Click on the session in the calendar to jump to the description and registration link. 

Session Formats

Short & snappy: Quick new concepts; approximately 30-mins

Workshop: In-depth exploration of a topic; approximately 1-1.5 hours

Incubator: Deep discussion among colleagues with shared interests; longer sessions or multiple dates.

In each of the session descriptions below there is a green registration button. Click it once to send your registration, and a confirmation will be sent to your USask email address.

Course Design Institute

Multiple dates: Aug 16 to 19
Timing: 9:00 am - 11:00 am  and 3:00 - 4:00 pm
Location: GMCTL Classroom 50.12
Facilitator: Aditi Garg
Format: Workshop

The Course Design Institute (CDI) is a short course where participants will design or revise a course they plan on teaching within the next two terms (Fall 2022 or Winter 2023), including writing learning outcomes, choosing appropriate teaching strategies, and creating assessments that will reflect student learning. The CDI will consist of four face-to-face sessions as well as online materials and activities. The sessions will be held held over 4 days, with two sessions each date.

Along with the 9-11am sessions, each day from 3-4pm there is a progress check-in to review the day and prepare for the next. You may attend this portion in person or online.

Certificate in University Teaching and Learning (CUTL) Indicators:

• 2.1.1 - I articulate the type and difficulty of learning, given the students in my context
• 2.1.2 - I create outcomes that are active, and have all three parts (active verb, content, context)
• 2.1.3 - I select active & engaging instructional strategies aligned to an outcome and intended assessment
• 2.2.1 - I chunk, sequence, and scaffold essential content & skills
• 3.1.1 - I select assessment strategies, both formative and summative, aligned to an outcome
• 3.2.2 - I generate assessment tasks that are inclusive and transparent measures of student learning, so students have equitable opportunities to demonstrate their learning

*By registering below, you will be added to all four days of this short course.

• Click once to register

Canvas: Getting Started

Time: 1:30 pm - 2:50 pm
Location: Health Sciences GA70
Facilitator: Carmen Harder
Format: Workshop

​Offered by our partners in IT Support, t​​​his session will cover the basics of navigating Canvas, setting notifications, using pages and modules to structure your course content, and other tips to help you get started in Canvas. You may wish to request a test course to use during this session.

(A test course is a sandbox environment that you can use to learn Canvas and try features out before putting them in your courses).

• Click once to register

Using Poll Everywhere to Gain Actionable Insights while Teaching

Time: 1:30 pm - 2:50 pm
Location: Zoom
Facilitator: Ryan Banow
Format: Workshop

​Poll Everywhere is an easy-to-use polling tool that you can use to formatively assess your students, improve their learning, and enhance your teaching.

Poll Everywhere is our new USask-supported polling tool and is free to use for all instructors and students. Exciting new features over our previous polling tool are that 1) students can easily respond to your polls with no account or prior setup necessary, and 2) polls can be embedded directly into PowerPoint!

Join this session to learn the basics of using Poll Everywhere, begin creating polls, and explore how intentional use of polling can truly improve student learning.

• Click once to be added to the Waitlist

Creating Your Course Syllabus

Time: 1:30 pm - 2:50 pm
Location: GMCTL Classroom 50.12
Facilitator: Heather Ross
Format: Workshop

​Through this session, participants will learn about how to shape their course syllabi to not only include the elements required under the Academic Courses Policy, but also to set the tone for the course and provide students with a road map of their learning in the course, as well as who you as the instructor are as a person and educator.

Please bring a paper copy of one of your syllabi with you.

• Click once to register

Student Engagement with Course Readings and One Another using Perusall

Time: 1:30 pm - 2:50 pm
Location: GMCTL Classroom 50.12
Facilitator: Racquel Biem
Format: Workshop

Perusall is free-to-use social annotation tool that is integrated with Canvas. It was designed from the ground up to help motivate students to prepare for class by doing readings and viewing videos. It turns these typically solitary activities into a social experience. These activities provide the instructor with valuable insights into where the students are at with the content as they join the in-class sessions. This goes a long way to making your time together effective and engaging. Perusall works well to support a flipped classroom approach.

In this workshop, you will be introduced to Perusall, get to try to out, and leave being able to complete the basic setup in your Canvas course. In additon, we will explore tips for using the features of Perusall, including assignment settings and reviewing student annotations.

Please note, Perusall works best with openly-licenced materials or materials you created. If your readings come from a commercial publisher's textbook, you will likely not be in position to use Perusall this year. Please consult FAQ #9 on this Library page for copyright implications.

• Click once to register

Introduction to Open Educational Practices

Time: 9:30 am - 10:00 am
Location: GMCTL Classroom 50.12
Facilitators: Heather Ross
Format: Short & Snappy

This brief session will provide an overview of what open educational practices are and how they may benefit instructors and students.

• Click once to register

Introduction to the Certificate in University Teaching and Learning (CUTL)

Time: 10:15 am - 10:45 am
Location: GMCTL Classroom 50.12
Facilitators: Sara Dzaman
Format: Short & Snappy

​This is an information session for those who are curious about the Certificate in University Teaching and Learning (CUTL). 

