About the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence
Mission
Our primary mission is to advance and support the teaching and learning community at Penn State.
We define the University’s teaching and learning community broadly to include any person involved with students in an instructional context, including faculty, graduate students, staff and administrators. We work with any current or future members of the Penn State teaching and learning community and collaborate with all units that have mutual or complementary objectives.
Vision
The Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence strives to serve the teaching and learning community at Penn State by providing information, resources, and research that support and improve student learning. Through these efforts, the Institute will serve as a role model for other institutions seeking to advance knowledge of effective instructional practices, as well as to demonstrate the institutional commitment to and value of teaching excellence.
By 2012 the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence will be recognized by faculty, staff, and administrators as a leading source of support for effective teaching and learning. The Institute will have made significant gains in the number of faculty and academic units consulting with and using our services and resources. By 2017, faculty using research-based and effective teaching methods will significantly outnumber those solely using the traditional lecture method, even in large courses. The Institute’s website will be regularly consulted by faculty within and outside of Penn State, as well as by the staff of teaching and learning centers at other institutions.
By 2017, faculty will routinely design courses to account for the individual differences among Penn State’s diverse student population. Faculty will routinely utilize a diversity of teaching methods and offer a variety of assignment and examination formats. Faculty will regularly interact with students in their courses and request students’ feedback. By 2012, the Institute will have established partnerships with units providing student and faculty support throughout the university to ensure that all faculty have access to the resources they need to support all students’ learning.
By 2012, all course syllabi and academic programs will have clearly articulated and measurable student learning outcomes publically available. By 2017, all programs will have implemented a plan for regularly assessing students’ learning and integrating improvements. Academic administrators and unit leaders will regularly include the Institute in their instructional planning and implementation activities. By 2012, the Institute’s scanning and testing operations will be better integrated into the teaching and learning process and we will see a concomitant increase in faculty use of innovative testing and assessment methods that focus on higher-order learning. Over the next five to ten years, the Institute will play a significant role in updating the SRTEs, facilitate an increase in appropriate use and interpretation of student ratings data, and foster a more positive attitude among the faculty that SRTEs are a useful source of instructional improvement information. The Institute will also take the lead in conducting research for the Office of Undergraduate Education and provide recommendations for action based on this research.
Over the next five to 10 years the Institute will receive an increasing number of nominations for the University Teaching Awards and students will become increasingly involved in the nomination and selection processes. By 2017, tenure and promotion committees will have broadened their views of scholarship to include rigorous, discipline-based, and peer reviewed Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and consider it a valid form of scholarship on which to base tenure and promotion. By 2012 the Institute will be viewed as one of the most active and effective units of its kind in the nation and serve as a role model for other institutions helping faculty adopt effective teaching and assessment methods. The Institute will experience an increase in external consultations and participation in teaching, learning, and assessment activities external to Penn State.