Teaching and learning center

Teaching and Learning Centers are independent academic units within colleges and universities that exist to provide support services for faculty, to help teaching faculty to improve their teaching and professional development. They may also provide learning support services for students, and other services, depending on the individual institution. These centers may have different kinds of names, such as faculty development centers, teaching and learning centers, centers for teaching and learning, centers for teaching excellence, academic support centers, and others.

Purpose

University professors, part-time instructors, or teaching assistants approach teaching as experts in their field and know their contents. However, that does not guarantee success in teaching, as teaching expertise is an altogether different matter. Many instructors have not been trained in teaching methods, and may have difficulties conveying contents and concepts to students, who are relative novices. Novice students approach the information and contents in a course in a much different way than expert teachers, and teachers may not understand the conceptual divide between them and their students. Novice students may perceive the contents of lectures and textbooks as large amounts of information, rather than as meaningful concepts, in contrast to experts, who can naturally see the materials as coherent and meaningful, due to years of mastery.[1] Those who rely on traditional teacher-centered methods such as pure lecture may inadvertently subject students to an information dump, or fail to connect with students at a conceptual level, leaving students unable to learn or retain information in a meaningful manner.

Teaching and learning centers exist to help instructors to modernize their teaching style, to scaffold concepts and information in a way that students can meaningfully take in, and to help students learn more deeply and retain what they have learned. As such, these centers assume roles as educational change agents.[2][3] Such centers also attempt to help instructors with other problems that they might have, such as managing graduate students, designing courses, technical writing, trying novel teaching methods, and designing better assignments and exams. Some centers may address learning difficulties at the students' end, by providing support services for better learning and study skills. Some centers may also be involved in e-learning and similar movements.

Faculty support services

Teaching and learning centers typically offer professional development services for faculty, particularly to help them improve their teaching and professional careers. Depending on the institution, these may be optional for professors, or required for new professors or those facing difficulties in teaching performance. Some universities in the American system may require graduate teaching assistants who teach university courses to participate in training or coaching programs. Such centers also work to promote more modern teaching methods, discussion, and institutional changes in teaching practices and in the academic environment.

Instructional coaching is one service typically offered to faculty members. In a coaching session, an instructor meets with an instructional coach or consultant (an education specialist or researcher), who can provide guidance to the instructor in improving his/her teaching skills and pedagogical expertise.[4][5] Depending on the institution, this may be optional or required for new professors or other teaching staff. Others may be required to seek coaching if cited for poor teaching performance. Others may chose to visit an instructional coach for help with difficulties in teaching, or simply out of a self-motivated desire to improve one's teaching ability, or for advice or instruction on using new teaching techniques.

Micro-teaching workshops are sessions where instructors present a short demo lecture or mini-lecture, either part of a real lecture, or a condensed version of a lecture, in front of other colleagues and/or an educational consultant. The presenter can receive feedback on his/her teaching and presentation skills from peers and from the instructional coach or consultant.

Workshops or "brown bag" meetings may be offered by the center's staff or outside speakers on various aspects of professional development and teaching techniques. Workshops may provide instruction in newer teaching techniques, by introducing techniques to instructors and/or helping them to better implement these methods, as well as helping them to make more effective use of traditional methods such as lectures and lecture-discussion formats. Newer or more student-centered techniques might include group activities, active learning or cooperative learning, problem based learning (PBL), discovery based learning, experiential learning, or non-traditional forms of assessment such as portfolios and formative assessment techniques. Orientation workshops can also introduce teaching skills as well as other necessary information for newer faculty members.

Teaching and learning centers may also sponsor and facilitate faculty learning communities (FLCs) for professional development in teaching. FLCs consist of instructors, often similar or related fields, to meet in small groups to troubleshoot difficulties and issues that they face in teaching, and to brainstorm or research solutions. Members meet regularly to discuss issues and findings, and may engage in journaling or other means of promoting reflective practice about their teaching. FLCs also promote a sense of community and sharing of teaching experience.[6][7]

Other services may include workshops, brown bags meetings, or consultation services in other areas of professional development for teachers.[8] Topics in teaching skills can be addressed, such as improving one's lectures or course design for more student-centered and interesting lessons, teaching specific academic skills, using new instructional technologies, and help with presentation skills. Teacher-student issues might include understanding and addressing difficulties that students might have; guidance on how to mentor graduate students; and understanding issues of gender, race or other factors that can affect classroom dynamics and academic performance; e.g., linguistic and educational research has shown that female and male students interact differently in small group versus full-class discussions.[9] Evaluation and assessment issues can include such as designing assignments, designing quizzes and exams, grading, and giving feedback. Career-related help is provided by some centers for matters like help with writing grants, academic job search skills, and creating teaching portfolios for those seeking academic jobs. For instructors who are not native speakers of English, such centers may provide some help or referrals for instructors in English for academic purposes (EAP).

Other activities

Other services might be offered by a teaching and learning center, though this varies among institutions.