CUTL is a competency-based program for USask faculty, sessionals and lab instructors to document and develop their skills in university teaching. Once you complete the program, you will have a portfolio that details evidence of your skills, achievements and reflections on your growth.

For more information on the certificate - view our webpage.

• Click once to register

Teaching Portfolio Start-up session

Time: 11:00 am - 11:30 am
Location: GMCTL Classroom 50.12
Facilitator: Wendy James and Lee Swanson
Format: Short & Snappy

Do you not yet have a teaching portfolio, but want to start building one? During this session, you will identify ways to collect evidence for your own portfolio, and start a collection folder. 

• Click once to register

Develop an Idea to Incorporate Experiential Learning into a Course

Time: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Location: GMCTL Classroom 50.12
Facilitators: Roberta Campbell-Chudoba
Format: Workshop

Join this session to learn more about USask's Experiential Learning Framework and begin developing an idea to incorporate experiential learning into one of your courses.

• Click once to register

Formative Feedback on your Teaching

Time: 2:00 pm - 2:30 pm
Location: GMCTL Classroom 50.12
Facilitators: Ryan Banow
Format: Short & Snappy

Do your teaching activities help students learn in the way you expect? In this session, you will identify one or two teaching activities you want to assess, and then draft a plan to collect formative feedback on them.

• Click once to register

Simple Ways to make your Course More Active

Time: 9:30 am - 10:50 am
Location: ESB Room 45
Facilitator: Ryan Banow
Format: Workshop

In this session, you'll get to try out a series of easy ways to make the learning activities in your course more active, and contextualize them based on your discipline and physical teaching space. The examples will focus on in-person classes, but many strategies may be easily adapted to online delivery. This session will be held in the Edwards School of Business, room 45. 

• Click once to register

Giving Good Feedback

Time: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Location: GMCTL Classroom 50.12
Facilitator: Wendy James
Format: Workshop

​In this session, you'll learn how to give feedback that makes it more likely your student will take and use your feedback to improve.

Certificate in University Teaching and Learning (CUTL) Indicators:

• 3.2.1 - I give students multiple opportunities to learn through practice and feedback, so they have sufficient time and support to reflect and improve (assessment for learning)

• Click once to register

Just for STEM: Experiential Learning in Labs

Time: 2:30 pm - 3:50 pm
Location: GMCTL Classroom
Facilitators: Ryan Banow
Format: Incubator

If you instruct, contribute to, or have a strong interest in labs within STEM disciplines, please join this session where we will explore the concept of experiential learning labs. These labs can provide students with a more authentic science experience than they get when performing traditional labs.

You'll hear the stories from instructors that have re-designed their labs to be more experiential plus have an opportunity to brainstorm, discuss, and share your ideas with STEM colleagues from around campus.​

• Click once to register

In-class Activities for Teaching about Academic Integrity

Time: 9:30 am - 10:50 am
Location: GMCTL Classroom 50.12
Facilitator: Susan Bens
Format: Workshop

​In this session you will experience 3 activities as a participant, receive 3 lesson plans that can be adapted to your teaching, and discuss options with colleagues. ​  By participating actively in the lessons and discussion, you will have the opportunity to assess the utility of these activities for modelling and explaining academic integrity in your context.  

The three in-class activities will be:

1. using a case study to show how academic integrity values and actions transfer beyond university,
2. ranking common forms of academic misconduct to agree on definitions,
3. incorporating Library modules on academic integrity to encourage help-seeking.

Certificate in University Teaching and Learning (CUTL) Indicators:

• 1.1.2 - I model and explain academic integrity

• Click once to register

Group Work

Time: 11:00 am - 12:00 pm
Location: GMCTL Classroom 50.12
Facilitator: Aditi Garg
Format: Workshop

​Setting up groups for success improves collaborative learning and manageability for both students and instructors. We will expand on seven strategies for effective group work based on this GMCTL blog post.

Participants will contribute ideas and questions and collaborate towards designing effective practices, for both in-person and remote teaching.

Certificate in University Teaching and Learning (CUTL) Indicators:

• 1.3.1 - I use strategies to encourage and foster open and healthy dialogue among my students
• 2.3.3 - I identify potential solutions to prevent and respond to classroom management problems

• Click once to Register

Competency-based Assessments

Time: 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm
Location: GMCTL Classroom 50.12
Facilitator: Sara Dzaman
Format: Workshop

This session will explore some major ideas of competency-based assessment and contrast them with traditional assessment practices. You'll have the opportunity to consider your own approach to assessment and its implications.

Certificate in University Teaching and Learning (CUTL) Indicators:

• 3.1.1 - I select assessment strategies, both formative and summative, aligned to an outcome

• Click once to Register

Navigating Challenging Conversations

Time: 9:30 am - 10:50 am
Location: GMCTL Classroom 50.12
Facilitator: Heather Ross
Format: Workshop

In this session participants will be introduced to ways to set the tone to build trust in their course and amongst their classroom community, reflect on their own positions, and facilitate challenging conversations. This 90-minute session is an abbreviated version of the short course offered this fall.

