Vision and Mission

Our Vision: 'Innovating Teaching, Transforming Learning'

Our Mission:

The Office of Teaching and Learning (OTL) is the leader in championing the University of Guelph’s pedagogical mission. We provide expertise in, and passionately advocate for, innovative and evidence-informed pedagogical approaches to build, maintain, and promote collaborative successes for our learners and campus community. We mobilize data, research, and relationships to inform best practices in the following strategic areas:

1. Design and Alignment

We promote the intentional design of teaching, learning, and curriculum through constructive alignment and universal design principles. Starting with outcomes, we collaborate in the design and alignment of high-impact, inclusive educational experiences from lesson plans, through courses, to whole programs.

2. Pedagogy and Practice

We partner with instructors at all career stages and in all capacities to enhance and expand their instructional approaches. Through our programming and consultations, we incorporate reflective practice, advocate for learner-centred instructional development, and encourage risk taking and new approaches in the classroom.

3. Assessment and Evaluation

We guide instructors, departments, and Colleges in the process of systematically collecting and reviewing evidence of student learning to promote pedagogies that enhance learning and inform innovations. We partner in curricular analysis, assessment, and evaluation of effective design of courses and programs.

4. Research and Inquiry

We research, fund, and collaborate on scholarship that informs and enhances learning experiences, teaching practices, and educational development within and across the disciplines. By examining and reflecting on the intended, achieved, and perceived outcomes of student learning, we ignite curiosity to elevate educational experiences on campus and advance the field of teaching and learning in higher education.

5. Leadership and Innovation

We contribute our expertise as educational leaders to transformative and innovative teaching and learning initiatives at the local, provincial, national, and international levels. We recognize and celebrate teaching champions, and we create opportunities for developing educational leadership. Collaboratively, we explore creative approaches to innovate materials, activities, assessments, and research.