Call for Proposals
Gateways in Higher Education: Cultures, Transitions, and Transformations
Halifax, Nova Scotia
June 20-23, 2017
Call for Proposals is now closed.
The Mi’kmaq people call Halifax K'jipuktuk, meaning “Great Harbour.” Halifax harbour is quintessentially a gateway—ships and people arriving and moving through—immigrants landing, soldiers embarking, refugees seeking shelter. Between 1928 and 1971, more than one million immigrants, refugees, war brides, and evacuated and displaced persons saw Halifax's George's Island lighthouse and the gates of Pier 21. Many stayed in Halifax, many more moved on into the rest of Canada.
Each year, thousands of students come to Halifax as intellectual immigrants; students from across Canada and the globe arrive, move through their studies, and continue on as competent, committed citizens. Students can choose from a multiplicity of programs and majors from any of Halifax’s higher education institutions:
- University of King’s College (est. 1789)
- Saint Mary’s University (est. 1802)
- Dalhousie University (est. 1818)
- Mount Saint Vincent University (est. 1873)
- NSCAD University (est. 1887)
- Université Sainte-Anne (est. 1890)
- Nova Scotia Community College (est. 1988)
In the realm of theory and practice of technology, pedagogy, and assessment, it seems as though higher education is continually at a gateway, a liminal space, where possibility and advancement is available. In this context, what is the role of the post-secondary institutions, classrooms, and teachers in supporting students in their quest for higher learning? Understanding where we have come from, and where we are now, is key to understanding where we are going, and how we can develop and change over the next century to meet the needs of our changing student demographics.
We invite conference participants to engage in questions such as these, and considerations of our collective contributions to social, political, economic and human well-being in the unique context of Halifax—a place that combines real and metaphorical gateways with a 200-year history of providing opportunities for higher education.
+ Conference Threads
We are pleased to offer several conference threads associated with the conference theme. These conference threads will assist in the creation of the conference program, and to group presentations together in a more coordinated manner.
- Assessment for Learning
- Learner and Learning-Centred Course Design
- Teaching Practices to Support Experiential Learning
- Indigenization of Higher Education
- Internationalization of Higher Education
- Motivating and Understanding Learners
- Understanding and Supporting Faculty and Instructors
- Innovations in E-Learning
- Faculty and Student Partnerships in Higher Education
- Learning Thresholds (Threshold Concepts and Decoding the Disciplines)
- Leadership of Change and Innovation in Teaching and Learning
+ Conference Streams
In addition to conference threads, which are connected to the theme of the conference, we also invite presenters to identify whether their session is associated with one of the Special Interest Groups or Caucuses in STLHE. Where possible in the program, we will ensure that we plan the program to enable streams associated with these SIGs to be established throughout the conference. The affiliated groups within STLHE are:
- Teaching Assistant and Graduate Student Advancement
- Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Canada
- College Sectors Educators Community
- Educational Developers Caucus
- 3M Fellows
+ Multiple Proposals by Same Author(s)
Each attendee may propose one pre-conference workshop as either the primary presenter or co-presenter. Additionally, each attendee may submit up to two other proposals as either the primary presenter or co-presenter for main conference sessions.
+ Language of Submission
We encourage submissions in both official languages (i.e., English and French).
+ Session Formats
Pre-conference Workshops (Hosted at Saint Mary’s University)
- Half-Day interactive workshop (3 hour)
- Full-Day interactive workshop (6 hour)
- Pre-conference Symposium (Hosted at U Sainte-Anne): An additional pre-conference symposium will be hosted at Université Sainte-Anne, exploring the theme of ‘Gateways in Higher Education: Cultures, Transitions and Transformations’ for francophone universities across Canada (all sessions for this symposium will be expected to be delivered in French). There will be a separate call for proposals associated with this symposium.
Main Conference Sessions
- Interactive workshop (50 minutes): highly participatory hands-on sessions fostering collaborative development and discussion of ideas.
- Research presentation (15 minutes): the opportunity for presenters to involve their peers in an engaging paper related to new or ongoing research
- Lightning/Pecha Kucha presentation: a presentation featuring 20 images, each displayed for 20 seconds, totaling 6 minutes and 40 seconds (see http://www.pechakucha.org/faq)
- Posters: visual displays offered in a format that promotes informal dialogue between the author(s) and their peers
+ Proposal Format
Proposal Title
Session Format
Author(s)
Conference Threads
Conference Streams
Session Description (400 words) - Include relevance of topic to conference or pre-conference theme, importance of topic to teaching and learning, appropriate theory, research or practice, learning outcomes and methods to be used in the session. Please remove author names and institutional affiliations from the description.
Elements of Engagement (150 words) - Indicate how your session will encourage participant engagement and interaction (e.g., discussion, video, group activities etc.).
Session Abstract (150 words) - To appear in the conference schedule.
References - Provide up to four references, not included in the abstract word count, following APA referencing and formatting standards.
Keywords - Provide up to five keywords that describe the session. Double Blind review process
Include author names only in the submission form fields. All reviews are double blind. Reviewers adhere to the proposal evaluation rubric.
Download template
+ Submission Timeline
We will accept submissions until December 12, 2016. Due to conference planning and organizational considerations, this deadline will not be extended.
+ AV Requests
All rooms for the conference or pre-conference are equipped with a computer with USB ports and network connections, video-data projectors, and standard whiteboards. Any other equipment (such as manual flipcharts etc.) should be requested at the time of proposal submission. Wireless internet access will be available throughout the conference space. The organizing committee encourages presenters to bring their own laptops, mobile devices and adapters.
+ Questions?
For any questions, do not hesitate to contact us at: