As a part of the Flexible Learning Initiative at the University of British Columbia, departments have been encouraged to employ Teaching and Learning Fellows (TLFs), postdoctoral fellows with a strong disciplinary background and an interest in teaching and learning. TLFs are embedded within a department where they engage with faculty and support a wide variety of evidence-informed transformation. Unlike traditional professional development models, which often focus on individual faculty and short sessions with limited follow-up, TLFs provide on-going support to faculty seeking to transform learning experiences. The model has been inspired by the Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative (CWSEI; cwsei.ubc.ca) in the Faculty of Science, which has met with considerable success in pairing faculty with such fellows.
As most TLFs enter their roles with limited expertise in teaching and learning, early and sustained support to develop this expertise is critical. To meet this need, a professional development series was formed through a strategic partnership between the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT) and the Faculty of Science. The series builds on the success of the CWSEI model and integrates a learning community model to “create connections for isolated teachers, establish networks for those pursuing pedagogical issues, meet early-career faculty expectations for community, foster multidisciplinary curricula, and begin to bring community to higher education" (Cox, 2004). As research is an expectation for all post- doctoral fellows, the development series also includes a scholarship component to help prepare TLFs to be SoTL champions in their departments.
In this session, we will describe the TLF role (illustrated with stories from current TLFs), review the collaborative TLF Development Series used to build TLF expertise in teaching and learning (which could easily be adapted for new faculty, especially those in a teaching-stream position), discuss early examples of challenges and successes, and review recommendations for the role from current TLFs. Participants will leave the session with an idea of how the TLF role might be adapted to fit their own institutional requirements and will be provided access to development series resources including outlines, a reading list and examples of activities.