Teaching Improvement & Reflection

Teaching Improvement and Reflection Options

Within CASNR every faculty member with any teaching appointment is encouraged to implement a strategy to advance their teaching and mentoring. The CASNR FAC recognized a need to communicate options to teaching faculty. This document provides a list of options for teaching improvement. Since there are many ways to improve teaching, the link on #8 below provides other options for activities. Participation in these (or other) teaching improvement activities can be documented in Activity Insight and used as evidence of intentional teaching improvement for promotion and tenure.

  1. Peer Review of Teaching Program
    1. Application to program required; develop teaching portfolio and engage in small group discussions with colleagues
    2. Application occurs during spring semester; program runs academic year.
  2. CASNR Peer Evaluation of Teaching – initiate peer evaluation of your course using the Summary of CASNR Peer Evaluation of Teaching Procedures document.
  3. Observe teaching colleagues’ courses to gain teaching insights & new methods.
  4. ARISE program – goal is to enrich the way STEM courses are taught at UNL through evaluation of teaching; implemented as a grant project and will now be facilitated by Innovative Instructional Design
  5. Teaching Fellows Development Program (TFDP)
    1. A faculty program for sustained teaching effectiveness and student learning improvement;
  6. Attend Teaching Symposiums/Webinars/Workshops offered by University, colleges & departments. Examples:
    1. Teaching and Learning Symposium – sponsored by Academic Affairs
  7. Develop an individual Teaching Improvement Plan to document intentional teaching reflection and improvement.
    1. Example: Refer to Biological Systems Engineering Instructional Improvement Plan
  8. Resources at UNL for Supporting Instruction
  9. Teaching and Learning Improvement Council (TLIC): Provides leadership and programming for instructional improvement, professional development, and serves as a resource contact for new hires, as well as promotes the scholarship of teaching and learning.