Tools and Resources

This document includes example program-level learning objectives for internships. It was created by faculty at Penn State Berks.

Learning Objectives article, 3 pages, published in the _Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal_ by Patricia B Nemec and Evelyn Bussema. They state." The article differentiates between general goals and instructional objectives. The article is copyrighted by the APA.

This worksheet can be used to help instructors develop classroom activities that align learning objectives with assessments and course activities.

Bloom's Taxonomy Handout distributed in Schreyer Institute workshops and courses. Contains a list of active verbs for use in crafting learning objectives.

Writing learning goals and explicit learning objectives will make it easier for students to understand what is expected of them in your course. Goals communicate what students will learn and objectives communicate the kind and quality of work you expect of them. Explicit objectives also make it easier for faculty to make decisions about course content, activities, assignments, and grading.

This document provides an example of a test blueprint, which can be used to help guide test development and ensure that the test questions appropriately reflect the learning objectives of the unit that the test is designed to assess. It can also help students when they study for the test.

This is curriculum matrix was completed by the faculty in the Elementary and Kindergarten Education program at Penn State Berks. It is used to determine which program goals/objectives are addressed in the various courses included in the program. A curriculum map is an important step in the process of learning outcomes assessment (program assessment).

This document is the master Learning Outcomes Assessment plan for the College of Information Science and Technology.

This document provides a brief description of course goals and course objectives or course outcomes for student learning. Learning outcomes (or learning objectives) are useful to develop during course design, as well as when creating an assignment or activity.

Example of a curriculum matrix or map that is for a business program at Penn State Berks. Development of curriculum maps are important parts of the learning outcomes assessment process.

This rubric could be used by faculty colleagues to evaluate course objectives.

Three learning outcomes from Penn State Mont Alto along with suggestions on next steps are briefly described in this paper.

This document is an example of a test blueprint (written for a research methods course), which can be created to help you match your test questions with your learning objectives *and* to help your students study for a test.

This template can be used to develop a curriculum map, or matrix, which allows faculty to see which courses address each program level learning objective. Developing a curriculum map is an important step in the learning outcomes assessment (i.e. program assessment) process.

This document suggests a variety of testing models and explains why each is effective. They are alternatives or supplements to the "mid-term and a final" model.

This is a one-page tip sheet that guides instructors in thinking about how to "decode" their discipline for students and to strategize ways to help students navigate the challenges of learning in the discipline.

The Midterm/Midsemester Class Interview (or Small Group Instructional Diagnosis, SGID) is a process designed to help instructors learn what their students think about how the course is going. Students identify elements of the class that are helping them learn and offer suggestions to strengthen the course. We recommend using this procedure in the middle of the semester, after students have received at least one grade. The process involves three steps: 1) meeting with an instructional consultant to discuss the instructor's objectives for the process; 2) a class interview with small groups and a whole class discussion; and a post-interview summary and discussion of the results with the consultant.

This document describes the difference between goals and objectives and provides lists of explicit verbs that can be used to write clear, action- and behavior-oriented objectives for students or faculty (depending on the focus of your proposal) that will demonstrate project success.

We use this handout in our inclusive teaching workshop. It is adapted from “Managing Hot Moments in the Classroom” by Lee Warren at Harvard's Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning. It includes suggestions about how to manage difficult conversations by planning before the course as well ideas for what to do during the course ("in the moment").

Fern K. Willits and Mark A. Brennan 2016 Changing Perceptions of the University as a Community of Learning: The Case of Penn State. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 28(1), 66-74.
Supported by a grant from the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence

FERN WILLITS AND MARK BRENNAN (2015) The University as a Community of Learning
Perceptions of Students and Teachers in Three Settings, The Journal of the World Universities Forum
Part of the Quality of Instruction (QOI) series supported by a Schreyer Institute grant

This file contains a list of six course design models chosen as "favorites" by the POD Network members, pulled from a thread on the POD Network Open Discussion Group. The six models are: Purdue’s Interactive Course Re/Design (ICD) Wheel; Connection-Engagement-Empowerment (CEE); Community of Inquiry (CoI) Framework; Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle; Fink’s Integrated Course Design; and Backward Design. Moji Shahvali

These PowerPoint slides accompanied a presentation by Linda Suskie delivered via Zoom on Tuesday, Apr. 25, 2017. Multiple-choice tests can have a place in many courses. If they’re well designed, they can yield useful information on student achievement of many important course objectives, including some thinking skills. An item analysis of the results can shed light on how well the questions are working as well as what students have learned. Viewers will be able to use principles of good question construction to develop tests, develop test questions that assess thinking skills as well as conceptual understanding, and use item analysis to understand and improve both test questions and student learning. Be sure to open the handouts file listed below as you view the presentation!

