Accountability Report
Appendices
Appendix Q
Center for Instructional Development and Research
The Center for Instructional Development and Research recognizes that the
University of Washington strives for excellence in three areas:
research, teaching, and service. Realizing that members of the UW
community have multiple responsibilities within the context of this
research-intensive institution, CIDR assists faculty, teaching
assistants, departments/units, and administrators with
teaching and learning challenges as the UW moves into the 21st century.
Reorganized in 1983, CIDR is based on a total quality management approach
and seeks to serve faculty, graduate teaching assistants, other
instructors, and administrators to improve teaching and learning at all
levels at the University of Washington.
Current Services
Over 300 faculty and graduate teaching assistants from 20 schools and
colleges (40 departments in Arts and Sciences) voluntarily come to CIDR
each year to assess the learning of their students, revise curriculum
and redesign courses, and identify new teaching methods to meet their
instructional goals. We have worked with more than 50% of those
receiving the Distinguished Teaching Award as well as
with faculty who are struggling with teaching assignments.
International Teaching Assistant (ITA) Program staff served more than 100
ITAs from 36 departments this year by providing a Pre-autumn Workshop,
weekly language tutorials, classroom observations, and mid quarter class
interviews. The staff conduct language surveys with undergraduates and
provide intense language tutorials with ITAs experiencing difficulties
in their teaching.
During this academic year, CIDR staff:
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conducted over 100 workshops for more than 45 departments/units over 40
topics related to issues of teaching and learning.
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conducted more than 200 mid-quarter class interviews and consultations for
instructors from more than 50 departments.
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provided individual consultations and workshops on teaching portfolios in 20
departments.
One-on-One Contributions with Teaching Assistants and Faculty
Among the typical CIDR services requested by clients are one-on-one
consultations in which a faculty member or TA works with a CIDR consultant to
improve teaching and learning in a specific class. One example:
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Initial Meeting: A professor who taught an advanced course in leadership
and management was dissatisfied with his student ratings. Now that he
was about to teach the course again, he came to CIDR to ask how he might
improve the course. The meeting focused on the professor’s perceptions
and previous student ratings.
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Observation/Class Mid quarter Interview with Students: The professor
and the consultant decided to seek additional information about the
course by having the consultant observe in the class (sometimes
videotaping is preferred so the instructor can view his teaching from a
student's perspective) They also decided the consultant would meet
with the students at midterm to get their perceptions of how the course
was going. The challenge is to collect sufficient information to provide
insights into what is occurring in a particular instructional context.
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Analysis/Interpretation of the Data Collected: The consultant and faculty
member then began to look at the data the consultant had collected to
understand what was happening in the class. A matrix identified the
instructional dimensions that came up again and again in the information
from the students as well as the other sources of data. Clearly, the
students were not seeing the usefulness and relevance of the heavy
theoretical emphasis of the course content. The discussion
between the instructor and the consultant began to focus on why students
did not see the content as relevant. This focus led to further
discussion of other inconsistencies, in "amount learned in the
course", for instance, and ultimately helped the instructor and
consultant think about not only where the difficulties for students
might be but also what specific actions the instructor might take to
improve student learning.
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Initiating Change: Now the professor will try to make changes in teaching
methods based on real data collected from his students. In this case,
use of the experience of the mature learners in the class through
discussion and group work was key to improving student satisfaction with
the learning process, and provided new insights for the professor
regarding current practices students could offer from their current work
in the field.
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Follow Up Consultations: Depending upon the wishes of the instructor,
the consultant then reassesses what is occurring in the classroom to
evaluate the effect of the changes the instructor has made.
Exerpted from material supplied by the Center for Instructional
Development and Research.
Accountability Report
Appendices
