The Provost’s Advisory Task Force on the Student Learning Experience began its work this week with a facilitated session conducted by the Queen’s Executive Decision Centre. The session helped the task force members identify some common themes and questions that will guide them over the next several months.
 

The Provost’s Advisory Task Force on the Student Learning Experience (SLE) is crafting an action plan to support best practices in teaching and learning at the university. The plan will focus specifically on the Student Learning Experience pillar of the Academic Plan. It seeks to complement the work of the Senate Academic Planning Task Force.

“This SLE task force is all about students,” says Jill Scott, incoming Vice-Provost (Teaching and Learning). “We’re looking at best teaching and learning practices, and we’re developing specific mechanisms to support and sustain them.”

Dr. Scott co-chairs the task force with Brian Frank, Director of Program Development for the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science and DuPont Canada Chair in Engineering Education Research and Development.

“This task force is a great group of faculty and students from across the university. They will be making recommendations based on teaching initiatives that have worked here at Queen’s and successful approaches elsewhere,” says Dr. Frank.

The goals of the 14-member task force include:

• Recommending clear goals to foster an environment of innovative and effective teaching and learning.
• Proposing infrastructure, policy and resource requirements to support the goals.
• Identifying processes to reach the recommended goals.
• Developing a timeline and ways to measure progress towards the goals.

They will draw heavily on community input from the previous and ongoing academic planning process. Stakeholder consultations on specific initiatives and broader consultations are planned at key points during the process.

The SLE task force aims to release a preliminary report in May and conclude its work by fall 2013.