The fall semester is underway as are big changes to the program review process at Langara. So, what does this change mean for departments, faculty, TCDC and all the great program review work we’ve been doing around the snack-covered TCDC table over the past few years? To answer this question, let’s look at how and […]
Author: Carmen Larsen
Using Your Course Outline as a Learning Tool
Written by Carmen Larsen, TCDC Curriculum Consultant Some students are used to taking a passive role in their learning, expecting that instructors will transfer their knowledge and wisdom to them through lectures and photocopied PowerPoint slides. These students are likely unaware of the research coming from the learning sciences illustrating that learning happens when people […]
Who are the CDCs and how can they help?
The Teaching and Curriculum Development Centre (TCDC) has grown over the past year, and we now have more curriculum development consultants (CDCs) who can support faculty and departments with their curriculum projects. So, who are the CDCs and what do we do?
Growing Open at Langara
On March 6th, colleagues from departments across campus came together in the T Gallery to learn more about open pedagogy and resources and celebrate Langara’s open education champions. The room hummed as colleagues mingled and chatted and explored the open textbooks and digital resources on display. Strategically placed near the bar was a large whiteboard […]
Classroom Management: A Balancing Act
By Shawna Williams, TCDC Curriculum Consultant Classroom management “refers to the procedures, strategies, and instructional techniques teachers use to manage student behavior and learning activities. Effective classroom management creates an environment that is conducive to teaching and learning. Ineffective classroom management often creates chaos” (Classroom Management, n.d.). The National Council on Teacher Quality in the […]
7 Tips For Using Group Work Effectively in a Diverse Classroom
Written by Jessica Kalra, TCDC Curriculum Consultant & Biology and Health Sciences Instructor Many faculty/departments at Langara have identified communication and collaboration skills as important learning goals for their students. In order to help our students achieve these goals, we as instructors, may opt to employ group assignments as part of our assessment strategies. However, […]
Langara Book Club: Indigenous Storywork
Leading up to this year’s APAG conference, join the Langara Book Club to explore keynote speaker Jo-Ann Archibald’s Indigenous Storywork: Educating the Heart, Mind, Body and Spirit. Dr. Archibald, also known by her Stó:lō name Q’um Q’um Xiiem, is a member of the Soowahlie and Xaxli’p First Nations. She spent her career helping to advance […]
TCDC Book Club: Make It Stick
Would you like to find out how to help your students (and yourself) learn more effectively and increase knowledge retention? Would you like to discover some new learning and practice strategies that can be applied right away in your class? In Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning, two psychologists and a storyteller, Henry […]
Maximizing Student Engagement through Classroom Configuration
Whenever I walk into a classroom to deliver a class or a workshop, I contemplate what I want the students or participants to do, and as such, will I need to reconfigure the classroom space to be conducive for the learning activities I have planned? Do I want to move the classroom furniture around, and […]
TCDC Workshop: The Expert Blind Spot
“Knowing something and teaching something are two different somethings” – Kevin Tumlinson Following a term of what felt like a teaching rut, I started to examine what was behind this change, and I realized I was falling into the same trap that caught me when I first started teaching. When most of us start as […]