These handouts (minus quizzes for test security) accompanied a presentation by Linda Suskie delivered via Zoom on Tuesday, Apr. 25, 2017. Multiple-choice tests can have a place in many courses. If they’re well designed, they can yield useful information on student achievement of many important course objectives, including some thinking skills. An item analysis of the results can shed light on how well the questions are working as well as what students have learned. Viewers will be able to use principles of good question construction to develop tests, develop test questions that assess thinking skills as well as conceptual understanding, and use item analysis to understand and improve both test questions and student learning.

Created for faculty and other academics who are interested in getting involved in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Recommended resources include the following topics: "Preparing to do SOTL," "Books on SOTL Research," "Journals for Educational Research," and "Videos of SoTL researchers discussing different aspects of SOTL."

The Lecture/Discussion Facilitation Template was distributed at the 2017 Lilly Evidence-based Teaching & Learning Conference held in Bethesda, MD June 1 - 4, 2017. Use it during lectures as a low-stakes, largely anonymous method to gauge students’ understanding, as a pop quiz or survey, or to keep track of in-class group activities. The template can improve student participation and engagement by minimizing their fears of low (or even “too high”) performance before their classmates, and it provides a demonstrable, observable, measurable, and active way to gain a sense of how well students are “getting it,” beyond the glint in their eyes. In that sense, it serves as a quick formative assessment tool that can be customized on demand.

Professor Christine Hockings (UK), April 2010
Inclusive learning and teaching in higher education refers to the ways in which pedagogy, curricula and assessment are designed and delivered to engage students in learning that is meaningful, relevant and accessible to all. It embraces a view of the individual and individual difference as the source of diversity that can enrich the lives and learning of others.
This publication includes summaries of key research on how inclusion practices impact students' learning, identities, and belonging.

This list of inclusive teaching strategies was created as part of the Schreyer Institute's Creating Inclusive Courses workshop. The workshop activity is also available in this repository. The list was compiled over many years and is intended to help instructors recognize what they might already be doing to demonstrate that all students are welcome contributors to the course learning community. This is not a "checklist." Creating inclusive course environments requires sincerity, intentionality, and reflection, not simply enacting a list of strategies. These strategies are most effective when combined with other efforts such as critical self-reflection reflection, learning about antiracist pedagogies, and taking steps to decolonize our classrooms.

This is a workshop activity used in our Inclusive Courses workshop. It is intended to help instructors to recognize the wide range of things that they currently do, or can do, to demonstrate to students that each has unique contributions to make in the course learning community.

Strategies for adapting face-to-face teaching for online, flexible, or mixed-mode learning environments. This document was offered as a web resource for faculty teaching online, flexible, or mixed-mode courses during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is available here for archival purposes.

Strategies for adapting face-to-face teaching and assessments for online, flexible, or mixed-mode learning environments. This document was offered as a web resource for faculty teaching online, flexible, or mixed-mode courses during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is available here for archival purposes.

Strategies for adapting face-to-face assessments for online, flexible, or mixed-mode learning environments. This document was offered as a web resource for faculty teaching online, flexible, or mixed-mode courses during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is available here for archival purposes.

Active learning strategies suitable for use in a variety of classrooms.

Exit slips are an active learning strategy that requires students to put information into their own words, so they can internalize the content, identify gaps in their understanding, or alert the instructor to potential problems. This document contains examples of prompts for use in any course.

The purpose of this article is to provide a process for centers for teaching and learning to demonstrate their success and their value to constituents. Faculty developers have long requested an approach that would guide relevant and meaningful data collection. Nearly every CTL must develop a strategic plan, but too often they sit on a shelf gathering dust. The purpose of a strategic plan is to guide decision-making about how the unit spends its resources in service of its purpose (mission).
Linse, A. R. & Hood, L. N. (in press). Building a strategic plan that guides assessment: A case study from a teaching and learning center. Journal on Centers for Teaching and Learning.

This is a 2-page flyer provided by the CIRTL Network (Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning). It includes quotes from participants about how participating benefitted them. Many are now professors. The second page is focuses on additional benefits for students, faculty, and academic units.

This resource was designed to help UBC instructors self-assess their teaching dossier (portfolio) and reflect on its content. It can be used alongside the detailed information in the Teaching Portfolio section at the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology, University of British Columbia.

