Instructional Skills Workshop

The Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) is an intensive, collaborative, and experiential learning model that uses videotaped micro-teaching and peer feedback sessions to support the teaching reflection and growth of both new and experienced instructors. The ISW promotes participatory learning and community building and encourages examination of teaching practices with feedback focused on the learning process rather than on the specific content of the lesson. Each participant will receive a widely-recognized certificate of achievement upon successful completion of the ISW, which requires 24 contact hours, over three or four days. 

If you are interested in the ISW, please contact Richard Li.

The Facilitator Development Workshop (FDW), is an intensive 40-hour workshop held over 5 days that prepares participants to deliver the Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) to others. Led by Trainers from the ISW Network, the core of the FDW is another ISW with the further skills of facilitation as the primary focus.

The activities of the ISW form the core of the FDW as participants develop new knowledge and techniques for facilitating group development, explore other teaching methods and formative evaluation techniques, and receive feedback on their own teaching and facilitating skills. As with the ISW, the FDW is a peer-based model providing participants a small group setting in which to work on their facilitation skills. The small groups meet in plenary sessions each day featuring such themes as active learning, giving and receiving actionable feedback, group development, and the use of questions in teaching, among others. The FDW provides an opportunity for individuals to concentrate on their own professional development in a challenging and supportive atmosphere.

FDWs are offered every other year and are open to all instructors who have completed the ISW. An internationally recognized certificate will be issued upon completion. If you are interested in the FDW, please contact Richard Li

The Online Instructional Skills Workshop (ISW) has been developed to provide instructors teaching online at the University of Waterloo the opportunity to experiment with creating engaging and meaningful online learning experiences. This workshop affords instructors new to online teaching an introduction to designing and facilitating effective online lessons/activities, while experienced online instructors may use it as a chance to explore new ideas and/or refine their online teaching practices. Although focused on the online environment, the ideas developed in this workshop are also applicable to the blended context and will serve to inform in-class teaching. 

The design of this online workshop is based on the in-person Instructional Skills Workshop template (http://iswnetwork.ca/) in that the activities provide an authentic environment for faculty to learn about and practice skills related to facilitating and assessing learning. The workshop includes opportunities for peer feedback focused on the learning process rather than on specific content as well as reflection on one’s own experiences as both an instructor and student in the online environment.

The Online ISW is a small enrolment, peer-based workshop that requires on-average a 5 hour/week commitment for a six-week period. Each participant will design and facilitate four 20-minute online learning experiences in LEARN and will receive verbal and written feedback from their peers. Participants can expect to interact with and learn from other participants both asynchronously and synchronously during the workshop and need to set-aside daily time to contribute to the workshop activities. 

It is expected that all participants will have a working knowledge of LEARN prior to enrolling in the Online ISW. The focus of the Online ISW is on instructional skills in online teaching not on the support of technological fluency. While participants are encouraged to use the workshop to get feedback on their use of technology, the workshop itself does not incorporate the time required for the implementation of unfamiliar technologies. 

For more information about the Online ISW, please contact Richard Li.