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As part of the Transformation 2030 strategic plan
the University of Ottawa's Chairs in University Teaching underscore the University's commitment to instructional excellence by:
- Promoting innovative teaching and learning practices that will benefit the wider University community as grounded in a scholarly framework/model;
- Recognizing the value of educational leadership and excellence in university teaching and learning; and
- Supporting professors committed to the scholarly investigation of teaching and learning, translating to University-wide transformation of instructional practices.
Appointment
Chairholder's Faculty will provide one assistantship too.
The Chairholder will receive a three-year non-renewable appointment and an annual fund of $20,000. To highlight the significance of this appointment, the Chairholder's Faculty will provide one assistantship (130 hours per year).During the appointment, the Chairholder will join the Research Unit for the Advancement of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ASoTL) housed within the Teaching and Learning Support Service (TLSS) and work collaboratively with fellow Chairs to play an active role in the promotion of teaching excellence and the enhancement of student learning in all sectors of the University community.
The Chairholder will lead a three-year research program, with implications for the broader University teaching and learning community, which will relate to:
- Significant transformation of teaching and learning practices in their field; and
- Scholarly development and research in the field of university teaching and learning.
The Chair in University Teaching will also serve as a keynote speaker at TLSS and University of Ottawa events which may include: the New Professor Orientation Program, the annual Perspective Symposium, and TLSS lecture events. In addition to the submission of an annual progress report, the Chairholder will disseminate the results of their scholarly work (via conference presentations, articles, and the TLSS website) and give a public presentation in the final year of their program.
Eligibility
Chair in University Teaching will take into account applications in two distinct profiles.
Re-focusing on the enhancement of campus-wide pedagogy and the promotion of leadership in educational change (whether disciplinary or institution, faculty or program level), the competition for the 2020 Chair in University Teaching will take into account applications in two distinct profiles. The profiles aim to support a broader spectrum of capable Chair in University Teaching candidates and allow for submissions to each profile to be evaluated against submissions from similar contexts.
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Profile A |
Profile B |
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Focus on Boyer’s definition of scholarship as Discovery, Integration and Application* |
Focus on Boyer’s definition of scholarship as Application and Teaching and Learning (SoTL)* |
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Distinct Criteria (as part of the 2nd round) |
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Common Criteria (as part of the 2nd round) |
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Common Applicant Contexts |
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*Boyer (1990) proposes that scholarship include the following four categories:
- The scholarship of discovery that includes original research that advances knowledge (i.e., basic research);
- The scholarship of integration that involves a synthesis of information across disciplines, across topics within a discipline, or across time (i.e., inter-professional education, or science communication);
- The scholarship of application that goes beyond the service duties of a faculty member to those within or outside the University and involves the rigor and application of disciplinary expertise with results that can be shared with and/or evaluated by peers; and
- The scholarship of teaching and learning that involves the systematic study of teaching and learning processes. It differs from scholarly teaching in that it requires a format that will allow public sharing and the opportunity for application and evaluation by others.
Boyer, E. L. (1990). Scholarship reconsidered: Priorities of the professoriate. Princeton University Press.
2021 Information Session
Details on the appointment, expectations and the selection process.
An informal information session regarding the Chair in University Teaching program will be held on January 28th and 29th, 2021, at noon via Zoom. For the link to connect to either session, please contact Jovan Groen at jgroen@uOttawa.ca. Topics to be discussed will relate to:
- Details pertaining to the appointment;
- Expectations of Chairholders; and
- The selection process.
Selection Process
There will be two rounds of selection for the Chair in University Teaching.
First Round
Submissions to the first round of selection (expression of interest for pre-selection) must include:
- A completed PDF submission form which includes a one-page project description and an explanation of expected contributions to the Research Unit for the Advancement of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ASoTL) and to the enhancement of pedagogy in the uOttawa community;
- A recent curriculum vitæ limited to 4-pages (OCGS format); and
- A copy of the A report (student evaluations) over the last three years.
To download the PDF submission form, please click here.
The submission deadline for expressions of interest is March 1, 2021 at 4 pm.
To submit, send a complete expression of interest (submission form, CV, copy of A report) in PDF format to saea-tlss@uOttawa.ca.
All candidates will be contacted, in late March, informing them of the committee’s deliberations. Successful candidates will receive information to aid them in the preparation of an expanded submission package for the second round.
Second Round
Following the selection of submissions, the committee will contact successful candidates to request an expanded submission that must include the following (details regarding each section below will be provided in a submission guide sent to successful candidates):
- A project title;
- A 6-page project description (+1 reference page);
- A 4-page CV – focussing on the last five years;
- A 5-page teaching dossier (see FAQ section for details);
- A letter of support from the Dean;
- Two additional letters of support; and
- An expanded description of proposed contributions to the uOttawa community and the ASoTL research unit.
The deadline for this second round is June 1st. Following the second round of selection, the successful candidate will be contacted and will begin their appointment as of July 1, 2021.
For additional information, please contact the Teaching and Learning Support Service at saea-tlss@uOttawa.ca.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Is the Chairs in University Teaching Initiative related to the TLSS Teaching and Learning Grants Program?
No. While both initiatives encourage innovation in University teaching, they are separate programs. Chairholders are first and foremost ambassadors of instructional excellence and play and active role in promoting innovative teaching and learning practices across all sectors of the University community. Chairholders are expected to undertake projects that go beyond the course level and have a larger impact on their Faculty and University community.
As the term is three years in length, Chairholders are expected to contribute to the scholarly development of university teaching through the dissemination of their research, involvement in the Centre for University Teaching’s faculty development programming and/or the development of resources.
What is a Teaching Dossier and what should be in it?
