This article examines the role of strategic planning in effectively managing learning centers by highlighting the importance of balancing immediate operational needs with long-term strategic goals. It explores the application of practical fundamental planning principles like SWOT analysis and SMART goals. The discussion includes a framework for…

Phonics and fluency instruction are primarily viewed as elementary-centric skills that do not have a place in middle school, which may neglect the usefulness this type of instruction provides to older students. Literacy centers are one method for successfully teaching these skills in a middle school setting. The purpose of this paper is to provide…

This article provides a summary of the steps that were taken to launch a new center for teaching and learning (CTL) during the COVID-19 pandemic. Analysis of these steps explain how the inaugural director leveraged the pivot to emergency remote teaching to capitalize on faculty interest for educational development and increase collaboration…

This brief details the significant strides made by the Paradise Unified School District (PUSD) in establishing robust school mental health systems to facilitate healing and recovery. PUSD, which serves the rural communities of Paradise, Magalia, and Stirling City--areas deeply affected by the 2018 Camp Fire--has launched several key initiatives…

What are the qualities of the "now" that make teaching and learning an urgent, if not a moral, imperative? A group of faculty, administrators, and educational developers respond to this question with individual narratives bound together by a common theme of reflective practice in times of crises to help faculty become more resilient in…

Whether it is the poor quality of education, insufficient funds to access schooling, distance to schools, insecurity, or cultural norms, many children in Nigeria have been denied the opportunity to be educated. Despite the government's efforts to build schools and hire teachers, the factors responsible for the high numbers of out-of-school…

Creating a culture of assessment is an essential practice and mindset for postsecondary institutions as well as the units and departments embedded within respective campuses. Although it may sound daunting at first glance, simply put, assessment is "a set of processes designed to improve, demonstrate, and inquire about student learning"…

Educational developers need to assess the work of their Centres, from program participation and impact to underlying organizational processes. Various frameworks exist, but developers may feel unsure how to get started. We developed a planning model that offers a structured, systematic approach for developing comprehensive assessment systems that…

This paper discusses the potential of language centres in higher education as laboratories for innovation. Despite their hybrid character as central service providers that are also defined by their teaching, their positioning at the academic periphery, and the lack of a mandate to do academic research, language centres still have an obligation to…

Many centers for teaching and learning (CTL) are challenged with developing new programs and services that are constrained by limited staff and resources. Tapping into on- and off-campus expertise is one way for CTL to expand their range of options for faculty development. In this paper, we present a framework that describes how CTL can assess the…

Nearly 25 years after Barr and Tagg's (1995) article on the move away from the Instruction Paradigm, the authors argue that we are experiencing another shift, from a learning-centered to de-centered educational environment. Just as Barr and Tagg signalled a paradigm shift from teaching to learning, the authors suggest--nearly a quarter century…

We have been asked to describe One Thing that guides us as educational developers. For me, this is the strategic planning process described in Jim Collins' Good to Great (2001). Collins provides a model that helps leaders navigate through change to build effective and influential centers. This framework has allowed me to develop a successful…

Finding culturally relevant informational books for a classroom library can be difficult. However, expanding the definition of informational text to include procedural forms, specifically cookbooks, can enhance the cultural relevance, range, and number of books available for students to read. Reasons for placing cookbooks in the classroom library…

This chapter describes institutional and andragogical best practices for preparing students to succeed in hybrid courses through the programming of academic resource centers, offers information on how to create peer support systems for students, and outlines some of the common pitfalls for students encountering a hybrid course for the first time.

Correspondence courses have been offered in Brazil since the late 19th century; in the 20th century, instructional media such as radio and television were successfully used long before the introduction of the Internet. However, distance education (DE) was officially established in Brazil only in 1996 by the National Educational Law of Policies and…