What is the
Center for Teaching Excellence?

Maintaining an ongoing dialogue about good teaching is done through seminars, workshops, individual counseling, and course assessment activities with individuals, departments, and colleges and schools. CTE supports their improvement, development and enhancement of university teaching, and the highlighting and rewarding of excellent teaching is achieved through: the development of teaching effectiveness for faculty and teaching assistants through orientations, instructional development activities, evaluation of teaching performance, individual consultation on teaching practice and mentoring; the enhancement of teaching performance of mid-career and senior faculty by continuing education workshops and activities directed towards updates on new teaching and learning theory, technology, and pedagogy.

CTE supports improvement, development and enhancement of university teaching and the highlighting and rewarding of excellent teaching. This is achieved through: providing professional development in teaching practices with individual Manoa faculty and teaching assistants (TAs), departments, and colleges/schools at Manoa by:

• Developing and organizing presentations, seminars and workshops on best practices and innovations in teaching and learning;
• Providing individual consultations on teaching practices and mentoring of faculty and TAs in their professional development;
• Providing confidential evaluations of teaching performance and course assessment services during the semester to generate immediate improvements to a course in session as well as future courses;
• Enhancing of teaching performance of new faculty as well as mid-career and senior faculty by workshops and activities on new teaching and learning theory, technology, and pedagogy; and,
• Developing new and renovated teaching and learning spaces for collaborative and innovative practices, such as Sakamaki Innovation Zone (SIZ) and Webster 101 Collaborative Classroom (WEB101).

A Brief History

The Center for Teaching Excellence was initiated by the Board of regents in June 1987, within the Office of Faculty Development and Academic Support (OFDAS), to function as an academic support office with the overall mission of providing instructional and professional development activities and services for UHM faculty and academic staff. CTE provides programs that focus on creating teaching and learning environments in which:

• Faculty, teaching assistants and students are engaged by and grow in their knowledge of the course materials together. Simultaneously, knowledge and understanding of students and of teaching and learning develops in a climate of greater respect and exchange;
• Professional development integrates understanding of the culture, history and people of Hawai’i. This is critical for faculty and teaching assistants, many of whom come from cultures and educational backgrounds very different from our students at Mānoa, who in great part are born and raised in Hawai’i.

HOURS: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm
CLOSED: Weekends & State Holidays
CONTACT INFORMATION: See below