Integrated Framework for Teaching and Learning

We are please to share that the Report of the Learning Technologies Task Force entitled ‘Strategic Framework for Learning Technologies’ was approved by General Faculties Council (GFC) in June 2014.

View a copy of the report

The University of Calgary is a research-intensive institution committed to supporting and encouraging all forms of scholarship in a rich learning and teaching environment.

Framework Document

Systemic, Specialized and Sustained: University of Calgary Integrated Framework for Teaching and Learning

Research and Literature Review

The ILTP Task Force commissioned research on faculty members’ perceptions on the subject, and also commissioned a literature review on learning and teaching in higher education. These findings informed the development of the draft framework.

Institutional Learning and Teaching Plan Task Force

The University of Calgary is a research-intensive institution committed to supporting and encouraging all forms of scholarship in a rich learning and teaching environment. A robust plan or framework is essential to ensuring the continuous improvement of this environment.

An Institutional Learning and Teaching Plan Task Force will lead the university in developing this plan or framework for eventual consideration and endorsement by the General Faculties Council. Terms of Reference

The plan or framework will:

  • Provide guidance for all academic and learning support units as they undertake the planning of teaching and learning activities.

  • Emphasize what is expected in teaching and learning, specifying ways in which these expectations might be achieved.

  • Provide an academic framework to guide future consideration of infrastructure, resource and policy decisions related to learning and teaching.

Member List

Chair: Dennis Sumara

Dean, Faculty of Education

Kelly Goss

Graduate Students' Association

Ayodeji Jeje

Associate Dean, Teaching and Learning, Schulich School of Engineering; Chair, Learning and Instructional Development Subcommittee of the Academic Program Committee

Meg Martin

Vice-President, Academic, Students' Union

Clem Martini

Faculty of Fine Arts; Chair, Teaching and Learning Funding Committee

Leanne Morrow

Libraries and Cultural Resources

Leslie Reid

Faculty of Science; Tamaratt Teaching Professor in Geoscience

Ann Tierney

Vice-Provost, Students

Support: Theresa Abel

Provost's Office

Messages and Updates

We have all seen how a wide range of learning technologies are changing the ways students and professors connect, communicate and collaborate in learning and teaching. The launch of the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning and the introduction of Desire2Learn as our online learning environment created a perfect opportunity for the University of Calgary to assess its place in the contemporary learning technologies landscape and develop an institutional plan for integrating technologies to enhance both learning and teaching experiences. Rising to this challenge, the Learning Technologies Task Force has been working since July to develop a strategic framework for high quality learning experiences that are enhanced and enabled by technology.

The work of the task force is well underway. Representing a wide spectrum of academic, student, and resource groups from across our University community, the task force has already collaborated to create a detailed plan to guide its work. Teams have undertaken a scan of learning technologies strategies in other institutions, as well as a literature review to ensure the University of Calgary’s strategic framework is strongly informed by research in the field.

Now the Learning Technologies Task Force needs your help. To create a learning technologies framework that will have the most positive impact on learning and teaching at the University of Calgary, we need your input. Task force members have created a short survey to collect information across academic units to help us understand how faculty and students are using learning technologies and how the University can better support efforts to integrate technology in learning and teaching. Like any survey, the value of the results depends on the participation of respondents.

I am writing to ask that you go to the Learning Technologies Survey and take 10-15 minutes to complete a short, anonymous questionnaire before October 31 – your response will provide vital information to guide future decision making about learning technologies at the University of Calgary, and will be appreciated.

If you have questions about the survey, or about the work of the Learning Technologies Task Force more generally, please contact a task force representative in your area:

  • Dru Marshall, Provost and Vice-President Academic – Chair
  • Lynn Taylor, Vice-Provost, Teaching and Learning
  • Representatives appointed by Deans of Faculties/Schools
    • Susan Cork (Veterinary Medicine)
    • Michael Ullyot (Arts-English)
    • Beaumie Kim (Education)
    • Tina Gabriele (Kinesiology)
    • Michael Robinson (Business
    • Ruth Swart (Nursing)
    • Bruce Wright (Medicine)
    • Leslie Reid (Science)
    • Mike Potter (Engineering)
    • Ellen Perrault (Social Work)
    • Larissa Muller (EVDS)
    • Renee Rheaume (Library)
    • David Hawes (Continuing Education)
  • Members-at-large
    • Ken MacMillan (Arts-History)
    • Michele Jacobsen (Education)
  • Emily Macphail, Vice President Academic, Students’ Union
  • Liam Cummings, Vice President Academic, Graduate Students’ Association
  • Patti Dyjur, Teaching and Learning Centre
  • D'Arcy Norman, Information Technologies

I would like to express my thanks to the task force members for their ongoing contributions. The active participation of a committed group of colleagues from across the University community is essential to creating a strong institutional learning technology framework. We look forward to sharing our report with you in March of 2014.

Dru Marshall, Provost and Vice-President (Academic)

  • New Plan for U of C Needs Student Input:  January 13, 2011, Gauntlet 
  • It's your turn to have your say!:  January 13, 2011, UToday 
  • Draft Framework for Teaching and Learning Now Available: December 15, 2010, UToday
  • Commentary Invited on Integrated Framework for Teaching and Learning: December 10, 2010
  • Enhancing Learning and Teaching: September 30, 2010, UToday
  • Update about the Plan: September 2, 2010, UToday
  • Update from the Chair: April 23, 2010
  • Q&A with Dennis Sumara: April 23, 2010, UToday
  • Note from the Provost: March 26, 2010

Everyone knows what "good" teaching is. Or do they?

Although the definition of a good teacher has evolved over time, teachers have consistently been seen as responsible for effecting change. According to the current value-added model, effective teaching is not framed in terms of the specific actions of the teacher, but in terms of students’ progress relative to where they began. But emergent research teaching suggests that good teaching isn’t at all about changing students; it’s about challenging them. That’s a game changer that should prod us to rethink and redefine what teaching is all about.

Brent Davis, Professor and Research Chair in Mathematics Education, University of Calgary and Dennis Sumara, Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Education, University of Calgary share their insights on this topic in their article, The Hard Work of Learning and the Challenges of Good Teaching, in Education Canada Magazine.