Academy Mission and Goals
Mission:
The mission of the teaching academy is to be a catalyst in advancing a learner-centered culture that values and supports excellence in teaching and educational scholarship.
Goals:
- Promote effective and innovative practices for high-quality teaching and learning
- Support faculty professional development
- Maintain a forum for members and fellows to have a dialogue about teaching and learning
- Support the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)
- Advise and serve as a resource to the University on issues related to teaching excellence
Values & Accomplishments
Teaching and Learning Accordion Closed
We strive to advance teaching and learning practices that support meaningful engagement and deep understanding by learners.
To accomplish this task, we have:
- Formalized recommendations about ways to achieve the university goal of increasing student success through support for teaching and research
- Led roundtable conversations about teaching with new university faculty members
- Engaged in program redesign projects
- Revised individual courses and piloted new teaching strategies
- Reported on teaching innovations to Academy members and to departmental and college colleagues
Research Accordion Closed
We value and understand the importance of integrating teaching and research including the scholarship of teaching and learning.
To further this goal, we have:
- Published articles on teaching in professional journals and developed book proposals and manuscripts
- Attended conferences on teaching, presented at these conferences, and reported back to Academy members on conference proceedings
- Undertook classroom-based research projects on the impact of teaching practices
Service Accordion Closed
We foster teaching that enhances student learning and stewardship through community involvement (campus, local, national, and global).
In addressing this goal, we:
- Represented the Academy on key university committees addressing pedagogy and student success
- Took leadership positions in community organizations that influence learning and teaching
Academy Projects Accordion Closed
- Annual Teaching Day
- Developing the “Best Practices for Teaching Effectiveness at NAU” Guidelines