Center for Teaching and Learning 2012-2013 Annual Report
T
he Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) had much to celebrate this year. In 2012-2013, we marked the 5th year of the Senior Symposium and our largest number of presenters to date, with 101 students sharing their academic passions with the HWS community. The CTL also continued to provide our signature programs like the Teaching Fellows, Writing Fellows, Study Mentors, and Study Tables for students and Midterm Assessment Process, Faculty Grants for Innovative Teaching, and Course Design Workshops for faculty. These and other programs were made even richer with the development of several exciting new initiatives, spotlighted throughout this report. The CTL’s mission is to engage, accomplish, empower, and enrich the teaching and learning environment for both faculty and students. Our innovative assignments, teaching approaches and materials are designed to help students engage more deeply with course topics; develop skills of critical analysis, problem-solving and decision-making; and promote more meaningful learning. Students consistently report that when a professor relates course content to relevant current events it enriches their understanding of the material and they have a way to connect to ideas and theories. This is key to the CTL’s approach. At our core, we believe that in order to create, innovate, inspire, and lead lives of consequence, our journeys begin with 4 cornerstones: we ENGAGE in our own learning processes in order to ACCOMPLISH the goals we set so that we can EMPOWER ourselves and others and ENRICH our lives as learners and teachers. To that end, our annual report highlights the myriad ways that the CTL has had an impact. With a redesigned website to reflect the vibrant and collaborative nature of the CTL, we look forward to continued growth and exciting opportunities in the upcoming academic year and invite you learn more about the ways in which the CTL works to support students and faculty. Sincerely, Susan M. Pliner, Ed.D. Associate Dean for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment and CTL Director