The University of Montana Curry Health Center developed this toolkit for faculty based on the well-documented concept that student wellbeing is critical to learning, success and persistence. The toolkit includes course design suggestions about a wide variety of topics including student's personal development, flexibility, social connection, optimal challenge, developing a positive course culture, inclusivity, instructor support, and responding to a crisis.

Handout contains prompts for reflecting on one's syllabus, a class, an assignment, and student learning. Reflective prompts that support brainstorming ideas for the portfolio support the early stages of the development of a teaching portfolio.

Considerations for using AI (artificial intelligence) tools in our teaching: when planning a course, when planning an assignment, when considering implications for equity, accessibility and academic integrity.

Disruptions might include a sudden eruption of distress, a disturbance, or a challenge in the classroom. They result in a charged juncture that requires the instructor to intervene. These stressful moments or emotionally challenging situations can negatively impact the integrity and safety of the learning environment.

A teaching philosophy is more than an instructor’s beliefs about teaching and learning and paints a picture of what it is like to be a student in the course. It explains why a faculty member does what they do in their courses. It can be a foundational document for course design, narrative statements, and self-reflection.

A teaching philosophy is typically a 1-2-page narrative. It describes how learning happens in a course through examples learning activities, instructor- and student-student interactions, assessments. See Writing a Teaching Philosophy.

This resource provides a definition of diversity and explores the rationale for advocating for diversity within educational settings. It serves as a guide to better understand the advantages of intentionally integrating diversity, in terms of representation, perspectives, and experiences into the learning environment.

A sense of belonging is students’ perception of social support on campus, connectedness, and experience of feeling accepted, respected, mattering, and valued by the community or people on campus, such as faculty, staff, and peers (Strayhorn, 2012). Based on four domains of sense of belonging that Ahn and Davis (2020) suggest (academic engagement, social engagement, surroundings, and personal space), this resource provides practical guidance for cultivating a sense of belonging in learning environments.

The Midterm/Midsemester Class Interview (or Small Group Instructional Diagnosis, SGID) is a process designed to help instructors learn what their students think about how the course is going. Students identify elements of the class that are helping them learn and offer suggestions to strengthen the course. We recommend using this procedure in the middle of the semester, after students have received at least one grade. The process involves three steps: 1) meeting with an instructional consultant to discuss the instructor's objectives for the process; 2) a class interview with small groups and a whole class discussion; and a post-interview summary and discussion of the results with the consultant.

The purpose of this activity is for participants or students to get to know each other as individuals with distinct histories, backgrounds, and traditions. Knowing something personal about others helps learning communities and teams function more effectively.

The Where I'm From icebreaker activity was developed based on a poem by George Ella Lyon (http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html). This teaching activity is described in: Christensen, Linda (1998) Inviting Student Lives into the Classroom: Where I'm From. Rethinking Schools, 12(2): 22-23. Available on-line at: https://rethinkingschools.org/articles/where-i-m-from/

Short descriptions of 22 activities to engage students in both large and small classes.

Active Learning, Strategies for Success is written for instructors who are not practiced at teaching actively. It was created after hearing from faculty "That active learning stuff doesn't work for me. I tried it and the students hated it!" Following a 4-step process can help ensure that your early attempts at active teaching are more successful. These steps have been used by hundreds of faculty to effectively introduce students to active learning. For suggestions of activities look for "Interactive Learning" in the repository search box.

This resource is from Texas Tech University and is written by Jenny Lloyd-Strovas, Ph.D. at TTU's Teaching, Learning, and Professional Development Center
Texas Tech University in August, 2015.
Teaching large classes can be a daunting experience. How do you keep students engaged and active without losing control of the classroom? With so many students, how do you know if they are learning? Should you attempt to take attendance or risk losing students? How do you build rapport when learning 200 names isn’t a possibility? If you have taught (or are preparing to teach) a large class, you have probably asked yourself these questions. Here, I will discuss possible solutions for these challenges and more. This resource is organized to be a quick and efficient reference for challenges that you are experiencing in your classroom.

Abstract: Writing multiple-choice test items to measure student learning in higher education is a challenge. Based on extensive scholarly research and experience, the author describes various item formats, offers guidelines for creating these items, and provides many examples of both good and bad test items. He also suggests some shortcuts for developing test items. All of this advice is based on extensive scholarly research and experience. Creating valid multiple-choice items is a difficult task, but it contributes greatly to the teaching and learning process for undergraduate, graduate, and professional-school courses.

