UNLV's professors will have a place to pick up some learning of their own

Even college professors have room to learn more, and to that end, UNLV is setting up a facility designed to help them sharpen their teaching skills.

UNLV has hiredDouglas Robertson, an education professor from Portland State University, to head its new Teaching and Learning Center.

Robertson, who has done research in adult education, was selected out of 51 candidates in a nationwide search. He will begin April 1.

"With his research emphasis in the field of college teaching and the work he did to establish a similar training center at Portland State, he was the best candidate for the job," UNLV President Carol Harter said in a prepared statement.

The center, the first of its kind at UNLV, will serve as a resource center for faculty and teaching assistants.

Staff members who are specialists in instructional technology, such as computer use in classrooms and web design, will work individually as well as in workshops and seminars with faculty, Lori Temple, associate provost for information technology, said.

Professors will have the opportunity to explore new ways of teaching, and with the help of the staff they will be able to determine whether their teaching methods are making a difference in the classroom, she added.

The center will offer a library, software equipment and video systems that will provide feedback for the professors.

"'This is a place where faculty can go and get assistance with their teaching. It's something more and more schools are developing," Temple said.

The program will begin next fall and will be temporarily housed in the second floor of the Carlson Education Building.

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