Catherine Rawn

Teaching is complex. It is much more complex than I could appreciate before I was the one at the front of the room, all eyes on me. Professional development activities help me to think critically about what happens in my courses and how I can create critical learning environments for my learners. Through discussion and reading about teaching and learning with others, I continually adapt what I consider essential, ideal, and possible in teaching and learning.

I think about my professional development activities as two interrelated parts of a whole: those in which I participate as a consumer, and those in which I facilitate for others. I learn a great deal from both types of activities, both during and while reflecting on them afterwards. I have begun to record those reflections in the attached blog.

Below I have listed my activities, grouped by my role in them.

As a Participant I…

• attend workshops and conferences;
• engage in meetings of the Course Design Community of Practice;
• read primary source articles about teaching and learning and discuss them as a member of the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative (CWSEI) weekly reading group (during the summer months); and
• read listserv entries and consult Society of the Teaching of Psychology.

As a Facilitator I…

• orchestrate Teaching Assistant Development in the Psychology Department;
• organize Teaching Smackdown brownbags in the Psychology Department;
• deliver short workshops (3 hours or fewer) at UBC’s Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth; and
• deliver long workshops (1-3 days) at UBC’s Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth.
• click here for  a complete list of my past facilitation activities.