Striving for Excellence in Teaching:A Case-Study of the Multi-Strategy Approach at

the University of WashingtonTyler Blake Davis & Ziad Zaghrout

PhD StudentsEvans School of Public AffairsUniversity of Washington

Outline: I. Introduction

II. Theory and Research Agenda

III.Context and Validity

IV. Research design & methods

V. Findings

VI. Conclusions

I. Introduction and Terms: Many universities have developed institutional

mechanisms to aid in providing quality instruction

Institution: Norms, rules, traditions that govern behavior (Ostrom 1990, 1994)

Mechanism: Systematic method for achieving output

I. Two advantages of this topic: 1) Institutionalized mechanism facilitate

replication▫ Clear rules and/or norms▫ Mechanisms are often replicable

2) A case study allows one to identify strengths and weakness of several methods

▫ Identify appropriate norms to adopt▫ Identify appropriate mechanisms for context

II. Theory and Research Agenda:Education theory:

1. Multiple intelligence theory : Individuals have diverse intellectual strengths (Gardner 1993)

Suggests that providing diverse types of instruction is superior to a single type of teaching (Armstrong 2009, Coreil 2003).

II. Theory and Research Agenda:Education theory:

2. Leadership skills theory: identifies skills within teaching approaches (Waters, Marzano, and McNulty 2003)

Suggests leadership skills are key for success in teaching to types of intelligence

II. Theory and Research Agenda:Education theory:

3. Ordered change theory: typology of learning (Waters, Marzano and McNulty 2003)

“First-order” change is consistent with prevailing values and norms and uses existing knowledge and skills.

“Second-order” requires people to learn new approaches, or it conflicts with prevailing values and norms.

II. Theory and Research Agenda:Research Agenda:

Our research goal is to identify types of institutional mechanisms that acknowledge multiple intelligence theory and promote first and second order learning.

III. Context: The University of Washington (UW) in Seattle is a Tier 1

research institution

Annual operating budget of over $3.1 billion and an annual research budget of $1.15 billion

In 2009 the UW had 43,000 students comprised of 32,000 undergraduate students, and 11,000 graduate students

3,900 full time faculty equivalent positions teaching over 6,000 different courses every year in three different campuses

III. Context: External Validity?

The UW has many resources for research agendas

Research advantages may not imply teaching advantages

To address these challenges the UW has created institutions with mechanisms for improving teaching

III. ContextVoluntary and mandatory review of instruction

1. Professional Teaching Improvement Consultation (voluntary) conducted by the UW Center for Instructional Development and Research (CIDR).

2. Professional Evaluations (voluntary) conducted by the UW Teaching Academy.

3. Student Evaluations (mandatory) conducted by the UW Office of Educational Assessment (OEA).

IV. Research Design:Our research goal is to identify types of

institutionalized mechanisms within the UW and to explore how those are used.

Our conceptual research question is: How does the University of Washington promote excellence in teaching?

IV. Research Design: Systematized research questions:

a) What mechanisms does the UW provide for evaluating teaching that may be replicated?

b) In what replicable way does the UW use the data from the mechanisms to improve teaching?

IV. Research Methods:1. Key informant interviews: targeted informant

interviews with both participants and administrators

▫ Background interviews▫ Semi-structured interviews

2. Review of public documents▫ Physical documents, reports▫ Web-pages, online resources

Teaching is a complex activity involving multiple intelligences

Necessitating multiple methods to assess teaching

Students’ perceptions comprise only one dimension

This holistic approach can be systematized into a source of data for evaluation of instruction

Each Dimension will become even more useful when considered in light of other sources.

The Center for Instructional Development and Research (CIDR) at the University of Washington approach to improve instruction

V. Findings: Instructor Self-Assessment a) Developing a Teaching Portfolio

A teaching portfolio is a coherent set of material that represents an instructor’s teaching practice as related to student learning.

Teaching Practice: extends beyond activities that go into teaching a course to include all activities that enrich student learning

V. Findings: Instructor Self-Assessmentb) Reviewing a Video of their teaching

1. Microteaching: is a group process involving several instructors. In microteaching instructors view and discuss videotapes of each other giving 3-5 minute presentations.

2. Video-Critic :an instructor reviews a videotape of a class she/he is or has been teaching with a consultant or colleague.

V. Findings: Instructor Self-Assessmentc) Reviewing and Assessing academic

courses

Assessment can take place at three stages of a course:

1. while an instructor designs his/her course2. during the course3. at the completion of the course

V. Findings: Instructor Self-Assessmentd) Faculty fellows program

Program is a week-long retreat for new faculty and is guided by senior faculty.

