practice: Recognize Expectations, Beliefs, and Motivations

Topic: This session will focus on CAST's UDL principle of recognizing expectations, beliefs, and motivations and how it can be directly applied to pedagogical practice. There will be a brief presentation of the core elements of this principle followed by a question-and-answer session where participants can collaborate with the facilitator to develop their practice.

Date and time: Thursday, March 27, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Location: Remote - UM Zoom
Facilitator: Johnathan Bevan

April

Pedagogies of Care: Bringing it All Together - Sharing Our Stories

During the Bringing it All Together - Sharing Our Stories Spaces session:

Participants will collaboratively share their experiences and insights, synthesizing the pedagogical strategies learned throughout the series to create an integrated teaching approach.
Participants will discuss their practices through storytelling, identifying ways to further develop their teaching practices.

Date and time: Tuesday, April 1, 2:00 p.m. to 2:50 p.m.
Location: Room 223 - The Centre (65 Dafoe Road)
Facilitator: Cintia Costa, Johnathan Bevan, and Lori Doan

Decolonizing Classrooms: Start here

As part of the Decolonizing Classrooms Series, “Decolonizing Classrooms: Start Here” is designed for those beginning their journey in decolonizing and reconciliatory learning. This workshop offers foundational knowledge about Indigenous Peoples, their Knowledges, and the important relationships we all maintain with the Land in what is now commonly known as Canada. Participants will learn about colonization and processes of decolonization, and identify initial steps to engage in important decolonizing and reconciliatory processes. This workshop will equip you with the necessary information to meaningfully engage with Indigenous pedagogies and foster ongoing learning and action. Additionally, it provides the background necessary for full participation in other workshops in the Decolonizing Classrooms Series.

Date and time: Wednesday, April 2, 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Location: Room 223 - The Centre (65 Dafoe Road)
Facilitator: Micheline Hughes

From Theory to Practice: Using the UM Competencies Framework to Level Up Experiential Learning

Have you thought about the kind of people you want your students to become upon graduating? You might envision them as empathetic listeners, critical thinkers, effective collaborators, or team players. How can education use Experiential Learning (EL) to move beyond traditional content delivery, actively nurturing these skills? Join us as we dive into the dynamic combination of EL and the UM Competencies Framework, equipping educators to foster real-world skills, growth, and empowerment in students.

Date and time: Friday, April 4, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Location: Room 223 - The Centre (65 Dafoe Road)
Facilitator: Meaghan Ewharekuko

Experiential Learning Community of Practice Brown Bag Lunch Conversations: Experiential or Active Learning What's the Difference?

Topic: Experiential or Active Learning what's the difference? Are they different approaches, or different names for the same approach? Come tell us what you think!

Date and time: Tuesday, April 15, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Location: Room 223 - The Centre (65 Dafoe Road)
Facilitators: Gerardo Villagran and Meaghan Ewharekuko

Universal Design for Learning in Practice: Represent a Diversity of Perspectives and Identities in Authentic Ways

Topic: The session will focus on CAST's UDL principle of representing a diversity of perspectives and identities in authentic ways and how it can be directly applied to pedagogical practice. There will be a brief presentation of the core elements of this principle followed by a question-and-answer session where participants can collaborate with the facilitator to develop their practice.

Date and time: Thursday, April 24, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Location: Remote - UM Zoom
Facilitator: Johnathan Bevan

May

Experiential Learning Community of Practice Monthly Meeting: End of Year Reflection

The Experiential Learning Community of Practice is a growing network of UM faculty, instructors, and staff passionate about experiential education.

Monthly meetings
Join our monthly meetings to build relationships with other Community of Practice members, explore best practices and innovations, and participate in engaging conversations.

End of Year Reflection
This is our last meeting for the 2024-2025 academic year. Join us to reflect on what we learned together this year and share your thoughts on what you'd like to see at the Experiential Learning Community of Practice next year!

