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Making the right connections
Christina Dehler
Making the right connections: Learning with and from
other cultures through computer-mediated conferencing
Computer-mediated communications technology has the
capability of overcoming distance and political barriers to form cross-cultural
learning environments where teachers and students of diverse cultures can
learn with and from each other.Such a learning environment presents students
and teachers with authentic opportunities to improve communication skills,
build shared knowledge and develop cultural awareness.The following paper
discusses some of the theoretical and practical issues of extending computer-mediated
learning environments across international borders. Its overall purpose
is to convey to the reader the benefits of incorporating a computer-mediated
cross-cultural learning environment into a course whose content and objectives
are conducive to such an activity.The criteria for successful implementation
are presented and issues relating to training and design are discussed.
McGill
and Concordia join hands ...
Zahra Punja
McGill and Concordia join hands in creating an Instructional
Teaching Guide for Resident Doctors and Teaching Assistants!!
The Faculty of Medicine, Anatomy Department is world
known for it's medical school. In preparation to medical school, McGill
University has established a prize winning Anatomy Department, through
which they take great care in improving student performance from the undergraduate
level. Over the years, they have also developed a Faculty Development Department
within the Faculty of Medicine to improve the welfare of both students
and faculty members. Unfortunately, McGill University lacks a lot of the
funds necessary to maintain these initiatives.
As a result, Teaching Assistants (TA's) teaching
undergraduate pre-medical school students, are not getting the appropriate
teacher training they need to become effective laboratory TA's. Although
all the TA's have received an A in the course they are TA-ing, a lot of
TA's lack the general teaching or tutoring experience needed to competently
teach the undergraduate anatomy students. Furthermore, because most if
not all Anatomy courses have 100% finals, the primary aim for all TA's
is to integrate lecture and lab material effectively. Therefore, in order
for the students to successfully learn the different structures and functions
in Human Anatomy, a comprehensive teaching guide in important teaching
strategies is necessary.
As a result, I'm working with Dr. Eugene Daniels,
Associate Professor for Anatomy and Cell Biology at McGill University in
the design, development and implementation of the Instructional Guide for
Human Anatomy TA's, Potential Dentistry and Medical Residents at McGill
University. The Anatomy Department of McGill supports this initiative as
the present lack of TA development is lacking (the actual), yet the desire
for progress in staff and student development (the optimal) is ever needing.
This work in progress will describe the procedure
I'm undertaking to complete the Instructor's and Learner's manual. The
presentation will provide an overview of the different stages of development
of this project, including the findings from the Needs Assessment, and
what I'm planning to do in the upcoming months!
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