Center for Teaching, Learning and Assessment expanded to advance teaching excellence at Ohio University
This fall, a newly expanded Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment (CTLA) will develop and deliver programming to advance teaching excellence at Ohio University.
The CTLA will serve as a hub for program and digital resources dedicated to recognizing and growing faculty competencies in teaching, learning and assessment.
According to Vice Provost for Faculty Development Katie Hartman, the CTLA will contribute to a set of opportunities for faculty development. To begin reestablishment of the former OHIO teaching and learning center and expansion to support assessment of student learning, Melinda Rhodes-DiSalvo, Ph.D., has joined OHIO as the executive director of the CTLA.
Rhodes-DiSalvo brings extensive experience leading centers and offices of teaching and learning. Most recently, she established strategic partnerships and operations for The Ohio State University Institute for Teaching and Learning, where she focused on building and connecting internal and external collaborators; curriculum, course and instructional design and assessment; and university-wide scaling faculty development offerings.
“One of the most exciting aspects of this position is the opportunity to collaborate across units and colleges at OHIO,” Rhodes-DiSalvo said, noting that her first three weeks at the University have been spent in conversation with academic leaders, faculty and partners about current teaching, learning, and assessment activities and what they hope to see from the CTLA.
Through collaborations with units and offices across the University, the expanded CTLA will focus on providing opportunities for faculty development, faculty collaborations, assessment of student learning, and teaching and learning scholarship. Over time, the goal is to offer a robust catalog of digital resources to support teaching, learning, and assessment efforts.
The CTLA is also planning to provide opportunities for faculty to develop and lead workshops, learning communities, and/or academies through the faculty fellows program.
The CTLA has already begun to offer opportunities for faculty. Specifically, the CTLA and the Division of Diversity and Inclusion co-sponsored a half-day Inclusive Pedagogy workshop on Tuesday, Aug. 16. Three additional inclusive pedagogy workshops are planned this semester on encouraging a sense of belonging, assessing inclusive teaching practices and designing courses with equity in mind. Upcoming opportunities will be announced on the CTLA website and in University newsletters.
Instructors are invited to contact the center at ctla@ohio.edu to share areas of development interest or teaching strategies and practices.