A Message from Academic Affairs
Teaching and Learning
We all approach the teaching and learning process in different ways; most often we develop as teachers using our past learning experiences, teachers, and mentors to guide us. But does this necessarily produce the kind of learning that we hope to see in our students? Moving from the way we usually do things can be unsettling and even a bit scary. But we know that good teaching often means stepping out of our comfort zone and trying new approaches or ideas that engage students more actively with the learning process. This task is further complicated by the fact that our students are constantly changing: what worked for us with students five years ago may not have the same effectiveness with our current students.
Of course, no single teaching method works for all of us. So we must discover what works best for us as individuals and what leads to effective student learning in our classrooms. Some of us find we are most effective as lecturers; others find a more interactive approach to teaching as the key to our students' learning. The primary goal of the Augustana Center for Teaching and Learning is to assist all of us in improving our teaching craft by providing resources on teaching pedagogies and student learning through workshops; faculty interest groups; on-line and library resources; as well as mentoring and individual consultations. Given that many of us have had little or no training in pedagogy during our graduate studies, it is important that support and resources are available to support teaching and learning on our campus. Through the programming and resources of the Center, we hope to cultivate an environment on campus in which we are eager to talk about teaching and learning, prepared to carefully examine our teaching effectiveness, and ready to support the work of our colleagues.
I look forward to working with all of you, and invite you to utilize the resources of the Augustana Center for Teaching and Learning.
Have a great Week Three,
Mike Green
P.S. Make sure to check out the teaching narrative by Chuck Hyser in the ACTL section of this week's newsletter. These narratives are a great start to opening up dialogue about teaching pedagogy.