Contact:
Jeremy Craig, 404-413-1357
University Relations
ATLANTA — Three of Georgia State University’s top efforts to bolster and enhance student learning are being combined to form the new Center for Instructional Innovation, helping to build upon past successes and the university’s priorities for the future.
The Writing Across the Curriculum Program, the Critical Thinking Through Writing Initiative and the former Center for Teaching and Learning are joining together in the merger. Through this effort, Georgia State will be able to achieve its student learning goals — a top priority for the Strategic Plan, said George Pullman, director of the center.
“The new center will allow the university to better coordinate these important, strategic-plan related efforts, providing faculty with a single source of information about the latest developments in learning research and teaching strategies,” said Pullman, associate professor of English and founding director of the former Writing Across the Curriculum Program.
The efforts of the Writing Across the Curriculum Program, the Critical Thinking Through Writing Initiative, and the Center for Teaching and Learning will continue in the new center, Pullman said.
The Writing Across the Curriculum Program was established in 1995, and has helped improve the quality of the curriculum across GSU. It has developed faculty awareness about the role writing can play in teaching, especially about how well-designed writing tasks can serve as a powerful tool for learning.
The Critical Thinking Through Writing Initiative, or CTW, formed a new university requirement for undergraduate students entering the fall semester of 2009 and thereafter to pass two CTW courses in their majors. CTW courses are designed to develop students’ ability to think critically in the major area they have chosen to study.
The Center for Teaching and Learning provided support to faculty to promote advances in student learning through direct services, instructional support, and a place to hold meaningful discussions.
June 20, 2011