Teaching and Learning Innovations

Funding from the Teagle Foundation will enable Lafayette and other members of the Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges to develop innovative approaches and methods of teaching and learning that incorporate digital communications and information tools.

With the $280,000, three-year grant, the schools will create shared courses and course modules using hybrid-learning approaches.

Teagle defines hybrid learning as a combination of online learning and face-to-face classes.

Potential benefits include enhanced faculty-student interaction, greater effectiveness in meeting the needs of a broad range of student learning styles, and innovative ways for faculty members to communicate and students to understand complex information and problems.

Hybrid approaches also open up opportunities for high-impact learning practices that are the hallmark of the undergraduate residential liberal arts college experience, such as cross-disciplinary collaboration, inquiry-based learning, research and fieldwork, global learning, and community-based learning.

Fostering innovation in teaching and learning is a major objective of the College’s $400 million Live Connected, Lead Change campaign. “This is a timely moment for the LVAIC colleges to develop strategies together in support of faculty teaching and student learning using hybrid approaches,” says Lafayette President Alison Byerly.