MIIETL ready with redesign

Located on the fifth floor of Mills Library, the McMaster Institute for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching and Learning has just completed a renovation project for its offices.

Accessed by the rear-facing elevator doors and separated from the rest of the library, MIIETL feels tucked away, relatively undisturbed. But the renovations have really modernized the look and feel of the office space, and will allow MIIETL to better accommodate a potential increase in traffic from the McMaster population.

Formerly known as the Centre for Leadership in Learning, MIIETL is responsible for online initiatives at McMaster University, whether it's Avenue to Learn or a number of new blended online learning courses. But with a full-time staff of over 30 and numerous other part-time students and researchers, that's only a small part of what they do, explained Teaching and Learning Director Arshad Ahmad.

"In simple language, we help teachers to improve," he said. "We are partners with faculty, with staff, with students; whoever is in the business of teaching and learning and wants to improve, we're there to support them."

"Our business is helping people, to improve teaching, but also collecting evidence and doing research on teaching - in partnership," he emphasized.

With more of MIIETL's work being directed towards research on effective teaching and learning, the goal is for the redesign to allow more space for new students and researchers who will be working in collaboration with the institute. However, the renovations haven't expanded out of the occupied area; rather, it's given the offices a level of privacy that wasn't afforded by the cubicle-like walls before. In addition, sound that used to bleed from the inner classroom has now been minimized, and it can now accommodate up to 100 students.

Kris Knorr, the Research Coordinator at MIIETL, was principally involved with the summer renovations and commented that they looked at both open and closed designs, before ultimately deciding on a more private space.

Said Knorr, "it was part of [Ahmad's] vision to help alleviate [the noise and privacy issue] and help to create some new space for the growing capacity of MIIETL, and for the new work that we were going to be endeavoring with.

The growing collaboration with students is a sentiment that was echoed by both Knorr and Ahmad.

Knorr explained, "It's important for us to make sure that we have student partnership and a student voice in the work that we do."

With the renovation completed on time for its Sept. 1 deadline, MIIETL is planning on unveiling its new office space in time for November.