The main entrance to the new space at Lethbridge College (Lethbridge News Now)

By Justin Goulet

Centre for Teaching, Learning and Innovation finds new home at Lethbridge College

Jan 16, 2020 | 12:14 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Lethbridge College is celebrating its renovated educational centre.

A renovation of the Buchanan Library space has led to the creation of a hub for student resources, learning and innovation, under the Flora Matteotti Centre for Teaching, Learning and Innovation banner.

Dean for the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Innovation Jaclyn Doherty said the $3-million renovation and expansion project has brought together nine different departments at the college.

“Up until this point, we were scattered all across the campus. So, if faculty needed support, they could have gone to one, to five different places. If students needed support, they’d go to different places, so we really wanted to create a place, a ‘hub’, where all of our learning community’s needs could be met in one location,” Doherty said, following a special ceremony Thursday morning.

Doherty displaying some of the equipment available to learners, with some of the common space in the background (Lethbridge News Now)

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The project has been in talks for years, but Doherty said it really gained momentum in the past year. She said that last year, project members spoke with students and faculty at the college to see how they could design different spaces within the Buchanan Library area to advance the learning process.

“We think that there are a lot of benefits for students being able to see their faculty improve their practice, to faculty being able to work in the same space as their students,” she said.

“We knew by observing students and how they interacted with their learning, with their content, with the tools that they were using in their classes, that it was more than just reading, it was more than just quiet – it was about collaborating, it was about building, it was about contributing to the learning experience in different ways and that wasn’t happening before.”

The new space has been given the Blackfoot name Niitsitapi’ksimpstaan by the college’s Kainai Kaahsinnoonik (Grandparent) Peter Weasel Moccasin. The name means “Real Thinking”.

Weasel Moccasin receiving a gift from Lethbridge College Thursday morning (Lethbridge News Now)

Doherty said when Weasel Moccasin came up with the name, he likened it to a story of the buffalo.

“I loved how he talked about the buffalo and how the buffalo don’t walk in a straight line and how the buffalo will often be going in one direction and then they’ll pivot and go in a different way, and learning happens that way as well,” she explained.

“Learning happens that way as well, so with real thinking, we don’t always think in a straight line. We often will be down one pathway and all of a sudden something else happens and we have to pivot, and we have to go in a different direction. Learning is messy and I think all of that is kind of built into that name because learning has to be something that takes us in different directions.”

A board displaying services available at the new space (Lethbridge News Now)

Five breakout rooms, a mix of seating options that allow both collaborative and independent study, an increased access to technology like laptops, virtual reality equipment and a 3D printer are some of the highlights of the new space.

The area also features a gallery dedicated to works from the Buchanan Art Collection, donated to the college by brothers Donald and Hugh Buchanan in 1958. The collection includes pieces from the Group of Seven and other legendary Canadian artists.