The Daily Bulletin Archive

Buffalo State College is a founding member of the Carnegie Academy for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning’s (CASTL) Campus Program, which is designed to improve the culture of teaching on college campuses. Although it may be difficult to describe CASTL in a few words, the program is redefining the concept of higher education research.

To illustrate CASTL’s premise, let’s take a hypothetical example using, well, a castle.

Two engineering professors bring groups of students to Boldt Castle in Alexandria Bay, in the heart of the Thousand Islands region. Professor X works with students to study the mathematics behind the castle’s beautiful archways and minarets. She not only takes the trip to share her engineering knowledge, but also to work with students for what will become a published research project on the effects of winter weather on the castle’s structural foundation.

Professor Y, by comparison, takes students to Boldt Castle not solely for the applied mathematical experience but also to study how the students learn engineering concepts through the out-of-classroom experience. He, too, is working on a research project—focusing on what teaching styles and course curricula best enhance engineering students’ skill sets.

Can both professors effectively use their research toward promotion and tenure? Yes, thanks to CASTL. And though Professor X will undeniably have quantitative data (e.g., hard numbers, applications for other structures) through her traditional style of research, Professor Y’s work still very much has the ability to help instructors better understand the most effective ways to teach.

“CASTL is designed to change the face of research in higher education,” said Cheryl Albers, associate professor of sociology and CASTL Campus Program coordinator. “Its initiatives cut across all schools. We’re trying to help campus communities be good consumers of teaching and learning research. We also want faculty members to become producers of this knowledge.”

Albers argues that Professor Y’s type of research is too often devalued in academia. She further contends that when this type of research meets the standards of quality applied to other forms of scholarship, it should not be discounted for faculty members seeking tenure. To encourage professors to focus their research on creating better learning environments, Buffalo State’s CASTL program awards three fellowships annually, each worth $3,000. Priority is given to projects that are most relevant to the college’s mission.

Over the years, fellows have studied topics such as effective grading for group work; the interaction between forms of media-based instruction, reading levels, and content recall; and strategies for using technology to help students integrate inquiry and action. A list of fellows and summaries of their projects is posted on the CASTL Web site.

Buffalo State College also boasts significant CASTL bragging rights: Involved in the Campus Program since its inception in 1998, the college is also one of 12 cluster leaders for the international organization. Buffalo State is collaborating with six other universities—two from the United Kingdom, two from the United States, one from Canada, and one from Australia—to develop ways to integrate CASTL’s principles into institutions’ philosophy, policy, and infrastructure. The members have met in Washington, D.C., and Sydney, Australia, to work together as part of a three-year plan. They met last month in Dublin, Ireland, and will meet in Canada’s Alberta province next October.

In addition to coordinating the CASTL Campus Program and acting as a leader for an international cluster group, Albers is an active researcher and teaches sociology classes. Despite her full plate, she remains committed to disseminating the great work being done by CASTL fellows and providing support for additional faculty members to conduct research on what works best for Buffalo State students.

“Many people here on campus don’t know they can focus all or part of their research on creating better learning environments,” she said. “CASTL can help make a big difference in the way students learn.”