Using academic centers to enhance the scholarship of learning (emphasizing effective teaching and assessment strategies)

Pharmacy faculty at the University of the Pacific\u27s Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences have enhanced their scholarship of learning capacity through interactions with two University centers of excellence: the Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) and the Center for Social and Emotional Competence (CSEC). The CTL provides services and resources for all university faculty including new faculty orientation, individualized assessment and training, one-on-one mentoring, group workshops, collaborative forums and other support systems to assist faculty in becoming more effective teachers and scholars. In particular the CTL focuses on how to engage students in active learning and critical thinking as well as guide faculty in the scholarship of teaching and learning. New and established pharmacy faculty have developed collaborative research projects and research programs on the scholarship of learning with assistance from the CTL. The CSEC provides strategic direction for Pacific in social and emotional competence (SEC) development, with a goal of becoming the national leader in whole student learning. The CSEC has developed a unique model and measure of student SEC, has launched a university wide assessment strategy, and is developing teaching and learning modules to assist faculty and staff with implementing SEC development. In the Doctor of Pharmacy program, all first and second year students have completed the self-assessments and the data is being utilized to inform outcome assessment research as well as changes to teaching and learning strategies for faculty