Teaching Development

Recently, I have participated in several teaching development opportunities sponsored by the University of Windsor Centre for Teaching and Learning, the Office of Open Learning, and the Department of Human Resources.

These include:

• How to Develop a Growth Mindset to Deal with the Realities of COVID-19
• Incorporating Diverse Sources of Indigenous Knowledge
• Engaging with Indigenous Communities
• Understanding Indigenization
• Engaging Students Online
• Publishing Your Teaching
• Navigating the N-Word in the Educational Setting
• Using Reflection for Learning
• The Flipped Classroom: A Strategy for Student Engagement and Success
• Introduction to Teaching Online (Advanced)
• Certificate in Online Teaching
• Mid-Career Teaching Retreat
• Teaching Dossier Academy
• University Teaching Certificate

I have also participated in several external professional development opportunities, including:

• Teaching Online Fundamentals (eCampusOntario)
• Setting the Stage for Building Indigenous-centred Pedagogical Spaces in Post-secondary Institutions (Western University)
• Aboriginal Worldviews and Education (University of Toronto)
• Mentoring in Higher Education: A Professional Training for Success (Morgan State University)
• Black Canadian Leadership (Western University)
• Facilitating Learning Online Micro Course: Create Your Course Intro Video (BCcampus Teaching and Learning)
• Experimenter Badge (eCampusOntario)

Teaching related conferences attended include:

• Teaching Culturally and Linguistically Diverse International Students in Open or Online Learning Environments: A Research Symposium
• Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education
• eCampus Ontario Technology Enabled Seminar and Showcase
• Society of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Conference
• TESS - Technology + Education Seminar + Showcase
• Global Conference on Education and Research
• Ireland International Conference on Education
• University of Windsor-Oakland University International Teaching Conference
• Canadian Bureau of International Education Conference

During the past two years, I was fortunate to receive, through the office of Open Learning, an OER ACE (Adopt, Create, Extend) grant, which resulted in the publication, through eCampusOntario, of two open education resource textbooks, including Leadership and Management in Learning Organizations and Theories of Individual and Collective Learning. I completed this project with my co-authors Carson Babich, a recent M.Ed. graduate, and Mark Lubrick, a doctoral student and staff member in the Office of Open Learning.

With support from a Faculty of Education Research Stimulus Grant, I completed a project with Carson Babich, a recent M.Ed. graduate on Open Educational Resources (OER) in the modern classroom, which was presented during the Faculty of Education Research Sharing Series. I am currently working on a second Faculty of Education Research Stimulus Grant with Dr. George Zhou and Shuzhen Zhao (Librarian), investigating the potential micro-discrimination international students experience in postsecondary educational institutions in Canada. We are joined by graduate research assistant, Atiya Razi, two Outstanding Scholars (Sumeet Kaur and Tooba Khan), and prospective doctoral student, Teresa Holden.

With support from a SHRCC Connection Grant, I also recently facilitated the offering of an online research symposium for the purpose of sharing research on the teaching of culturally and linguistically diverse international students in open and online learning environments. This builds on a multi-year research programming that amplified the student voice related to promising practices for teaching linguistically and culturally-diverse international students. It was supported by four Outstanding Scholars (Fatme Ammar, Rija Gillan, Alayna Tieu, and Aliyah King) and a Mitacs Globalink intern (Gabriela Danko).

One of my current research projects, which is supported by a SSHRC Explore Grant and IGNITE funding, is exploring the educational outcomes and program effectiveness of our Concurrent Education Student Mentoring Experience Program, with Dr. Geri Salinitri and three Outstanding Scholars (Kendra Hart, Holly Mariconda, and Debora Laze). We are also exploring the possibility of submitting a SSHRC Connection Grant application on mentoring in higher education, which is being supported by Outstanding Scholar, Debora Laze. Another, which is just in the beginning stages is to do a systematic literature review, with Dr. George Zhou and Dr. Lindsey Jaber, involving loneliness and isolation experienced by international students. This project is supported by an Outstanding Scholar (Jessie Ye) and a Mitacs Globalink intern (Bingbing Cao). We are currently developing a SSHRC Knowledge Synthesis Grant application, which will be submitted in December, 2021.

Lastly, I am serving as the principal investigator for a joint project between the Faculty of Education and the Greater Essex County District School Board (GECDSB), involving a 13-member research team, that is examining international student perspectives on sense of belonging environments within GECDSB secondary schools. This project is supported by Dr. George Zhou and Dr. Geri Salinitri. Collaborators include Dr. Sara Shahbazi, Michelle Marcuz, Mike Hawkins, and Sash Querbach from GECDSB, two Mitacs Globalink interns (Bingbing Cao and Gabriela Danko), one Outstanding Scholar (Fatme Ammar), and a recent M.Ed. graduate (Xu Zhang). A SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant has been submitted to potentially support the project, which is scheduled to begin in January, 2022.