Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Teaching and Learning Center

Abstract

Program evaluation plays an important role in all developmental stages of a teaching and learning center. This evaluation informs program development, provides feedback for program improvement, and documents the impact of a center for accountability purposes (Plank & Kalish, 2010). Our first step in creating our Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) for chemistry and biology faculty was to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment. We collected information about existing professional development initiatives in teaching and learning, plans and goals for future initiatives, and ongoing challenges within the departments. This initial needs assessment shaped the TLC’s mission and planning. In addition, it has enabled us to tailor TLC programming to enhance existing initiatives and establish new initiatives based on our stakeholders’ goals and needs. Ongoing assessment has been integrated into all aspects of TLC programming and services to provide feedback on five different attributes: participation, satisfaction, learning, application, and overall impact (Colbeck, 2003; Kirkpatrick, 1994). This iterative process has informed our program planning and helped us to refine our activities over time. In this chapter, we discuss the role of program evaluation for a teaching and learning center and illustrate with examples from our evaluations of the TLC.