GCCC Partners with ACUE to Strengthen Teaching and Learning
[Garden City, KS] September 6, 2023 -- Garden City Community College has partnered with the Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) to provide additional training in researched-based teaching methods that promote student success. Thirty-three full-time faculty--just under half of all full-time faculty at GCCC--will participate in the project's first year, learning instructional skills shown to promote student motivation, learning, and persistence in students.
Faculty who satisfy the program requirements are awarded a nationally-recognized Certificate in Effective College Instruction co-endorsed by ACUE and the American Council on Education (ACE), a leader in higher education since 1918.
Dr. Marc Malone, Vice President for Instructional Services and Chief Academic Officer, shared how this partnership will benefit Garden City Community College. "One of the things I'm most proud of in working at a community college is that our professors are in the game to teach. I tell all candidates for full-time faculty positions at GCCC that they have to love teaching. Their jobs aren't to generate new research like at a four-year university. We don't have graduate teaching assistants to teach the freshman and sophomore-level classes."
Dr. Malone added, "When we have the opportunity to invest in so many faculty members and help them think about strategies for quality teaching and use research to connect those strategies--the everyday work of a teacher--directly to student persistence and retention, you're investing in the success of students. It's a very exciting opportunity for our students, faculty, and the college as a whole."
ACUE's courses in effective teaching practices are based on more than three decades of research that shows effective teaching improves learning for all students. The GCCC faculty cohort will complete 25 learning modules throughout this year and will implement and evaluate the teaching strategies in their classes each week.
Aligned with the latest research in cognition and adult learning, ACUE's courses address over 200 evidence-based teaching practices, covering how to design an effective course, establish a productive learning environment, use active learning techniques, promote higher-order thinking and use assessments to inform instruction and promote learning.
About ACUE:
The Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) promotes student success through quality instruction. In partnership with colleges, universities, higher education systems and associations, ACUE prepares and credentials faculty in evidence-based teaching practices that improve student achievement and close equity gaps. Numerous and independently-validated efficacy studies confirm that students are more engaged, learn more, and complete courses in greater numbers—more equitably with their peers—when taught by ACUE-credentialed faculty. ACUE's online, cohort-based credentialing programs are delivered through institutional partnerships and open enrollment courses endorsed by the American Council on Education. To learn more, visit www.acue.org.
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Garden City Community College exists to produce positive contributors to the economic and social well-being of society.