The Bryn Mawr Colllege Teaching and Learning Initiative
The Teaching and Learning Initiative (TLI) brings together differently positioned members of the community (staff, faculty, and students) to create reciprocal teaching and learning opportunities and aims to support the development of excellence in classroom teaching at Bryn Mawr College and a wide variety of learning experiences for all members of the college community. Below are projects involving students (visit http://www.brynmawr.edu/tli to learn about other projects).
Participants Fall 2006-Spring 2007
- • 32 faculty members across all three divisions and at all ranks have participated in one or more of the pilot projects supported by the TLI
- • 12 students have participated in the Student/Faculty partnerships
- • 37 staff members from Dining Services, Housekeeping, Public Safety and Transportation, Wyndham, and the Copy Center have participated in one or more of the Student/Staff partnerships
- • 29 students have participated in the Student/Staff partnerships
Reflections of Participants
Faculty/Student Partnerships
The student successfully identified things that really did need to be improved upon, suggested ways in which they might be improved, and the next time I had a class it was better. Correlation isn't causation, but it's evidence. The students take it seriously and they put thought into it and I find it valuable. - Faculty Member
If there were anything happening in the classroom that I might have missed, it would have come out through this experience. I don't think there is any other mechanism for that. I would always worry. I would always be wondering, "How is this being received by students?" I feel like this was really good, I can be confident that I know how it's being received by students. I don't think I could get that confidence by handing out midterm evaluations or having people do them online. - Faculty Member
It's a dialogue, it's not just a one-way [delivery of critique. In this case it's that you're providing your perspective, and that is so different [from formal evaluations]; it's just a conversation, part of a process. [The student observer] was offering helpful comments - [identifying things] I could do something about. - Faculty Member
It was so cool to be in a collaborative relationship for the time that I was working with the faculty members. You know, we would talk about the teaching as if we were kind of doing it together almost. It was like, we're going to work together to make a plan for how to make this class better. It happened with all three faculty members I observed. So I think students often want to be in that role, and sometimes it happens in these magical moments with certain faculty members, but to have a structure that supports and encourages that is really exciting. - Student
The best part of this experience is the empowerment aspect of it. Someone in this experience is being asked to change their role and not only the role they are taking on formally in the initiative but they are being asked to be much more of a colleague in the shaping of these roles and how this project is going to look. - Student
Staff/Student Partnerships
I still want to learn more and this class has sparked my excitement for computers! I wish it didn't have to end. - Staff Member
I had a wonderful experience in the computer training class. I learned how to be very confident and proud of myself. - Staff Member
I love what a supportive community of learners we became; many thanks to all those involved with this wonderful project. - Student
This week I relearned the excitement of what makes a class like this so worthwhile: the opportunity to share an amazing tool with another individual and the opportunity to get to know another person that you might otherwise not be able to or at least in the same way. - Student
It is so important to share the resources of a place with those who work to keep it running. - Student