Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL)

Welcome to the Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning

At the Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning, we are dedicated to empowering educators and fostering a culture of innovation and excellence in higher education. Through our comprehensive range of services, we aim to support faculty in enhancing their teaching practices and enriching the learning experience for SQU students.

Our services include:
● Professional Development Workshops: Training sessions on effective teaching strategies, assessment methods, and integrating technology in education.
● Consultations: One-on-one and group consultations on course design, active learning, and curriculum development.
● Teaching Excellence Programs: Certification programs to promote evidence-based teaching practices.
● Research Support: Guidance on action research and scholarly research in teaching and learning.
● Learning Resources: Access to teaching toolkits, online course design Pedagogy, and instructional design support.

We work closely with faculty to assist them in creating learning experiences that ignites curiosity, cultivates potential, and drives meaningful change for
their students.

Dr. Asma Al-Ghassani
Director, Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning

Who we are?	Welcome to Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) is a service oriented and research led center that supports the university to achieve its strategic teaching and learning aims.
Vision	The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) will serve to position Sultan Qaboos University at the forefront of research-based teaching and learning practices in higher education.
Mission	The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning will: Promote learning by supporting and enhancing effective higher education teaching and learning practices evidenced by current research, and aligned with the requirements of the major accrediting agencies. Stimulate a learning community that continually explores the relationship between higher education teaching and learning. Encourage research and scholarship in teaching and learning in higher education. Provide consultancy services in the areas of teaching and learning in higher education.
Objectives	The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning will: Provide professional development and consultancy for faculty to support the implementation of best practices in teaching and learning through programs, services, and resources. Create, promote, and support community learning through: Supervising awards for excellence in teaching. Providing opportunities for reflection on pedagogical practices. Managing a Faculty Fellows program. Managing faculty and staff teaching “experts” who will share their teaching expertise with colleagues and who may post online teaching portfolios.Conduct and disseminate research on teaching and learning. Conduct a periodic needs assessment to adapt to changing situations, goals, and research findings related to teaching and learning. Work collaboratively with the Centre for Educational Technology (CET) to provide consultation services to faculty aimed toward more effective teaching. While CETL will provide consultation services, CET staff will provide e-learning and technology support to CETL and to the faculty. CETL will showcase e-learning platforms that are promoted by CET and will co-host workshops as appropriate.Report to faculty and administration formative and summative evaluation data related to curriculum change and student learning. Offer certificate in higher education teaching and learning (CHETL).
Values

Certificate in Higher Education Teaching and Learning program

Program focus

The Certificate in Higher Education Teaching and Learning (CHETL) program is designed to support faculty in developing the strategies and skills needed to improve teaching and maximize student learning at SQU.

Program goals

Recipients of the Certificate in Higher Education Teaching and Learning Program have demonstrated the ability to:

Apply instructional strategies suggested in current research and pedagogical literature related to; learner-centered education; development of critical thinking skills, establishment of appropriate learning goals at the course and program levels, and development of appropriate assessments to measure student achievement of those
goals.
Apply the principles and theories of learning and curriculum design when creating active environments.
Reflect on teaching practice to describe the correlation between course climate and student learning.
Give effective feedback to fellow teachers.
Guide students in life-long learning, career planning and reflection in practice.
Use the SQU course outline to align university graduate attributes, program outcomes, learning objectives, teaching and learning activities, materials, assessment tools, and feedback.

Program Structure

CETL will offer online courses and meeting sessions focused on the topics shown in Table 1. Participants must attend courses and meetings and complete course assignments and produce outcomes to fulfill certain requirements to earn the
required number of credits in each category. The duration of the program is one year. In addition, the following 4 components must be successfully completed by each participant maximum within one year of their enrolment:

1. Earn credits in courses assignments or produce outcomes as explained in Table 1.
2. Peer Assessment as explained in Section A below.
3. Capstone Portfolio submission as explained in Section B below.
4. A proposal for a research-based teaching/SOTL as explained in Section C below.

A. CHETL Peer assessment includes 2 parts:
1. Completion of a peer review process as the reviewee and,
2. Completion of a peer review process as the reviewer.
B. CHETL Capstone Portfolio should contain:
1- Philosophical and theoretical foundations of your teaching.

2- Course Outline for one or more courses including course goals, outcome- based learning objectives, course assessment tools and related rubrics.

3- One classroom-based research analysis of student learning.

4- One new lesson plan for the creation of an active, student-centered learning environment that includes classroom layout, instructional strategies, student activities, and authentic assessment.
5- Sample course assignments and activities that promote student critical thinking skills development.

