What is a Classroom?

May 22 (online) & 23 (in-person), 2024

Call for Proposals is closed

TLS2024 is a tri-campus University of Toronto event, hosted by the Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation (CTSI) and the Desautels Centre for Integrative Thinking in the Rotman School of Management, is intended to stimulate discussion and the sharing of research, practices and experiences around teaching and learning. It is a cross-divisional forum that allows instructors, librarians, and staff to celebrate their commitment to teaching and learning.

For the 2024 University of Toronto Teaching & Learning Symposium, we are considering the classroom from all angles and perspectives. Is it something we can easily define? How does broadening our understanding of what a classroom can be and who can participate in the learning space create new and impactful learning experiences for everyone? How do we individually and collectively contribute to, and benefit from, this shared environment? How do we ensure equal opportunity to thrive in the classroom space?

The conversation surrounding the question, ‘What is a Classroom?’ goes far beyond space and whether a course is delivered in-person or online. It is crucial to expand our understanding of what a classroom truly means beyond physical or virtual spaces. The who, what, when, where, and how of defining the classroom encompasses the many elements and variables that make up higher education and represents the ever-changing environment in which we learn and work. The work and research around defining a classroom, and how and when learning happens, is not new but it is perhaps more relevant than ever in our current context of teaching and learning.

The last few years, in particular, have reinforced how easily our assumptions can be turned on their head. While addressing perennial concerns, such as access and equity, and contending with new tools and innovations such as the rise of generative artificial intelligence, have we expanded our understanding of our students, our environments, and ourselves as educators? What can we gain from lessons learned and how can they help us redefine and/or expand the notion of a classroom? How have these lessons shaped our perceived vision of a classroom; the spaces where we all learn and work? We have invested in technology-enhanced options, community-based learning, active learning classrooms, and implementing high-impact practices, but have we ensured all members of our community have equal access to these resources and engagement? And how else might we envision our next steps, as individuals and a community?

For TLS2024, we want to hear how our University of Toronto community defines a classroom, and if that evolving definition affects our interpretation of teaching and learning. How does broadening the who, what, when, where, and how of defining a classroom impact our role as both educators and learners?

We invite U of T instructors, librarians, and staff at all career stages to consider submitting a proposal for TLS2024 to contribute to this vital forum.
If you have any questions about TLS2024, please contact the TLS Team.

The in-person portion of TLS2024 will be held May 23rd at the Desautels Hall, Rotman School of Management.

Symposium Threads

To address the Symposium theme, “What is a Classroom?”, we welcome proposal submissions that address the questions and topics noted below. These are defined broadly and are not limited to the examples or descriptions provided. We are interested in submissions that pose unexpected, new, critical, and scholarly questions in these threads.

Who:

  • Who are our instructors? How does lived experience influence one’s approach and response to course content, course organization, and students?
  • Who are our students? How can a better understanding of their intersectional identities and lived experience allow us to create more inclusive and equitable learning environments?
  • Does the meaning or definition of a classroom change depending on who is applying that definition? How does this affect or promote equitable learning experiences?
  • Who is affected most when it comes to the digital divide, particularly in the context of classroom experiences in the digital age?

What:

  • What constitutes/defines a classroom? Are there required elements?
  • Does the content of a course shape the classroom?
  • To what extent do the instructional methods shape a classroom?
  • What role can, or should, generative AI play in the classroom?

When:

  • When should ‘learning’ take place? What are the opportunities for flexible, self-directed and self-paced learning?
  • How can we think beyond the traditional linear degree structure? What does the timeline and participation of a life-long learner look like?
  • Does the practice of acquiring levels/skills (upskilling) in smaller chunks or micro-credentials alter the notion of a classroom?
  • Does thinking about higher education through an equity or anti-oppressive framework change our notion of when learning takes place?

Where:

  • Where do students come together and engage? Online, in-person? Do students have the choice to engage remotely? Are discussions and assignments suited for that environment? How do you connect various locations of learning?
  • How do experiential, community-engaged and externally-partnered approaches resist or re-work conventional notions of teaching and learning?
  • How does valuing the lived experience and expertise of potential co-educators outside the academy (in industry, in communities), transform our pedagogy (including our classrooms) and understanding of the role of a university education?

