The Learning Centre: For Instructors

Book a Class Presentation/Workshop

The Learning Centre tutors, staff and faculty can visit your classes for 15-minute information sessions to tell your students about our services and how to access writing, course content, study skills, and English Language help from the Learning Centre including:

• developing study skills to improve oral presentations, note-taking, study strategies, test preparation, and time management,
• preparing written assignments for all courses, including help with thesis statements, creating arguments, organizing paragraphs, and in-text citations,             
• gaining better understanding of basic course concepts

Winter 2021 class visits from Learning Centre will be conducted in two ways, synchronously and asynchronously, to match your course delivery.

By hosting a class visit, you help students understand what services are available to them to support them in your course.

Class visits from Learning Centre will be conducted in two ways this year, synchronously and asynchronously, to match your course delivery. Please fill out this form to schedule your class visit. 

Synchronous Class Visit 

If you are teaching synchronously, a peer tutor will visit your class and do a short presentation for your students.  We will need a presenter link for Collaborate or a meeting id and password for Zoom.

Asynchronous Class Visit 

If your course is being taught asynchronously, we have a video class visit, narrated by one of our peer tutors, for you to post in your course. Please fill out the form, and we will email you the links and information. 

Referring Students to the Learning Centre  

When do you refer?  

When grading assignments and meeting with students, you may become aware that the student could use some additional guided practice or knowledge. Peer tutors in the Learning Centre may be able to help.   

Study skills  

• Support with online learning skills 

• Taking class notes  

• Reading a textbook  

• Strategies for taking exams  

Writing skills  

• Understanding plagiarism  

• Working on basic writing skills (paraphrasing, integrating research, forming a strong thesis statement)  

• Reviewing a draft for feedback on organization, adherence to assignment instructions, strength of thesis and other global concerns.  

• "Our tutors will help students improve their writing skills, but the emphasis is still on the student to improve the paper. Tutors will not do the fixing, correcting, or editing for the student." 

Help with course concepts  

• Learning basic concepts for many first-year courses. Check the current schedule to see what is available.

English language skills

• Identify and improve English language reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills.

How to refer?  

• Provide links to the Learning Centre website and/or resources.  

• Tell the student to sign up for a “Consultation appointment” with a tutor. The tutor will explain the services and help them navigate the Learning Centre resources.  

• You can also support the student by having them share their screen and walk them through how to find the Learning Centre website, find resources, and how to register for tutoring 

The Learning Centre treats the access to tutoring confidentially and cannot provide proof that a student has used the services.  

If you are unsure if the Learning Centre is the right place to refer, or if you have questions, please contact us at learningcentre@douglascollege.ca with your questions.  

Information for your Course Syllabus

Please consider adding information about the Learning Centre to your syllabus and/or online course space. See below for examples:

Peer tutoring, as well as self-help materials, like tutorials and handouts, are available through the Douglas College Learning Centre. 

Meeting with a peer tutor is free for students currently enrolled in Douglas College credit courses. 

Tutors provide feedback for your writing assignments to help you improve your academic writing skills, including essay organization, in-text citation, understanding plagiarism and following assignment instructions.​

Struggling with online learning? Schedule a Consultation appointment with a Learning Centre tutor to share strategies for online learning success.​

Need help understanding what academic integrity means at Douglas? Writing tutors can provide a series of appointments to help you understand and avoid plagiarism in your assignments.

Do you use a Modules page as the course home page on Blackboard?

You can add Learning Centre modules to your course.

1.  Go to your courses Home page in edit mode and select "add course module."   

You can also create a Modules page by choosing Module page  in the "add a menu item" drop down in the left column.  Additional help with this step is available in the Faculty Resources tab in Bb. 

2. In the "Browse by Category" menu, choose Student Services to see the Learning Centre modules.  Click the "Add" button to add the modules to your page.

3. Check your module page for placement.  Additional information about how to move the modules on the page is available though the Faculty Resources tab. 

Links for Your Blackboard Course 

Students have also indicated that being reminded about the services at the time they need to use them increases the likelihood of using the service.

Please consider adding a quick link to the Learning Centre services as part of your assignments. For example, you can add information about meeting with a writing tutor when posting information about an upcoming writing assignment. 

Information about the Learning Centre                                       
www.douglascollege.ca/learningcentre 

Make an appointment or submit a paper                                   
douglas.mywconline.com

Learn about writing support for all classes                                 
guides.douglascollege.ca/thelearningcentre/writingtutoring 

Study skills and online learning resources                                 
guides.douglascollege.ca/thelearningcentre/studyskills

English Language support
guides.douglascollege.ca/thelearningcentre/englishlanguage

Instructional Support

Faculty from the Learning Centre are available for:

• informational  and instructional sessions at departmental and divisional meetings
• coordinating in-class study and learning skills workshops
• speaking individually with instructors to discuss integrating foundational study and writing skills into course assignments
• developing peer-led Exam Jam and study groups for your courses

We would always love to know how we can best help students in your courses.

Please contact Holly Salmon, Learning Centre Coordinator, with any questions.​

Instructional Resources

The Learning Centre produces handouts for writing and study skills that you are welcome to distribute to your classes.

Please contact us if you would like recommendations for additional resources. 

Looking for a Learning Centre Handout or Resource?

Links to our resources