Teaching and Learning Philosophy Linda Batch, M.Eng, P.

Eng, MBA, CMA Professor of Accounting, Faculty of Business, Sheridan College The most important element in teaching is effective student engagement. This starts with getting to know your students starting with simply knowing their names. Without this engagement, students may avoid taking ownership for the required work in the course. We cannot force students to learn, they must take ownership for the learning. Student engagement ensures they understand that this is not a passive exercise, but a learner centered activity, that requires their full participation. It holds them accountable. My teaching philosophy encompasses all students, and this is quite a diverse group of people. Students may have come to college from high school, with little work experience, be international students using the education process for immigration, have prior degrees, have young families or be second or third career students. This diversity is very similar in many ways to the diversity of the professors participating in the Sheridan Teaching and Learning Academy. There is the also the variation in learning styles and the unbalanced abilities that characterize our students. They may be diagnosed and participate in the accessible learner program or they may be undiagnosed. All of this needs to be accommodated in the learning process. Particularly with the younger students, it is possible to connect by effectively utilizing technology. Students engage with each other using technology more than they have in the past. It is important that the student has a view that you can also effectively tap into this technology. It gets their attention and creates the connection as you can connect with them in their sphere of influence. There are many technologies available to professors today that were not available in the past. Technologies that help us link complex concepts in a visual way. This allows a visual representation of the context of the material and topics to each other and to industry. I do believe that our college is in the business of providing learning, not simply teaching. Learning is a complex phenomenon that, not only encompasses subject material, but builds a tool box of personal and professional skills that a person can utilize to solve complex problems they may encounter in their professional careers. It is most important that the learning process builds confidence in students so they will persevere when the answer is not obvious. Success in life is closely tied to perseverance. To build this confidence, and to have the students convince themselves that they can work through complex issues, whether it be individually or in a team of people, the professor must encourage the students to practice critical thinking skills in the classroom; active learning. Students must prepare for the classroom in advance of the class, work with the material in the classroom by completing in class exercises, have the students complete projects throughout the course that deals with multiple topics and skills taught in the program, not just the course. The students must be able to work in groups as

well as demonstrate individually, in an examination setting, their understanding an application of the material and skills; essentially, have them tap into the toolbox. We, as professors, must encourage the students to present material, practice reading and writing skills, perform calculations, and effectively work with their peers in groups. To achieve this lofty goal, it is critical the program being offered to the students, provides a comprehensive end to end view of the material and skills learned in the program. It serves to keep the program current. The program should be designed with a layered approach that encourages students to repeat material and skills throughout the program. This layering will serve to provide better depth of understanding and to apply skills with a higher level of success. This starts with the design of the program and is supported by the rigorous administration of the program review process. A key method of communicating the program design to the professors is by the use of course outlines. It is important to meet the learning objectives and to ensure the course is delivered at the appropriate level of Blooms taxonomy to result in a holistic learning process. Rigorous application of the course outline will reduce the risk of gaps in the overall program. This will be supported by positive and effective collaboration of the professors teaching similar courses and the professors having the experience teaching all the courses in the end to end program. In this way, the professor achieves a complete view of the program, and can better design active learning exercises that develop student confidence, and ensure an effective level of standardization across course sections. As professors, we need to stay current with developments in the industry of teaching and learning; the pedagogy. This, combined with technology, will encourage creativity in program design, delivery, and subsequently, student engagement in the learning process. Sheridan College is encouraging this through the Teaching and Learning Academy, the existence of Niles, standard setting by the Office of the Registrar and the faculty administration, offering seminars on diversity, their creativity initiative, and implementation of hybrid courses to cite a few examples. It was noted in the course readings that often creativity in the classroom is the result of one professor taking a chance on a new process. With the overlay of effective college administration, this creativity can be harnessed and communicated across the college to have a better outcome for all programs. Similar to our students, the professors must be engaged in this process as this is not a passive exercise, but requires active involvement of professors and the college administration. The students are offered many ways to engage in the college outside the classroom to develop skills such as leadership. Some of these opportunities include industry and program clubs, common interest clubs, competitions, industry events, and the ongoing Presidents Challenge initiatives. Leadership from the top is the essential ingredient influences the teaching and learning process both inside and outside the classroom. Leadership encourages personal renewal at all organizational levels which serve to keep us fresh and current for effective teaching and learning.