The classroom is open. Imagine the possibilities.

What is the Teaching and Learning Communities Program?

Pasadena City College created the TLC Program in 2000 to serve the needs of basic skills math, English, and ESL students and faculty. Since then, the TLC has expanded to include summer bridge/first-year experience programs, career pathways, ESL blocks, study skills and financial aid workshops, faculty development projects, and campus-wide initiatives.

TLC instructors promote active, collaborative learning by developing innovative classroom strategies. Many TLC courses are linked around a theme, and some students stay together with the same instructor for more than one semester. TLC students may work together on a tech project, listen to a guest speaker, form a study group after class, volunteer for community service, or go on a field trip. They also have access to a state of-the-art computer lab, individualized counseling, and peer tutoring.

  • Vision
  • Mission
  • Program Outcomes
  • Student Outcomes

The TLC will serve as the research and development arm of the college: creating, piloting, and evaluating new programs and practices for first-year basic skills students and their teachers.

  1. TLC staff will work closely with the Offices of Instruction, Student Services, and, Research and Planning, and in particular, the Basic Skills Initiative coordinator and advisory committee, to
    • develop, implement, and coordinate innovative programs and services across the campus so as to better serve our students
    • identify effective practices for institutionalization that align with the institution's mission and goals
    • provide support to academic deans and their faculty and staff to ensure the success transition of effective programs from "incubation" to "institutionalization"
  2. The Center will be actively involved in implementing and evaluating professional learning opportunities for new and returning faculty.
  3. The TLC will foster a culture of evidence among administrators, faculty, and staff that leads to greater success of under-prepared students.
  4. TLC participants will share its research and evaluation findings, experience, and expertise with others on and off campus to effect institution and system-wide transformation.

The specific practices that emerge from the process of learning through inquiry to promote transformation will be as diverse as the issues and populations that we encounter.

TLC faculty and staff are committed to the college's core mission of helping under-prepared, first-generation college students move successfully from basic skills to transfer and career/technical education courses. The TLC does this by piloting, evaluating, and supporting innovative teaching and learning practices that encourage collaboration and community-building and increase the retention, success, and persistence rates of our students.

TLC staff and faculty will:

  1. Identify and define teaching and learning gaps, needs, opportunities, and strengths in a range of educational settings
  2. Develop and implement strategies that address the diverse issues that affect the motivation and success of under-prepared and under-represented students
  3. Evaluate effective learning environments and strategies based on relevant research and use findings to refine, reshape, and, as appropriate, develop new environments and strategies

TLC students will:

  1. Identify personal, academic and career goals
  2. Identify obstacles to academic success and use appropriate support services and resources to overcome those obstacles
  3. Demonstrate ability to actively pursue those stated goals