The Network of Teaching and Learning (TL_net) at AKU convened the Rethinking Teaching (RTT) workshop from 25th to 28th of July 2017 at AKU’s Graduate School of Media and Communication in Nairobi. The workshop aimed to help faculty at AKU examine and develop their thinking about the process of course design and their teaching practice. The workshop was facilitated by Vivian Neal from Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Canada and five of AKU’s TL_net staff. Fifteen AKU faculty from Pakistan and East Africa attended the workshop.
Vivian is an Educational Developer at the Teaching and Learning Centre at SFU. She became involved with Academics without Borders (AWB) as a volunteer to fulfill her desire of travelling the world and to making an impact. In 2014, Dr. Tashmin Khamis, Director of TL_net, applied to AWB for an educational developer to assist in the planning and setting up of a Teaching and Learning Network at AKU. Given Vivian’s experience as an educational developer for over 14 years, she was pleased to see that the job perfectly aligned with her role at SFU. She believed that getting involved with TL_net would not only give her the opportunity to travel to Kenya but would also allow her to engage with people and the local enviroment and culture in a meaningful way.
Three years later, in 2017, Vivian returned to help TL_net establish and facilitate the RTT workshop, which she co-facilitated in Canada for the past three years. Vivian believes that teaching and learning support units significantly help faculty to develop their teaching practice by providing them with safe space to exchange ideas either through one-on-one consultations or through workshops and group work. She stated that she was incredibly impressed with the reach of TL_net over the past three years and the level of commitment of the staff at TL_net to faculty development at AKU.
Regarding the RTT workshop, Vivian was amazed with how well the RTT was received by faculty at AKU. She stated, “ We transplanted directly a model that worked well in Canada … without any changes except for a bit of tweaking here and there and so I didn’t know how well it would work. So there was a sense of relief when I saw that partcipants seemed to be engaging with the process just like back home”.
Vivian was inspired by how well the faculty approached the workshop and the enthusiasm with which they participated. Her impression is that faculty were very appreciative of the workshop as a whole. She said that the approach of the AKU faculty to the workshop was similar to what she had encountered in Canada. She believes that the workshop provided the faculty at AKU an opportunity to reflect and focus on one course over a period of four days and to come up with an end result of a course design that could help them in the planning of their current and future courses. She stated that the RTT workshop allows faculty to not only understand the process of course design but also to learn about learning outcomes and assessment and teaching strategies.
Vivian looks forward to continued collaboration with TL_net at AKU and visiting Kenya in the future.
The Network of Teaching and Learning (TL_net) at AKU convened the Rethinking Teaching (RTT) workshop from 25th to 28th of July 2017 at AKU’s Graduate School of Media and Communication in Nairobi. The workshop aimed to help faculty at AKU examine and develop their thinking about the process of course design and their teaching practice. The workshop was facilitated by Vivian Neal from Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Canada and five of AKU’s TL_net staff. Fifteen AKU faculty from Pakistan and East Africa attended the workshop.
Vivian is an Educational Developer at the Teaching and Learning Centre at SFU. She became involved with Academics without Borders (AWB) as a volunteer to fulfill her desire of travelling the world and to making an impact. In 2014, Dr. Tashmin Khamis, Director of TL_net, applied to AWB for an educational developer to assist in the planning and setting up of a Teaching and Learning Network at AKU. Given Vivian’s experience as an educational developer for over 14 years, she was pleased to see that the job perfectly aligned with her role at SFU. She believed that getting involved with TL_net would not only give her the opportunity to travel to Kenya but would also allow her to engage with people and the local enviroment and culture in a meaningful way.
Three years later, in 2017, Vivian returned to help TL_net establish and facilitate the RTT workshop, which she co-facilitated in Canada for the past three years. Vivian believes that teaching and learning support units significantly help faculty to develop their teaching practice by providing them with safe space to exchange ideas either through one-on-one consultations or through workshops and group work. She stated that she was incredibly impressed with the reach of TL_net over the past three years and the level of commitment of the staff at TL_net to faculty development at AKU.
Regarding the RTT workshop, Vivian was amazed with how well the RTT was received by faculty at AKU. She stated, “ We transplanted directly a model that worked well in Canada … without any changes except for a bit of tweaking here and there and so I didn’t know how well it would work. So there was a sense of relief when I saw that partcipants seemed to be engaging with the process just like back home”.
Vivian was inspired by how well the faculty approached the workshop and the enthusiasm with which they participated. Her impression is that faculty were very appreciative of the workshop as a whole. She said that the approach of the AKU faculty to the workshop was similar to what she had encountered in Canada. She believes that the workshop provided the faculty at AKU an opportunity to reflect and focus on one course over a period of four days and to come up with an end result of a course design that could help them in the planning of their current and future courses. She stated that the RTT workshop allows faculty to not only understand the process of course design but also to learn about learning outcomes and assessment and teaching strategies.
Vivian looks forward to continued collaboration with TL_net at AKU and visiting Kenya in the future.