The Schedule

May 28, 2024

This first afternoon session will welcome you to the FDSI and offer an overview of the next three days.  You'll have a chance to meet other participants and share your expectations for the Institute.   We will end our first session with a welcome reception.

1:00  Registration  

1:30-2:15  Welcome and 1st class  

2:15-4:15  Session 1 – Why active learning? The debate  

4:15-5:00  Reception and Welcome  

May 29, 2024 from 8:30 am - 4:00 pm 

Our first full day will introduce questions around why we should be interested in employing active learning in our physical classrooms and online learning spaces.  Lunch is provided. 

Here's what we have planned for Day 2:   

8:30-9:00 Coffee – 8:30  Let’s begin! -- 8:45   

9:00-10:15  Session 2 – I wasn’t trained for this: How and why we do(n’t) embrace active learning in our courses?  

10:15-10:30 Break  

10:30-11:45 Session 3 – Barriers to the best intention: diversity and inclusion in the classroom   

11:45-1:00  Lunch   

1:00-2:15  Session 4 – Managing an active learning class environment   

2:15-2:30  Break time   

2:30-3:15  Session 5 – Nuts & Bolts: Fundamentals of syllabus to assessment, via learning objectives  

3:15–3:45  Session 6 – What do you know about SoTL?  

3:45-4:00   Wrap up – Bingo!   

Dinner on your own  

May 30 from 8:30 am - 4:00 pm followed by dinner together at 6:00

Putting active learning into action will be our focus for day three.  We'll have lots of opportunities to consider how to incorporate what we are learning into our teaching practice. Lunch is provided. Our day of learning will be rounded out with a celebratory meal together. 

Our Day 3 sessions will look like this: 

8:30-9:00 Coffee – 8:30  

Re-cap and debrief – 8:45   

9:00-10:15  Session 7 – “The instructor didn’t really teach” - Using team-based learning (TBL) as an alternative to lectures   

10:15-10:30 Break time   

10:30-11:45  Session 8 – Designing assessments & effective feedback   

11:45-1:00  Lunch  

1:00-2:15  Session 9 – Difficult Dialogues and taboo topics  

2:15-2:30  Break time   

2:30-3:45  Session 10 – Active learning World Café   

3:45 – 4:00  Wrap up – Bingo!  

4:00-6:00 Free time  

6:00-8:00 Celebratory Dinner - Location TBD   

May 31 from 8:30 am - 2:30 pm

Feedback, assessment and evaluation are important components of teaching and learning, especially so when using active learning approaches.  A question we will address as a group on day four is how to make using active learning sustainable for ourselves as educators. Lunch is provided.  And indeed, there will be a graduation of sorts before we wrap up the Institute.

Here's what we are planning for Day 4: 

8:30-9:00  Coffee – 8:30  

Re-cap and debrief – 8:45  

9:00-10:30  Session 11 – Hands on!    

10:30-10:45  Break time   

10:45-12:00  Session 12 – A glance in the mirror: self-reflection, threshold concepts, and other ‘ah ha’ moments  

12:00-1:15  Lunch   

1:15-2:30  Session 13 – Honouring what has happened: An open discussion