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U N I V E R S I T Y O F P I T T S B U R G H |
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Volume XI, Number 1 |
September
2005 |
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U N I V E R S I T Y O F P I T T S B U R G H |
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Volume XI, Number 1 |
September
2005 |
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ACIE Report Concludes:
A report on the impact of the annual Innovation in Education Awards concludes that the program has “served as a catalyst for mobilizing a substantial amount of University faculty expertise and creativity.” The report, part of which summarizes the results of a survey of past award winners, was prepared by the Provost’s Advisory Council on Instructional Excellence (ACIE), chaired by Andrew Blair, vice provost for faculty affairs. ACIE has conducted the program since its inception during the 1999-2000 academic year. Over the six-year period, 257 proposals have been submitted, and 81 have been funded. Total funding on an annual basis has averaged $188,000. The report observes that the awards program, together with the annual Teaching Excellence Fair, have “represented a successful vehicle for achieving the Council’s purpose—to promote the centrality of teaching excellence throughout all of the academic units of this comprehensive University.” Proposals are annually invited from all of the University’s academic units for projects that:
The survey data (as well as the outcomes of a set of earlier focus groups) showed that most projects have had a significant positive impact on student learning, are often adapted for use in course offerings of departmental or other colleagues, and have generally been sustainable in ensuing years. Furthermore, many respondents described professional benefits, beyond teaching, that they derived from their projects, such as publications, professional presentations, and other funding and research opportunities. The supported projects cover a wide range of instructional domains, and many feature the creative use of instructional technology as a means of achieving a course’s or instructional activity’s learning objectives. However, the Council has emphasized that instructional technology is only a means to an end, and that it looks favorably on supporting projects as well that use other creative approaches to teaching. At the annual Teaching Excellence Fair, directors of projects funded in the previous year make presentations to the University community. In addition to highlighting those awards, the fair provides a forum for a variety of other presentations on teaching and the use of various instructional technologies. This year’s fair is scheduled for Nov. 9. (See the announcement on the back page). The 10 projects that were funded by ACIE for the 2004-05 academic year are described in this edition of the Teaching Times .
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A newsletter devoted to the support of teaching and learning at the University of Pittsburgh |
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