Getting on the Online Education Train: The Journey of a Small Higher Education Institution

Abstract

Many universities have instituted professional learning centres that support academic teaching staff in their capacity to facilitate student-centred learning. Some of these centres also extend their reach to incorporate scholarship and research. This paper reports on one such case, in which a small higher education institution in Australia established what has become known as the Centre for Advancement of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL). From its inception, the CASTL’s intentions have been multi-dimensional, in that its programs, activities and resource development span the following areas of scholarship: 1) learning and teaching; 2) researcher education and support of postgraduate supervision; and 3) the teaching-research nexus. This paper outlines the research-informed processes adopted to design and develop the CASTL, and reports on some of the results that have been achieved since the establishment of this centre of scholarship.