Facilitator Handbook
Your interactive guide to teaching philosophy, classroom expectations, institutional policies, and faculty resources at Columbia College.
Part A: Educational Philosophy
Columbia College grounds its approach to education in evidence-based, learner-centered principles developed since 1986. These principles shape how courses are designed, how classes are run, and how facilitators engage with students.
Teaching Excellence at Columbia CollegeDraft
Columbia's approach to teaching excellence puts the learner at the centre. It draws on intentional course design, active engagement, and reflective practice, with professional behaviours woven throughout. Teaching well means guiding and supporting learning, not simply delivering content.
This shapes how courses are built, how facilitators work with students, and how the College approaches professional development.
Read the full Teaching Excellence document ↗1. Student-Centered Approach
Columbia's organizational structure is deliberately inverted. Students and the employers who hire them sit at the top of every decision the College makes. Faculty and staff sit in the middle, and management and the Board of Directors form the base. The pyramid points upward toward student success, not downward from administration.
This is not a philosophy statement. It shapes how faculty are evaluated, how class sizes are set, how advisors are compensated, and how outcomes are measured and published. When students succeed, Columbia succeeds. That alignment is built into how the institution operates, not just how it presents itself.
2. Professional Behaviours Framework
Columbia's Professional Behaviours Framework defines the values, attitudes, and skills that prepare students for the careers they are training for. Organised into nine pillars, from Integrity and Communication through to Digital Fluency and Well-Being, the framework gives students and facilitators a shared language for what professional competence actually looks like in practice.
The framework is not a separate subject to teach. It is a lens for curriculum design. Each pillar contains specific competencies and sub-competencies with proficiency levels, giving facilitators a practical structure for identifying where professional behaviour development fits naturally into their existing coursework, activities, and assessments.
The Centre of Excellence maintains a working resource for educators that explores each pillar in depth, with facilitator integration notes, a growing faculty activity library, and a community space for sharing what works.
3. Four Stage Learner-Centered Model
Columbia's Four Stage Learner-Centered Model is the starting point for lesson planning across professional programs. Grounded in Bloom's Taxonomy, it moves students progressively from acquiring new knowledge independently before class, through questioning and discussion, into application and hands-on activity, and finally into analysis, synthesis, and evaluation during the final portion of class.
The model shifts the work of information transfer outside the classroom, through assigned readings and the 3-question homework structure, so that class time is spent on the higher-order thinking that requires a facilitator and peers. Facilitators are expected to speak for less than 25% of class time. The remaining time belongs to students: questioning, discussing, applying, debating, and evaluating.
While the four-stage structure was designed around a four-hour theory class, it is adapted across different delivery contexts including labs, clinics, practicum placements, and distance learning. The underlying principle stays the same regardless of format: information transfer happens before or early in the session, and class time is protected for the learning activities that cannot happen without engagement.
4. Mastery Learning
Mastery Learning sets a defined competency threshold for each course and provides structured support to help students reach it. The model is informed by the foundational work of Bloom (1968) and Keller (1968), and adapted to fit Columbia's professional program contexts rather than applied as a rigid theoretical framework.
When a student does not meet the required standard, the program responds with a targeted learning opportunity. Depending on the course and program, this may take the form of a tutorial session, oral examination, written retest, demonstration, or structured discussion. How Mastery Learning is applied varies across theory, lab, clinical, and distance contexts. What remains consistent is the expectation that understanding must be demonstrated before the standard is considered met.
Thresholds are set by each department and reflect what genuine competency looks like in that discipline. In areas where professional error carries direct risk, such as medical dosage calculations, the required level is higher.
5. Professional Games
Professional Games are game-based learning activities incorporated throughout a student's program. Their primary purpose is to help students connect content from earlier semesters to what they are currently learning, reinforcing knowledge through active recall, repetition, and problem-solving rather than passive review.
From a facilitation standpoint, Professional Games serve the same function as other applied learning activities: they keep students actively engaged with material, surface gaps in understanding in a low-stakes environment, and build the kind of confident recall that transfers to certification exams and professional practice. The game format also reduces test anxiety and supports students who respond better to collaborative or interactive learning contexts.
Professional Games are designed as a bridge between semesters, not a standalone activity. They work alongside the Four Stage Model and Mastery Learning to create a continuous learning experience across the program.
Facilitation-Based Instruction
Columbia's primary teaching approach: faculty as guides, not lecturers.
Historical Context
Why Columbia moved away from traditional lecture-based models.
Adult Learner Focus
Designed for students with careers, families, and clear goals.
Part B: Teaching and Facilitation Expectations
This section covers what Columbia College expects of facilitators in the classroom, from scheduling and attendance through to inclusive teaching, assessment, and academic integrity.
Scheduling and Class Time
Beginning, ending, and structuring class sessions.
Attendance and Participation
Monitoring student engagement and follow-up responsibilities.
Virtual Classrooms
Online instruction expectations and engagement strategies.
Hybrid Learning
Balancing in-person and remote students effectively.
Inclusive Teaching
Universal Design for Learning and diverse classroom support.
Course Outlines
Approved outlines, learning outcomes, and changes.
Lesson Planning
Structure, alignment, and program submission requirements.
Assessment and Feedback
Grading practices, rubrics, and returning work to students.
Academic Integrity
Preventing and responding to academic dishonesty.
Records and Documentation
Grade recording, retention, and secure disposal.
Quality Assurance and Development
How Columbia supports continuous teaching improvement.
Part C: Resources and Tools
Columbia maintains a library of policies, teaching frameworks, and academic guidelines. These documents set out how courses are designed, how students are supported, and how academic standards are upheld.
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Part E: Facilitator Checklist
Build a checklist for your course, adjust the items to fit your program, and bookmark the link to come back to your progress anytime.
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Course Checklist
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