The Office for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning (ATL) serves the University of Rhode Island with the broad mission of advancing teaching and learning. Primarily a faculty-facing group of professionals, ATL brings together Faculty Development, Online Education, Student Learning Outcomes Assessment and Accreditation, the Academic Testing Center, and URI Online (accelerated fully online programs of certificates, master’s degrees, and degree completion). These groups work independently and collaboratively to advance the mission of ATL, to support URI’s Agenda for Change, and to promote the University’s Strategic Plan.
Faculty Development is committed to innovative, equitable, and accessible teaching practices and provides programming to help faculty to be successful in the classroom. From ATL Conversations to book clubs to High Impact Teaching Seminars, our Faculty Development professionals can help faculty members develop their pedagogical skills throughout their careers, to learn and demonstrate best and innovative pedagogical practices to enable student success. Prior to each Fall semester, our Faculty Development group leads Strategies and Tools for new faculty as an introduction to teaching at URI and an opportunity to begin to know faces, offices, and resources on and off campus.
Online Education offers training for faculty in the use of URI’s learning management system (LMS) and in the best practices of online pedagogy and blended teaching and learning. Three to four times a year, Online Ed offers Online Pedagogy, a faculty-designed and led online, asynchronous workshop that involves discussions, assignments, and deliverables intended to prepare URI faculty to provide rigorous, effective online learning for their students. A prerequisite to any online training workshop is the Basic Brightspace Competency course, which ensures faculty are well equipped with a fundamental understanding of the LMS that encompasses both technical and pedagogical best practices. Online Education also designs and oversees all instructional design training and support for URI Online faculty and programs. The Quality Matters framework for quality assurance in online course design guides the work of Online Education, ensuring adherence to NECHE guidelines.
The Student Learning Outcomes and Assessment group (SLOAA) works closely with departments and programs across URI to both adhere to federal guidelines for institutional assessments of student learning and to promote best practices of assessing student learning from the course level through the major. SLOAA also collaborates with the other groups in ATL to oversee our SoTL (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) and DBER (Discipline Based Educational Research) programming, which includes resources, conversations, workshops, and consultations on faculty projects small and large.
The Academic Testing Center is largely student-facing, providing a safe, secure, and accessible space for students to take and make up exams. Adhering to the protocols and standards of the National College Testing Association (NCTA) the ATC offers services to faculty and students that ease faculty time commitments and allow students a greater opportunity for academic success as it relates to exams.
Our Story
Programs & Workshops
While ATL works collaboratively to advance teaching and learning for faculty in all areas, each of our groups leads specific workshops and programs. We have organized these by group for ease of navigation; however, we strongly feel that each of our offerings work to support faculty no matter the modality or focus of their teaching!
See all programs & WorkshopsReports & Recognitions
ATL is proud to share our Annual Reports, Institutional Assessment Reports and Climate Surveys, as well as to recognize our list of Qualified Online Faculty and those who have participated in our annual ATL Showcase.
Initiatives & Projects
Consultations
The ATL team holds a wide range of experience and knowledge to help you meet your teaching and learning goals, regardless of modality, level of experience teaching, or discipline.
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