Theme I: Becoming a Teaching and Learning Community

Report #2 on Theme I, Issue No. 1: Encouraging Teaching and Learning

Development of Research on Teaching and Learning

Our strategic plan calls for "Creating a learning community that supports the discovery and application of new knowledge about learning processes." Among the strategies proposed was promoting a university-wide, interdisciplinary scholarly focus on learning and how it may be improved, and creating a research institute which would help to formulate scholarly projects, generate financial and other support, allocate research funds, and otherwise serve as an advocate for scholarly attention on learning, learning processes, and develop avenues for faculty inter-disciplinary discussions regarding learning and incorporation of innovations into learning processes.

We began by carrying out a couple of small research projects and sponsorship of a national conference on "Applying the Science of Learning," organized by Dr. Diane Halpern, who is now at Claremont McKenna College, but was Professor of Psychology at CSUSB at the time of the conference. (Visit The Berger Institute). With Dr. Halpern leaving the university in Fall of 2001, we authorized the hiring of a faculty member who would develop a formal institute on learning and serve half/time as director of the institute as well as teach in the Psychology department. Dr. James Kaufman, who has a PhD from Yale and who previously was employed at the Educational Testing Service in New Jersey, was hired to develop this project. He was able to participate in the AAHE Summer Academy to get acquainted with campus administrators and faculty from the Teaching Academy, who assisted him in developing a draft of the Mission Statement, Goals and Objectives for the proposed Learning Research Institute. The final document is under review by the Educational Policy Committee and Faculty Senate and awaits approval by the Provost, but the working documents can be seen below:

Mission/Charge for Learning Research Institute (LRI)

Mission: The CSUSB Learning Research Institute will promote interdisciplinary scholarly focus on teaching and learning and how it may be improved. The Institute will help formulate scholarly projects, generate financial and other support, allocate research funds, and otherwise serve as an advocate for scholarly attention on learning.

Focus of Activities

Learning Improvement, Experimentation, and Innovation: The Institute promotes better understanding of how people learn; how they develop as lifelong learners; how they perceive their learning needs; the factors that affect learning, and how to create positive contexts for learners with diverse needs based on local and global research findings.

Research on Teaching/Learning: The Institute will organize and carry out basic and applied research on teaching methodologies, techniques and strategies to determine the best practices, what is most effective in instruction, and what best facilitates learning in higher education.

Learning Measures: The Institute provides appropriate methods and measures for assessing the impact of teaching strategies, learning contexts, and curriculum innovation on learning outcomes.

Dissemination of Results: The Institute will promote the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and assist faculty in sharing and publishing SoTL results. The Institute will hold workshops/conferences and publish newsletters and journal articles on the findings of research on instructional improvement initiatives both on-campus and elsewhere.

Long-term Goals

Short Term Objectives

Activities/Projects for First Year

Activities for Years 2-5