For faculty and staff who are passionate about and interested in teaching and student engagement in relation to the first-year experience (FYE) at UBC.
We are pleased to invite you to attend UBC’s second annual First Year Educators’ Symposium, a partnership between the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology, Student Engagement, and the Irving K Barber Learning Centre. This year’s conference co-chairs are Karen Smith, Faculty of Science and Laila Ferreira, Faculty of Arts.
Event Details:
Saturday, January 26, 2019 | 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, Golden Jubilee Room, Room 400
The event is offered to faculty, staff and TAs at no cost. A light lunch will be provided.
The Symposium provides opportunities to network and share research, experiences, and resources related to teaching, learning and community building with a focus on first-year students.To draw on the wealth of knowledge on the FYE across campus, the Symposium is organized under four broad themes and sessions are structured in two formats.
The Four Themes:
- Theory ↔ Practice: Share authentic research, embedding theory into practice in first-year education. Proposals can highlight SoTL projects, the implementation of current theories in your learning environment or showcase teaching practices that are grounded in the literature.
- Learning as Process: Learning occurs over time and in a myriad of contexts, both in and out of traditional classrooms. Proposals can feature (but are not limited to): collaborative teaching & learning approaches, educators’ personal and professional learning processes, student learning theory, historical framing or future musings on first-year education, and relevant connections to the K-12 educational landscape.
- Inclusive Excellence: Sessions focused on theory and practice that strives for a fully inclusive learning environment. Presentations and roundtable discussions on current research, pedagogical strategies, course design models, and/or promising initiatives across the university that address inclusion in areas such as disability, socioeconomic status, race, culture, and Indigeneity are encouraged.
- Innovative Pedagogies: Whether it’s incorporating new technology or reinventing a practice that’s been used in a different context, educators in the first-year context are challenged to consider ways to reinvigorate their practice. What have you been up to in your learning environment that is innovative, exciting, or otherwise avant-garde? Share your successes and also what you’ve learned through failure: we can all learn from each other’s risk taking and reflection.
The Two Formats:
- Presentation (10 minutes): Present your topic in 10 minutes (A/V optional); three other colleagues will present in the same session block. Presentations are followed by a facilitated large-group discussion.
- Roundtable Discussion (25 minutes): Present your idea and question for discussion in 5 minutes (no A/V), then host a 15-20 minute table discussion on your topic. Share handouts and/or artifacts at your table.