It is Canada's premier conference for higher education. It draws premier minds in post-secondary education and it is coming to McMaster.

The 22nd annual Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE) Conference begins tomorrow and runs till Saturday.

Co-chairs of the organizing committee, Dick Day and Sylvia Riselay, from the Centre for Leadership and Learning, hope that this year's theme will be particularly memorable and relevant. Explains Day, “All of the conferences have themes, but they haven't related strongly to conference events.”

McMaster's theme, Fostering the Spirit of Inquiry, shapes many of the presentations being given over the four-day event. Organizers have encouraged participants to submit proposals that address the theme of inquiry.

Along with the sessions, this STHLE conference is offering a new experience for certain participants – a chance to participate in the inquiry experience first hand. Applicants had the opportunity to sign up to participate as inquiry students.

“Inquiry students will be meeting together in groups based on their primary interest in education, and they will form an important question about an issue in education, and will use conference sessions and lecturers to answer that question,” Day explains. “We're showing, not telling. It's hands-on experiential learning at its best.”Nearly half of the conference's participants, 177 people, signed up for the inquiry experience.

When McMaster University last hosted a STLHE conference in 1988, 234 people participated. This year, more than 400 people are registered to attend, and there are nearly 200 sessions.

While participants include representatives from Australia, England, Ireland, and the United States, most of the attendees are from Canadian universities. “Virtually every major university across Canada has at least two or three people here,” says Day. From McMaster University, organizers are expecting 83 attendees and a minimum of 30 presenters.

Attendees include regular faculty members, instructional development staff, and a select group of lucky students. Twenty-six graduate students enrolled in Education 750 at McMaster are also attending.

Key events include plenary sessions by Don Woods, a professor of chemical engineering at McMaster University; Amy Driscoll, director of teaching, learning and assessment from California State University at Monterey Bay; and the Alan Blizzard Award winners. As well, in a special banquet on Thursday evening, the recipients of the 2002 3M Teaching Fellowships will be announced.

Organizers of the conference hope attendees will find this year's conference, with its focus on the fostering the spirit of inquiry, a valuable experience. “Inquiry is key in a number of ways. It's key to where McMaster is going. It's key to the conference. Through the conference, we can show what we've accomplished and increase interest in inquiry,” concludes Day.