Date and time: Tuesday, May 6, 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Location: Remote - UM Zoom
Facilitators: Gerardo Villagran Becerra and Meaghan Ewharekuko

Small Shifts, Significant Gains: May Session

Lightning Presentation Speakers:

Jason Peeler from the Dept. of Human Anatomy and Cell Science
Sari Hannila from the Dept. of Human Anatomy and Cell Science
More details to come

Date and time: Wednesday, May 14, 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m.
Location: Room D017 - Dr. Gerald Niznick College of Dentistry (780 Bannatyne Ave, Bannatyne Campus)
Facilitator: Anna Nekola

Effective Strategies to Captivate Students from Day One

Have you ever wondered if there’s a better way to engage students on the first day of class instead of diving straight into the course material? In this workshop, you'll explore how to capture students' interest from day one with short, fun activities. Get ready to actively participate and find out which activities work best for you!

Date and time: Monday, May 26, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Location: Room 223 - The Centre (65 Dafoe Road)
Facilitators: Meaghan Ewharekuko

June

Experiential Learning Community of Practice Brown Bag Lunch Conversations: Learning from Experiential Learning Challenges

Topic: Have you ever introduced an experiential activity in your class that didn’t unfold as expected? Anyone who has engaged in experiential learning knows that setbacks are inevitable. Let’s take this opportunity to reflect on our "flops," not as failures, but as valuable learning moments—reminding ourselves that not every activity is a triumph, and that’s part of the process.

Date and time: Monday, June 9, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Location: Room 223 - The Centre (65 Dafoe Road)
Facilitators: Meaghan Ewharekuko and Gerardo Villagran

What's Working, What's Not?: Shake Hands with the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)

All instructors identify problems in their courses. Whether students’ struggles to master a key concept or a teaching practice that may not be meeting its purpose, how do we explore “what’s working and what’s not” in our courses? In this workshop we will explore problems that are ripe for investigation and consider how SoTL (the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) practices might help us to systematically evaluate the impact of intervention strategies. To participate fully, please bring a smartphone, tablet, or laptop.

Date and time: Wednesday, June 18, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Location: Room 223 - The Centre (65 Dafoe Road)
Facilitator: Janet Cape

Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Ethics

Research with human participants requires approval from the UM Research Ethics Board to ensure the safety and well-being of all participants. This is true of all research with human participants, but SoTL projects often have unique characteristics that warrant extra consideration when preparing an ethics application. For example, how do you ensure that students do not feel coerced to give consent when the instructor of their course is also the lead researcher? In this workshop, we will provide possible solutions for this and other research design elements that require careful consideration of ethical practices when designing your SoTL study. We will also review the Research Ethics application process at the University of Manitoba, and attendees will be given the opportunity to begin to draft their ethics application. This workshop will be interactive and collaborative. To get the most of this workshop, please bring a laptop or device to the workshop.

Date and time: Tuesday, June 24, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Location: Room 223 - The Centre (65 Dafoe Road)
Facilitator: Lori Doan

August

Deficit Thinking and Strength Based Approaches in the Classroom When Working with Indigenous Students

This half-day workshop will define deficit thinking and how harmful it can be to our Indigenous students. The workshop will also cover how historical events, policies and the media have shaped deficit thinking and how Indigenous students are impacted in education spaces. The workshop will focus on strength-based approaches and best practices. There will also be case studies, and time for participants to work together.

Date and time: Thursday, August 7, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m.
Location: Room 223 - The Centre (65 Dafoe Road)
Facilitator: Randi Desmarais

Register for the Deficit Thinking and Strength Based Approaches in the Classroom When Working with Indigenous Students workshop

Contact us

The Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning
65 Dafoe Road
University of Manitoba, Fort Garry Campus
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2 Canada

Room S204B, Medical Services Building, 744 Bannatyne Avenue
University of Manitoba, Bannatyne Campus
Winnipeg, MB R3E 0W2 Canada

thecentrecontactus@umanitoba.ca

204-474-8708

204-474-7514