Faculty

Teaching and Learning Centers & Issues

Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT), University of Michigan
CRLT is dedicated to the support and advancement of learning and teaching at the University of Michigan, with special emphasis on undergraduate education. CRLT professional staff work collaboratively with faculty members, graduate student instructors (GSIs), the academic administration, and students to promote a university culture that values and rewards teaching, respects and supports individual differences among learners, and encourages learning environments in which diverse students can learn and excel. CRLT resources include such projects as programs for new faculty and faculty associates, training for graduate student instructors, curriculum development and evaluation, multicultural teaching and learning.  The center also publishes resource materials for the teaching faculty of the university, including A Guidebook for University of Michigan Graduate Student Instructors; Guidebook for Teaching Labs for University of Michigan Graduate Student Instructors; Handbook on Departmental Graduate Student Instructor Development; CRLT Occasional Papers, including issues with resources on multicultural teaching and learning.

The IUPUI Center for Teaching & Learning
The Center for Teaching & Learning at Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis opened in November 1994 and provides faculty with resources for creating new courses and redesigning existing ones; developing and sharing new methodologies; and utilizing technology to enrich teaching, research, and service.

Collaborative Learning (National Institute for Science Education)
This site provides instructors with steps and models for incorporating collaborative learning structures into their courses. The site defines Collaborative Learning (CL) as a set of approaches to education, sometimes also called cooperative learning or small group learning, that encourages active student participation in the learning process. As one teaching strategy among many that can make learning an active and effective process, CL reaches students who otherwise might not be engaged. The site consists of five sections:

• "Stories" from teachers describing the CL implemented in their classrooms
• CL "Techniques"
• CL "Resources" containing such information as an Annotated Bibliography on small group instruction, web sites devoted to CL, and a list of experts in CL willing to answer questions or act as a sounding board
• More Info,"which offers information describing CL and its effectiveness, how to set up groups, and comments by students on CL
• A list of Frequently Asked Questions

Selected Resources on Teaching and Learning
Located on The National Teaching and Learning Forum's online library, this site contains selected resources on teaching and learning that have been contributed by teaching and learning centers across the country, including Indiana University, the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and Stanford University. These are starting points, references which faculty have found useful or stimulating.  In addition to annotated descriptions, in cases where publishers have granted permission, the site offers full-text versions of these materials.

Teaching Centers, Instructional Technology, and Course Development
Iola Peed-Neal
Published in the online journal The Technology Source (September 1998), this article explains how instructional consultants work with faculty on course design and how the process of course development can be affected by technological concerns. Using the teaching and learning center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a basis, Iola Peed-Neal outlines a generic model for course development, discusses the issues raised by technology at each stage of the process, and  suggests steps to address such concerns as course framework, teaching environments, teaching strategies, teaching tools, producing course materials, and evaluation.

The National Teaching & Learning Forum
The National Teaching & Learning Forum, available in print by paid subscription and in an online edition, provides timely articles and supplementary materials on a variety of teaching and learning topics.  Begun in fall 1991 as a joint venture with the ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education, the publication has created a sustained and sustaining cross-disciplinary conversation about teaching and learning among faculty. Each online issue contains the Table of Contents; Editor's Note; Online Featured Article(s); a sample issue of the online edition of the Forum, available to download in Portable Document Format (PDF).

AAC&U offers these resources only as possible models of interest and has not submitted each of them to any substantial peer or quality review. If you have questions about any particular resource, please contact the institution sponsoring it directly.