Conference on enhancing students' collaboration skills

[Shannon Dea]

Dear colleagues,

I'm writing to you to share with you the details about a great conference
and a neat survey, both concerning the scholarship and pedagogy of teamwork
and collaboration. Both the conference and the survey were created by our
friends in the Centre for Knowledge Integration. Please see the email below
for details, and please share the announcement on your networks.

All best wishes,
Shannon Dea
--


Director, Women's Studies
Faculty of Arts Teaching Fellow
Secretary-Treasurer, Charles Sanders Peirce Society
Associate Professor
Department of Philosophy
University of Waterloo
200 University Ave. W.
Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1
(519) 888-4567 (ext. 32778)
FAX (519) 746-3097

--------------------------------------

Dear University of Waterloo Instructors,



Are you interested in learning how to foster collaboration among your
students, or enhance their ability to do group work? If so, we invite you
to a *free conference on collaboration and teamwork at UW on January 16-17,
2016* (see details below). This conference is part of a pilot project
conducted by faculty and students in Knowledge Integration (and funded by a
Learning Innovation and Teaching Enhancement (LITE) grant), with the
ultimate aim of creating a university-wide course on the theory and
practice of collaboration.



Whether or not you are able to attend, we would like to have your input on
the challenges of teaching students how to work collaboratively, which we
will use in both the workshop and in designing the course. We have
developed a short survey to understand the extent to which the theory and
practice of collaboration is taught in your classroom, and the additional
resources you think would be helpful in building your students’
collaborative skills. The survey will remain open until January 17, 2016,
but *we would greatly appreciate it if you could fill it out by January 4,
2016*. We expect it to take you about 15 minutes to complete the survey.
Please note that the survey has been reviewed and received ethics clearance
through a University of Waterloo Research Ethics Committee, and you may opt
out of it at any time. If you would like more information about our project
or the survey please contact kplaisan at uwaterloo.ca.



Survey link:
https://qtrial2015q4az1.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_9HbLfLQKnQ6LgsR



Please note that the conference and survey are separate, so you are welcome
to attend the conference without completing the survey, and vice versa.
Details regarding the conference can be found below. Day 1 (Saturday,
January 16) is intended for undergraduate students, though faculty are
welcome to attend, while day 2 (Sunday, January 17) is specifically for
instructors. Please register soon to guarantee your space! Food will be
provided for those who register by *December 21, 2015*. We hope to see you
there!

For more information, see:
https://uwaterloo.ca/knowledge-integration/uwcollaborates



Sincerely,



Kathryn S. Plaisance

Assistant Professor & Associate Chair, Knowledge Integration



Georgia LaMarre, Akanksha Madan, and Shane Morganstein

4th Year BKI, Knowledge Integration



Thank you for taking the time, and we hope to see you at the workshop in
January!



*Workshops on Collaboration and Team Science*



Day ONE: A Crash Course in Collaboration (Saturday January 16, 2016)



Teamwork is prevalent in courses at school, in co-op, and in the workplace
after graduation. We have designed a set of interactive workshops based on
our research in team science and collaboration that will allow students to
use these skills to greater effect in their next team project, and to talk
about them in job interviews and graduate school applications.



Our keynote speaker will be Michael O’Rourke, a professor from Michigan
State University who has expertise in facilitating collaboration amongst
cross-disciplinary teams, and who created the Toolbox Project (
http://toolbox-project.org/).



Workshop topics will include communication, group conflict, and leveraging
diversity for better collaboration.



Day 1 is primarily designed for undergraduate students, but instructors are
welcome to join us for Day 1 as well. *Please register by December 21* in
order to ensure that we order food for you; registration will close on
January 8.



*Register for Day 1 here: *
*https://uwaterloo.ca/knowledge-integration/uw-collaborates-crash-course-collaboration*
<https://uwaterloo.ca/knowledge-integration/uw-collaborates-crash-course-collaboration>





Day TWO: Enhancing Group Work (Sunday, January 17, 2016)



A second workshop is designed for instructors to foster discussion around
teaching the theory and practice of collaboration.  It is recommended
(although not required) that instructors attend the first day of workshops
as well. This workshop is set up through the Centre for Teaching Excellence
(CTE 760) -- see link below.



*Please register by December 21* in order to ensure that we order food for
you; registration will close on January 8.



*Register for Day 2 here: *
*https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/events/enhancing-group-work-cte760*
<https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/events/enhancing-group-work-cte760>
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