Academics on Your Team
Valuable Assets in the Learning Landscape
If you want to do course design, development and delivery, go talk to college and university instructors. They are important resources in the Learning Landscape. Go with a clear question and/or request. If making a request, offer something of similar value. The discussion below gives you some points to consider as you think about making contact.
Smarter not Harder
If you are developing learning opportunities and you have little to no experience with curriculum design, it is important to connect with college and university instructors who have years of experience and training in teaching adults. The right connections will enhance your capacity and capability to deliver information effectively and efficiently. You don’t have to learn everything there is to know about course design, development and delivery processes. You can enlist our help and focus on being the subject-matter expert.
Nuanced Story
You may have heard that most faculty at colleges and universities, especially at research-intensive universities or at universities where faculty have high research workloads, receive little training to teach courses. There is some element of truth to this point. As a PhD student, my academic program offered one 1-hour course on teaching at the collegiate level. Also, because I was knee-deep in trying to finish course work and write a dissertation, I was totally oblivious to the andragogical (theory of adult learning vs pedagogical) resources available to me on campus, as a teaching assistant. However, as I was entering a tenure-track position, I attended a multi-day workshop at my university’s teaching and learning center. That experience changed the way I facilitate learning. It changed me. That experience showed me how to build courses by placing student needs and learning outcomes at the center of the learning process.
While there are some collegiate-level instructors who receive little to no training, there are others who regularly study the craft and who take advantage of the quality training opportunities available to them. They may engage regularly with a campus teaching and learning center and/or a teaching technology center. Others apply for and receive teaching development awards. The training and award opportunities to which they have access build capacity and capability that can be applied on or outside of campus.
Teaching and Learning Resources
The section below describes types of resources to which many Academics have access through teaching and learner centers and/or teaching technology centers. Their access to these resources can enrich and transform any course offerings you have in mind or in progress. While not discussed below, instructors may also receive professional feedback through peer teaching evaluations.
Teaching and learning centers (TLCs), often known by various names such as Centers for Faculty Development or Centers for Teaching Excellence, are integral components of modern college and university campuses. Their primary mission is to enhance the quality of teaching and learning across the institution, benefiting both faculty and students. They serve as dynamic hubs for andragogical innovation, professional development and support for the academic community.
Teaching and learning centers offer:
1. Faculty Professional Development:
Workshops and Seminars: TLCs regularly offer workshops on a wide array of andragogical topics, including active learning strategies, inclusive teaching, course design, effective assessment methods, syllabus construction, classroom management and fostering student engagement. These workshops introduce faculty to current research in education and equip them with practical techniques.
Individual Consultations: Faculty can schedule one-on-one consultations with instructional designers or educational specialists. These personalized sessions allow faculty to discuss specific teaching challenges, get feedback on their course materials or explore new approaches tailored to their unique needs.
Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs): Many centers facilitate FLCs, which are small, interdisciplinary groups of faculty who meet regularly to explore a common topic related to teaching and learning. FLCs foster a sense of community, encourage peer-to-peer learning and provide a supportive environment for experimenting with new andragogies. These may also be called communities of practice.
Technology Integration: With the increasing reliance on digital tools, TLCs often provide training and support for integrating educational technologies into the classroom, including learning management systems (LMS), online collaboration tools, multimedia creation and virtual reality for learning. There may be a central office of online learning that either collaborates with the teaching and learning center and/or the teaching technology center to train instructors. This office may offer its own instructor development programs.
Mentoring Programs: Some centers offer structured mentoring programs for new or early-career faculty, pairing them with more experienced colleagues to provide guidance on teaching, research and navigating academic life.
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL): TLCs often promote and support SoTL, which involves faculty conducting systematic inquiry into their own teaching practices and student learning. This can lead to published research that contributes to the broader understanding of effective andragogy.
Grant Writing and Academic Career Support: Beyond teaching, some centers offer assistance with grant proposal writing, developing teaching portfolios and other aspects of academic career advancement. Some centers may award grants.
2. Curriculum and Course Design:
Course Redesign Initiatives: TLCs often work with individual faculty or entire departments to redesign courses, focusing on aligning learning objectives with assessments and activities, incorporating evidence-based teaching practices and enhancing student success.
