Educational Leadership in Teaching Excellence (EnLITE) - A Peer-Driven Faculty Development Program

Q: What is EnLITE and who runs it?

EnLITE is an 11-month faculty development program at the University of Guelph, Ontario, created and led by faculty members and educational developers.

Q: How does EnLITE support participants’ teaching development?

Participants engage in scholarly discussions, collaborate with teaching mentors, conduct peer classroom observations, and complete teaching-related activities aligned with their individual learning plans.

Q: What changes did the study observe after EnLITE?

Participants reported significant improvements in critical self-reflection, student engagement, collaborative learning, and learner-centred pedagogy, while areas such as technology use and student assessment showed little to no change.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Anna Hans

Educational Leadership in Teaching Excellence (EnLITE) is an 11-month faculty development program at the University of Guelph, Ontario, created by faculty and educational developers to strengthen teaching and learning in higher education. Participants explore teaching principles through scholarly discussion, mentor collaboration, peer classroom observation, and activities guided by individual learning plans. The study assessed perceived impact using pre-, post-, and one-year follow-up quantitative and qualitative survey data from multiple EnLITE cohorts, identifying significant gains in critical self-reflection, student engagement, collaborative learning, and learner-centred pedagogy.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages27

Reading Time1 h 8 min

AccessFree to download

Educational Leadership in Teaching Excellence (EnLITE)

Program design and participant activities

Study objective and methods

Findings on perceived teaching practices

Implications and future research

The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning | Volume 10 | Issue 2 | Article 4 | | --- | --- | | Summer 8-31-2019
Educational Leadership in Teaching Excellence (EnLITE): A Peer-Driven Faculty Development Program
Andrea C. Buchholz
University of Guelph, [abuchhol@uoguelph.ca](abuchhol@uoguelph.ca)[ ](abuchhol@uoguelph.ca)Janet Wolstenholme
University of Guelph, [jzkwolst@uoguelph.ca](jzkwolst@uoguelph.ca)[ ](jzkwolst@uoguelph.ca)Jeji Varghese
University of Guelph, [varghese@uoguelph.ca](varghese@uoguelph.ca)[ ](varghese@uoguelph.ca)J. Andrew Robinson
University of Guelph, [andyr@uoguelph.ca](andyr@uoguelph.ca)[ ](andyr@uoguelph.ca)Jennifer Spencer
University of Guelph, [jspencer@uoguelph.ca](jspencer@uoguelph.ca)[ ](jspencer@uoguelph.ca)Jennifer Reniers
University of Guelph, [jreniers@uoguelph.ca](jreniers@uoguelph.ca)
Follow this and additional works at: [https://www.cjsotl-rcacea.ca](https://www.cjsotl-rcacea.ca)
[https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2019.2.8178](https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2019.2.8178) | | Recommended Citation Buchholz, A. C., Wolstenholme, J., Varghese, J., Robinson, J. A., Spencer, J., & Reniers, J. (2019) . Educational Leadership in Teaching Excellence (EnLITE): A peer-driven faculty development program. The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 10(2). [https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2019.2.8178](https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2019.2.8178) Educational Leadership in Teaching Excellence (EnLITE): A Peer-Driven Faculty Development Program Abstract Educational Leadership in Teaching Excellence (EnLITE) is an 11-month faculty development program at the University of Guelph, Ontario. Created and led by faculty members and educational developers, EnLITE is designed to engage participants in the principles, practice and theory of teaching and learning in higher education and to promote a learner-centred approach to teaching. Participants critically examine and discuss scholarly topics on teaching and learning and in their own disciplines; collaborate with one or more teaching mentors; engage in peer classroom observation; and participate in other teaching-related activities informed by their individual learning plans. Our objective was to determine the perceived impact of EnLITE on participants’ teaching-related practices and experiences. We collected pre-, post- and one-year post-program quantitative and qualitative survey responses from each of the 2014-2015, 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 EnLITE cohorts (N = 17 participants representing a variety of disciplines; 71% female) . There were significant improvements in participants’perceived teaching practices related to critical self-reflection (13% increase from pre-to one-year post-program), student engagement (+28.2%), collaborative learning (+31%) and learnercentred pedagogy (+22.9%, all p < 0.05) . There was little to no change in use of technology, student assessment, leadership, participation in communities of practice, or dissemination of teaching-related scholarship. These results provide empirical evidence of the effectiveness of a peer-driven faculty development program in promoting a learning-centred approach to teaching. Future research should determine whether these changes translate into improved student learning, and whether such programs demonstrate longer term improvements in engagement in teaching-related leadership, communities of practice and dissemination. Le programme de leadership éducationnel en excellence de l’enseignement (Educational Leadership in Teaching Excellence-EnLITE) est un programme de développement professoral de 11 mois offert à l’Université de Guelph, en Ontario. Créé et dirigé par des professeurs et des conseillers pédagogiques, le programme EnLITE est conçu pour éveiller l’intérêt des participants sur les principes, la pratique et la théorie de l’enseignement et de l’apprentissage en enseignement supérieur et pour

FAQs

What is EnLITE and who runs it?

EnLITE is an 11-month faculty development program at the University of Guelph, Ontario, created and led by faculty members and educational developers.

How does EnLITE support participants’ teaching development?

Participants engage in scholarly discussions, collaborate with teaching mentors, conduct peer classroom observations, and complete teaching-related activities aligned with their individual learning plans.

What changes did the study observe after EnLITE?

Participants reported significant improvements in critical self-reflection, student engagement, collaborative learning, and learner-centred pedagogy, while areas such as technology use and student assessment showed little to no change.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Anna Hans