The Teaching and Learning Resource Center workshop on Sept. 28 in the Moffett Library, showcased new tools, paradigms and workflows that instructors can use with students. The session was hosted by Jeff Borden, associate vice president of teaching and learning innovation at Saint Leo University.

“We are trying to show the instructors modern, alternative ways of doing things to accomplish the outcomes that are required but which are more helpful for students,” Borden said.

Borden said he travels the world to see various ways instructors work with students. He records the most effective practices and showcases them to other instructors.

“As time goes on and I find better and better practices, I remove those that are not as fresh or not as effective as something new that I have seen. My hope is to genuinely show every faculty at least two or three things they can do immediately in their classes that will drive efficiency as well as outcomes for students,” Borden said.

Zuckweiler further explains the purpose of the workshop.

“The purpose of the workshop was to introduce some applied methods for making online courses Americans with Disabilities Act compliant and to bring some new ideas about effective teaching and learning to campus,” Kathryn Zuckwieler, dean of Billie Doris McAda Graduate School, said.

She believes that it will be beneficial to the university if Borden’s ideas are implemented.

Zuckweiler said, “He has some really innovative, but very practical, suggestions on how to improve our teaching and how to do our assessment better. It’s an opportunity to learn from somebody who has a lot of experience and may be able to offer some suggestions for things that we can do here.”

Leann Curry, assistant professor of curriculum and instruction, explains what she learned from the workshop.

“We learned that when designing courses or websites, to keep students with disabilities in mind as far as using color and images while also maintaining the creativity,” Curry said. “Also, he discussed how the brain works and how you can use that to redesign your classes, making them more interactive and social.”

Curry said overall the workshop was excellent and Michaelle Kitchen, associate professor of counseling, agreed.

Kitchen said, “He was very good. He talked about learning styles and different types of assessments that you would use based on a student’s learning style.”