1 What is a Teaching and Learning Centre?
by Dr. Kathleen Bortolin and Ye Chen, Vancouver Island University
What is a Teaching and Learning Centre
A teaching and learning centre (TLC) is a centralized support unit within a post-secondary institution that provides leadership, guidance, and resources related to teaching and learning. Generally, TLCs provide support to educators interested in developing and enhancing their teaching practice and in turn, the experiences of their learners. Many instructors hired to teach in college or university settings come to their positions with knowledge, expertise, and skills within their subject matter. Until relatively recently, however, not all of these educators would have arrived with deep experience or training in teaching, course design, lesson planning, or assessment strategies. And if when they do, there continue to be ways to develop and enhance as they go along their professional pathways. TLCs can support these educators develop skills and expertise in teaching, enabling them to share their subject-matter expertise more effectively.
TLC support can vary widely and is influenced deeply by the culture, values, and needs of an institution. In fact, TLCs that are in the process of creating and defining themselves need to consider closely the culture and mandate of their institution in order to define their service and leadership structures. In this chapter, we will discuss some of the ways in which TLCs can support, inspire, and enhance teaching practice, professional development, and learning experiences across the post-secondary sector.
Brief History of Teaching and Learning Centres (TLCs)
Teaching and learning centres (TLC), also known as Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTLs), were invented in North America in the middle of the 20th century. In 1962, the University of Michigan launched what is considered the first TLC, the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT), as part of pioneering efforts to research and support the on-campus learning experience (Forgie et al., 2018; O’Grady, 2017; University of Michigan, 2023).
For the past 60 years, the characteristics of CTLs and their operations have evolved over time. As universities’ concern for student learning has increased, CTLs have modified their services to include seminars, consultations, and financing for teaching and learning-related research (Sorcinelli, 2002). By 2017, at post-secondary colleges across Canada, there were 91 TLCs (Educational Developers Caucus, 2017). As a result of the globalization of higher education and the expansion of digital technologies, universities have recently been under significant political and public pressure to constantly innovate their teaching and learning techniques. With the Covid crisis in 2020, many teaching and learning centres all over the world were called upon to support the transition from classroom to online teaching. At this time, for many instructors, administrators, and students, the value and function of TLCs as a critical support unit for college teaching and learning came to light. Continually, creating strategic activities and contributions from support units, such as TLCs, for academics and students has become a strategy for higher education institutions to guarantee quality and competitiveness (Pérez-Sanagustín et al., 2022).
In countries like Kenya, where Competency-Based Education Training (CBET) is becoming a popular teaching methodology, TLCs are seen by many as an emerging yet critical support unit for the continuous improvement of teaching and learning. As more and more institutions and instructors are called upon to design and facilitate CBET courses, tertiary institutions like polytechnics and technical training institutes are seeing the need to have centralized support units like TLCs to respond to wide-spread need and interest in CBET teaching and learning. For this reason, as part of global partnerships such as the Kenya Education for Employment Program (KEFEP) and the Young Africa Works Kenya (YAW-K) programs, TLCs are gaining momentum as a rich source of consolidated and situated support for the deliverables and goals of those programs.
Case Study: Building a Teaching and Learning Centre at KNP
Transcript of the Video
There’s no expert in a teaching and Learning Center. We are learning, all of us. We are learning and everybody is there to learn and improve.
I am Caroline Massara. I am the Kissing National Polytechnic Teaching and Learning Center Administrator. Thank you so much for this opportunity.
My name is John Gekondo, the founder of the TLC. I contributed towards establishing the teaching and learning centre and now my role is to assist in coordinating activities of the center.
What is a Teaching and Learning Centre?
A teaching and learning centre is a department which is going to help trainers, those who have basic education and those who do not. So we are not putting pressure on those who have and those who do not have. This is a new department that everybody should be involved.
The Teaching and Learning Center basically is meant to empower teachers so that they can have the right methodologies to deliver content. So that now we can translate from teacher centered methodologies to learner centered methodologies.
We are going to work one-on-one with you. With the help of you and me, we are going to develop materials. My role is just to facilitate what you do.
How did Kisii National Polytechnic start?
The Kisii National Polytechnic Teaching Learning Center. I can see it goes back to 2017 when the KEFEP project took off and those of us who came to Canada, five of us, the project, the core team visited the center for innovation and excellence in learning. When we went back home, we decided that we can also take the idea also start a similar one in Kenya.
What Skills do you need to operate a Teaching and Learning Centre?
A Teaching and Learning Center by this nature requires staff who have the following qualities.
#1 Basic Education. People are highly illiterate in terms of methodology because you cannot give what you don’t have. So we expect that the staff who are going to work or who are already working be having that knowledge which they can transfer to other trainers.
In the basic education somebody should have at lease a degree. You know when someone has a basic education and a degree, you have at least a basic knowledge on research.
#2 Personal Skills. Great interpersonal skills. Because you are going to interact with the trainers. You must have great interpersonal skills so that you are able to convince them. You are able to show them that they need a Teaching and Learning Center. And also remember when you deal with human beings we have various behaviours and therefore you should be able to know how to interact with the people of all behaviors because a Teaching and Learning Center by this nature is voluntary. You can’t force people to come. So we have to have the greater interpersonal skills so that you are able to interact with the trainers to attract them come into the center.
