Penn State University

Tools and Resources

Alphabetical List

Browse through the tools by the title of the resource.

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In 2013, Penn State embarked on a revision of its General Education curriculum. This website provides the opportunity for faculty, staff and students to find out what is happening, provide input and get involved in the process.

Shows number of seats, type of seating, technology category, and photographs for most classrooms at University Park.

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

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.

Focuses on program assessment and the role that grades do (or do not) play in providing evidence that program goals are being met.

This is a grading rubric to use with scoring an internship journal. It would be a helpful model for someone exploring how to build a rubric generally.

There are 4 tips to help bolster grading efficiency and to deal with student grade complaints.

In addition to complying with all Penn State employment requirements and conditions, graduate students under consideration for an assistantship with the Schreyer Institute need to meet all of the conditions and requirements listed in this document.

"The Graduate Writing Center (GWC) provides free one-on-one professional consulting and interactive workshops for Penn State graduate students of all disciplines and all levels of writing ability. The GWC is sponsored by the Pennsylvania State University Graduate School, the Department of English, and World Campus." Page includes detailed information and scheduling options.

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 document is an example of a survey that can be used to determine graduating students' perceptions of the knowledge and skills they have developed during their program. This tool can be used for learning outcomes assessment (aka program assessment).

This document describes an alternative method for assessment in which students work collaboratively on an exam.

This document describes the process of assigning a group written position paper.

This document describes strategies for using group quizzes to assess student knowledge.

Group Work, by K. J. Wilson, P. Brickman, and C. J. Brame, CBE—Life Sciences EducationVol. 17(!). 22 Mar 2018
This article describes an online teaching guide that provides an overview of research and resources about group work. While directed at STEM faculty new to group work or who have faced challenges implementing group work, this is a useful read for faculty in and outside of the STEM disciplines.

Two-page example of a rubric used to score groupwork.

The Mindset Kit is a free set of online lessons and practices designed to help you teach and foster adaptive beliefs about learning. This website includes sections about Growth Mindset, Teachingt a Growth Mindset, Assessments for Growth Mindset, Belonging, Growth Mindset for Mentors, and more.

Item Analysis (a.k.a. Test Question Analysis) is an empowering process that enables you to improve mutiple-choice test score validity and reliability by analyzing item performance over time and making necessary adjustments. Knowledge of score reliability, item difficulty, item discrimination, and crafting effective distractors can help you make decisions about whether to retain items for future administrations, revise them, or eliminate them from the test item pool. Item analysis can also help you to determine whether a particular portion of course content should be revised or enhanced.

This is a quick start guide for engaging in self reflection on teaching. It can be helpful to support the production of the reflection portion of the dossier for P&T and/or annual review for Penn State faculty.

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.

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