TMU Learning and Teaching Conference
Mark your calendars! The next TMU Learning and Teaching Conference will take place on May 15-16, 2024
Thank you
On behalf of the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, we would like to express our gratitude to those who took part and made valuable contributions to the 2023 TMU Learning and Teaching Conference.
We truly appreciate the time and effort our presenters dedicated to sharing their knowledge with the TMU community, and we hope that all attendees, whether joining online or in-person, had a fulfilling experience. We would also like to extend our thanks to the dedicated volunteers who worked behind the scenes to make this event possible.
Thank you once again, and we look forward to seeing you at future events!
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Conference Highlights
Reimagining Teaching: May 17 - 18, 2023
The annual event brought together the teaching community at TMU to build on what we’ve learned over the past few years about creating accessible, inclusive, and engaging learning environments, and we’ll ask big questions about how we might reimagine our teaching practices moving forward: experimenting with bold new approaches to pedagogy; leveraging the wealth of digital learning tools at our disposal; and making the most of our campus learning spaces to provide high-quality experiences for every student.
The two-day event (held virtually and in-person) welcomed:
50 speakers
30+ volunteers, moderators, and tech checkers
250+ attendees (faculty, contract lecturers, staff, graduate students, and alumni)
Curated programming included:
Keynotes by Maria Crabtree & Dr. George Sefa Dei
Nine special sessions
Interactive social activities
A sensory-friendly quiet room
An in-person lunch and reception (sponsored by the Chang School)
The team working behind-the-scenes included:
The conference planning committee, composed of members from the six resource areas in the Teaching Centre
Volunteers, moderators, and tech support (staff, graduate students, and career boost students)
FMD, Media Services, the Chang School, TMU Eats, TorontoMet Today, and TMU Superstars
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Conference Portal
Our team created a custom portal to enhance the experience of participants attending the conference, whether they were joining virtually or in-person.
Registrants
Attendees were provided with the flexibility to participate in the conference either virtually on day 1, in-person on day 2, or attend both days. Of our registrants:
29% planned to attended virtually
11% planned to attended in-person
60% planned to attended both
Participant feedback:
"I had a great time at LTC2023! I attended a session in every available time-slot, and I enjoyed every presentation. The sessions were well-moderated, and the themes were thought out. I never felt rushed by the timing of the day. The poster session and reception to close was wonderful as well."
Attending the in-person day of the conference was a shock in the best way possible. I was blown away by the level of organization (I was greeted at the door when entering ENG!), the attention to detail (e.g., the signage in the lobby on upcoming sessions), and the support staff (e.g., the tech support in every session room). I was also shocked by the investment in the conference: the floral displays, the incredible lunch, and the drinks and hors d'oeuvres to end the day. I know conferences are about dissemination of knowledge and not food per se, but it always brightens the experience! My only suggestion would be to provide larger boards for poster presenters to attach their work. Otherwise, an absolutely fantastic conference!
It was such a fulfilling day to be able to get to know so many people from across campus that I never would have had the opportunity to interact with otherwise. Everyone on the volunteer team this year was so kind, supportive, and resourceful. I have experience working at other events like this and I have never been treated with the respect, care, and kindness that I was treated with on the day of this conference. This is such a wonderful team of organizers and everyone should be incredibly proud of themselves. I really have to say that the way we were prepared and treated is SO instrumental to the functioning of a successful conference. We had both the tools and the support necessary to get the job done not only successfully but exceptionally!
Past conferences
Emerging and Imagining: Futures for Learning and Teaching - May 19, 2022
The past two years were marked by disruption. The challenges we faced have also revealed myriad opportunities to move past the status quo and transform learning and teaching.
As we look forward to the next chapter for our institution, we invited our community to imagine the possible futures that can emerge for a student experience grounded in our values.
The one-day hybrid event welcomed:
1 keynote speaker
68 presentations
500+ attendees
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Vanessa Andreotti provided the keynote address with an overview of her work Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures Art/Research Collective (GTDF) of which she is a founding member, based at UBC. She showcased educational tools that build our collective capacity and stamina to hold space for difficult conversations about wicked social and global challenges without feeling immobilized or demanding immediate quick fixes. Wicked challenges are characterized by hyper-complexity, uncertainty and interlocked problems with no possibility for easy solutions.
Watch a recording of Dr. Andreotti’s Keynote address (external link, opens in new window) , or download the slides (external link)
Participant feedback
This diversity in participation demonstrated that accessibility efforts put forth by the Teaching Centre were well-used by presenters and attendees alike.
Of our participants:
65% attended online
25% attended in-person
10% attended both
“The Keynote was outstanding. I really would love to be able to work with some of her ideas with students. It really is what they need right now.
“This was the first HyFlex conference I've attended and also the first in-person event I've attended in over 2 years. I really thought the day-of organization was fantastic. You had a great number of volunteers/moderators and it seemed you thought of everything. Truly impressive - well done!!”
“I know the effort put in to make this happen must have been great indeed, and it really made for a seamless experience of community in all our modes (whether virtual or in-person).”
“Thank you - the virtual option to attend was fantastic, and I hope can be retained at future meetings. The two formats really made it accessible for everyone to participate….Congratulations to the team!”