Mary Wright is Associate Provost for Teaching and Learning, Executive Director of the Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning, and a Professor of Practice in the Department of Sociology at Brown University. She is also a former president (2017-18) of the Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network in Higher Education, the U.S. professional association for educational development. Her research interests include measuring the impact of educational development services and curricular assessment of student learning. Her book, Always at Odds?, about cultures of teaching, was published in 2008. Mary earned an A.B. in sociology from Princeton University and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Michigan.
Abstract
Educational development and the new normal
The shifts in higher education due to the COVID 19 pandemic are still unfolding, and the direction that teaching will take as a result of this crisis are still unclear. What will be the enduring legacy of the global pandemic on teaching, learning, and education development? Here, I will discuss that we are seeing an exacerbation of trends begun at the beginning of this century:
(1) the growth of centres of teaching and learning in the midst of a de-centered educational environment
(2) marked by four key roles that centres now play: hub, incubator, temple, and sieve.