Author: Thomas M. Haladyna, Arizona State University

Keywords: Multiple-choice items, selected response, test-item formats, examinations

Heavily abridged version of Weinstein, Y., Madan, C. R., & Smith, M. A. (in press). Teaching the science of learning. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, prepared for and presented at "Reframing Testing as a Learning Experience: Three Strategies for Use in the Classroom and at Home" on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017.

Six key learning strategies from research in cognitive psychology can be applied to education: spaced practice, interleaving, elaborative interrogation, concrete examples, dual coding, and retrieval practice. However, a recent report (Pomerance, Greenberg, & Walsh, 2016) found that few teacher-training textbooks cover these principles; current study-skills courses also lack coverage of these important learning strategies. Students are therefore missing out on mastering techniques they could use on their own to learn effectively. This handout contains the six key learning strategies to address those concerns.

This flyer lists a variety of services provided by our consultants divided into 5 broad categories: Course Design & Planning, Teaching Strategies, Testing & Grading, Reearch on Teaching & Learning, and Course Evaluation.

The Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning, University of Calgary developed the Taylor Institute Guide on Teaching Dossiers (aka Teaching Portfolios) and Philosophy Statements. This guide is a comprehensive resource for creating a teaching dossier that presents an integrated summary of your teaching philosophy, approaches, accomplishments, and effectiveness. Based on a compilation of current scholarship and open access resources this guide uses a literature-informed framework for developing teaching expertise to lead you through a series of practical exercises to develop and strengthen your teaching dossier and philosophy.

All materials are licensed under the creative commons and we invite you to share, use and adapt this guide within your local contexts and/or educational development initiatives.

This paper outlines twelve tips for undertaking peer observation of teaching in medical education, using the peer review model and the experiences of the authors. An accurate understanding of teaching effectiveness is required by individuals, medical schools, and universities to evaluate the learning environment and to substantiate academic and institutional performance. Peer Observation of Teaching is one tool that provides rich, qualitative evidence for teachers, quite different from closed-ended student evaluations. When Peer Observation of Teaching is incorporated into university practice and culture, and is conducted in a mutually respectful and supportive way, it has the potential to facilitate reflective change and growth for teachers.

Learn more about faculty options for Teaching and Learning Scholarship (TLS) at Penn State. TLS is also known as Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) and it forms the foundation for evidence-based teaching. This flyer outlines short term, medium range, and long term options for TLS support and resources. Contact information is included on the flyer.

This document shows how to add the Penn State "Teaching Events" calendar to your list of Outlook Calendars. Over 40 units at Penn State offer Teaching and Learning events, seminars, visiting speakers, workshops, short courses, etc. The calendar was created so all faculty and TAs can see what is happening around the university. Some events will be open only for targeted audiences, but others will be open to all. Before scheduling an event please ensure that other events with similar audiences are not already on the calendar!

This is a resource indicating technological tools to support teaching and learning at Penn State. This document contains a list of centrally supported tech, and also other that are not centrally supported but have wide support available online.

These PowerPoint slides accompanied a presentation by James M. Lang delivered at University Park on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020. Research from the learning sciences and from a variety of educational settings suggests that a small number of key principles can improve learning in almost any type of college or university course, from traditional lectures to flipped classrooms. This workshop will introduce some of those principles, offer practical suggestions for how they might foster positive change in higher education teaching and learning, and guide faculty participants to consider how these principles might manifest themselves in their current and upcoming courses.

These PowerPoint slides accompanied a presentation by James M. Lang delivered at University Park on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020. As faculty struggle with the problem of distracted students on our campuses and in our classes, they have become increasingly frustrated by the ways in which digital devices can interfere with student learning. But are students today more distracted than they were in the past? Has technology reduced their ability to focus and think deeply, as some popular books have argued? This interactive lecture draws upon scholarship from history, neuroscience, and education in order to provide productive new pathways for faculty to understand the distractible nature of the human brain, work with students to moderate the effects of distraction in their learning, and even leverage the distractible nature of our minds for new forms of connected and creative thinking.

Teaching and Advising Resources for the Inauguration and Beyond
This document offers resources for creating a positive learning environment for all students and addressing challenges that might arise at the beginning of this semester. Main topics include: Checking in with Ourselves and Our Students; Engaging in Dialogue with Students; Managing Classroom Disruptions

Inclusive Teaching. This document includes the slides and handouts used in Linse & Weinstein's workshop introducing faculty to specific actions that they can take immediately to make their courses more inclusive. Based on our experience, it is best to provide the Strategies early in the workshop because it addresses faculty members' primary concern--what to do! By addressing faculty needs first, we have found it allows us to have richer discussions about the two most intractable issues to creating inclusive learning environments, Microaggressions and Stereotype Threat.

