In my role as an instructor, facilitator, trainer, and peer coach, I have received feedback from individuals from a variety of disciplines and from a variety of organizations. In every course, workshop, or peer coaching session that I lead, learners have the opportunity to provide formative and summative feedback on my instruction, based on their experiences as learners. Across my courses, workshops, and peer coaching sessions, learners often comment on my flexibility, demonstrated facilitation skills, innovation in instructional and pedagogical techniques, and my ability to encourage and support learners. They also often comment positively on my ability to create a safe and supportive learning environment and to model effective teaching and facilitation techniques.

In every course, workshop, or peer coaching session, learners also have the opportunity to comment on specific aspects of the course, workshop, or the peer coaching session that they would like to see changed or modified. Some suggestions for specific changes to courses that I have taught or workshops that I have facilitated commonly include: modifying content for particular pedagogical sessions, shortening or lengthening specific sessions or the courses or workshops as a whole, and making registration processes easier or more convenient. As an instructor, facilitator, or trainer, I am able to make some of these changes during the courses, workshops, and sessions, and changes that I am not able to make during the courses, workshops, and sessions are identified for future course design or workshop development and facilitation. This is part of my ongoing self-reflection and self-evaluation process, which I engage in after class that I teach and every workshop that I facilitate or train, by identifying what worked well and what could be improved for next time. I then work on making these changes when I develop courses or workshops for other groups.

To read a summary of qualitative feedback that I have received from learners in workshops or peer coaching sessions, please click on: Summary of Qualitative Feedback

Goals and Future Directions

As an educator, I am continually growing and developing both my educator “toolbox” and my ability to think about and critically reflect on my strengths and areas for growth as an educator. I try to continuously stay aware of current research in education, particularly in educational development, by attending and contributing to workshops at the UBC Centre for Teaching Learning and Technology, by reading journals in educational development, and by continuing professional memberships in the American Educational Research Association, the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, and the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. I plan to continue attending conferences in education as well as in educational development, in order to engage with both research and teaching communities in education.

I plan to continue my professional development activities including attendance at workshops and conferences, and to continue my contributions and service activities in order to help others develop their teaching and facilitation skills. I have demonstrated a commitment to enhancing teaching and learning at the UBC Centre for Teaching Learning and Technology and at other institutions, and I would welcome the opportunity to continue and to possibly expand that role.