Alice Macpherson

(This is a beginning prompt with the objective of surfacing personal preferences and sharing points of view without needing to analyze anyone else's ideas. A "Get to Know Ya" that focuses on the topic of learning.)

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Think back to one of your best learning experiences. This can be recent or far in the past, your choice. A situation where you learned something very well (and not necessarily what you were supposed to learn). What was the best part of the learning for you? What helped you learn? Who helped you learn.

If you can't think of a good learning experience, pick the most terrible one that you are willing to share. Identify what you would prefer to have happen in that situation. What did you need that didn't happen?

Post a short thumbnail of the situation (one or two sentences) and then describe the best part of your learning and/or what you needed from the situation to help you learn.

You will not need to respond to anyone else at this time.
We will aggregate our collective "best learning" and use this for further analysis and expansion as the course progresses.

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AliceMac

I am embedded at KPU, currently in the Learning Centres as a Learning Strategist. This affords me the opportunity to work with students as well as consulting with my fellow faculty members on ways and means to help learning occur.

Experiential activities the range to individualistic to team focused.

Learning Aids – short learning strategies that can be used for “just in time learning interventions.

An Appreciative Approach to curriculum, feedback, and documentation

I am always interested in collaborations.

As Michael Fullan says, "Learning is the Work!"

We are all apparently committed to acknowledging those who have gone before us and building on their good work.

On today's Elluminate presentation on the History of Learning Technologies there was a desire to move beyond a transmission model of teaching and to use educational technology to do this. One suggestions was to eliminate tenure. My question is: Will threatening a person's livelihood make them more likely to change in the desired direction?
Can we encourage and invite? What are the ways that we can engage colleagues to see a utility in some of our current technology and to be open to new possibilities that will support teaching for learning?

Dialogue and Discourse through collaborating, connectivism, constructivism, and creativity.

Update from Kwantlen University College

The Centre for Academic Growth since June 1, 2006

CASTL Leadership Program

- Forging our Own Path Symposium (1st) on August 23, 2007.

- Transformative Dialogues: Teaching and Learning Journal, First issue out, second issue in the pipeline, Next issue - broadening ideas of scholarship beyond text, Call for Proposals - Change and Transition: Change in our Lives and Life in our Changes (Course and program development, evolution and revolution, student lives, student success and retention, 'digital immigrants' and 'natives', incremental, rapid, staged, planned and organic, chaos theory.)
Submission Deadline: December 1, 2007 - Publication: February, 2008.
http://www.kwantlen.ca/academicgrowth/TD/

Peer Mentoring Alliances - 3rd year, now project based. Very exciting ideas coming forward. http://www.kwantlen.ca/academicgrowth/FacultyAlliances.html

Appreciative Leadership Program - 11th year, written and interactive materials that we are willing to share. http://www.kwantlen.ca/academicgrowth/AppreciativeLeadership.htm

Faculty Learning Communities Certificate (requested by administration), will be back filled for past three years, grounded in the ISW and rounded by a variety of topics.

Essential Skills Workshop Series TBA

looking forward / mirando hacia adelante

Alice Macpherson
PD & PLA Coordinator
The Centre for Academic Growth
Kwantlen University College

"Does teaching constitute research? Not necessarily. If you think about what you do, discuss it openly with peers, view it as problematic and change because of the reflection ... then it is research. What I research is what I do." - Martin Owen (1999)
"¿Constituye la enseñanza investigación? No necesariamente. Si usted piensa en lo que usted hace, habla de ello abiertamente con sus pares, véalo como problemático y cambie debido a la reflexión ... entonces esto es investigación. Lo que investigo es lo que hago." - Martin Owen (1999
 

Kwantlen University College has had a Centre for Academic Growth since last June but it is certainly not at the centre of anything physical. We are a tiny unit of .75 FTE faculty (me with .25 being Prior Learning Assessment) and .65 staff (other .35 works with our Third Age Learning at Kwantlen (TALK) program, located on our old Newton campus along with a few administration units. On the other hand "We are everywhere" and are willing to travel to all of the other campuses at the drop of a hint and work with others to deliver information or to collaborate on projects.

We have existed on the good grace and generosity of our colleagues from other institutions who have helped us out and shared expertise over the years. We hope to repay that sharing a bit.

ANNOUNCEMENT AND INVITATION
On August 23rd we will be having a one day symposium - Forging our Own Path: Dialogues on Teaching and Learning. This all day event starts a keynote panel of brilliant scholars talking about What we Value about the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning - Dr. Marty Wall (UVIC), Dr. Lynn Taylor (Dalhousie), Dr. Farhad Dastur (Kwantlen), Dr. Heather Smith (UNBC).
There will be three concurrent sessions, another Keynote at lunch and a Plenary followed by a poster session and socializing (symposium means to "drink with" after all).
... and you are invited!
The event will be face to face in the Conference Centre at Kwantlen University College's Surrey Campus, 12666 72nd Avenue, Surrey, BC.
We can accommodate about 30 people from 'away' and have had approximately 10 of those spaces snapped up. That means there are 20 left and if you are available, come and join in the fun. The event is sponsored by the office of the SP Academic, Provost, our VP Strategic Services, and the Office of Research and Scholarship. More information at:
http://www.kwantlen.ca/academicgrowth/CASTL/Symposium0708.html

The cost is your attendance and interaction (much like this forum!).
To register, send an email to PDReg@kwantlen.ca.

collegially
alicemac