General recommendations for adapting teaching and assessment to a synchronous, remote course environment. This document was offered as page one of a web resource for faculty who transformed their courses from face-to-face to remote learning environments due to campus closures resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. It is available here for archival purposes.

Strategies for adapting face-to-face teaching to a synchronous, remote course environment, arranged by some of the common course formats and course types. This document was offered as page two of a web resource for faculty who transformed their courses from face-to-face to remote learning environments due to campus closures resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. It is available here for archival purposes.

Strategies for adapting face-to-face assessments to a synchronous, remote course environment, arranged by some of the common course formats and course types. This document was offered as page three of a web resource for faculty who transformed their courses from face-to-face to remote learning environments due to campus closures resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. It is available here for archival purposes.

This article, from Stanford's teaching and learning center, addresses strategies for improving assessment and grading practices in the classroom.

Provides a tool for evaluating a teaching philosophy / teaching statement that might be included in a job application packet or a tenure and promotion dossier. Areas evaluated include format, clarity, specificity, degree of reflectiveness, and foundation in beliefs about teaching and learning.

A teaching portfolio provides materials associated with the experience of teaching and learning. This PDF describes items that might be included in a teaching portfolio, categorized by source: personal material, material from others, and products of good teaching.

Teaching portfolios provide an opportunity for instructors to show evidence that they are effective teachers. This PDF includes a list of questions that can be useful in filtering the kinds of evidence to be included in one's portfolio.

This document outlines the research evidence for the impact of large classes on student learning.

This is an example of a survey administered to graduating seniors. It is used by the Penn State Berks elementary education program for learning outcomes assessment (program assessment) purposes.

This survey is used by the Penn State Berks teacher education program to assess student teachers for learning outcomes assessment (program assessment) purposes.

This essay, written by Penn State's Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, John Lowe, describes several useful strategies for collecting course-level assessment about students' study habits and learning, which can be used to improve student learning.

This document briefly describes what service-learning is and the ways in which it can promote student learning.

This document describes methods for developing surveys for collecting learning outcomes assessment (program assessment) evidence from graduating seniors, alumni and employers.

This excerpt from "Student Learning Assessment: Options and Resources" provides three sample rubric types including simple, detailed and holistic. These rubrics can help to improve the grading process. The publication was written by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

A brief description of course portfolios is provided along with resources and links to portfolio examples.

PowerPoint presentation on Blended Learning from Abington Colloquy, January 18, 2012 by Stephen Pyser.

Brief discussion of characteristics that case-writers should aim for in order to promote students' learning. Traits discussed include realism, alignment with students' needs, complexity, adequate background information, and clear writing.

Richard Felder and Rebecca Brent describe their approach to Collaborative Learning Strategies.

This document is a 1993 teaching newsletter from Stanford University that addresses the topic of classroom assessments - brief, typically non-graded assignments, that reveals to both teachers and students the extent to which students have the knowledge the teacher expects them to have.

Overview of best practices for using PowerPoint as an instructional tool. Handout includes numerous tips and illustrative slides focused on: debate about the proper role of PowerPoint in education; using the assertion-evidence model in slide design in order to promote learning; making user-friendly choices about graphic design.

Penn State Abington instructor Ross Brinkert answers some frequently asked questions about hybrid teaching and learning based on his own early experiences.

This document offers a nice overview of Inquiry Based Learning.

IST's 2010 master assessment plan is a great model for similar programs trying to map their objectives, courses, and assessments.

This FAQ sheet offers many ideas and strategies for engaging students in active learning, given a large class environment.

A handout that describes problem-based learning and provides an overview of the instructional steps.

Handout from Cindy Raynak's 2012 Teaching Professor presentation in Washington, DC. Describes the concept of "student-centered discussion," it's advantages for student learning, and how the process works.

This document provides examples of measures that are classified as direct or indirect evidence. It provides a list of appropriate direct or indirect measures of student learning which can be used in the process of program assessment.

This document describes how to use case studies as strategies to provide active learning experiences for students.

This document describes how concept maps can be used as active methods for students to learn course material.

This document describes the process of writing problems for use in helping students learn course material through problem-based learning.

This document describes the process for creating permanent groups (teams) for collaborative learning.

This document describes a specific strategy that provides a collaborative learning experience for students.

This document describes several active learning methods for helping students learn how course concepts are organized.

This document describes several strategies that can be used to make concepts "concrete" and provide tactile material that can help students learn.

This document describes the use of partners who learn the course material together.