Program-Level Support: They may assist departments in curriculum mapping, ensuring that skills and concepts are progressively developed across an entire program and helping with accreditation processes.
3. Student Learning Support (Indirectly and Sometimes Directly):
While their primary focus is on faculty, TLCs indirectly benefit students by improving the quality of instruction they receive.
Some centers, or separate learning centers that often collaborate with TLCs, also offer direct student support services such as tutoring, study skills workshops, academic coaching and writing assistance.
4. Promoting Andragogical Innovation and Institutional Change:
Change Agents: TLCs act as educational change agents, introducing and advocating for more modern, student-centered teaching methods across campus.
Research and Assessment: They often engage in educational research and conduct internal evaluations to assess the effectiveness of academic programs and teaching initiatives. They also help faculty interpret and utilize student feedback on courses.
Policy Development: In some cases, TLCs contribute to the development of institutional policies related to teaching and learning, especially concerning new technologies or evolving andragogical approaches.
Impact of Teaching and Learning Centers:
The impact of TLCs is significant and multifaceted:
Improved Teaching Skills and Confidence: Faculty who engage with TLCs consistently report improvements in their teaching abilities, increased confidence in their instructional methods and a greater sense of preparedness.
Enhanced Student Learning Outcomes: By fostering more effective teaching, TLCs contribute to higher levels of student engagement and achievement. Faculty trained by TLCs are more likely to adopt student-centered approaches and active learning methods, which are known to improve learning.
Fostering Community and Collaboration: TLCs reduce the isolation that can sometimes be felt by individual faculty members by promoting collaborative planning and peer observation. They build a supportive community among educators who share a commitment to student success.
Continuous Professional Growth: TLCs encourage reflective practices, helping teachers identify areas for improvement and develop strategies for continuous growth throughout their careers.
Alignment with Evolving Standards: By keeping faculty updated on the latest research in andragogy and integrating new technologies, TLCs help institutions align their teaching practices with evolving industry standards and the needs of a diverse student body.
Teaching and learning centers maintain and elevate the quality of education in higher education, providing the resources, training and community necessary for faculty to excel in their roles as educators and for students to thrive in their learning journeys.
Final Thoughts
Before you commit lots of time and resources to building a curriculum, pause. Go talk to a trained instructor who is already teaching related subject-matter. However, don’t waste their time. Institutions demand alot from them. Go with a clear question and/or request and something to offer in return for their time.
I strongly encourage you to consult with adjunct professors. Many adjunct professors have to piece together livable salaries by teaching courses wherever they can. They can help you with your development process. You can help them monetize their skills, independent of an institution. Oh yeah: ask them about education-related research projects on which they are working. You might bring just the assets they need to an existing or planned project.
If you have questions about how to start a conversation with an instructor, comment on this post or email me at douglass@drkimberlydouglass.com.
References
https://www.atsu.edu/teaching-learning-center
https://www.davidsondavie.edu/teaching-learning-global-engagement/center-for-teaching-learning-ctl/
https://www.unco.edu/center-enhancement-teaching-learning/workshop-series/preparing-for-inclusive-teaching.aspx#:~:text=People%2C%20Search%20Site-,Preparing%20for%20Inclusive%20Teaching%20Workshop%20Series,the%20Enhancement%20of%20Teaching%20%26%20Learning
https://www.vanderbilt.edu/advanced-institute/teaching-learning-support/
https://www.ohio.edu/center-teaching-learning/programs-events/faculty-learning-communities
https://www.stonehill.edu/offices-and-services/excellence/faculty-mentoring-program/
https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2018/02/28/centers-teaching-and-learning-serve-hub-improving-teaching
https://www.delta.edu/services-support/tutoring.html
https://poorvucenter.yale.edu/assessment/educational-program-assessment#:~:text=The%20evaluation%20allows%20faculty%20and,(re)assess%20programmatic%20goals.
https://evals.stanford.edu/evaluating-teaching/course-feedback-measure-teaching-effectiveness#:~:text=The%20The%20Center%20for%20Teaching,read%20and%20interpret%20evaluations%20reports%2C
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/391732219_Assessing_the_Impact_of_Teaching_Learning_Centers_on_Faculty_Preparedness_and_Empowerment
https://journals.publishing.umich.edu/tia/article/id/161/