University Canada West (UCW) this week announced the establishment of its Centre for Teaching Excellence.

“The Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE) aims to recognize and inspire excellence and innovation in curriculum and all aspects of the learning experience of UCW students,” said Dr. Cyndi Banks, UCW’s VP Academic.

The centre will be led by Director Dr. Aigerim Shilibekova, an experienced trainer and facilitator in higher education strategies. She strongly believes in life-long learning and is currently pursuing her second PhD in educational technology and learning design at Simon Fraser University.

The CTE will collaborate with UCW faculty, staff, students and partners to cultivate an engaging and supportive faculty environment through informed dialogue. CTE staff will support faculty to forge new connections and to deepen and expand their knowledge, skills and expertise through creative, innovative and research-driven teaching and technological approaches.

“In pursuit of teaching excellence, the CTE aims to promote our unique teaching culture at UCW and to serve as a resource for faculty as they evolve and build best practices, scholarship and learner-centered pedagogical strategies,” Dr. Banks said.

The CTE offers:

  • Faculty Development Workshop series
  • Productive Beginnings – new faculty orientation program
  • Panel of Experts – a monthly event with guest speakers
  • Consultation on pedagogies, technologies and tools for blended learning practices

Centre for Teaching Excellence staff:

  • Seyed-Reza Hosseinifar, MA – assessment, curriculum design and best practices in the classroom.

Seyed has been an avid ELT educator for two decades. In addition to teaching, he has co-authored a curriculum framework and led a national standards-based assessment project in the UAE.

  • Dr. Nisa Chand – leads Productive Beginnings, our new faculty orientation program

Nisa has taught international human resources in the MBA program at UCW for over 2 years ensuring that HRM courses are up to date with the latest industry trends. She has a keen interest in supporting new faculty for their success and professional development at UCW and with a team has designed a yearlong program that includes a faculty mentorship program.

The first set of CTE workshops begins this week with Learner-Centered Assessment for Blended Learning Course Design with Seyed-Reza Hosseinifar.

Upcoming workshop topics include grading and best practices, e-portfolio, and challenge-based learning.

Published on Sept. 8, 2020.
Last updated Sept. 11, 2020.