The Center for Teaching Excellence offers four programs that support faculty members on the Lawrence campus.

March 26 is the deadline for the 2008 Best Practices Institute and the Fall 2008 Faculty Seminar, Faculty Fellowship, and Teaching Grants program.

Check here to see the eligibility policy for these programs.

Click for more information on:

Best Practices Institute
Faculty Seminar
Faculty Fellows
Teaching Grants

Best Practices Institute

At BPI, KU faculty and instructional staff members may attend a seminar designed by the Center for Teaching Excellence to help you see teaching and learning in new ways. This is a collegial, hands-on seminar especially useful for teachers who are not well practiced with reflecting on their teaching. In the BPI, you'll focus on one thing you want to change about one of your courses. You'll work in small groups with teachers from various disciplines, as well as with colleagues who've successfully implemented changes in their teaching.

What will you do in BPI?
You’ll learn more about:

• Designing a course to maximize student learning.

• Making the most of class time.

• Using out-of-class time to promote learning.

• Assessing learning efficiently and productively.

• Representing your teaching effectiveness.

Examples of projects completed during BPI include:

• History professor who integrated historical materials into her class to prompt discussion and analysis.

• Mechanical engineering professor who implemented new strategies to teach students about practical considerations of biomaterials in biomedical product development.

• Psychology professor who used brainstorming for ideas on improving student learning.

By the end of the seminar, you’ll have an electronic poster that documents new features you’re developing with your teaching and that tracks implementation of your ideas. And as a BPI participant, in FY08 you’ll receive a $750 instructional fund you can use for materials, travel, or hourly help for any teaching project.

When is BPI?
The seminar will be held for two days, May 22 and 23, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at CTE. Participants will also attend a follow-up session on August 13 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at CTE.

Check here for BPI applications (PDF) (doc).

Faculty Seminar

The Faculty Seminar gives faculty and instructional staff members an opportunity to represent and reflect on your teaching accomplishments. You’ll also learn how various teaching strategies can result in better learning.

What will you do in the Faculty Seminar?
You'll meet five times during the semester with a small group of other teachers, and you'll read several cutting-edge works on the scholarship of teaching. In the sessions, you'll discuss the readings and develop a plan for a substantial change that you'll implement in one or more courses.

Based on their experiences in the Faculty Seminar, one professor redesigned a graduate research course to make it writing-intensive, and another developed a rubric for evaluating creative, complex student work.

The seminar requires independent work on teaching. It’s best suited for faculty members who have some experience reflecting on their teaching and success with improving student learning.

How will you benefit from participating in it?
In addition to what you’ll gain from the readings and discussions, you’ll also:

• Complete the first steps of creating a teaching portfolio.

• Develop a strategic plan to improve the quality of your teaching and know how to demonstrate that quality.

After developing your plan, you’ll receive a $1,000 instructional fund you can use for materials, travel, or hourly help for teaching projects, including research on teaching and learning.

Applications for the Fall 2007 Faculty Seminar are due Wednesday, March 28. Up to six participants will be chosen and notified by April 26. Final representation of your teaching should be completed by December 14.

Check here for Faculty Seminar applications (PDF) (doc).

Faculty Fellows

The CTE Faculty Fellowship Program supports faculty and instructional staff members who are developing innovative, collaborative, or interdisciplinary course curricula, instructional materials, teaching methods, or classroom-based projects. This is a high-end program for teachers who are ready to work independently on a facet of their teaching and who have demonstrated success with improving student learning. It requires a proposal to make broad changes in one or more courses that will significantly impact student understanding.

What will you do as a Faculty Fellow?
As a Faculty Fellow, you’ll:

• Identify a learning goal for students that you want them to achieve.

• Explore ways of enhancing your teaching so that students can reach that learning goal.

For example, one KU faculty member in Speech-Language-Hearing saw that her graduate students were not applying information from research articles they were reading for class to their clinical practice. She restructured a course to address this concern.

Enhancements could include new instructional strategies, teaching materials, or learning activities by students. Projects could include using new technologies in or outside of class, including active or group learning in large classes, rethinking ways students demonstrate their understanding, or other projects that you have an interest in pursuing.

Your semester would include working on your teaching and reflecting formally on how students’ experiences were changed as a result. Faculty Fellows will meet as a group once during the semester and once after their reflections on student learning have been completed.

As a Faculty Fellow, you’ll receive a $1,500 instructional fund you can use for materials, travel, or hourly help for a teaching project, including research on teaching and learning.

Applications for Fall 2007 are due March 28. Up to two Fellows will be chosen and notified by April 26. Final reflections on student learning will be completed by December 14.

Check here for Faculty Fellows applications (PDF) (doc).

Teaching Grants

Teaching Grants provide funds for faculty and instructional staff members who want to enhance the effectiveness of their teaching and their students’ learning. The impact the grant would have on students’ learning, as well as a clear means of knowing how well the grant would have the desired impact, are key elements of the application.

Funds can be used in a variety of ways, including:

• Development of supplementary materials that will be used systematically in a course or by students in several courses.

• Instructional materials or classroom demonstration materials designed to produce a particular enhancement in student learning.

• Expenses for participating in workshops on teaching.

• Hourly help for development of a teaching innovation, as long as there is an articulated goal in student work.

Matching funds from departments are strongly encouraged, especially for purchasing materials.

Committee members strongly support innovative ways to enhance student learning; requests for materials are not supported often, unless the grant would have a clear and significant impact on learning. Applicants must include a detailed budget showing how funds will be used.

If you receive a Teaching Grant, you’ll have up to $750 in state funds for your use. If the project would engage the work of more than one faculty member, you can request up to $1,000. Depending on the amount of the requests chosen for funding, two or three grants will be funded each semester.

Applications are due at CTE by March 28 for Fall 2007 Teaching Grants. Recipients will be chosen by April 26. Your final reflections on your grant’s impact should be completed by December 14.

Check here for Teaching Grant applications (PDF) (doc).