It includes the preparation of mock lessons which forces participants to reflect upon their strengths and objectives.

V. Findings: Student Perceptionsa) Discussing Students’ Ratings

(confidential time series analysis)

identify patterns and themes distinguish between student comments offering perspective on the effectiveness of

changes made compare median scores

V. Findings: Student Perceptionsb) Designing a Customized form for collecting

students’ feedback

collecting in-class written feedback, getting feedback online, and using classroom assessment techniques.

to inform decisions about what to address in subsequent class sessions, see how students are experiencing the course, and to help students judge their own progress in learning the course material

V. Findings: Student Perceptionsc) Arranging for a midterm class interview

an open-ended, mid-course oral interview process

students discuss their perceptions of the effectiveness of a course, including both its strengths and potential areas for change

helps instructors in making decisions about their teaching during the remainder of the quarter

V. Findings: Student Perceptionsd) Office of Educational Assessment (OEA)

OEA utilizes one of 13 different multiple choice forms for most classrooms on the UW campus.

The OEA prepares statistical analysis on student responses to provide information on the course and the instructor

V. Findings: Teaching & Learninga) Consulting in Teaching and Learning

customized, confidential services for UW departments, faculty, and teaching assistants who have questions related to teaching and learning.

V. Findings: Teaching & Learningb) CIDR resource collection (Reading

Room)

CIDR provides research materials in a centralized reading room that includes a collection of books, periodicals, and videos on teaching and learning.

It includes materials on teaching in specific disciplines such as math, science, engineering, and the humanities.

V. Findings: Teaching & Learningc) Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

engages the instructor in fundamental questions about learning and challenges them to approach instruction with the same dedication as research

It encourages instructors to systematically examining the phenomena of learning

V. Findings: Administrative Perspective Teacher efforts are assessed within the general

strategic objectives of the department.

teaching effectiveness is a two-way process that involves both the instructor finding ways to demonstrate his teaching effectiveness and the department leadership developing ways to promote more effective teaching in the department

V. Findings: Administrative Perspectivea) Administrative guidelines and resources

for evaluating teaching

In a confidential consultation, CIDR offers to clarify and interpret departmental guidelines on teaching standards.

V. Findings: Administrative Perspectiveb) Evaluative teaching portfolios

(promotion and tenure)

Instructors present these portfolios to their dean to provide evidence for a decision about their careers.

V. Findings: Administrative Perspectivec) Program or curriculum assessment

CIDR consultants are available to consult with departments on the assessment of academic programs and curriculum to:

i. develop overall program assessment strategies

ii. identify sources of evidence for demonstrating program effectiveness

iii. provide help in gathering program assessment data

V. Findings: Peer or Colleague Reviewa form of assessment in which instructors give

feedback to one anotherInstructors share leadership skills and identify

strengths of their peersshare strategies to approach diverse learning styles,

and share learned leadership skillsNew faculty members can tap this wealth of

resources to develop their own skills and approaches

V. Findings: Student Learning a) Consult on course, syllabus, or

assignment design consultants help teachers in systematically think

through their priorities for a course and articulate those priorities in their syllabus in a clear and compelling way

help in crafting assignments

work with teachers to devise appropriate and efficient strategies for giving students feedback

V. Findings: Student Learning b) Learn more about diversity and inclusive

teaching practices

Inclusive teaching “begins with the premises that learning starts where the students are, and that effective teaching is responsive to the various experiences, backgrounds, and identities that students bring to the classroom” (CIDR)

V. Findings: Student Learning Inclusive teaching means “intentionally

bringing student experiences into the classroom, and recognizing the different experience, power, and privilege of diverse populations in relation to the subject matter being taught”.

V. Findings: Student Learning c) Using writing as a teaching strategy

CIDR helps instructors in :• designing writing assignments• responding to student writing• assessing student writing• creating alternatives to papers

VI. Conclusions:•The use of multiple methods of

communicating to instructors is superior to a single feedback mechanism.

• individual institutions within a university may specialize in one or more of the six feedback mechanisms, but not all.

What are the specific challenges to replicating U.S. strategies in Palestine?

The Palestinian academic environment has its own unique characteristics that may inhibit the application of some of the methods presented in this paper:

- lack of administrative polices and guidelines for ensuring teaching excellence

- Lack of funding

Yet, the current situation is not that gloomy

many of the previous identified mechanisms do not require huge sums of investments

The availability of local professionals and the widening pool of PhD graduates

Questions