What We Do

The Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) is the teaching hub of the university. We support the university’s teaching and learning mission by providing orientation, training, mentorship, research and innovation opportunities for instructors at Western so that, they, in turn can create high quality undergraduate and graduate learning experiences for students. We build bridges between disciplines and create scholarly communities of practice that allow instructors at Western to share innovative approaches to teaching with each other and inspire student engagement throughout our campus.

The CTL is recognized nationally and internationally for its research-based practice; comprehensive teaching assistant and international graduate student programs; extended teaching certificate programs; purple guide series; and as the home of The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. 

 

CTL Mission Statement

The mission of the Centre for Teaching and Learning is twofold. First, we foster and enhance best practices in teaching and learning at Western University, in partnership with Western Libraries, the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, and Western Technology Services. Second, we advocate for teaching excellence and scholarship at Western, nationally, and internationally.

We provide orientation, training, mentorship, research and innovation opportunities for all instructors at Western, including full and part-time faculty members, librarians and archivists, post-doctoral fellows, and graduate students. Our mission focuses on three priority goals: pedagogical excellence, mentorship and professional development, and scholarship and innovation. In support of these goals, we offer certificate programs, workshops, conferences, communities of practice, courses, consultations, facilitation and online resources at the instructor, departmental, Faculty and institutional-level.

To facilitate Pedagogical Excellence, we:

  1. Support instructors in the development of effective and evidence-based teaching practice;
  2. Enable instructors to create deep and transformative learning experiences for students;
  3. Provide feedback to instructors on teaching strategies and help them collect and interpret feedback on their teaching;
  4. Promote the effective use of instructional technologies;
  5. Strengthen instructors’ capacity to support meaningful learning for a diverse student body;
  6. Support instructors and departments to use alternative, hybrid and blended teaching methods in courses and across programs to enhance student learning; and
  7. Guide continuous curriculum development, including supporting course design and institutional program review.

To facilitate Mentorship and Professional Development, we:

  1. Support faculty, graduate students and post-doctoral fellows at each stage of their academic careers;
  2. Provide information and support throughout the promotion and tenure process;
  3. Support effective graduate supervision and mentorship;
  4. Promote the development of intercultural fluency in the classroom and across the curriculum; and
  5. Foster the development and growth of educational communities of practice.

To facilitate Scholarship and Innovation, we:

  1. Support teaching innovations through grants and awards;
  2. Mentor educational leaders;
  3. Promote the engagement of instructors in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL); and
  4. Model SoTL by conducting and publishing research on teaching.