How:

  • How do we engage with our students and colleagues? How can we learn from the practices of different engagement approaches to advance our collective commitment to inclusive teaching?
  • How do we effectively assess our students’ learning regardless of the space they occupy?
  • How can land-based learning and a decolonized curriculum broaden our definition of the classroom?
  • How can we incorporate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles within and beyond the traditional classroom?
  • How can we prepare our students, and ourselves, to adapt to our ever-changing digital and cultural landscape? What are the skills needed to recognize and respond to the next ‘wave’ and how does this impact our conception of a classroom?

Proposal Formats

Please note that each proposal format has an attached protocol to guide submissions. The submission protocol will support the peer review process.

Special Note: TLS2024 will offer opportunities for participants to take part both in-person and online. Please read each session description carefully to confirm the specific presentation modality options available.

Proposals for concurrent sessions will be accepted for the following formats:

Spark an Idea Talk — Teaching Strategies & Nifty Assignments — 20 minutes

Modality: Spark an Idea Talks will all be delivered online.

These online synchronous sessions focus on simple and effective practices that instructors have used in their own teaching which can be replicated in other settings.

Opportunity for participants to experience and reflect on impactful and inspiring classroom activities or assessments that focus on student needs while exploring diversity, equity and belonging in the classroom.

Each presenter has a total of 20 minutes to summarize their strategy/assessment, highlighting its impact (15 minutes) and facilitate a brief question-and-answer discussion (5 minutes).

Spark an Idea Talks address one of these categories:

  • Teaching Strategies: these talks focus on sharing effective teaching strategies, including the purpose, intended outcomes, possible demonstration of the strategy and examples. Discussion should address how others can apply the strategies in their own teaching contexts.
  • Nifty Assessments: these talks focus on the sharing of a ‘nifty assessment’, giving details of the development and administration of the assessment, intended student outcomes, strengths and challenges of the assessment, and discussion regarding how the assessment might be used in other disciplinary contexts or delivery modes.

Inquiry on Teaching and Learning — Investigating Pedagogy and Practice — 30 minutes

Modality: Inquiry on Teaching and Learning Talks will all be delivered online.

These online synchronous sessions focus on sharing a completed teaching and learning-focused inquiry project, providing an overview of the design, methods and findings. We recommend a 20-minute presentation and 10 minutes for discussion.

We encourage pedagogical projects that investigate opportunities to enhance inclusion, learner flexibility and accessibility, and/or explore applicable pedagogical theories and how they translate into equitable teaching learning methods for all learners.

We encourage submissions that use a Students as Partners approach that “makes way for respectful, mutually beneficial learning partnerships where students and staff [faculty] work together on all aspects of educational endeavours” (Matthews, 2017). Please note that instructors will lead the presentation and may include one student co-facilitator.

Interactive Workshop — 60 minutes

Modality: Interactive Workshops will be delivered online (a small number may be selected for in-person delivery).

Interactive Workshops are online synchronous sessions that include a live presentation with audience interaction/activities as well as a time for discussion/Q&A.

Participants in these online workshops should be asked to generate something through individual or collaborative work, such as reflective writing, collaborative brainstorming, generative problem-solving, design thinking exercises, etc.

Note that online synchronous activities such as responding to polls, posting in the chat, writing on whiteboards or files, or contributing to shared documents are all suitable interaction processes. Presenters are encouraged to model interactive processes they have used effectively in online environments.

Teaching Dialogue Roundtables — 60 minutes

Modality: Teaching Dialogues sessions will all be delivered online (a small number may be selected for in-person delivery).

These online synchronous sessions provide an opportunity for deeper reflection on teaching and learning issues or innovations, with a focus on facing challenges and problem solving. These sessions should be considered dialogical or an opportunity to engage participants in collective ideation about what we can do to improve equity and access in teaching and learning. Through discussion and creative responses drawn from participants’ personal experiences and wider sources, can we work together to expand our imagination and understanding of what is possible?

Individuals are encouraged to be creative in their proposal design format (e.g., panel discussion, talking circle, pre-prepared conversation topics on teaching innovations, reflections or challenges, bringing forward an idea for the group to consider, etc.)