Teaching Excellence Initiative

To support UM’s focus on improving student success and learning, the Faculty Development Office (FDO), Phyllis J. Washington College of Education and Human Sciences, and the Office of the Provost  launched the Teaching Excellence Initiative (TEI). The TEI aims to provide new sources of support and recognition for outstanding teaching at UM. The project has three goals:

  1. Support and recognize teaching approaches that have been shown to be effective in improving student learning.
  2. Help instructors collect formative assessments of student learning around critical concepts and use student feedback to inform their pedagogy.
  3. Create opportunities for faculty members to work together to experiment and innovate with their teaching and share findings about student learning with other instructors at UM and across the country.

Engaging Teaching Practices Course

Take advantage of our great online resource on Engaging Teaching Practices, which offers an introduction to research on how students learn, clear guidelines for making your courses accessible to all students, and practical strategies for engaging students throughout the semester. The course was created by Morgen Alwell, from our Teaching and Learning Program, and Marlene Zentz, Jo Costello, and Robert Squires from UMOnline. While the course was designed for new faculty and graduate instructors, it offers ideas and resources to anyone engaged in the work of teaching and learning. It also provides critical information on making your courses accessible to all learners. You can self-enroll in Engaging Teaching Practices and have the option to earn a Certificate of Completion for the course or simply use it as a reference.

Mobile Summer Institute on Scientific Teaching (MOSI)

Each summer, this Institute brings national teaching experts to UM for an in-depth study of evidence-based active learning strategies that have been shown to improve student understanding and success. Participants will develop an original course module as part of the workshop and be named Scientific Teaching Fellows.

Learning Assistant Program

The Learning Assistant Program at UM pairs high-performing undergraduate students with faculty focused on transforming their courses into engaging, active learning based courses. To learn how to add a learning assistant to your course, contact Josh Herring, Learning Assistant Program Coordinator.

Faculty Inquiry Projects

The Office of Organizational Learning and Development is pleased to offer semester-long communities as ways to collaborate with colleagues on in-depth professional development projects. 

For more information regarding Faculty Inquiry Projects please visit this page. 

Additional Teaching Support

In addition to the TEI efforts, this existing initiative also supports student engagement:

Pedagogy Project

Founded in 2009, the Pedagogy Project is a faculty-led and initiated effort originating out of the College of Humanities and Sciences to encourage conversation and reflections about teaching at UM. With support from the Office of Organizational Learning and Development, Pedagogy Project participants partner across UM colleges and departments to provide midterm feedback for each other through Small Group Analyses and Classroom Observations. This feedback enriches the teaching and learning experiences for faculty and students due to its timing in the midst of a course and the anonymity of the process. In addition, the Pedagogy Project provides a forum for faculty to reflect on their experiences, building a repertoire of resources to enhance pedagogy at UM. For further information, visit the Pedagogy Project website or email Leora Bar-el or Kim Reiser.