The Faculty Council on Teaching and Learning is sponsoring Class A legislation to update existing, outdated language in the Faculty Code. The update proposes five core elements of effective teaching that are informed by research and have been refined through a tri-campus faculty feedback process conducted throughout AY 2022-23 and AY 2023-24 as part of the “Future of Teaching and Learning” initiative.
The proposed updates are to Faculty Code: Section 24-32 Scholarly and Professional Qualifications of Faculty Members, a section of the code that was last updated over fifty years ago.
Background and rationale
The Faculty Council on Teaching and Learning reviewed and revised recommendations from the Future of Teaching and Learning Initiative Working Group on Instructional Quality to update the Faculty Code’s decades-old language around teaching. The current legislation operationalizes these efforts.
The Future of Teaching and Learning Initiative, from which this legislation emerged, was a two-year-long, University-wide, tri-campus effort to update UW’s shared understanding of effective teaching. The effort resulted in broad consensus around a set of core elements of effective teaching – elements developed after careful review of:
- Existing University language, peer institutions’ efforts, and evidence from the scholarship of teaching and learning
- A robust tri-campus vetting process that yielded feedback from over 630 instructors of all ranks, academic leaders, and instructional support staff
- Additional input from faculty who teach in clinical settings to ensure relevance
- Input from a tri-campus faculty advisory council
The following broad themes emerged during this process. They serve as both rationale and context for the proposed updates:
- All UW learners possess the potential for academic success; the core function of instruction is to cultivate that potential through effective teaching.
- Teaching has changed and continues to change because the students and the contexts in which we teach change, and the evidence base on effective teaching evolves.
- Contrary to the notion that the ability to teach is innate, effective teaching practices are reflective and refined over time. This understanding is consistent with FCTL’s recently passed Class C Resolution “Concerning the Use of Student Course Evaluations” that promoted a formative, growth-oriented approach to teaching.
- Many faculty already embrace a reflective approach to teaching and use teaching practices that align with the core elements proposed in this legislation.
- The Faculty Code provides guidance to units committed to promoting effective teaching within their disciplines.
- Advancing the teaching mission of the University is an institutional effort that requires alignment around a shared understanding of teaching effectiveness on the part of academic leaders, faculty of all ranks, instructional support professionals, and administrative staff.
Proposed updates to the Faculty Code
The Faculty Council on Teaching and Learning supports the adoption of the following understanding of effective teaching into the Faculty Code.
Effective teaching is…
- Aligned: Effective teaching is intentionally designed and organized to help learners meet learning objectives.
- Inclusive and equitable: Effective teaching considers learners’ experiences and creates opportunities for each learner to thrive.
- Active and engaged: Effective teaching creates opportunities for learners to engage with ideas and each other.
- Growth-oriented: Effective teaching creates opportunities for learners to learn through practice and provides feedback that helps them grow their knowledge and abilities.
- Relevant: Effective teaching helps learners understand why what they are learning matters and prepares them for future learning and life after UW.
Applicable in any instructional context and across academic disciplines, these proposed core elements embody values central to the University of Washington and reflect how the practice of teaching has evolved over the last 50 years.
Contact Us
Casey Self, Chair, Faculty Council on Teaching & Learning
Teaching Professor, Biology
University of Washington – Seattle
cjself@uw.edu