Center for Teaching and Learning

The primary goal of the Center for Teaching and Learning will be to enhance and focus the culture of learning and entrepreneurial experimentation across the university. Further, the CTL will provide a workshop space and resources to explore, test, and assess new ideas for teaching and learning to enhance student experience, learning outcomes, and efficiency. Resources might include advancement in pedagogy, research, partnership or collaboration opportunities, clinical placements, community engagement, instructional designers, technologies or tools, as needed. Lastly, the CTL will create on campus events and foster connections across other colleges or K-12 schools to create networks of sharing and learning throughout the area.

The Center for Teaching and Learning will aim to become a cultural hub within the University, creating an innovative space where exchanging ideas, experimenting with new strategies, and regular campus events uplift teaching and learning throughout all levels of Gwynedd Mercy’s campus and position Gwynedd Mercy as a local hotspot for innovation among other academic institutions in the area.

SoYoung Kang, PhD
Coordinator of Center for Teaching and Learning
kang.s@gmercyu.edu 
University Hall E202
In-Office: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Remote: Monday

Dr. Kang is the Coordinator of Center for Teaching and Learning and an adjunct professor at GMercyU.

Prior to this, she was a tenured Associate Professor of Education at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania and an Assistant Professor at Ohio University. Courses that she taught include English Language Learners and Cultural Diversity, Diversity within Family, School, and Community Partnership, Education and Cultural Diversity, Cross-Cultural Perspectives and Educational Leadership, Organizational Research and Theory Development, Foundations of Education, School, Society and the Professional Educator, Honors Research, Student Teaching Supervision, and Professional Studies: Teachers, Schools, and Society. Her field of research interest includes multicultural education, comparative education, culturally responsive teaching, cultural studies, social justice issues in education, care theory, philosophy of education, literacy, identity, and English Learners.

She was recognized and awarded as Teacher of Honor by Kappa Delta Pi, international honor society in education. She received her M.Ed in Community Counseling in Education, and her Ph.D. in Cultural Studies in Education from the University of Tennessee.

Dr. Kang has presented at many professional conferences and published numerous articles in national/international journals, newspapers, and books.

• Faculty Development
• Inclusive and Culturally Responsive Teaching
• Teaching with Technology
• Teaching Observation and Consultation
• CTL Faculty Forum – sharing scholarship, research, publication, community service, projects
• Pedagogical research
• Collaboration and Partnership – local, regional, and international
• Professional Development: Workshop and Training
• New Faculty Orientation & Faculty Residency
• Pedagogy Book Club
• Guest Speaker
• Campus Events and Activities
• Faculty Team Building

Check back soon for information on resources!

The Center for Teaching and Learning has partnered with Western Galilee College in Israel to collaborate on research, teaching, learning and institutional advancement initatives. Possible iniatitives include Faculty-Faculty Joint Research, Joint Teaching (Canvas, Zoom etc.), Joint Student Projects, and Student and Faculty Exchange Possibilities. 

The collaboration kicked off in Fall 2022 with 18 GMercyU faculty members and 19 Western Galilee College faculty members. Faculty paired together on related research topics and have begun working together.

 The goals of this project are:

• To build international academic partnership with college in Israel through collaboration
• To provide innovative, cultural, and experiential teaching and learning experience
• To provide distance learning opportunities to broaden religious, cultural, and social understanding
• To provide scholarship opportunities for faculty
• To encourage faculty and students to work with groups from different cultural background and learn from each other
• To expose students to new ideas, cultures, and ways of viewing the world to broaden perspectives in various disciplines through multicultural, educational experience
• To practice culturally responsive teaching
• To engage in formal and informal discussions to enrich teaching and research
• To increase exposure to cultural diversity on our campus

If you are interested in learning more or participating, please contact SoYoung Kang, PhD at kang.s@gmercyu.edu. 

Beginning in the Spring 2023 semester, Center for Teaching and Learning will host bi-weekly faculty forums where faculty will be invited to present on recent research, conference presentations, or any other related happenings in their fields of study. See our lineup below: 

January 25, 2023: Mini-Grant: Mustard Seed Medical Interprofessional Mission Trip
Catherine Razzi

February 8, 2023: The Griffin Edge / Distinctive Mercy Experience in Academic Programs - Building Student Capactiy for Reflection and Engagement in the Classroom
Stephanie Frantantaro, Beth Knauss, SoYoung Kang

February 22, 2023: Use of Google/Trends Data in Suicide Research
John Gunn

March 15, 2023: Experiential Learning Panel
Janice Nuss, Carol Evans, MaryJo Pierantozzi, Maria Warnick

March 27, 2023: Mini-Grant: Use of an Escape Room Framework to Engage Local High School Students in STEM
Rebecca Rivard

April 12, 2023: Tsunejiro Miyaoka and the Diplomacy of the International Mind
Michael Clinton

April 26, 2023: Leading for Change: Organization and Administration in Higher Education
Tiffany Cresswell-Yeager

Contact SoYoung Kang, PhD for more information at kang.s@gmercyu.edu.