Catherine Rawn

This summer has flown by! Guess that’s what happens when you update an entire textbook, read another one to prep for a new course, revise multiple syllabi, attend two conferences, write a program evaluation report… and a few bits of R&R every now and again including a lovely, wine-filled weekend in Osoyoos, BC. So that’s what I’ve been up to this summer. How about you?

To students and faculty: Welcome (back!) to UBC! If you’re in my intro psych class (Psyc 100 Section 002, MWF 1-2 in CIRS 1250), you may be interested in checking out the syllabus. You’ll get a hard copy when we meet on Wednesday, but you can get the sneek peek here: Intro Syllabus. I had a ton of fun in this course last year and I’m looking forward to it again!

If you’re in either of my research methods classes (Psyc 217 Sections 1 or 2), you can find the syllabus here: Research Methods Syllabus.  I’m looking forward to this course — yes it’s a lot of work for all of us but it can be extremely rewarding and will prepare you well for all  your future studies (and for generally being an informed citizen). We start at 9am (Section 1) or 10am (Section 2) — and you *must* come to the section for which you are officially registered. Yes, it’s early, but let’s have fun anyway! I’m looking for a DJ for the first 5-10 mins before class starts to get us all energized… if you’re up for it let me know!

Looking forward to a fabulous year ahead, full of challenges, learning, new people, new experiences, and fun times  See you next Wednesday if not before — I’ll be co-facilitating Psychology TA Development Day on Friday, anda couple of Student Success Workshops on Imagine Day on Tuesday — come say hi if you see me around!

This morning I opted out of my to-do list to decorate my office! I went back through all my photos from the past year (an a few from earlier) and created a collage to hang on my office wall. So many memories surfaced as I perused files from TA Development Day 2009 and 2010, our Psyc 217 poster session and in-class demos, Psyc 208 team-based learning and final projects, Psyc 100 field trip to Science World and last day festivities. What a great year! I selected a few photos to represent each of these activities and I’m having it printed out as a giant poster to stick on my wall, that I can add to as years pass. Yay! It makes me smile

As for my to-do list… well, I have managed to check off 7 chapters of the research methods textbook I’m adapting. That’s half the book! Before I get to the other half (which I need to finish by the end of July), I need to spend some time on a few other projects. Let me share with you some of the other projects, besides the textbook, I’ll be working on these coming days…

UPDATE June 10: I have crossed out what I’ve accomplished in the past week. Not quite everything, but pretty close. Paperwork is complete for the poster session venue. Gotta pause the report for now while I get another couple of chapters under my belt!

• Analyze data and write up the Program Evaluation Report for 2010/2011 TA Development activities. Such a report is a condition of funding from the Provost’s office, and it’s been really helpful to make informed changes to the program based on participants’ feedback over the years.
• Do some early prep for the 2011 TA Development Day, including set the date, book the venue, set the broad agenda, send a “save-the-date” email to incoming grad students, and submit the ethics application for next year’s program evaluation.
• Book the venue for the Psyc 217 poster session upcoming in November 2011.
• Contact applicants for next year’s Psyc 100 Peer Tutors (I was *so* excited reading applications yesterday!! This is going to be a phenomenal team!)
• Help with the website and first meeting of the UBC Instructor Network, which will be a way for teaching-stream faculty to connect with each other. Previously we’ve been sprinkled around campus unaware of each other.
• Deal with the email backlog. Always the email backlog!
• Read a couple of chapters in the stats book I’m using for Psyc 218 in January.

Now that I’ve scared myself by listing all that, I better get to it! Well, after I make a cup of coffee…

I have spent the last three days at the annual conference of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education in Toronto. Wow, I have hit exhaustion. So many ideas. So many engaging conversations. Inspired. Overwhelmed. I can’t do it all. But I can do. The challenge over the next few days for me will be to hold on to the most important nuggets. A list of some key ideas to help:

