About Us

Mission Statement

The mission of the Northeastern State University Center for Teaching and Learning is to foster a culture of excellence in teaching and learning by assisting faculty with their scholarship of teaching, by acting as a resource center for new teaching techniques and programs, and by supporting the University in becoming a community of lifelong learners.

To accomplish this mission, the Center provides both basic and advanced information about the teaching/learning process through an array of formats and methods. The Center is served by an advisory committee that includes eleven faculty from across campus, representing each academic college, the John Vaughan Library, and the College of Optometry.

Philosophy

The Center for Teaching and Learning Steering Committee recommends the following conceptual framework for faculty that:

• Helps faculty use what is now known about student learning.
• Helps faculty assess student learning outcomes.
• Is cost-effective, because varying pedagogies and technologies increasingly differ in cost, and because faculty have more power than ever to increase or decrease cost and productivity.
• Is consonant with faculty values and cultures.
• Builds upon what is known about faculty (adult) learning.
• Builds upon the benefits to faculty.
• Helps faculty integrate old and new technologies to make possible new pedagogies, new arrangements of time and space, and new ways of enhancing both student learning and faculty-student productivity.

Goals

• To work with faculty to create an environment that encourages learning for both faculty and students.
• To foster a professional dialogue among all faculty concerning effective learning.
• To bring pedagogical research and useful teaching tips to the attention of faculty.
• To engage in research on learning and teaching.

We believe that academic excellence requires an instructional approach that:

• Encourages student-faculty contact.
• Encourages cooperation among students.
• Encourages active learning.
• Gives prompt feedback.
• Emphasizes time on task.
• Communicates high expectations.
• Respects diverse talents and ways of learning.

(Chickering & Gamson, 1987. The seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education.)