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- FLO MicroCourse: AI-Resilient Assessment Design Sprint [April 27 - May 1, 2026]
- Faculty Experiences with Open Pedagogy and Social Justice [April 30, 2026]
- 2026 Dalhousie Conference on University Teaching and Learning [Deadline: May 01, 2026]
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- Teaching with AI: May 5, 2026 [May 05-14, 2026]
- Brave Conversations: Revisiting and Rethinking "Risk" in SoTL [May 07, 2026]
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- Supporting vs. Doing Student Work: Experiments with Offline AI In the Classroom [May 14, 2026]
- Panel Discussion: Research Ethics and SoTL [May 15, 2026]
- SoTL Canada Journal Club: Developing a SoTL Identity [May 19, 2026]
- FLO MicroCourse: Write your Teaching Philosophy Statement [May 19-26, 2026]
- Teaching with AI: May 19, 2026 [May 19-28, 2026]
- 2026 Annual STLHE/SAPES Conference [Deadline: May 25, 2026]
- Cfp: Graduate Students/Post-docs Teaching in Higher Education Conference [Deadline: May 25, 2026]
- ETUG Spring 2026 Workshop: Collaboration, Co-creation, and Creativity in EdTech [May 28-29, 2026]
- Teaching with AI: June 1, 2026 [June 01-10, 2026]
- Cfp: 2026 Global Students as Partners Roundtable [Deadline: June 29, 2026]
- Graduate Students/Post-docs Teaching in Higher Education Conference [August 07, 2026]
- 2026 DPI Conference [August 18-20, 2026]
- 2026 Global Students as Partners Roundtable [October 01-02, 2026]
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- For Research Personnel
- News + Stories
- AI as learning coach: project explores ChatGPT integration beyond plagiarism concerns
- Investigating the motivations and perceptions of undergraduate students using AI for assignments
- Faculty teaching confidence soars through peer observation program
- Research proves role plays work: evidence-based approach transforms history and labour studies teaching
Investigating the Impact of Professional Development Programming for Graduate Students
Grant program: Teaching and Learning Development Grant (TLDG)
Grant recipient: Mary Ellen Kelm, Dean of Graduate Studies, Professor of Department of History
Project Team: Nicole White, Head, Research Commons, Library, Sue Hampton, Coordinator of Professional Development Programs, Graduate Studies, Stephan Struve and Juliana Yeung, research assistants
Timeframe: August 2015 to September 2016
Funding: $5,000
Area addressed: APEX Program and Research Commons
Final report: View Mary-Ellen Kelm's final report (PDF)
Description: At 51社区黑料there are multiple units offering non-credit professional development programming to graduate students. According to the literature, professional development increases a student鈥檚 success in graduate school as well as contributes to their successful transition from graduate work into both academic and non-academic careers. However, the impact of these programs is not systematically evaluated at SFU. Two of the units involved in the development of programming for graduate students, the Research Commons and the Dean of Graduate Studies office, would like to investigate the impact of their programming. Our inquiry focuses on evaluating student learning and student experience鈥攊n particular how student success, experience, and sense of agency are enhanced by the types of professional development programming delivered through the APEX program and through the programming of the Research Commons.
Questions addressed:
- What definitions of 鈥渋mpact鈥� circulate in the literature, amongst program developers, and amongst our students?
- How are other established professional development programs in higher education assessing their programs鈥� impact on students?
- What types of evaluative mechanisms are appropriate to develop for our purposes?
- Looking at our own programs, what impact does our programming have on graduate students?
Knowledge sharing: We plan to share the results of our impact evaluation with our partners at 51社区黑料(other professional development providers), as well as with academic units and graduate programs. Many units will benefit from our experience in designing this impact evaluation. Graduate students will also benefit as the results of the inquiry will result in revisions to programming.
McLaughlin, S., White, N., Cameron, A., & Kelm, M.E. (2017, March). Building community and enabling student success: 5 reasons why graduate students love thesis boot camp. Panel session at the Association of College & Research Libraries (ARCL 2017), Baltimore, MD.
Keywords: professional development; graduate students