- Our Mission -
We foster an inclusive culture of evidence-based teaching and learning across the University by inspiring effective teaching and assessment using high-impact strategies, tools, and strategic partnerships.
- Our history -
The Center’s roots go back to 1953, when the University Council subcommittee on the Improvement of Teaching encouraged the university to “develop organization within the University to work toward improvement [sic] of teaching” and foster “the exchange of ideas about teaching.” In the following decade, a Teachers Resource Center was founded, followed by the Instructional Resources Center (IRC) in 1962. In 1964, the Center for Teaching Effectiveness (CTE) was spun off from the IRC by a successful vote of the University Council which at the same time appointed a center faculty director and created a center faculty fellows program. Thus, we consider 1964 as the year of the center’s establishment. In 2012, the Center for Teaching Effectiveness integrated with the Office of Educational Assessment to become the Center for Teaching & Assessment of Learning (CTAL).
- Our Theory of Change -
By working in partnership with faculty, staff, and students, we identify and implement tailored, evidence-based solutions that reflect unique learning environments, individual teaching philosophies, educational goals, and disciplinary values. Through our professional development programs, collaborative committee service, responsive consultations, and research initiatives, we empower educators to utilize best practices in teaching and learning assessment; foregrounding the importance of the student learning experience in all teaching-related decision making. This integrated approach advances university priorities and creates cohesive support for educators, ultimately leading to enriched educational outcomes for UD students.
- Our Team -
We partner with educators to cultivate teaching that is inclusive, centered on student learning, and proven to be effective.
- Faculty advisory board -
The Center for Teaching & Assessment of Learning also has a thirteen (13) member Faculty Advisory Board which provides provide our staff with guidance, feedback, and perspectives from themselves and their colleagues about center work, priorities, and impact across campus. Our board members serve as champions for teaching, learning, and assessment at UD, and help spread the word about our work across departments and colleges.
- provost's teaching fellows -
Faculty involved in the Foundational Course Initiative are given the title of Provost’s Teaching Fellow, and participate in a two- or three-year, collaborative course design process, which includes a partnership between an individual faculty member and educational professionals from CTAL. The goals of each course in the initiative are driven by the vision of the faculty, program educational goals, disciplinary values, and are informed by relevant institutional data and research from evidence-based inclusive teaching practices. While during its first two years, FCI partnered with individual faculty– moving forward we will recruit departmental instructional teams to drastically scale the ability to improve student learning across all sections of a selected course and to ensure greater resiliency of instructional changes beyond the life of the grant.
- Goals for 2024 -
1. Advance CTAL’s role as a nexus of collaboration to encourage an inclusive culture of evidence-based teaching and learning across the University by inspiring effective teaching and assessment using high-impact strategies, tools, and collaborations.
2. Collaborate with faculty and academic support partners to develop teaching and learning strategies that support the growth of students’ academic and professional skills and that leverage inclusive pedagogies via consultations, annual and special programming, and cross-unit efforts aimed at addressing timely issues in teaching and learning.
3. Guide, support, and celebrate faculty assessing, revising, and updating program educational goals through systematic evaluation and reporting in line with national and regional assessment and accreditation standards (e.g. annual PEG assessment).
4. Continue collaboration with the Faculty Senate (e.g., Undergraduate Studies; Graduate Studies; General Education; Instructional, Computing and Research Support Services; and the Faculty Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Student Evaluations). Support the Senate’s development of the Teaching Quality Framework as a shared definition of teaching excellence. Collaborating with the senate is both a standalone goal and strategy for achieving other CTAL goals by representing the perspective of our teaching and learning community during discussions which may impact them.
5. Provide strategic support to the Faculty Senate’s General Education Committee as it launches a multiyear initiative to reimagine a general education curriculum that draws on the rich history and distinctive institutional strengths of the University of Delaware and ensures our graduates are equipped with the skills, knowledge, competencies, and habits of mind necessary to thrive in a complex and interconnected world.
6. Cultivate an academic environment at UD that empowers educators to make decisions aligned with the university's Considerations for Integrating AI Within Teaching and Learning document. This work is done both in collaboration with other units, particularly those in the AI for Teaching and Learning Working Group and the Ithaka S+R research team, and independently. We are committed to offering programs that enhance faculty capabilities in embedding AI literacy learning outcomes into their programs, courses, and assignments.
7. Steward the final year of Unidel funds for the Foundational Course Initiative to ensure successful completion of this program and ensure the continued implementation of active-learning and authentic assessment throughout introductory courses at UD.
8. Contribute to scholarship and practice in educational development through (a) publication, participation, and leadership in national and international professional development and scholarship opportunities and (b) support of faculty pursuing scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and discipline-based research (DBER) work.
9. Develop and nurture compassionate/humanistic leadership across the CTAL team.
- Our impact -
- Signature programming -
foundational course initiative
In support of the University of Delaware’s goal to transform Blue Hen students’ first-year experience, CTAL partners with UD faculty to better support and engage our undergraduates. Our shared goal is to reimagine foundational courses that utilize the most effective strategies for teaching and actively engaging students in the learning process. In addition, these introductory courses are designed to teach UD students to be effective college-level learners within and beyond any course’s discipline.
Program educational goals and learning assessment
Program Educational Goal (PEG) and Program Learning Assessment programs are designed to support faculty in degree-granting programs engage in two processes critical to guiding and understanding student learning: (a) creating or revising program educational goals and (b) creating or revising a program assessment plan. CTAL staff provide programming and customized support for faculty engaging in this work upon request.
Open Teaching Days
Open Teaching Days provide an opportunity for UD faculty to open up their classroom to colleagues and showcase their teaching skills. Based upon a model used by other universities around the US for celebrating teaching excellence, where top faculty open their classrooms for a wide variety of “students” for a day.
