The fourth annual Festival of Teaching celebrated the excellence, enthusiasm, and engagement of the University of Alberta's faculty, contract academic staff, and graduate student instructors in teaching. A new group of young colleagues and students who were invited last Fall to re-imagine and re-energize the Festival took up the challenge with great energy.
This year's event ran four days, March 7-10, 2011. Events included opening classroom/lab/studio doors to other instructors to observe teaching in action, banner (large poster) displays on research in teaching or teaching innovation, wandering scholars, and a TED Talks closing event. In addition, Dr. Maria Klawe, president of Harvey Mudd College (Clarement, CA), and a U of A distinguished alumnae and Honorary Doctorate recipient delivered the keynote address, followed by a reception in the Telus Centre.
Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine instructors and students particpated by presenting large banner displays, including occupational therapy's "Beyond Facebook: Applying online technology in occupational therapy." This was led by Professor Anita Hamilton and OT students Erika Bannert, Nicole Ansty, Sarah Langenhoff and Judy Lin. Faculty and students from physical therapy demonstrated their distanced learning technology, an innovative way the department is bringing the MSc PT program to Augustana Campus in Camrose, Alberta.
In celebration of Festival of Teaching, students and alumni expressed their heartfelt thanks to the professors who have had a lasting impact on their lives on Twitter and Facebook. In total, around 185 professors were named, with many of them garnering multiple mentions. The names include professors who have been long retired to those still teaching, and include faculty, sessionals, teaching assistants and graduate students. Among the instructors mentioned were Rashid Kashani (OT) and Melanie Campbell (SPA) from the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine.
Visit the U of A Blog for full list of instructor names mentioned.
Photo provided by Erika Bannert.
About the University of Alberta Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine
As the only free standing faculty of rehabilitation in Canada, the University of Alberta Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine balances its activities among learning, discovery and citizenship (including clinical practice). A research leader in musculoskeletal health, spinal cord injuries and common spinal disorders (back pain), the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine aims to improve the quality of life of citizens in our community. The three departments, Occupational Therapy (OT), Physical Therapy (PT) and Speech Pathology and Audiology (SPA) offer professional entry programs. The Faculty offers thesis-based MSc and PhD programs in Rehabilitation Science, attracting students from a variety of disciplines including OT, PT, SLP, psychology, physical education, medicine and engineering.