ACTL
Greetings from the Center for Teaching & Learning.
If you were one of the 118 people who took the time to fill out the Faculty Needs Assessment survey, many thanks! I've had a chance to take a glance and wanted to share, from the seat of my pants. (Sorry, couldn't help myself! Perhaps I've read too much Theodore Geisel over the years.)
You'll recall that you were asked about your interests in two main categories: teaching-oriented and professional development. Among the teaching-oriented opportunities that you would like to see offered the top two were:
• Designing an ePortfolio to support student learning (over 70% interested or very interested), followed very closely by
• Incorporating active learning strategies (also with over 70% interested or very interested).
Among the professional development opportunities, the top two were
• Training in student advising/mentoring (over 55% interested or very interested), followed by
• Balancing teaching, scholarship and service (a perennial favorite with almost 53% interested or very interested).
I'll soon have all the results posted on the ACTL moodle site if you would like to see details.
I'd also like to share an excerpt from one respondent who wrote
"We're a meeting-heavy campus, and I fear we compete against ourselves too often. I wish we offered less but better, of everything, across campus. ... With so many options, it's easy to forget the whole deal and go back to the way we've always done it. But with fewer options, more focus, we're compelled to pay attention. Just a thought."
While I can't guarantee fewer meetings, I can guarantee that I will take these words to heart!
Have a productive week.
Jon Clauss
Augustana Center for Teaching & Learning