Winter institute on learning
This three-day online institute helped educators design or redesign a course with a focus on implementing a specifications or alternative grading strategy. These strategies focus on feedback loops that are supported by clearly defined standards, helpful feedback, marks that indicate progress, and reassessment without penalty.
course design institute
The Course Design Institute (CDI) is an intensive, multi-day event during which instructors work closely with CTAL staff to further develop their courses in line with best practices in areas like backwards design, scaffolding, and assessment of student learning.
- additional highlights -
Launch of new CTAL Seminars
For the first time this fall and spring semesters, CTAL offered thematic seminars on topics relevant to teaching, learning, and assessment at the University of Delaware. Our seminars are designed for educators at every stage of professional experience and are organized into categories based on target audience and topic, such as: Foundations of Teaching & Course Design, Methods & Classroom Practice, Equity & Inclusion, Assessment & Feedback, Program Educational Goals, and the Learning Sciences. Seminar topics will vary from year-to-year with upcoming seminars announced each June for the following academic year.
Faculty Learning Community
Designed to complement ongoing campus and national conversations about the use of AI in teaching and learning in higher education, this faculty learning community (FLC) was an opportunity for faculty to share their current state-of-practice using these tools. This FLC provided faculty grappling with the broad ethical, social, cultural, and practical challenges that underlie the use of such tools in teaching with an opportunity to share their experiences with others undertaking the same work.
UD Assessment Network
The UD Assessment Network is an informal group of faculty and staff at the university who have a shared interest in the assessment of learning. The network is convened by CTAL staff who lead meetings where attendees share information with one another and provide ongoing support and professional development.
Faculty Senate ad hoc committee on student evaluations of teaching
The University of Delaware Teaching Quality Framework was written by this committee as the university’s shared definition of teaching excellence and sources of evidence that are expected to establish that teaching excellence has occurred. The university’s faculty senate voted to approve the framework in September 2024 with it going into effect in the 2028-2029 academic year.
The framework describes the characteristics and appropriate sources of evidence of excellent teaching at the University of Delaware. It is grounded in the available literature and examples from peer institutions. In addition to the specific characteristics and sources of evidence listed in the framework, the document includes “core assertions,” philosophical statements of belief and values held by the university community that informed the creation of the lists of characteristics and sources of evidence. The framework is intended to inform and be incorporated into all areas of university practice and policy where teaching is practiced or evaluated. It is also intended to inform teaching support and professional development across the institution.
Summary of UD general education assessment 2015-2024
This report is a summary of assessments of general education which have taken place at the University of Delaware over the past ten years (2015 - 2024). Based on a 2014 agreement (revised 2021) between the Faculty Senate General Education Committee and CTAL to conduct and support general education assessment, this summary report outlines and synthesizes the work CTAL has completed over the past decade, including a discussion of the status of recommendations which came from those reports. Primarily, we focused on foundational assessments of the six general education requirements. Detailed information on each of these reports is provided in subsequent sections, including a discussion of methods, recommendations, and future work.
- Collaborative programming -
New Faculty Orientation
UD Faculty Affairs in partnership with units across campus such as the Center for Teaching & Assessment of Learning, IT Academic Technology Services, Human Resources, and the Library, among others, offers new faculty orientation twice during the academic year, once in August and again in January. Both events are aimed at providing new faculty with an understanding of the UD academic environment, connecting them to resources and support services, and preparing them for teaching and interacting with students. Summer NFO occurs in mid-August over two days, while Winter NFO is offered in January over a single day.
Teaching Assistant Orientation
UD's Graduate College in partnership with units across campus such as the Center for Teaching & Assessment of Learning, IT Academic Technology Services, and the Library, among others, host an annual Teaching Assistant Orientation (TAO). This mandatory workshop aims to enhance the instructional experience of our graduate students and to introduce TAs to evidence-based inclusive instructional practices.
Summer Institute on Teaching
The Summer Institute on Teaching (SIT) is an intensive and celebratory multi-day event that brings together educators from across the University of Delaware to build and strengthen a community around teaching and learning. The institute highlights emerging and established pedagogical practices, resources, and technology tools with an emphasis on evidence and scholarship. It also provides a showcase for the exceptional efforts and accomplishments of UD’s educators.
- opportunities for 2025 -
General Education
ExCel
Pilot the Excellence in Collaboration Framework for Undergraduate General Education Learning Assessment (ExCel).
The ExCel Framework is a systemic, faculty-centered model designed to directly evaluate student learning across the University of Delaware general education curriculum. This framework emphasizes excellence and collaboration, bringing together faculty and assessment professional staff to ensure comprehensive and meaningful evaluations. By fostering interdisciplinary collaboration among faculty across various academic disciplines, the ExCel Framework promotes a culture of continuous improvement and academic excellence. This holistic approach aims to enhance the overall quality of general education and support the development of world-ready students, aligned with the university’s commitment to the intellectual, cultural, and ethical growth of our Blue Hens as engaged citizens, scholars, and professionals.
Transforming general education courses
In partnership with the Faculty Senate General Education Committee and the interim Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and capitalizing on the successes of CTAL's Foundational Course Initiative, Course Design Institute and the Winter Institute on Learning we will collaborate with faculty to redesign general education courses to incorporate the best pedagogical and high-impact practices to enhance our general education curriculum.
This initiative aligns with UD's 'Forward and Forever' strategic plan, showcasing how CTAL and the University of Delaware are leading the way among forward-thinking research universities. Further, CTAL's commitment to strengthening undergraduate education and creating a positive impact resonates with the aspirations and values of Blue Hen stakeholders.