The Center for the Development of Quality Instruction

Mission

The Center for the Development of Quality Instruction at HAC ("Center") works closely with faculty to achieve excellence and innovation in teaching and learning. The Center's mission is to provide students at Hadassah Academic College with access to high quality and effective instruction in order to prepare them for the challenging job market (or for graduate degree programs).

Goals

Lifelong learning – is the key for ongoing success in preparing for current and future job markets. This applies not only to students, but also to educators, who must adapt their teaching methods to continuously changing developments in the field. The Center’s broad range of workshops and training sessions is continuously updated according to changing needs, and encourages each faculty member to participate in its training activities at every opportunity.

Upgrading faculty teaching skills – in a world that is constantly changing, the ability to stay up-to-date with the latest teaching tools and strategies is not just nice-to-have, but an absolute necessity.  The Center offers a large variety of workshops and training sessions on innovative teaching methods, cutting edge technological tools - intended to keep the students engaged, and essential soft skills for faculty members. 

Working Principles

High level training – HAC doesn’t compromise on the high-level of qualification of our workshop and training facilitators, based upon both the stingent general requirements of HAC, and the particular needs of certain departments and programs. The broad offering of workshops and training programs for HAC faculty includes single meetings, short-term interventions, and in-depth courses.

Personal contact – We emphasize establishing and maintaining a friendly, yet professional relationship with our faculty, making them comfortable to contact the Center's team regarding various teaching issues, to suggest topics for future training, and to invite their feedback on current and past activities.

Major Achievements

Wide outreach - In recent years, the percentage of HAC's faculty who have contacted the Center for assistance has been constantly increasing. This is especially true since the outbreak of COVID-19 and the switch to remote learning, which led to a record number of faculty who are actively taking advantage of the Center’s services.

Faculty motivation – HAC Faculty are eager to participate in our workshops, training sessions and courses. The Center has experienced a high level of satisfaction from faculty members participating in Center activities. They have consistently expressed their appreciation for the knowledge they've acquired - and its effectiveness in the classroom.

Special Challenges

Urgency – With the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, our faculty had to switch to remote instruction practically overnight. The Center played a major role in supporting our faculty in this process, providing them with technical, pedagogical, and even emotional help.

Transition to hybrid instruction – Starting with the 2021-2022 academic year, HAC is transitioning to hybrid instruction. Some of the courses will be fully frontal, others fully online (synchronous, asynchronous, or combined) while others will be converted to hybrid, combining frontal and online learning. This transfer poses a great challenge for both faculty and the Center, because it requires adaptation to substantially different teaching methods and preparing a large number of faculty in a short time, and upon short notice.

Expanded range of digital literacy – For some faculty, the transfer from face-to-face teaching to remote instruction has revealed that the need to use technology for teaching is an uphill struggle. We work hard to make them feel more confident in a digital environment.

Frequent changes – The Center must remain current with frequent changes and updates in policies and regulations, from both within the College and the system of higher education, as well as changes in IT systems, software updates, teaching methodologies, and technological tools.

Meeting tight deadlines – The Center continuously responds to all requests for intervention and training within a very short time frame.