Teaching has always been at the heart of Otterbein’s mission.

Center for Teaching & Learning

The Center for Teaching & Learning is committed to enhancing the quality of student learning through ongoing educational development opportunities for all those who teach on our campus. We provide consulting services, development programs, online and print resources to help educators enhance the learning experience for our students, and studio space for innovation and exploration.

Location: Library, 3rd Floor Suite, 138 W. Main St.
Hours: Monday – Friday (8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.)
Phone:
614-823-1064
Email: ctl@otterbein.edu

Consulting Services

The CTL is a space where anyone who teaches at Otterbein (full-time faculty, part-time faculty, and staff members who teach) can meet with experts to talk about their teaching. Participation is voluntary, confidential, and independent from tenure and promotion processes.

The CTL can also help you gather feedback on your teaching both at the end of the semester as well as at In-Semester.  Whether gathered from in-class focus groups, student surveys, or observations, this feedback can help you learn about your class, explore ways to improve student learning, and document your teaching.  For more information, email ctl@otterbein.edu and/or see our LibGuide on In-Semester feedback.

Communities, Programs, Events

The CTL sponsors and hosts a variety of professional learning communities, programs and events specific to the mission of the university and the needs of the faculty, teaching staff and students.

  • Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) are inquiry groups (or “communities of practice”) of faculty, staff and sometimes students who meet to learn about a topic of shared interest related to teaching and learning in a collegial and supportive context.
  • CTL hosts a variety of events and instructional workshops that enhance the teaching experience at Otterbein. Events are shared through the University calendar, email and social media channels. Our signature programming includes workshops, seminars, and institutes such as the Inclusive Teaching Series, CTL Book Discussion Groups, and Course Design and Transformation Institutes.
  • The CTL welcomes incoming faculty members and assists with their navigation into their new roles. The New Faculty program includes Orientation, year-long mentoring, and a Professional Learning Community. New Faculty Orientation is held each year before the start of the academic year. Online resources are available for new full and part-time faculty members to help navigate the processes and information available specific to Otterbein.

Guides & Resources

The CTL continually creates online resources to provide just-in-time answers to your questions.  Browse our growing collection of online CTL Library Guides (LibGuides) on many different topics related to teaching and learning.

The CTL has also partnered with the Otterbein library to create a curated collection of books on faculty development, course design, teaching and learning in Higher Education. This special collection is housed on the 3rd floor of the library near the CTL. You can search the collection using the instructions on our Faculty Development Library Collection LibGuide.

The CTL Studio

The CTL Studio is a learning environment designed for creativity, innovation, and collaboration. Designed using an open café concept with dedicated WiFi access to facilitate individual consultations as well as group sessions, it has flexible seating, whiteboards, reading materials, and other analog or digital tools, including a 55-inch flat screen TV to our multimedia workstations (Windows and Mac).

Faculty and departments can book time at the studio to work on their projects independently or in consultation with CTL staff.

  • Come and explore innovative technologies like virtual and augmented reality.
  • Learn how to integrate Blackboard CollaborateBlackboard Learn, and ePortfolio in your courses or how to use applications like Impatica, Respondus, or Turning Point to enhance your in-class activities.
  • Take advantage of our professional audio, video, and content authoring tools to work on your media-related projects.  Available programs include Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Express, and Camtasia Studio as well as graphic design or Web development software like Dreamweaver, InDesign, and Photoshop, among many others.

Meet our Staff

Kathryn Plank
Director

Jeff Smith
CTL Faculty Associate

Peggy McMains
Program Coordinator

Kayla Hennis
Learning Designer

Drop by the CTL whenever you need a quick break, a hot beverage, or a few minutes of conversation.