Center for Teaching & Learning

Support for Success

The Center for Teaching and Learning, known on campus as the CTL, is a tremendous academic resource for ALL Knox students. Its mission is clear: to invigorate learning and to help students optimize their educational experiences.

Everything we do in the CTL is predicated upon four central ideas.

Knox students have the talent and ability to succeed academically. 

To ensure student success, we place our students at the center of everything we do—to assist them in the identification, development, and utilization of their academic talents and abilities.

Academic success involves active and not passive learning. 

Passive learning is simply inferior to active learning. Active learning engages, challenges, and directs students in the pursuit of a truly transformative education. Learn more about passive versus active learners. 

In order for students to obtain a truly transformative education, they have to learn how to learn. 

Prior to coming to Knox, students are usually directed to learn, but are rarely taught how to learn. Obviously, there is no one way to learn, and each of us learns in ways that are unique and personal to ourselves. Still, there are strategies and methods students can employ to discover how they learn best. These include learning how to make academically sound choices, determine and accomplish goals, focus and direct energies, and learn how to become effective and powerful learners.

Optimal learning is a social activity. 

Perhaps out of habit or resort, when students are not in class, most of them choose to study in isolation. In their own rooms. Late into the night. When they are tired. Very tired. If they have questions, they can search for answers. And search again. At some point, they are not even learning anymore. But fighting off sleep.

CTL programming is designed to encourage students to optimize their learning by studying with with experienced CTL peers. Learning with CTL peers is social learning. Social learning allows students to ask questions, listen to others, listen to themselves, talk about shared interests, exchange ideas, hear multiple perspectives, learn how to solve problems in more than one way, and become better learners.