The Platform for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (PETAL) is a novel approach to advancing the science and practice of teaching and learning in higher education. Connecting partners across three campuses, PETAL brings centralized focus to the dissemination, advancement, and recognition of innovative learning across the institution. PETAL with its affiliate partners leverages new academic technologies, innovative pedagogical approaches and solid educational research to advance the practice of teaching and the science of learning at UM. Through its signature programs, expert speaker events, tailored services, and rich resource materials, PETAL creates the conditions for optimal learning among diverse students who leave UM prepared for a global, technological, and multicultural future.
Through the generosity of the Ilene M. Dresner Endowed Fund for Educational Innovation, PETAL facilitates a centering of institutional excellence in teaching and educational development and innovation through four foci:
1) An academy for faculty to learn and practice pedagogical innovation,
2) an organizing unit that incubates, develops, evaluates, empirically examines and disseminates innovative approaches to teaching and learning across UM's multiple campuses,
3) a convener of thought leadership for teaching in higher education to advance the knowledge base for excellence and guide new initiatives at UM, and
4) a site for recognition of excellence in teaching at UM. This gift significantly expands PETAL’s capacity to address teaching challenges, incubate solutions, and communicate them throughout the University’s campuses and in the higher education community.
Click here to visit the PETAL website