• Embrace the Smackdown in Teaching Smackdowns. Try to find out what real issues are facing faculty in our department, and invite conversation. Consider a panel including undergrad and grad students, faculty, and administrators. Ground the discussion in the literature. — from Pedagogical Provocations workshop (e.g., Connie @ U of A)
• A cat doesn’t come until the can opener sounds. Creative insight doesn’t occur with out work. — a metaphor Amanda Burk heard
• What in my courses is taught/assessed, taught/not assessed (and so on to fill out the quadrants)? Decision points. — from someone Amanda Burk heard
• Students learn what they do. What are students in my classes doing?
• To download a Youtube video, add pwn before youtube in the url.
• To teach “knowledge-ability” (1) enage in real problems, (2) with students, (3) while harnessing the relevant tools. — Michael Wesch @ Kansas; implications for my 208 assignment; see ideas document
• To examine  test questions: What is the test question asking? What learning is the question evaluating? How can it be re-written so these align? Consider cognitive load theory. — Joanne Nakonechny
• “On an exam, I ask you to be competent, not clever. On an assignment you have 2 weeks to think about, I ask you to be clever.” — another participant’s comment re: evaluation
• Break down a tough exam question. Think out loud as I respond. What assumptions do I make? Can I structure the question so that students demonstrate understanding of the theory, then ability to use it, then ability to apply it, then ability to turn it on its head. — insight from Joanne’s session.
• Email my former student Gillian about her work on the NSSE.
• Think about how I can help demystify academia for my students.
• At the first year level, you are joining the professional academic community. What impact does that have for my first weeks of class? Tie professional communication to job preparation. Email and general etiquette. Give examples of high quality work, compare to poor quality, and differentiate them. — from Professionalism session (Waterloo connection)
• Celebrate failure: “How fascinating!”  — from Nicola Simmons’ session (Waterloo office of learning and teaching)
• (How) can I contribute to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning? What will that look like in my career? How can I balance this in the context of my other responsibilities, especially in terms of time? — from Nicola Simmons’ session (Waterloo office of learning and teaching)
• What excites me about SoTL is the potential for collaborating with students and colleagues, making a meaningful contribution, expanding the impact of my work, staying accountable for my teaching and learning actions. — from Nicola Simmons’ session (Waterloo office of learning and teaching)
• Grad student teaching portfolio resources: http://www.mcgill.ca/tls/teachingportfolio/
• Interdisciplinarity: There are more commonalities that one would think. The creative process as described by artists is not unlike the process of developing research and writing it up. We don’t talk about it in the same way, but the processes of attempts, failure, revision, inspiration, feedback/peer review — and the accompanying emotional roller coaster — have many parallels. There are also common issues in teaching people to do really difficult things: e.g., learn technical proficiency and content, critically evaluate their own and others’ work.

This list became much longer than I had anticipated it would, given my fatigue. Yet one of the most important things I’ve learned this year is that whenever I’m close to exhaustion, I can easily be energized by thinking about teaching and learning.

What does an instructor do when there is no one around to instruct? What does a garden do when there is no sun?

I’m learning the answers to both of those questions. The latter question is visually apparent to me right now: It does not grow many flowers, but it does grow lots of foliage. Lots and lots of foliage. I have dill that’s two feet tall! Leaves of all the flowering plants are overlapping. But few flowers.

The former question is also becoming quite apparent. I’m building. Developing. Planning. Reading. Meeting. (So many meetings!) Thinking. Writing. I’m starting to become concerned with all I’m doing! Some examples, if you’re interested: I’m planning TA and TF Development programming for the fall/winter. I met with public affairs to discuss a potential media piece on learning strategies, based off my 208 course. I’m writing a review of a textbook in preparation for an upcoming Canadian edition (more on that later!) — it’s the one I use for 217, and there’s a possibility I might be involved in the “Canadianizing” of it. I’m helping Sunaina to plan for our Psychology Tri-Mentoring program. I’m working with colleagues to start a casual network of instructors within the Faculty of Arts. I’m attending an orientation to become a peer reviewer of teaching (so exciting!). Oh, and I’m planning syllabi and assignments and lesson ideas and gathering new content for my courses! Wow. Write it all out like this is a little overwhelming. But that’s one of the things I really like about my job. I get to challenge myself to do more, think more, and be more. It can be an addiction though, and I need to watch out I don’t plan too much for the fall!

Once again, my application to UBC to fund Psychology TA Development has been successful – yay! I apply annually for funding, which comes from the Office of the Provost and VP Academic: http://www.vpacademic.ubc.ca/tatraining/index.htm. Over the past three years, I am grateful to have received $11 625.75 toward the training and development of our Teaching Assistants and Teaching Fellows in Psychology. Thanks to everyone who participates in these events for demonstrating a committment to teaching. Below is an excerpt from the application outlining the upcoming programming for 2010/2011. I look forward to your participation!

The Psychology Graduate Student Professional Development Series in Teaching and Teaching Assistance will be launched in September 2010. This new title provides an organizing framework for our two existing programs, subsuming both the Teaching Assistant Development Program aimed at an introduction level, and the Professional Development in Teaching Program aimed for more experienced TAs and TFs (details for both are forthcoming).