6- Personal reflection on student learning that includes an analysis of student evaluations of the course design and instruction.

7- Workshop / course certificates.
Note: There will be a charge for the portfolio review at the time of submission.

C. CHETL Research-based teaching/SOTL should contain:

A proposal for a research based on implementing new teaching practices or methodologies used in the classroom teaching and showed improvement in student learning with evidences.

Note: All the topics in sections A,B and C above are presented in recorded workshops posted in the online course page, followed by a series of one- to-one consultations with learning coaches (if needed) and finally produce an output.

CHTL Faculty fellow

Program focus

The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Sultan Qaboos University provides services to academic faculty, thus enhancing the quality of teaching and learning first at SQU, then at both public and private higher education institutions nationally. CETL also makes visible the intellectual work of teaching while recognizing excellent Faculty Fellows across the SQU Colleges.

Program goals

The Faculty Fellows of CETL are expected to assume the following responsibilities:

Conducting peer consultation
Modeling and promoting teaching excellence
Developing outcome-based learning objectives
Promoting innovation in teaching
Promoting student success
Linking the College to the Center
Conducting workshops
Promoting center activities and events
Committee participation

In addition, CETL provides other services to SQU Colleges and faculty. These services include development of workshops specific to the requests of individual academic programs, classroom observation, confidential consultation, syllabus and assessment review, along with print and electronic resources. Faculty Fellows Program recognizes faculty who use excellent teaching/learning strategies derived from classroom-based research and who will be trained to act as college and program consultants. CETL staff will work with administration and faculty to assess both curriculum/teaching changes as well as document the impact these changes have on student learning. This collaborative evaluation process include the establishment of performance goals, assessment criteria, identification or design of assessment tools, data collection, and reporting.

Program Structure

The following modules must be successfully completed by each participant with 2 years:

1- Year 1: Online Modules completion: 35 credits

Table 1:

Workshop Modules	Credits
Introduction to Educational Philosophy	5
Outcome Based Learning Objectives	5
Pedagogy Models/Instructional Strategies	4
Teaching Critical Thinking	5
Assessment and Rubric design/selection	5
Course design	5
Research-based teaching and/or SOTL	2
Peer assessment	2
Capstone Portfolio	2
Total credits	35

End of Year 1: Attend the Training of Trainers program.
Year 2: Deliver two workshops — one for their unit (college/center) and one for the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.

Brief Introduction

The GenAI competition is a pioneering initiative designed to use the power of generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) within Sultan Qaboos University (SQU). SQU aims to engage its faculty, staff, and students across all colleges and units to foster innovation using GenAI in order to enhance SQU’s five pillars. In collaboration with Code Academy, SQU executing this competition.

SQU’s five pillars Objectives

To inspire the SQU faculty, staff, and students to incorporate GenAI in their respective fields.
To facilitate cross-disciplinary learning and application of GenAI technologies.
To share effective GenAI-driven practices across different colleges and units.
To promote a culture of continuous innovation, entrepreneurship and technology adoption at SQU

Targeted audience

This competition is open to individuals or teams (max. 5 members) from SQU affiliated members such as the faculty, students and staff members. All members of the team should be from SQU.

Expected outcomes:

Raising awareness of all stakeholders about the potential benefits of GenAI applications in the academic, community services, administrative settings, and entrepreneurship.
Development and dissemination of practical GenAI solutions (GenAI Assistant, Mobile App, Website) that can be adapted across different colleges and units.

Competition Phases

The following diagram illustrate the different stages of the competition implementation

Competition Phases

Timeline

Timeline of the Competition

Incentives and Gifts
• Prizes include a 400 OMR gift for each category.
• All participants in the teams will receive certificates.

Filtration process

After closing the registration, a review process will start to select 25 teams/ideas. Five ideas will be qualified from each pillar. A maximum of the best 25 ideas will be qualified for the implementation phase of the competition. The following are the preliminary evaluation (pre-assessment) criteria.

Filtration process

Applicability and Relevance: Evaluate the degree to which the solution addresses a real- world problem relevant to the selected pillars at Sultan Qaboos University.
Innovation and Creativity: Assess the originality and creativity of the proposed solution, considering how it leverages Generative AI in a unique and novel manner.
Feasibility and Technical Soundness: Examine the technical feasibility of the proposed solution, including the clarity of the technical approach, the use of appropriate algorithms, and the feasibility of implementation.
Impact and Scalability: Analyze the potential impact of the solution, both in terms of addressing the specific challenge and its scalability for broader applications or commercialization.
Problem Definition and Understanding: Assess the team's understanding of the problem they are addressing, including the depth of research and the clarity with which the problem is defined.
Ethical Considerations: Consider the ethical implications of the proposed solution, ensuring that it adheres to ethical standards and aligns with principles of responsible AI development.

