Date and time: Eight sessions available from February 5 – 16.

Experiential learning is recognized as a high-impact practice in postsecondary education with positive impacts on student learning and retention, student engagement, career-readiness and community involvement. In light of these benefits, The University of Manitoba is invested in supporting faculties and instructors with the enhancement and expansion of experiential learning opportunities for students in academic courses and programs. The Office of Experiential Learning is leading these consultations to better understand the experiences of faculty members, instructors and staff involved in the development and delivery of curricular experiential learning opportunities for students. The information collected will be used to create recommendations to enhance existing practices, remove barriers and design effective supports.

All faculty members, instructors, and staff involved in the development and delivery of curricular experiential learning opportunities for students are invited to participate.  Participation in these consultations is voluntary. To ensure confidentiality, no potentially identifying information will be reported. Individual responses will not be shared with others. Findings will be reported in aggregated form.

Lunch will be provided at in-person sessions.

Register for the Experiential Learning Community Consultations

Open Educational Resources, Part 1

Date and time: Wednesday, February 14, 2024, 9:30 – 11:00 AM

The term open educational resources (OER) describes a wide range of materials in teaching and learning that are available for public use with an open license or in the public domain. Examples of OER include full courses, course modules, syllabi, textbooks, lectures, assessments, and datasets. In this workshop, participants will learn why OER are valuable, how to locate them, how to evaluate them using a rubric, and how to adapt and create them. The workshop does not assume prior experience with these topics.

Register for the Open Educational Resources workshop

Creating Connections in SoTL: Learning From Colleagues

Date and time: Thursday, February 15, 2024, 10:00 – 11:15 AM

In the Creating Connections in SoTL series, faculty, instructors, and other UM scholars explore foundational topics in SoTL research, discuss ongoing SoTL projects, make interdisciplinary connections, and receive support from colleagues and Centre SoTL Developers. In this online workshop we will hear from a presenter (TBC) from the 2023 Symposium for Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. This presenter will share lessons learned from conducting and disseminating SoTL research, and answer questions from attendees. We will also provide time for participants to share their SoTL study progress in small groups, discuss challenges, and provide mutual support.

Register for the Creating Connections in SoTL workshop

Experiential Learning Community of Practice

Date and time: Wednesday, February 28, 2024, 2:30 – 3:30 PM

Facilitated by The Office of Experiential Learning, the Experiential Learning Community of Practice (CoP) meets online once a month. Each online meeting will consist of a 30-minute presentation on a topic related to best practices, trends, and challenges in experiential learning, followed by a 30-minute facilitated discussion.

Future-proofing students in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world.
Researchers and policymakers in various fields are adopting the term VUCA to describe the current state of our world. In this session, we’ll explore some of the skills, competencies, or capabilities that the UM and other post-secondary institutions have identified as highly relevant to any student’s ability to thrive in an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous future. Join us to learn about the UM’s recently developed competency framework!

Register for the Experiential Learning Community of Practice workshop

Planning Your SoTL Study

Date: Tuesday, January 23, 2024

In this workshop, participants will begin outlining a SoTL study. Building on an existing idea, participants will develop research questions and utilize quantitative and qualitative research methods to outline a plan for data collection and analysis. We will also work collaboratively to develop solutions to possible SoTL challenges and identify critical SoTL resources.​ To get the most out of this workshop participants should come with a developed SoTL research question in mind.

Register for Planning Your SoTL Study

Applying trauma-informed teaching practices online synchronous courses

Date: Friday, January 26, 2024

This introductory panel will discuss trauma-informed teaching and how to apply the basic concepts in your online teaching.

Register for Applying trauma-informed teaching practices online synchronous courses

Decolonizing Classrooms Part 2: Unpacking and Overcoming Barriers to Decolonizing Processes

Date: Tuesday, January 30, 2024

The Decolonizing Classroom series aims to give participants the context and tools necessary to meaningfully engage with decolonizing processes as they relate to education. “Unpacking and Overcoming Barriers to Engagement and Decolonizing Processes” explores the barriers that exist for teachers and students, which prevent them from enacting decolonizing processes in educational contexts. Part two of this workshop series discusses the barriers that prevent teachers from engaging fully in decolonizing classrooms and creates a space for the discussion of strategies for overcoming these barriers.

Register for Decolonizing Classrooms Part 2: Unpacking and Overcoming Barriers to Decolonizing Processes

Experiential Learning Community of Practice – January

Date: Wednesday, January 31, 2024.

Facilitated by The Office of Experiential Learning, the Experiential Learning Community of Practice meets online once a month. An Experiential Learning Townhall is organized once every academic term for CoP members who would like the opportunity to meet in-person.

Each online meeting will consist of a 30-minute presentation on a topic related to best practices, trends, and challenges in experiential learning, followed by a 30-minute facilitated discussion.

January: Why experiential learning now?
Enhancing and expanding experiential learning (EL) opportunities for students has become a priority for the UM and many other post-secondary institutions in Canada and abroad. However, EL has been around for a long time both in theory and practice. So, why has EL suddenly become the topic of the hour?
At this initial meeting of the EL CoP, we’ll explore the reasons that make experiential learning an appropriate response to the challenges facing postsecondary education today, and share updates about the UM’s upcoming Experiential Learning Framework for faculty and instructors.

Register for Experiential Learning Community of Practice – January