Past and Current Chairholders
Project description
As part of the 3-year Chairship appointment, Professor Vanthuyne will build on an initiative led by the Indigenization and Decolonization Committee of the uOttawa Faculty of Social Sciences (FSS), in collaboration with uOttawa Indigenous Affairs and the Indigenous Resource Centre (IRC) Mashkawazìwogamig. The project will critically examine the strategies employed by the FSS’s Indigenous Curriculum Specialist (ICS) to Indigenize the FSS’s course curricula; the challenges and opportunities these strategies present for the FSS faculty, teaching assistants (TA), students, and staff; complementary approaches deployed by ICSs at other universities for Indigenizing post-secondary course curricula; and the various resources, knowledge, skills and incentives required to implement effective strategies at uOttawa and beyond. The project will be guided by the following research question: How can ICSs best support universities’ faculty in infusing Indigenous contents, pedagogies, and philosophies throughout their curricula?
Project description
As part of the 3-year Chairship appointment, Professor King will lead this project collaboratively with the support of an interdisciplinary advisory committee consisting of representatives from different faculties, the library, the SASS, the TLSS and graduate and undergraduate students. The different theoretical and practical perspectives of critical thinking offered by this committee will help guide a pan-institutional scan of practices and the development and implementation of teaching and learning resources. The project will be guided by the following research questions: 1) Currently, within the University of Ottawa, how are students particularly well helped to develop critical thinking? 2) How can we use knowledge from these successful experiences to enhance critical thinking across the university?
Project description
As part of the 3-year Chairship appointment, Professors Tiessen, Abu-Zahra, and Wills of the Faculty of Social Sciences will collaborate on this project with the support of the International Office, the Michaëlle Jean Centre for Global and Community Engagement, and a host of student groups. The project will focus on improving faculty engagement in internationalization and intensify efforts to internationalize curriculum which will help to make uOttawa a world-class university dedicated to excellence in intercultural learning. The objectives of this Chairship project are: 1) To assess and map existing internationalization strategies among uOttawa faculty and staff and to share information across faculties about effective practices for globally-engaged learning; 2) To examine existing internationalization learning opportunities in relation to the uOGlobal learning outcomes to evaluate successes and gaps; 3) To develop a plan for enhancing these international educational experiences, develop and design new models of learning, and mobilize increased faculty adoption of transformative and globally-engaged curriculum and learning for students; and 4) To share knowledge in a 'training of trainers' initiatives to facilitate improved international education curriculum development.
To view Dr. Tiessen’s final project report, please click here.
Project description
Building on previous collaborative work to develop a WIL toolkit for Ontario Universities and Colleges (2016), this project will focus on adapting the toolkit template by consolidating and disseminating knowledge on effective practices within our wide range of work-integrated learning offered through programs, research and innovation at uOttawa. Specifically, the objectives of this Chairship project are three-fold: 1) collaborate on developing an inventory of uOttawa WIL opportunities; 2) foster synergies through a forum for discussion and research on effective practices, challenges and opportunities for WIL at uOttawa; and 3) create support tools for students to enhance their WIL experiences. Taken together, this Chairship project will contribute to building capacity in WIL at uOttawa, and in partnerships with the community, government, and/or industry as we respond to the growing interest for students to acquire effective WIL in their programs of study.
Project description
University students have to learn in many different formats (e.g., lecture, online, blended, flipped, labs) and manage many different courses and life expectations (e.g., part-time jobs, clubs, sports, volunteer work, family). To be successful, students need to know and continually monitor their learning plus develop autonomy and professional capacity skills; these are two Undergraduate Degree Level Expectations (UDLEs 5 and 6) and are components of self-regulated learning (SRL). Currently, few programs, courses, and online resources address SRL skills. In this project, Alison Flynn will develop (1) an annual workshop will help students learn domain general SRL skills, (2) modules that will target domain-specific SRL skills (i.e., SRL skills that are specific to a course or discipline), and (3) a practical participatory evaluation of the first two initiatives. You can read more and find updates here: flynnresearchgroup.com/chair/
To view Dr. Flynn’s final project report, please click here.
Project description
One of the recommendations from a recent University of Ottawa report suggests that our university adopts blended learning at a large scale. This type of instructional model blends online and in-class learning. To help move this initiative forward, Maurice Taylor, from the Faculty of Education will be conducting a three-year study that investigates the current conditions across different faculties toward large scale adoption and the best practices in blended learning here at the university and other leading provincial universities. Results will help to determine action plans and the tools aimed at transforming instructional practices and teaching innovation.
Project description
Given the place of large classes in today's universities, understanding how they can be best delivered is significant. The development of positive relationships between instructor and students through the professor's verbal and nonverbal communication, or teacher immediacy, is important to learning. Therefore, this study will assess the degree to which highly rated professors of large classes demonstrate teacher immediacy and catalog how they do it. The study will produce guidelines for teaching large classes focused specifically on building teacher immediacy and, ultimately, positive classroom relationships.
2012 - Scott FindlayProject description
The project on synthetic science will provide the opportunity for undergraduate students to contribute and actually do scientific research by extracting information from published studies using validated protocols, populating electronic databases with these data, and using the resulting synthesized data to test scientific hypotheses. This approach overcomes the logistical barriers associated with limited laboratory time and facilities, creating the potential to train students to think like scientists by doing actual science.
2012 - Jacqueline CarnegieProject description
Undergraduate students explore pathophysiology beginning with the disease rather than the patient. This project involves the creation of learning modules, each with a video to acquaint students with a patient (student actors). The goals are to facilitate learning by personalizing the study of diseases, promoting learning through application, and encouraging patient-oriented storage of disease-related information in long-term memory.
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