Highlights from the 2015 TLS Symposium

Teaching and Learning Services supports the McGill commitment to provide all students with a stimulating, innovative and inquiry-based educational experience. We work with faculty, staff and students to create a culture that promotes the importance of teaching and learning – both inside and outside the classroom. We offer individual consultations, program-specific initiatives and universitywide workshops in an effort to continuously explore new ways of encouraging excellence in teaching and learning. 

On December 11, 2015, Teaching and Learning Services held a day-long symposium for faculty with a focus on translating aspirations for student learning into pedagogical strategies. 135 people from across the university (mostly faculty members, but also staff and some students) engaged in reflection and discussion about undergraduate teaching at McGill. The symposium included two panels that celebrated work already being done and a teaching lab where instructors developed new pedagogical strategies tailored to their own contexts. 

Prof. Patricia Hewlin, Desautels Faculty of Management, is concerned that students in their final year still have difficulty saying, “This is what I'm good at. I bring something divergent, unique and valuable to a variety of contexts.” She wants students to learn to play to their strengths. With that purpose in mind, she assigns students the task of asking 5-8 individuals who know them well, “What are my core strengths?” Students then have to identify the key themes and propose how they intend to use these strengths in their professional lives. 

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