UCQ lauded for sharing expertise at ‘Teaching and Learning’ event

Along with the UCQ faculty and instructors, 28 representatives of Hamad Medical Corporation, Sidra, Qatar University and College of the North Atlantic-Qatar (CNA-Q) participated in the conference.

The event aimed to bring together UCQ faculty and instructors to showcase the teaching methods and learning strategies used in all UCQ programmes and allow the participants to share their strategies.

“Excellent in terms of sharing, excellent in terms of collaboration and excellent in terms of learning,” was how John Kelley, manager of clinical education for children’s services at Sidra, described his experience.

Cheri Macleod, teaching specialist in learning technologies at CNA-Q, called the conference a great initiative.  “It is the result of research that the faculty has been conducting over the course of the year. It’s a good thing for people to do reflective practice of their research and then to have an event where they get a chance to showcase what they have learned.”

Twenty-seven presenters deliberated on 16 topics, ranging from “Classroom Lecture Capture Technology” to “Analysis of Students’ Approaches to Information Seeking”. 

Creating better learning conditions holds the key to student success, said Brad Johnson and Ken Ryba, conference organisers at UCQ.  “The UCQ faculty is making concerted efforts to improve teaching through the use of active learning methods and by incorporating inquiry and research into the classroom,” added Ryba.

“UCQ prides itself on making a shift to what is called ‘situated learning’, in which students are provided with realistic engaging learning experiences.

Using ‘situated learning’, instructors and students work more closely together, using real-life contexts of nursing to construct their knowledge and understanding. A key feature of this approach is that students gain confidence and a sense of being effective by working more closely with other students and instructors,” explained Johnson.

Hissa al-Aali, associate director of the UCQ Nursing Project, said during an address to open the conference: “Sharing this real-life research with other educational institutions is very important for serving the Qatar community. It is all about enhancing the learning experience of all students.”