About the Center

The College established the Center for Workshop Education (CWE) to provide advice and initiative for the development of new Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) Workshops and the continuing improvement of existing PLTL Workshop courses. The CWE offers a forum for instructors, peer-leaders, and learning specialists to share ideas and practices about PLTL Workshops, and it houses the PLTL Workshop assessment program. The CWE also serves as the hub for pedagogical expertise for leader training courses; logistical support for organizing PLTL Workshops; and recognition for faculty, staff, and student leaders.

History

Established in 1995 by Vicki Roth (the assistant dean and executive director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning—now the Learning Center—until 2018) and Jack Kampmeier (former professor of chemistry) as a way to improve learning outcomes in a single course, organic chemistry I, PLTL Workshops now serve approximately 35 percent of the student population each year. Currently, PLTL Workshops are components of a range of additional courses in chemistry as well courses in biology, computer science, electrical engineering, linguistics, math, optics, philosophy, and most recently in chemical engineering.

Location

The CWE is a part of the Learning Center in Dewey 1-154. You can reach us by phone at (585) 275-9049.

Directors

Nic Hammond, Cecilia Barone, Kyle Trenshaw, Robin Frye and Jihan Ayesh are the co-directors of the CWE. This co-directorship reflects the partnership between learning theory and content knowledge that informs the PLTL Workshop model and is central to training the PLTL Workshop leaders.

Did you know...

The University of Rochester is a national leader in PLTL Workshop education. Approximately 300 leaders are trained to provide PLTL Workshops in more than 25 courses each year in support of 2,600 students.