Revised Goals of the IDU

As of October 2007, the IDU revised its goals in order to better reflect its schedule of activities, as well as to align the Unit's business with the strategic aims of the revised draft Strategic Plan 2007-2012.

1. To promote best practice in teaching at the University by:

• Working with teaching staff to improve learning methods, methods of instruction and assessment.
• Developing and sourcing teaching material about effective teaching and disseminating it to members of the University community.
• Providing forums for the exchange of ideas and information on tertiary level learning and teaching.
• Supporting the purposeful use of information and communication technologies in learning and teaching.
• Maintaining membership in the world’s leading higher education associations.

2. To foster the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) at the undergraduate and graduate levels by:

• Engaging teaching staff in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Programme.
• Creating learning communities.
• Hosting Teaching/Learning Research Days starting in October 2008.
• Using the 2009 eLearning Conference as a platform for the campus community to share its work with an international audience.

3. To elevate the status of teaching at the St. Augustine campus by:

• Recognizing and rewarding teaching excellence.
• Sensitizing lecturers to their role as teachers through workshops and individual or departmental consultations.

4. To certify teaching through formalized programmes.

• Certificate in University Teaching.
• Master in Tertiary Level Teaching and Learning.
• UBC Faculty Certificate Program on Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (HE).

5. To guide the curriculum review process and approve curriculum documentation by:

• Providing guidelines for establishing and monitoring the curriculum review process.
• Conducting training sessions on the curriculum review process.
• Facilitating course development, revision and/or repackaging, and approval.

6. To become the authority for research on higher education in the Caribbean by:

• Establishing an unrivalled research unit at the IDU.
• Conducting research on teaching and learning on the St. Augustine campus.
• Establishing a peer reviewed journal in higher education in the Caribbean.