Ontario universities celebrate teaching excellence and create an ongoing dialogue on innovative practices

TORONTO, April 16, 2012 /CNW/ - A new report on innovative teaching practices at Ontario universities, released today at Queen's Park, will become part of an ongoing dialogue on innovative teaching in the sector.

The Council of Ontario Universities (COU) released the report Beyond the Sage on the Stage: Innovative and Effective Teaching and Learning at Ontario Universities at a reception that brought MPPs together with innovative and award-winning university teachers to celebrate teaching excellence.

In addition to examples of innovative approaches, the report also invites Ontario's 15,000 university faculty and many thousands of teaching staff to submit their own stories of the innovative ways they engage students in learning. These stories will become an ongoing resource for the university sector and will be available at http://www.cou.on.ca/teachingandlearning, where numerous stories are already posted.

"Students learn from many different approaches and in different contexts, and this report highlights a wide variety of innovative approaches aimed towards securing student engagement with the course material and creating a passion for life-long learning," says Alastair Summerlee, Chair of COU and the President of the University of Guelph. "Ontario universities are continually researching the link between teaching and learning and exploring new ways to equip students with the right tools for our dramatically changing world."

The report was prepared under the auspices of the Teaching and Learning Task Force, chaired by Maureen Mancuso, Vice-President, Academic of the University of Guelph. Mancuso announced the report today at Queen's Park. It provides examples of different teaching and learning strategies in a variety of different categories from across the province, including the use of technology, experiential learning, curricular innovations, new learning environments, foundational first-year courses and teaching development programs.

"More and more people in the province are enrolling in postsecondary education than ever before because they recognize its benefits," says Bonnie Patterson, COU President and CEO. "Ontario universities are adapting to support this trend, and to other external changes, by continually re-examining the way we teach and reach our students with the ultimate goal of ensuring student success."

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Jennifer Grass
Senior Director, Communications and Public Affairs
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