In its broadest terms, CTL's purpose is to promote excellence in teaching at all ranks and excellence in student learning inside and outside the classroom. Our goal is to see teaching equally valued with research as a professional commitment of faculty and teaching assistants and to provide the training and resources to make excellent teaching possible.
Effective teaching encompasses more than just the transmission of subject matter, however.
Excellent teaching, first of all, gains the students' attention and convinces them of the importance of what is being taught and learned. Such teaching then communicates not only information and concepts but develops powers of analysis, synthesis, judgment, and evaluation, all in a context of considered values. When teaching has truly succeeded, students leave with an ability to learn, question, evaluate, and commit on their own. They should be training their minds and sensibilities for a lifetime responsibility of critical, independent thought and commitment to personal and community goals. They should have high expectations of their own efforts and of their teachers' efforts.