An agency of the Government of Ontario Denise Stockley (Queen’s University) Tom Carey (HEQCO) Knowledge Mobilization for Exemplary Teaching and Learning: a Research Program of the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario

Opportunities for professional/faculty development: Support for faculty collaborations across Ontario colleges to develop knowledge and capabilities in teaching and learning Option to partner on national collaborations Support for your collaborations to develop faculty capabilities in teaching Denise Stockley (Queen’s University) Tom Carey (HEQCO) Knowledge Mobilization for Exemplary Teaching and Learning: a Research Program of the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario

Outline Overview of the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario Highlights of the upcoming Research Program Discussion of opportunities and next steps

HEQCO Mandate HEQCO is an independent agency funded by the Government of Ontario. Its mandate is to conduct research and give policy advice to the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities on all aspects of postsecondary education in Ontario. Influence change by providing evidence-based advice to institutions on best practices Visit our website at

HEQCO Mandate cont’d The Council has been asked by the Ontario government to do the following: provide leadership in creating a quality framework for the postsecondary education sector monitor and report on accessibility to the government and Ontarians encourage inter-institutional transfer advise on system planning and interjurisdictional competitiveness

Priority Research Areas 4 priority research areas: Participation (including accessibility) Educational quality Accountability System design

Research Program in Knowledge Mobilization for Exemplary Teaching and Learning Goal: “to identify and promote exemplary teaching practices” Model for change: engage discipline communities of practice raise the norm for quality of teaching: from exemplary ‘on my hallway’ to ‘in Ontario’ +++

Why Knowledge Mobilization? Few faculty are ready to conduct research on teaching & learning Growing body of knowledge available: Wisdom of expert teachers Insights from emerging scholarship on teaching and learning Knowledge embedded in open educational resources Faculty as exemplars of “moving knowledge into active service”

Components of the KMETL Research Program Collaborative projects to address challenges in teaching & learning Teams across multiple institutions 6-12 projects planned + support from HEQCO research staff (learning experts seconded from Ontario institutions)

Primary goal for each project: improve learning experience & student success Secondary goal: “develop ways for groups to work together to produce and share knowledge collaboratively” Improve faculty capability for knowledge mobilization Create legacy of knowledge products to inform/inspire colleagues Foster ongoing knowledge exchange networks for teaching Components of the KMETL Research Program

Collaborative projects to address challenges in teaching & learning Pilot projects to illustrate collaborations (& develop HEQCO team and processes) Colleges: Developmental Math course redesign Universities: undergraduate degree level expectations Components of the KMETL Research Program

Collaborative projects to address challenges in teaching & learning Pilot projects to illustrate collaborations Working group on platforms for knowledge exchange networks Components of the KMETL Research Program

Discussion of Opportunities and Next Steps Potential high priority areas for knowledge mobilization for teaching and learning - Ontario and national teams? Priority areas for collaboration for knowledge mobilization on professional development projects (with faculty as learners)? Next steps toward collaborative projects? kmetl.heqco.ca, KMETL press release at

2009 Pilot Project for Collaborative Research on Developmental Math course design Developmental Math chosen as focus with Colleges Ontario Colleges invited through college Math Heads Six colleges currently participating: Conestoga, George Brown, Georgian, Humber, Mohawk, Niagara Links to parallel projects in the California State University and California Community Colleges

What the Project Team Will Do “…Faculty on the project team will be working on redesign of a course at their own college, with a shared team focus (e.g., a Math I course). Team members contribute expertise to the collaborative effort by choosing specific areas to explore in more depth in Spring 09, either through redesigning aspects of the whole course or in specific topics or methods, such as video games to develop understanding of fractions or using “clickers” in the Math classroom. As course redesigns – local to each college, not a common course! – are implemented and evaluated, the team will continue to share their results to support further course redesign.”

Working group on platforms for knowledge exchange networks Deliver working prototype to support collaboration and knowledge products Plan for cooperative infrastructure: Not: build it and they will come Build “it” so it comes to them (at the point of need) Components of the KMETL Research Program

Websites and Contact Info CSU pilot studies of multi-campus collaborations Context: FACCTS for Developmental Math in the California community colleges Context: Knowledge Mobilization for Exemplary Teaching and Learning