History of the Instructional Development Centre

In 1990 the Committee on Educational Development (COED) was established as an experiment in providing support for instructional development at Trent University. The COED was instrumental in developing the Teaching Effectiveness Program. In 1999 the committee was dissolved on the understanding that its mandate would be passed on to a new Interactive Learning Centre (ILC), which would have a physical presence on campus and sufficient staff and resources to offer improved support for excellence and innovation in teaching and learning.

1999-2002 was a formative period for the ILC. During this time Associate Dean Elizabeth Popham and part-time Program Coordinators Richard Pinet and Trevor Holmes carried out the traditional work of the COED by developing a collection of instructional development materials, and mounting a program of papers and workshops on effective teaching practices, pedagogical techniques, and professional development issues. Due to their efforts, the concept of the ILC was proven successful, and in July 2002 the ILC became a regular part of the University's operations, receiving permanent funding and staff positions, occurring as a part of a general restructuring of teaching and learning support at the university.

In May 2003 the ILC Advisory Board unanimously recommended the Centre's name be changed to the Instructional Development Centre (IDC) to align with cognate units at other institutions and to better reflect the Centre's mandate.