Training

To equip participant with the required technical skills to implement their solutions (AI Assistant agent), Code Academy will run two days bootcamp that will cover general information about GenAI, prompt engineering, and developing custom GPT based on ChatGPT.

Final Evaluation

During this culminating phase, these elite teams/individuals will showcase the fruits of their one month endeavors, emphasizing the transformation of their innovative concepts into fully realized prototypes. Each team/individual is tasked with delivering a refined project pitch, highlighting the prototype's readiness, technical sophistication, and its potential for practical implementation. Expert evaluators, guided by predefined criteria, scrutinize the technical depth, robustness, and real-world applicability of the solutions. Beyond a mere recognition of excellence, the Final Evaluation provides a platform for these teams to articulate the market viability and practical impact of their solutions, contributing to the broader discourse on the transformative role of Generative AI. The outcome of this stage will unveil the champions, acknowledging those whose innovations epitomize the highest standards of technical prowess, creativity, and relevance to industry challenges. Each team/individual will be asked to give 10 min illustration of his/her implementation. Based on the evaluation criteria, the winner from each pillar will be identified.

Final evaluation criteria

The following are the preliminary evaluation criteria.

Final evaluation criteria

Prototype Readiness: Assess the maturity and completeness of the prototype, considering its functionality, user interface, and any tangible outputs.
Technical Implementation: Evaluate the technical depth and sophistication of the solution, including the utilization of advanced algorithms, optimization, and efficiency.
Innovation and Creativity: Examine the extent to which the solution demonstrates innovation and creativity in addressing the specified challenge, pushing the boundaries of Generative AI.
Practical Applicability: Assess the solution's practicality and relevance to real-world challenges, ensuring its potential for meaningful impact.
Scalability and Adaptability: Analyze the scalability of the solution for broader applications and its adaptability to varying scenarios.
Market Viability: Evaluate the project's potential for commercialization, considering market demand, feasibility, and the likelihood of successful implementation.

Integration with Industry Standards: Evaluate the extent to which the solution adheres to and integrates with existing industry standards and practices.
Impact Assessment: Examine the projected impact of the solution, both in terms of addressing the specified challenge and contributing to broader advancements technology.
Presentation Quality and Articulation: Evaluate the clarity, coherence, and persuasiveness of the final project pitch, ensuring effective communication of the solution's key aspects within the allocated time.

The following are the general copyright and Intellectual Property (IP) Guidelines for the participants.

Compliance with Ethical Guidelines: All ideas and projects submitted must comply with Sultan Qaboos University's (SQU) ethical guidelines and the Sultanate of Oman laws. Participants are responsible for ensuring that their submissions do not violate any ethical or legal standards.
Ownership and Permissions: By submitting an abstract or project, participants confirm that they are the sole owners of the ideas and concepts presented. If any third-party content is included in the submission, participants must have obtained all necessary permissions to use this content.
Retention of Copyright: Participants (individuals or teams) retain the copyright to their submitted abstracts and ideas. This means that the original creators maintain ownership of their intellectual property.
License to SQU: By entering the competition, participants grant SQU a non-exclusive, royalty- free license to use, display, and publish their submissions for promotional and educational purposes. This license allows the university to showcase the innovative work of participants and promote the competition and its outcomes
University's Rights: SQU reserves the right to use submitted ideas for educational, promotional, and research purposes. This includes the right to publish abstracts in university publications and on the university website, as well as using the content in presentations, reports, and other academic or promotional materials.
Dispute Resolution: Any disputes regarding copyright or intellectual property arising from the competition will be resolved in accordance with SQU's policies and procedures as well as Sultanate of Oman laws. Participants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with these policies to ensure compliance.

1) Reports: 5 Years of Progress:2015-2024
2) SQU Teaching and Learning Strategies Handbook
3) Sultan Qaboos University Teaching Philosophy
4) SQU AI Guidelines	SQU AI Guidelines for Teaching, learning and Assessment
	SQU AI Guidelines for administrative purposes
	Examples for using AI in teaching and assessment from different SQU colleges
5) Procedures	- Faculty Fellows Training Program - New Academic Faculty Members Orientation Program