• Click once to register

Panopto: Getting Started

Time: 1:00 pm - 2:20 pm
Location: HLTH GA70
Facilitator: Carmen Harder
Format: Workshop

Offered by our partners in IT Support, this session will introduce participants to the services Panopto can offer including: uploading your own video content, creating recordings, performing simple edits of recordings, and sharing/publishing content.

• Click once to register

Using Poll Everywhere to Gain Actionable Insights while Teaching

Time: 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm
Location: Zoom
Facilitator: Ryan Banow
Format: Workshop

​Poll Everywhere is an easy-to-use polling tool that you can use to formatively assess your students, improve their learning, and enhance your teaching.

Poll Everywhere is our new USask-supported polling tool and is free to use for all instructors and students. Exciting new features over our previous polling tool are that 1) students can easily respond to your polls with no account or prior setup necessary, and 2) polls can be embedded directly into PowerPoint!

Join this session to learn the basics of using Poll Everywhere, begin creating polls, and explore how intentional use of polling can truly improve student learning.

This session is offered online in Zoom.

• Click once to register

Analyzing Engagement Issues

Time: 2:30 pm - 3:50 pm
Location: GMCTL Classroom 50.12
Facilitator: Susan Bens
Format: Workshop

Do you sometimes look out into the faces of your students and wonder why they aren't more engaged? You are engaged, why aren't they? Join this session to reflect on your own interpretations of student engagement and match "disengaged" behaviours with explanations based in research.

With colleagues, you will (1) match disengaged behaviors you observe to explanations based in research, and (2) identify one thing you can try (or learn more about) in the upcoming term to improve engagement relate to an outcome or assessment.

Certificate in University Teaching and Learning (CUTL) Indicators:

• 2.1.3 - I select active & engaging instructional strategies aligned to an outcome and intended assessment

• Click once to register

Using Poll Everywhere to gain Actionable Insights while Teaching

Time: 9:30 am – 10:50 am
Location: GMCTL Classroom 50.12
Facilitator: Ryan Banow
Format: Workshop

Poll Everywhere is an easy-to-use polling tool that you can use to formatively assess your students, improve their learning, and enhance your teaching.

Poll Everywhere is our new USask-supported polling tool and is free to use for all instructors and students. Exciting new features over our previous polling tool are that 1) students can easily respond to your polls with no account or prior setup necessary, and 2) polls can be embedded directly into PowerPoint!

Join this in-person session to learn the basics of using Poll Everywhere, begin creating polls, and explore how intentional use of polling can truly improve student learning.

This session is now full, please click below to be added to the waitlist, or see the session on Aug 25 offered online in Zoom.

• Click once to register

Marking Better Assignment Submissions: Clarity, Criteria, and Early Feedback

Time: 1:30 pm – 2:50 pm
Location: GMCTL Classroom 50.12
Facilitator: Ryan Banow
Format: Workshop

It's challenging as an instructor to stare down a large pile (or large virtual pile) of marking, especially when you know the quality of some of the submission will be questionable. Luckily, there are things you can do to boost the overall quality of the submissions and improve your marking experience.

In this session, we'll practice increasing the transparency of your assessments, which includes providing students with greater clarity of the task, a better sense of what "good looks like", and opportunities for early feedback. This will improve your marking experience and has been found to increase your students' academic confidence, sense of belonging, and awareness of skills. Please bring an assignment from your course to work on during the session.

Certificate in University Teaching and Learning (CUTL) Indicators:

• 3.2.2 - I generate assessment tasks that are inclusive and transparent measures of student learning, so students have equitable opportunities to demonstrate their learning

• Click once to register

Grading Reflections

Time: 9:30 am – 10:50 am
Location: Murray Room G3
Facilitator: Wendy James
Format: Workshop

Student reflection can be excellent evidence or learning, and a very effective way to help students transfer what you teach them. However, many educators are uncomfortable grading reflection or giving feedback on it. In this workshop you'll see examples of assessment tools for grading reflection in wasy research supports, and design a sequence of practice and reflection that you can assess.

Certificate in University Teaching and Learning (CUTL) Indicators:

• 3.2.1 - I give students multiple opportunities to learn through practice and feedback, so they have sufficient time and support to reflect and improve (assessment for learning)

• Click once to register

Designing for Inclusivity and Wellness

Time: 1:00 pm – 1:30 pm
Location: GMCTL Classroom 50.12
Facilitator: Roberta Campbell-Chudoba
Format: Short & Snappy

The way we design our courses can have a profound effect on our students' wellness, sense of belonging, and opportunity for equitable outcomes. Join us for this short session for a glimpse into the upcoming fall term course: Designing courses for inclusivity and wellness - and the opportunity to influence elements of the course.

• Click once to register

Internationalization: The Global Classroom

Time: 2:00 pm – 2:30 pm
Location: GMCTL Classroom 50.12
Facilitator: Roberta Campbell-Chudoba
Format: Short & Snappy

Would you like to learn more about possibilities for infusing international elements into course content, resources, and instructional methods, with a culturally responsive orientation?

Attend this session for a snapshot of our short course offered this fall.

• Click once to register