About the CTLE

As a resource for the VCU teaching community, the CTLE is committed to supporting faculty in their goals related to teaching and learning. We value the diverse backgrounds, identities, and contributions made by all our VCU faculty members, and cultivate engagement. Our goals are to champion excellence in teaching, promote evidence-based instruction strategies, and support innovative teaching efforts. You can learn more about the areas we address and the values that drive our work by perusing the information below.

• Inclusive Pedagogy and your career: At VCU, we value the richness that a broad range of intersectional diversity brings to our learning, scholarship, and growth as professionals. The CTLE is committed to moving these conversations forward in deep and meaningful ways, to promote social justice, equity, and the dismantling of systemic oppression. 
  • Inclusive teaching: We are passionate about working with faculty to incorporate inclusive teaching practices and to help you create some of your own innovations that engage students. The CTLE also specifically supports critical pedagogical approaches such as liberatory, anti-racist, feminist, intersectional, queer, and decolonial pedagogies. We know that welcoming and affirming messages and practices of instructors enhances belongingness that can make a difference for marginalized and under-served students. Increasing a sense of belonging for all students - especially those who are underrepresented and marginalized - can positively impact academic success.
• Teaching Across Modalities: New technologies often enhance, as well as challenge, our understanding of how students learn and provide instructors the opportunity to customize course materials and create personalized learning experiences tailored to students’ individual needs. As technology and instructional methods evolve, so do students’ expectations for a learning experience that effectively integrates the latest technological developments and teaching methods into their education. While technology should never be used as a substitute for teaching, it can be used to support specific learning goals you have for your students. The CTLE champions the idea that every instructor can use technology to enhance their teaching in unique, creative, and effective ways. Across campus, faculty are exploring new and interesting ways to integrate technology into their curricula. Additional guidance regarding teaching in various course modalities can be found here.
• Evidence-Based Pedagogy: Evidence-based teaching involves instructional practices that are  informed by research that demonstrates a positive impact on student learning. This research-focused approach emphasizes the importance of using evidence to drive course design, guide instructional decisions, and maximize learning. What we perceive as deep learning as instructors may not always be equivalent to deeper learning for the students. CTLE is dedicated to working with instructors to identify, contextualize, and implement evidence to direct our perspectives and approaches when teaching. Evidence-based pedagogy also helps us uncover and unlearn our own myths about learning as educators. Take, for instance, these two common myths:
  • Did you know that "learning styles" are actually a myth? Many educators believe in this myth of auditory learners, kinesthetic learners, etc. Not a real thing; instead, there are learning ‘preferences’.
  • Did you know that hand-writing class notes (versus typing on a laptop/device) does not necessarily lead to deeper learning? Turns out there are likely many more variables involved.
    • Dr. Michelle Miller's work provides valuable insights from cognitive science about how learning really works.
• Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL): The scholarship of teaching and learning involves faculty transitioning from being scholarly teachers, to actively applying their research findings on teaching. This process allows faculty to become active scholars who produce meaningful research and share it with the greater academic community.  The CTLE values serving faculty with the process of formulating SoTL research questions that explore what they are deeply passionate about, regarding teaching and learning.
• Well-being: Our philosophy of faculty success emphasizes attention to faculty as wonderfully complex human beings. Many faculty share with us the challenges of balancing their busy lives and professional obligations. We strive to provide opportunities for faculty to engage in reflective wellness practices to nourish themselves both intellectually and holistically. When we make time for even small acts of self-care, we model healthy well-being practices for our students.