Roxanne Cullen

Assessing learner‐centredness through course syllabi

One attempt to revitalise undergraduate education has been by shifting the dominant pedagogy to a learner‐centred focus and supporting an emphasis on the scholarship of teaching and learning. The discussion regarding efforts to refocus undergraduate education to be more intentional by moving towards a learner‐centred paradigm is encouraging, yet it is crucial to acknowledge that most of the effort and literature on the learner‐centred paradigm and the scholarship of teaching and learning have necessarily focused on strategies for the classroom. It is equally important for administrators to consider the impact of the paradigm shift on their roles. Assessment and evaluation are the very core of the learner‐centred paradigm. Assessment is both the single‐most important gage of learning that drives the educational process and the most effective means of implementing institutional change. In this article, the authors offer a means of assessing the degree of learner‐centredness in current teaching practices through a systematic review of course syllabi. Using a rubric developed for this purpose the authors have reviewed course syllabi in order to develop a benchmark for the degree of learner‐centredness present in current teaching practices and employed the results as a vehicle for planning professional development.

Generating a Professional Portfolio in the Writing Center: A Hypertext Tutor.

Abstract Ferris State Universitys writing center uses hypercard software (v. 2.0) in the Macintosh environment to assist students in technical/professional programs to develop professional portfolios. This approach offers consistent instruction and equal access to content information as approved by faculty in specified disciplines in a self-directed self-paced instructional atmosphere.

Renovation as Innovation: Transforming a campus symbol and a campus culture

Taylor and Francis PSP_A_295900. gm 10.1080/136031 0801957418 Perspectives 360-3108 (pri t)/1460-7018 (online) 2 08 & Francis 0 002008 I think campuses are headed not so much to a cliff but toward a brick wall. Tuition has risen far faster than inflation...We are going to be less affluent in this country, and our institutions are going to be less affluent. And what I hope comes from that is not just trying to maintain the old paradigm and watch everything slowly decay, but that we actually go through the paradigm shift and fundamentally operate in different way—a sort of rediscovering of what we are.