#3 Time Management. Another quality is time management and staff must be able to manage time. Come on time and also know how to create the programs because trainers come and they have lessons. If you are not able to deliver service that means you are going to inadvertently effect the delivery of this trainer.
Should be able to work under pressure. Someone who is able to absorb things, swallow and move on.
#4 Ability to work with technology
Another area. I can say that the staff must have is being able to work with IT. A Teaching and Learning Center also requires use of computers, use of tablets, use of technology. We have even projectors. So someone who is work there should be able to operate those machines and also maintain them well.
#5 Passion
I need somebody who has passion to work. You do not have to be the center of knowledge, but have passion to learn and passion to work will make you move. Someone who is ready to learn. If you are told this is not working well, then you are able to adjust. You have to be flexible.
A Teaching and Learning Center staff must also have passion for their work. You must have passion and the patience to deliver.
Advice about starting a Teaching and Learing Centre
Starting a teaching Learning Center is not very difficult. What is most important is to get people who have the passion and who are willing to change the way we teach and then from there let them prepare proposal. Let them prepare a teaching plan.
From there they can get the resources to start doing. If you want to start a Teaching and Learning Center. First of all, if you should understand what you want your Teaching and Learning Center to do. You have to have a vision and a mission for your Teaching and Learning Center.
What do you need to make it effective?
For the Teaching and Learning Center to be effective, there needs to be support. We need to work together. We are a team. So basically a Teaching and Learning Center is to develop the professional and the career aspects of trainers so that they can deliver in class in the right way to our trainees so that they can become employable.
How do TLCs provide support?
The following outlines some of the ways TLCs provide support to their institutions.
Case Study: A Day in the Life of a TLC–Kisii National Polytechnic (KNP)
- 8:00am-10am-1:1 consultations with trainers interested in designing lesson plans
- 10am-12pm-Development of Teaching and Learning resources and sharing with relevant trainers
- 1:00pm-updating the trainers and relevant stakeholders on TLC progress, prepare and submit reports, requisitioning of required materials for use
- 2:00pm-3.00pm-Work-time (designing and developing sessions; answering emails)
- 4:00pm-workshops, online sessions
- 5:00pm-Collaborative planning session with TLC staff
Case Study: A Day in the Life of a TLC–Vancouver Island University
- 7:20am: Arrive at Vancouver Island University. Walk in and smile at the bunnies who live on campus.
- 7:30am: Host an early morning Show N Share. The Show N Share series is an opportunity for faculty from a variety of disciplines to informally share and discuss some of their best and most effective teaching strategies. Today, faculty from the Aboriginal Bridging Program are showcasing an assessment practice that focuses on acknowledging students’ prior learning.
- 8:30am: Record a podcast on innovative teaching strategies. Today’s podcast interviews a faculty member who created an open educational resource (OER) with students as part of her course.
- 9:00am-10:30am: Meet with the TLC team. We share the work that we’re doing and any questions we may have. We brainstorm directions we want to go and seek feedback on how we’re doing.
- 11:00am-12:00pm: Consult one-on-one with a faculty member who is struggling with the design of a course that they have never taught before. They are pondering how to design authentic, first-year assignments that connect clearly with the learning outcomes. They also have questions about summative assessment and are wanting feedback on two rubrics that they have designed for the course.
- 12:00pm-1:00pm: Attend a Lunch and Learn session offered by Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity. Today’s session profiles an interdisciplinary community-based undergraduate research course. Faculty members from three disciplines talk about how they partnered to offer this community-based course and discuss the challenges they faced, as well as the positive outcomes. Attending other events on campus provide opportunities to network and look for opportunities for the TLC.
- 1:00pm-2:00pm: Co-facilitate a teaching and technology session for trades faculty interested in using online tools to design and use rubrics for daily assessment. Working with a Learning Technology Support Specialist (LTSS), we help to ensure that tools to support online teaching and learning are aligned with principles of good teaching and learning. We discuss how to design an online rubric in our Learning Management System (LMS), but also how to design an effective rubric in general.
- 2:00pm-3:30pm: Work in my office on a session that I’m designing on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Reading current articles and reviewing existing research.
- 3:30pm-5:30pm: Attend an Indigenous Learning Circle, co-facilitated through our Centre with the Office of Indigenous Education and Engagement. Faculty from a variety of disciplines across campus come together in these circles 3-4 times throughout the semester to engage in conversations with other faculty, VIU Elders, and Indigenous students. Together we talk about what “indigenization” of higher education means to us and our institution. I sit and listen.
References
- Forgie, S. E., Yonge, O., & Luth, R. (2018)
- Centres for teaching and learning across canada: What’s going on? The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 9(1), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2018.1.9
- O’Grady, Matt (August 14, 2017). “The Story of America’s First Center for Teaching and Learning”. Top Hat. https://tophat.com/blog/ctls-history-michigan/ Accessed Feberary 07, 2023.
- University of Michigan. (Accessed February 07, 2023), About CRLT. University of Michigan Website, https://crlt.umich.edu/aboutcrlt/aboutcrlt
- Pérez-Sanagustín et al. (2022). A competency framework for teaching and learning innovation centers for the 21st century: Anticipating the post-COVID-19 age. Electronics (Basel), 11(3), 413. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11030413
teaching and learning centre
Competency Based Education and Training