MacPherson Institute Fall Term Supports & Services

In preparation for the fall academic term, the MacPherson Institute is reminding educators at McMaster about the various supports and services available this upcoming year.

Ongoing Support

The MacPherson Institute holds regular office hours and provides consultations to educators seeking pedagogical support and educational technology expertise.

• Office Hours & Drop-In: The MacPherson Institute office is located in Mills Library and is open in-person Monday – Thursday from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Staff can also be reached virtually during regular office hours (Monday – Friday from 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM). Please note: McMaster’s policy for flexible work allows staff to adjust their working hours, which means not all staff are available during this time.
• Extended Avenue Support Hours: Starting August 14 and running until the Fall break, the MacPherson Institute will offer extended Avenue support hours Monday – Thursday from 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM and Friday from 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM.
• Consultations: The MacPherson Institute will continue to offer individual and group consultations from our educational developers. If you wish to explore opportunities for consultations, please connect with a Faculty Key Contact or reach out to mi@mcmaster.ca.

Teaching Skills & Course Design Support

The MacPherson Institute offers opportunities to enhance facilitation, teaching skills and course design through a variety of programs and supports.

• Teaching and Learning – Certificates of Completion: Educators can enrol in our EDUCATN courses and work towards a Teaching and Learning Certificate of Completion. Registration is now open for the Fall 2023 term. Instructors can engage in programming to develop their teaching skills, explore topics related to teaching in digital environments, receive feedback on their teaching from other instructors, and more.
• Instructional Skills Workshop: This in-depth workshop is designed to assist instructors in developing and enhancing their instructional approach both in the classroom and online.
• Learning to Teach Online: This asynchronous, self-paced course will help instructors understand the foundational building blocks of creating an engaging online learning experience.
• Course (re)Design Workshop: These workshops are designed to support academic staff in designing or redesigning a course.
• Online Course Quality Checklist: A tool for self-assessing the quality of online course designs aligned to Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. May be completed in consultation with our educational developers.
  

Learning Technologies

• MacPherson Supported Teaching Tools: We will continue to offer support for a variety of teaching tools including Avenue to Learn, MacVideo, Pressbooks, H5P and more.
• MacPherson Studios: We will continue to provide professional media production spaces for all McMaster faculty and staff. Our studios provide instructors with the tools for an easy-to-use, do-it-yourself approach to developing media content for online and hybrid courses, and other digital learning content.

• • The One Button Studio (OBS) consists of an automated recording system with wireless control utilizing an iPad. With a simple click of a button, the automated recording system can be used to record high-quality videos without requiring any prior expertise in video production.
  • The Audio Studio is a sound-isolated recording space and has all the hardware and software required to record high-quality audio including a recording mixer, 2 microphones, lights and a camera.

Upcoming Support

• *NEW* Incentivized Faculty Development Program: The Digital Learning Strategic Framework budget has funded a 3-year Educational Developer position to support the creation and facilitation of an incentivized faculty development program on online course design and development planned to launch in Winter 2024. More details about how to engage in this program will be shared during the Fall 2023 term.
• *NEW* Ed Tech Stations: In addition to the DIY MacPherson Studios spaces, we are developing three Ed Tech Stations that will allow educators to book a private space to update and create learning content or to experiment with online learning tools. More details about programming and availability to come during the Fall 2023 term.
• *NEW* Ed Tech Engagement Series: In conjunction with the launch of new Ed Tech Stations, the MacPherson Institute is developing complementary programming on a variety of educational technology tools and processes (e.g. creating and editing video and audio, online module workflows, etc.). More details about this programming and the schedule of opportunities to come during the Fall 2023 term.

Upcoming Events

• New Faculty Orientation: We will host a New Faculty Orientation to welcome new educators to McMaster and introduce them to the work and support available to them at the MacPherson Institute. The event is scheduled for August 17.
• Sessional Instructor Orientation: We will be offering a 1.5-hour online synchronous orientation for sessional faculty to learn about the McMaster teaching context and effective teaching practices, and to connect with other McMaster sessional faculty on August 29.
• Innovations in Education Conference: The MacPherson Institute is excited to announce that we will host the 2023 Innovations in Education Conference this year on Thursday, December 7 and Friday, December 8 at McMaster Innovation Park. The Call for Reviewers and Proposals will be available in early August and more details about the conference will be available through the fall term.

Hot Topics

• Generative Artificial Intelligence in Teaching and Learning: Generative AI continues to be an important topic for educators and learners. The Task Force has updated the Provisional Guidelines (August 2023) to support instructors as they prepare for the fall term. The Guidelines also include Citation and Reference Guidelines, Sample Syllabus Statements, Sample Rubrics and Honour Pledges. Staff at the MacPherson Institute are also available to meet with individual instructors, programs and departments to share information about generative AI and/or to discuss assessment. The MacPherson Institute continues to offer workshops on course and assessment design related to generative AI and plans to launch a Pressbook resource for educators in early September.

If you have questions or would like to schedule a consultation, please feel free to reach out to us at mi@mcmaster.ca or submit a request at https://mi.mcmaster.ca/request-support/.