Some centers provide support services for students in study and learning skills, or even peer tutoring programs.[10] At many institutions, however, student support services may fall under the domain of learning resource centers or student counseling centers.

Some centers provide support for e-learning and research on e-learning programs and technqiues. Some may participate in e-learning movements and consortiums such as the OpenCourseWare (OCW) movement.[10]

Such centers may also conduct internal evaluations on the effectiveness of academic programs, or may manage student feedback on instructors' performance, and provide faculty help in understanding and making use of students' course feedback.[11] Educational researchers at some centers conduct educational research on teaching methods or e-learning programs, and research in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL). The premier useful resource for center directors is the POD Network, which sponsors annual conferences, publications, etc.[12]

External links: Organizations and journals

External links: Teaching and learning centers

North America

Auburn University: Biggio Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning

Austin Community College: Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning

Boston College: Center for Teaching Excellence

Brigham Young University: Center for Teaching & Learning

California State University, Sonoma: The Faculty Center at Sonoma State

Carnegie Mellon University: Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation

Cornell University: Center for Teaching Excellence

Harvard University: Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning

Georgetown University: Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship

Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning: Centre for Teaching & Learning

Indiana University, Bloomington: Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning

Iowa State University: Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning

James Madison University: Center for Faculty Innovation

Johns Hopkins University: Center for Educational Resources

Lenoir-Rhyne University: Center for Teaching and Learning

Marquette University: Center for Teaching and Learning

McGill University: Teaching and Learning Services

Murray State University: Faculty Development Center

New Mexico State University: New Mexico State University Teaching Academy

North Carolina State University: Office of Faculty Development

Northwestern University: Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching

Ohio State University: University Center for the Advancement of Teaching

Pennsylvania State University (Penn State): Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence

Queen's University, Ontario: Centre for Teaching and Learning

Stanford University: Center for Teaching and Learning

State University of New York, The College at Brockport: Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Temple University: Teaching and Learning Center

Texas Tech University: Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development Center

Trinity University: Collaborative for Learning and Teaching

University of California, Berkeley: Center for Teaching and Learning

University of California, Irvine: Teaching, Learning & Technology Center

University of California, San Francisco: Teaching and Learning Center

University of Chicago: Center for Teaching and Learning

University of Delaware: Center for Teaching and Assessment of Learning

University of Denver: Office of Teaching and Learning

University of Georgia: Center for Teaching and Learning

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: Center for Teaching Excellence

University of Iowa: Office of Teaching, Learning & Technology

University of Kansas: Center for Teaching Excellence

University of Michigan: Center for Research on Learning and Teaching

University of Minnesota: Center for Educational Innovation

University of Oklahoma: Center for Teaching Excellence

University of Oregon: Center on Teaching and Learning

University of Pennsylvania: Center for Teaching and Learning

University of Texas at Austin: Center for Teaching and Learning

University of Vermont: Center for Teaching and Learning

University of Virginia: Teaching Resource Center

West Virginia University: Teaching and Learning Commons

Western University: Teaching Support Centre

Western Washington University: Center for Instructional Innovation and Assessment

Vancouver Island University: Centre for Innovation and Excellence in Learning

Yale University: Yale Teaching Center

International

Australian National University: Centre for Educational Development & Academic Methods

Hong Kong University: Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning

Korea University: Center for Teaching and Learning

University of Queensland: Institute for Teaching & Learning Innovation

References

  1. ↑ Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning. 2000. How People Learn, 2nd ed. National Academy Press
  2. ↑ Diamond, Robert M. 2005. The institutional change agency: The expanding role of academic support centers. In Chadwick-Blossey, Sandra (Ed.), To Improve the Academy, 23, pp. 24-37. Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing Company.
  3. ↑ Singer, Susan R. 2002. Learning and Teaching Centers: Hubs of Educational Reform. New Directions for Higher Education, 119, 59-64. Wiley Publications.
  4. ↑ Knight, Jim. 2008. Coaching: Approaches and Perspectives. Corwin Press.
  5. ↑ Knight, Jim. 2007. Instructional Coaching. Corwin Press.
  6. ↑ Cox, M. D. (2004), Introduction to faculty learning communities. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 2004: 5–23. doi:10.1002/tl.129
  7. ↑ Layne, J.; Froyd, J.; Morgan, J.; Kenimer, A. (2002). Faculty Learning Communities. In proceedings of the 32nd ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, pp. F1A-13-18. doi:10.1109/FIE.2002.1158114 URL: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=1158114&isnumber=24586
  8. ↑ Gullatt, Daved E.; Weaver, Sue Wells. 1997. Use of Faculty Development Activities To Improve the Effectiveness of U.S. Institutions of Higher Education. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education (22nd, Hines City, FL, October 16–19, 1997). http://eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED414796.pdf
  9. ↑ Tannen, Deborah. 1996. Researching gender-related patterns in classroom discourse. TESOL Quarterly, 30, 341-344.
  10. 1 2 http://ctl.korea.ac.kr
  11. ↑ http://cte.illinois.edu
  12. ↑ http://podnetwork.org
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