Good Teaching at UWB

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Good Teaching at UWB

• Notes for a GFO Conversation
• Jane Van Galen
• Becky Reed Rosenberg
• May 1, 2003

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Some elements in effective teaching include

• ? the ability to organize and conduct a course of
  study appropriate to the level of instruction and
  the nature of the subject matter
• ? the consistency with which the teacher brings
  to the students the latest research findings and
  professional debates within the discipline
• ? the ability to stimulate intellectual inquiry
  so that students develop the skills to examine
  and evaluate ideas and arguments
• UW Faculty Handbook

3
Some elements in effective teaching include

• ? the extent to which the teacher encourages
  discussion and debate which enables the students
  to articulate the ideas they are exploring
• ? the availability of the teacher to the student
  beyond the classroom environment
• and the regularity with which the teacher
  examines or reexamines the organization and
  readings for a course of study and explores new
  approaches to effective educational methods.
• UW Faculty Handbook

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Effective teaching at UWB

• Are there elements of effective teaching
  distinctive to UWB?
• How does our mission/vision statement inform our
  thinking about what effective teaching entails?
• How do we create space to talk about the strong
  teaching we do by making the multiple, scholarly
  dimensions of teaching explicit, to facilitate
  reflection, collegial discussion, and review?

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Teaching in UWB Mission Statement

• UWB holds the student-faculty relationship to be
  paramount. We provide access to excellence in
  higher education through innovative and creative
  curricula, interdisciplinary teaching and
  research, and a dynamic community of
  multicultural learning.

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Teaching in the UWB Vision Statement

• We value engaging our students in
  transformational learning experiences that
  challenge their expectations, broaden their
  horizons, and stimulate their ambitions.

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From the mission statement

• Emphasize and develop critical thinking,
  writing, and information literacy, in order to
  graduate students with life-long learning
  skills.
• Build an inclusive and supportive community of
  learning and incorporate multicultural content
  and diverse perspectives on ethnic and racial
  groups, gender, sexual orientation, social class,
  and special needs.

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Informing our thinking about teaching
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Assessment

• Student learning is at the center of our teaching
  goals and therefore at the center of assessing
  teaching
• Good assessment creates a feedback loop to
  practice.
• Compare assessment of student performance good
  assignments help us identify what more students
  need.

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Evaluating Teaching

• Defining student learning outcomes
• Using student work to track learning outcomes
• Reflection on the gap between desired and actual
  outcomes
• Identifying teaching approaches that better serve
  student success at outcomes
• Using formative feedback from students and peers
• Analyzing summative feedback for future course
  revision and redesign

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Resources

• Colleagues
• Teaching circles
• Reflection research (scholarship of teaching)
• Students
• Formative summative evaluations
• Course product
• CIDR TLC
• Consultations
• Workshops
• SGIDs