Pioneer Teaching and Learning Academy (PTLA)

Purpose of the Academy

The purpose of the Academy is to provide expert peer support and a forum for growth in teaching and learning. The Academy will provide education and development activities for face-to-face (F2F), hybrid, and online teaching and learning practices. The PTLA experience includes a three-day summer institute in teaching development, learning theory, and curricular innovation. This institute will then be supported by four half-day meetings over the course of the academic year. Participants, known as the Pioneer Teaching and Learning Scholars will each be paired with a mentor, known as the Pioneer Master Instructor. This dyad, will also be supported by personnel from the Office of Teaching and Learning with Technology for the duration of the Academy experience. The team will collaborate to transform teaching and learning practices of the Scholars and disseminate their projects to colleagues.

The Academy will offer faculty the opportunity to:

• Explore current trends and research on teaching and learning
• Meet and network with TWU units dedicated to teaching and learning
• Transform personal teaching practice
• Meet and interact with others passionate about teaching
• Design and conduct research on personal teaching and learning
• Discuss issues of teaching and learning in a supportive environment
• Provide additional support to help other participants improve teaching and learning

This program will help create a culture supportive of the scholarship of teaching and learning at TWU and will enhance the teaching skills of individual faculty members and quality of academic programs at large.

Eligibility

Pioneer Teaching and Learning Scholar - All full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty members are eligible to apply. Information on how to apply will be sent during the spring semester. Successful applicants will be selected with the expectation that the faculty members will continue in service at the University for at least one academic year after the conclusion of the program.

Pioneer Master Instructor - Applicants for PMIs will be selected from a pool of tenured and tenure-track faculty members. Membership in the pool requires two of the following:

• Instructor of record of a discipline-specific course on university teaching
• Recipient of a TWU award for distinction in teaching
• Letter of recommendation from the current Department Chair/Dean

Program Details

Pioneer Teaching and Learning Scholars:

• Create a teaching development plan (with timeline)
• Attend conferences/workshops on teaching learning
• Permit access for PMI observations of teaching practices
• Present on the development of their teaching to the TLA group
• Present at a professional conference on some aspect of teaching and learning during the TLA process
• Submit at least one manuscript on teaching and learning to a refereed journal in the year following TLA
• Present one faculty development session to the University community during TLA or in the year following TLA
• Attend TLA meetings
• Submit a written report to the Office of Teaching and Learning with Technology in the fall following the TLA year

Pioneer Master Instructors:

• Coach one PTL Scholar to successfully develop and implement a teaching development plan
• Observe assigned PTL Scholar’s teaching practices
• Attend TLA Meetings
• Present, with the assigned PTL Scholar, to the TWU community about some aspect of teaching and learning
• Submit a written report to the Office of Teaching and Learning with Technology in the fall following the program