Center for Teaching Excellence Opens at Assumption

The Center for Teaching Excellence at Assumption recently opened to advance the quality of teaching in higher education. Under its director, English Professor James Lang, the Center’s goal is to supply faculty with resources to enhance the rich tradition of teaching excellence at the institution and to introduce new strategies to build upon that tradition.

At the Oct. 10 opening reception in the Testa Science Center Atrium, Professor Lang outlined his vision for the Center and its inaugural programs, which include new faculty orientation; individual faculty, department, and program observation and consultation; faculty teaching colloquia;  annual spring lecture from a visiting scholar of higher education; a working group of faculty who are interested in writing about teaching and learning in their disciplines or in higher education more generally; funding for teams of faculty to collaborate on teaching and learning in higher education with colleagues across the country; and planning for a future on-campus national conference on teaching and learning in Catholic higher education.

“I hope that Assumption’s faculty – both full and part-time – will benefit from the Center as it provides the tools to build the best teaching experience for them as well as for their students,” said 

Lang, who writes a monthly column on teaching and learning for The Chronicle of Higher Education and has authored four books on the subjects. His most recent, Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty, was published in 2013 by Harvard University Press.

The Center held its first “Brown Bag” lunch in October, during which faculty discussed the impact of learning spaces on campus and the importance of the physical classroom as a site for teaching and learning. Other events, like on- and off-campus conferences, will provide faculty an opportunity to showcase and share new, effective teaching methods and strategies.

“The Center’s resources will help faculty learn more about the great teaching already happening at Assumption and build collegiality among them to create the best foundation for higher education,” Lang said.