The Department of Teaching, Learning & Culture


Teaching, Learning and Culture (TLAC) encompasses students, faculty and staff whose efforts and interests center on the many different aspects of academics, teaching and classroom education. TLAC’s mission is to create experiences that advance teaching, research and service through the application of knowledge in the preparation and development of quality educators; placing high value on collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, democratic governance and global leadership.

Having two highly-ranked graduate programs within one department serves as an index of the world-class academic programs and faculty who are committed to a culture of excellence in research and discovery, and the scholarship of teaching.

-Dr. Michael de Miranda, Dean of The School of Education and Human Development 

From Our Former Students


“One of the things that set this program apart is that it is located within the Teaching, Learning & Culture Department at Texas A&M. There’s more to teaching than just delivering a curriculum or instructional strategy; we have to consider the influence that culture has one what we do.”

Dr. Byron William

Online Ed.D in Curriculum & Instruction

TLAC PROGRAMS

Former TLAC student teaching middlegrades

UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES

TLAC offers a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Education, with one of three focuses.

Former TLAC student teaching middlegrades

Graduate Programs

The Culture and Curriculum program offers students the opportunity to learn and grow in many areas.

students studying on computer for teacher certification

GLOBAL ONLINE EDUCATION

Providing greater opportunities and flexibility for students, TLAC offers online degree programs, in addition to many individual Web-based classes.

kid working online

Certificates

TLAC offers several types of certificates for students as well as Texas Teacher Certifications

Instructional Design Services

About


The Instructional Design Services supports faculty in several ways such as the design and development of a full course or review and revise an existing course. Furthermore, additional services that can be provided are helping faculty in using Canvas and/or Third-Party tools that are supported by Texas A&M University and/or College of Education and Human Development. Instructional Design support and training needs are available to all faculty and graduate students teaching in the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture (TLAC) at Texas A&M University.

Contact


Kevin Lawanto
Instructional Designer
knlawanto@tamu.edu

354 Harrington Tower
Mail stop TAMU 4232
Phone: 979.845.3942

Services


  • Recommendations for student engagement and assessment.
  • Guidance on accessibility and ADA compliance.
  • Suggestions for streamlining course management and efficiency.
  • Advice for selecting and implementing learning tools.
  • Data collection and analysis for course or program improvement.
  • Video and multimedia assistance.
  • Course building consultations.
  • Canvas course troubleshooting.
  • Ideas for utilizing emerging technologies.
  • Assistance with integrating educational technologies in your course design.

Events


Future Canvas workshops and trainings will be posted here. Such events will be hosted in a hybrid format. Faculty may choose to attend in person or via Zoom. Please register to receive a link to the session. Training cloud recordings are only available to those with a Texas A&M University password.

Newsletter


TLAC Instructional Designer Services produces a monthly course design newsletter on topics related to teaching and teaching with technology.

The newsletter archive can be accessed here. The contents of the newsletter are intended for faculty within the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture.

Faculty Resources


ORCA
Merged Courses can be created by instructors using ORCA. Keep in mind that, there are two deadlines associated with each term: The first is the last date that Instructors of Record can combine sections using the self-service option in ORCA. The second date is the final date that the Office for Academic Innovation can accept requests to merge course sections ahead of a given term.

When course sections are merged after students interact with a course, those interactions are lost and cannot be recovered. For this reason, course merge after the second deadline will not be accepted. Course merge deadline will always fall before the start of the term to ensure student data is not lost.

Learn more: Combine Course Sections in ORCA

 

Canvas Template
Texas A&M University have partnered with Instructure to build a template that has been added to every provisioned Canvas course shell. Curated resources are available to better assist instructors in enhancing the template provided to include assets and template design that integrate instructional and graphic design best practices, customization tutorials, and innovative tools to use in their Canvas course regardless of the delivery mode they use.

Learn more: Customizing the TAMU Template

 

Course Building Best Practices
If you have a course in Canvas from a prior semester or one that you havebuilt in your development shell, you may want to move all of the content into the live course shell for the upcoming semester. Use the resource link below to determine what route you should take for moving your content from one semester to another.

Learn more: Copying Canvas Materials Between Courses

 

Canvas Training Playlists
The Office for Academic Innovation have organized a video playlists to target instructors course design and delivery needs. I encourage you to visit this site throughout the semester as they build out additional resources.

Learn more: Canvas Playlists

 

Keep Teaching
Keep Teaching is a comprehensive guide to using the digital learning environment to deliver course instruction across the four modalities currently supported at Texas A&M University. It is encouraged to start with the end in mind as you design your course for delivery across these four modalities. Doing so will ensure you maximize the learner experience; leverage technology for greater engagement and efficiencies; and limit complexity for both course instructors and students.

Learn more: Keep Teaching

 

Canvas Instructor Guide
To navigate deeper into what Canvas can do, check out the Canvas Guides

Learn more:
Canvas Instructor Guides
Canvas Video Guides

 

Undergraduate Peer Mentors – Technology (UPMTs)
UPMTs are TLAC students who successfully completed EDCI 365, love integrating technology in the classroom, and are assigned to coursesections to support the class. UPMTs mainly work with students in EDCI 365 but are available to help any TLAC students with their educational technology needs.

Learn more: UPMT Appointment

 

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