Center for Teaching and Learning

The primary goal of the Center for Teaching and Learning is to enhance and to focus on the culture of innovation and pedagogical experimentation in learning across the university. The CTL provides workshop spaces and academic resources for exploring, testing, and assessing new ideas in teaching and learning which enhance student learning experiences, learning outcomes, and learning efficacy. Resources include advancements in pedagogical research initiatives, partnerships and collaboration opportunities, clinical placements, community engagement, and instructional design and learning technology consultation as needed. Lastly, the CTL facilitates several campus events and fosters connections across other colleges or K-12 schools to create a network of sharing and collaborative learning throughout the region.

The Center for Teaching and Learning aims to become a cultural hub within the University, creating an innovative space in which exchanging ideas, experimenting with new innovative strategies, and hosting regular campus events will uplift teaching and learning throughout all levels of the University, and will position Gwynedd Mercy as a premiere hotspot for innovation among other regional academic institutions.

SoYoung Kang, PhD
Director of Center for Teaching and Learning
kang.s@gmercyu.edu 
University Hall E202
In-Office: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Remote: Monday

Dr. Kang is the Director of Center for Teaching and Learning and an adjunct professor at GMercyU.

Prior to this, she was a tenured Associate Professor of Education at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania and an Assistant Professor at Ohio University. Courses that she taught include English Language Learners and Cultural Diversity, Diversity within Family, School, and Community Partnership, Education and Cultural Diversity, Cross-Cultural Perspectives and Educational Leadership, Organizational Research and Theory Development, Foundations of Education, School, Society and the Professional Educator, Honors Research, Student Teaching Supervision, and Professional Studies: Teachers, Schools, and Society. Her field of research interest includes multicultural education, comparative education, culturally responsive teaching, cultural studies, social justice issues in education, care theory, philosophy of education, literacy, identity, and English Learners.

She was recognized and awarded as Teacher of Honor by Kappa Delta Pi, international honor society in education. She received her M.Ed in Community Counseling in Education, and her Ph.D. in Cultural Studies in Education from the University of Tennessee.

Dr. Kang has presented at many professional conferences and published numerous articles in national/international journals, newspapers, and books.

Michelle Simms, EdD
Assistant Director of Center for Teaching and Learning
simms.m@gmercyu.edu 
University Hall E216
In-Office: Thursday
Remote: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday

Dr. Michelle Simms is the Assistant Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning, becoming a part of the Teaching and Learning Innovation (TLI) team after a long-term service in the Academic Technology division of ITS. She also serves as an adjunct instructor in the School of Education, having taught technology integration courses in their various iterations throughout the years.

Dr. Simms is a Dissertation Advisor in the EDD program at Gwynedd Mercy University and is also a member of the Black Doctoral Network, a national organization that works to support doctoral candidates and to share knowledge and ideas around research concepts and collaborative projects. Her research interests include exploring and harnessing the power of traditional, emerging, and frontier technologies towards engagement, motivation, innovation, and efficacy in 21st-century classroom learning. She received her M.Ed. in Educational Media, an MBA in Strategic Leadership, and her Ed.D. in Instructional Technology and Distance Education.

The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) strives to offer services focused on engaging and innovative practices, strategies, and initiatives in higher education.

GMercyU faculty can access many of the CTL's services through this link: https://gmercyu.sharepoint.com/sites/teaching-learning/SitePages/CTL.aspx

The CTL's service programs include:

• Collaborative Partnership Opportunities in Regional and International Learning Communities
• Campus-wide Hosted Teaching and Learning Events and Activities 
  • CTL Faculty Forums (sharing scholarship, research publications, community service, and special projects)
  • Professional Development Workshop and Training Series
  • Pedagogy Book Club
  • Adjunct Faculty “Conversations in Teaching” (ACT)
  • Invited Guest Speakers
  • Annual University Research Conference
  • Community Partnership/Outreach Events
• New Faculty Orientation & Faculty Residency
• Scheduled Teaching Classroom Observation
• Scheduled Faculty Consultation
  • Inclusive and Culturally Responsive Teaching
  • Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
  • Faculty Team Building
  • Pedagogical Research
• Scholarly Academic Resource Materials  

Check back soon for information on resources!

The Center for Teaching and Learning has partnered with Western Galilee College in Israel to collaborate on research, teaching, learning and institutional advancement initatives. Possible iniatitives include Faculty-Faculty Joint Research, Joint Teaching (Canvas, Zoom etc.), Joint Student Projects, and Student and Faculty Exchange Possibilities. 

The collaboration kicked off in Fall 2022 with 18 GMercyU faculty members and 19 Western Galilee College faculty members. Faculty paired together on related research topics and have begun working together.

 The goals of this project are:

• To build international academic partnership with college in Israel through collaboration
• To provide innovative, cultural, and experiential teaching and learning experience
• To provide distance learning opportunities to broaden religious, cultural, and social understanding
• To provide scholarship opportunities for faculty
• To encourage faculty and students to work with groups from different cultural background and learn from each other
• To expose students to new ideas, cultures, and ways of viewing the world to broaden perspectives in various disciplines through multicultural, educational experience
• To practice culturally responsive teaching
• To engage in formal and informal discussions to enrich teaching and research
• To increase exposure to cultural diversity on our campus

If you are interested in learning more or participating, please contact SoYoung Kang, PhD at kang.s@gmercyu.edu. 

Beginning in the Spring 2023 semester, Center for Teaching and Learning will host bi-weekly faculty forums where faculty will be invited to present on recent research, conference presentations, or any other related happenings in their fields of study. See our lineup below: 

January 25, 2023: Mini-Grant: Mustard Seed Medical Interprofessional Mission Trip
Catherine Razzi

February 8, 2023: The Griffin Edge / Distinctive Mercy Experience in Academic Programs - Building Student Capactiy for Reflection and Engagement in the Classroom
Stephanie Frantantaro, Beth Knauss, SoYoung Kang

February 22, 2023: Use of Google/Trends Data in Suicide Research
John Gunn

March 15, 2023: Experiential Learning Panel
Janice Nuss, Carol Evans, MaryJo Pierantozzi, Maria Warnick

March 27, 2023: Mini-Grant: Use of an Escape Room Framework to Engage Local High School Students in STEM
Rebecca Rivard

April 12, 2023: Tsunejiro Miyaoka and the Diplomacy of the International Mind
Michael Clinton

April 26, 2023: Leading for Change: Organization and Administration in Higher Education
Tiffany Cresswell-Yeager

Contact SoYoung Kang, PhD for more information at kang.s@gmercyu.edu.