President's Office

Center for Teaching and Learning:
An Innovation in Nurturing Academic Achievement

A Presidential White Paper
Addressed to the Cornell College family
from Leslie H. Garner Jr. 

March 2006

“The Center for Teaching and Learning is an academic commons that will become as important to the life of the college as the social commons with its exercise machines and Starbucks coffee.  Skilled consultants, working with scholars from diverse backgrounds, will make the Center’s writing, multimedia, and quantitative learning studios places where Cornell students can prepare for the intellectual life of their era.”

Rick Ryan ’67, Trustee and Chair
Center for Teaching and Learning Operations Committee

Cornell College continually strives to create a vibrant learning environment in which students can develop their voices, test and clarify their values, and discover the passion and delight of a life of learning. We are refining what we do and how we do it. Nowhere is this more evident than in an initiative known as the Center for Teaching and Learning. This Center shepherds resources for students and faculty within Cole Library, already the campus center for intellectual inquiry.

By centralizing and coordinating a broad range of academic support services, the Center for Teaching and Learning enables students to engage fully in academic work. It hones their skills in research, reading, writing, quantitative reasoning, and creating media presentations. Additionally, it offers faculty access to a range of teaching-related resources and opportunities for discussion and collaboration with peers.

The Center for Teaching and Learning is the next step in a liberal arts tradition that goes back to Francis Bacon, who famously remarked that “reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man.” The Center helps students apply Bacon’s dictum in the rich and often confusing world of 21st century information. 

Information age

We want our students to search efficiently for information, select sources of information critically, and process information meaningfully. However, few students arrive at college with the ability to engage in advanced research. The most effective way we can help students thrive at Cornell is to offer accessible academic support from the moment they arrive and throughout their careers at Cornell. In this way, the Center nurtures academic excellence.

At the heart of the Center for Teaching and Learning is the studio program—the Writing Studio, the Quantitative Reasoning Studio, and the Academic Media Studio—each staffed by one or more full-time professionals.

Writing Studio

The staff of the Writing Studio work with faculty and students to enhance writing instruction at the college. For faculty, the Writing Studio collaborates with the Writing Program committee to offer seminars on Cornell’s writing-across the-curriculum program as well as presentations on best practices and classroom innovations in writing instruction. For students, the Writing Studio promotes one-on-one writing consultations at all academic levels.

When, for instance, a third-year psychology student comes to the Writing Studio anxious about preparing an analytical essay for an art-history class and lacking confidence in her writing skills, the consultant assists her in planning and outlining an essay. Throughout the session, the tutor emphasizes the ways in which particular skills the student has already acquired (critical reading, argument development, finding and using evidence to support claims) are transferable to the current assignment and to future writing assignments. By the end of the session, the student has developed a thesis statement, an outline of the essay, and renewed confidence in her ability to use the writing skills she possesses.

Academic Media Studio

Proficiency in using and assessing multimedia modes of communication is increasingly important in our electronic world. The Academic Media Studio offers students hands-on experience with a range of presentation options and styles. Here, students learn how to select appropriate communication media for their purpose, how to design the electronic presentation of information effectively for a given audience, and how to use technical tools to create electronic information products.

A stunning example of this process is the ePortfolio, an increasingly popular format for the assemblage of a student’s work. Academic papers, field notes, personal materials such as journals, and even artwork are highlighted in these electronic portfolios. Cornell requires all education majors to create ePortfolios, which are shared with prospective employers. The consultant, with the faculty member, assists students in preparing aesthetically pleasing portfolios that reflect the students’ personalities. Polished ePortfolios give Cornell students an advantage when they apply for internships, graduate school, and jobs.

Quantitative Reasoning Studio

Even eager, ambitious students can enter college inadequately prepared for college-level science and mathematics courses. The Quantitative Reasoning Studio provides course-specific consultation for students in mathematics and statistics, assistance for students engaged in independent and advanced work requiring statistical analysis, support for scientific writing, and peer tutoring and self-guided tutorials.

The professor of a microeconomics course might, for example, use the Quantitative Reasoning Studio to make sure that all his students have enough math skills to read and do research in this sometimes technical field. These tutoring sessions will allow the professor to concentrate on the topic of economics and help the student avoid getting tripped up by the mathematics and losing the larger meaning of the subject.

Student Success Program

In addition to the core studios, the Center for Teaching and Learning soon hopes to

• coach exceptional students applying for national scholarships and fellowships,
• advise students interested in study abroad,
• offer seminars on study skills and time management, and
• provide ADA assistance and counseling for those with learning disabilities.

Never before have we coordinated all these academic support services in a centralized, “one-stop-shopping” location.

 A tool for faculty

The Center for Teaching and Learning also draws faculty into its orbit as both instructors and lifelong learners. Cornell faculty are committed teachers who care deeply about their students. They do not take teaching for granted. And, as is the case with every profession, the field of teaching changes over time, with increases in knowledge and changes in the ambient culture and academic preparedness of students.

The Center provides opportunities for faculty to discuss teaching on the block plan, to explore new methods of instruction and new instructional technologies, to collaborate with Cole Library staff on specific course-related projects, and to expand their repertoire of classroom practices. The Center also provides orientation and support for new faculty, who often must rethink their prior experiences as they adapt to the block plan. 

While it is not uncommon for a library to house a center for teaching and learning, it is unusual to see an approach to teaching and learning that brings together—not just physically, but functionally as well—such an array of support for both students and faculty. This configuration is unique and exciting. We are certain it will serve our students and faculty very well.