New "Teaching Academy" will enrich classroom culture
Lindbacks. Great Teachers. When it comes to teaching, Temple always hires and rewards the best.
Soon, some recipients of those awards will share their passion and expertise, uniting with other faculty members to establish a new “Teaching Academy.”
“The mission of the Academy is to enhance the quality of teaching throughout the University,” said Dr. Susan A. Wheelan. “Composed of outstanding and dedicated faculty, it will provide leadership in the scholarship of teaching and learning at all levels.”
The idea for a teaching academy was born three years ago, when the Faculty Senate began pursuing a University-wide program modeled, in part, on the successful ATTIC (Attention to Teaching and Teaching Improvement Center) in the College of Liberal Arts and the Teaching Enhancement Center in the College of Education.
Wheelan, an education professor and chair of the Academy’s steering committee, said the new center can go beyond existing ones to improve teaching by sharing strategies, figuring out new ways to measure learning, and facilitating development of teaching-friendly programs and policies.
Dr. Thomas E. Eveslage, also a committee member, called the initiative “an exciting idea central to Temple’s mission.”
Other members and their respective schools, colleges or departments are: Dr. M. Robert Baren of Engineering; Ina Lee Calligaro of Pharmacy; Dr. William W. Cutler of Liberal Arts; Dr. Nina J. Hillman of Science and Technology; John F. Johnson of Music; Dr. Karen S. Koziara of Business; Winifred A. Lutz of Tyler; Donna T. Weiss of Allied Health; and Dr. Kourosh Zarrinnia of Dentistry. Ex-officio members are Dr. Susan Albertine, vice provost for undergraduate studies, and Dr. Daniel P. Tompkins of Liberal Arts.
The group selected 13 other faculty members, many drawn from the ranks of Great Teacher and Lindback award recipients, to serve as Academy fellows beginning next year. A corps of about 50 fellows will be built up over the course of the next few years.
Those who have joined so far are: Warren F. Bass of Communications and Theater; Dr. Brian P. Butz of Engineering; Dr. Orin N. Chein of Science and Technology; Harriett W. Ferguson of Allied Health; Dr. Cynthia J. Folio of Music; Terry Halbert of Business; Jonathan Brooke Harrington of architecture; Dr. Kathryn A. Hirsh-Pasek of Liberal Arts; Dr. Michael R. Jacobs of Pharmacy; Stanley Lechtzin of Tyler; Linda M. Mauro of Social Administration; Dr. Cathleen K. Morano of Education; and Dr. Michael B. Wang of Medicine.
“The members will act as ‘point persons’ in the schools and colleges,” said Eveslage, associate dean for academic affairs in the School of Communications and Theater. “They will help come up with teaching materials, coordinate what’s going on around the University, and go back into their schools with ideas to help the faculty.”
A ceremony to honor the Academy’s founding fellows is being planned for the fall.
The Teaching Academy has an office in the College of Education until the steering committee and University administration determine what level of funding, staffing and other resources can be attained.
“The University, and especially Acting Provost Corrinne Caldwell, is definitely committed to this process,” Wheelan said.
Wheelan dreams of an ambitious center with a full-time director, secretary and student staff that could accommodate faculty development workshops and peer evaluations—not to mention a “traveling road show” that could go to Temple Ambler, the Health Sciences Center and the Center City campus.
“The Academy could become a clearinghouse for information about teaching and the learning process throughout the University,” she said. “We want to create a forum where it’s the norm to talk about our teaching with each other, to make it much more of a public activity.” —Jennifer Rauch
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