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Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology

Instructional Consultation

Overview

The Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology provides a growing list of options for faculty who wish to enrich their teaching through instructional consultations. Get a new perspective on your teaching by taking advantage of one or more of the following services:

Midterm Chats (Small Group Instructional Diagnosis)
See your course through the eyes of your students—at midterm, while there’s still time to make adjustments and improve student learning.
Video (Ad)Vantage (Classroom Videotaping)
Watch yourself teach. We’ll videotape your class and guide you through an informed viewing of the result.
Classroom Observations
See your classroom through the eyes of a professional observer or invite a colleague to observe your teaching.
Online/Blended Course Review
See your blended or online course through the eyes of a professional consultant.
Instructional Strategy Consultations
Meet with a member of the CTLT staff to begin a systematic approach to dealing with a teaching/learning issue in your classroom.

Process

In each case, instructional consultation is a four-part process that includes the following:

  1. Initial meeting
    We will ask you to provide a context for the process by answering some questions about the course, your students, and your teaching.
  2. Classroom Visit
    A CTLT facilitator will “visit” your classroom—either virtually or in person, depending on the nature of the consultation.
  3. Feedback Phase
    The facilitator will provide both oral and written feedback, detailing findings of the classroom visit.
  4. Action Phase
    Once you have received our feedback, we ask that you determine a “plan of action” for putting our findings in to action to enrich your teaching.

Policies

All instructional consultation services are:

  1. VOLUNTARY
    Only instructors (tenured, tenure line, NTTS, faculty associates or A/Ps with instructional responsibilities) can request instructional consultation services.
  2. FORMATIVE
    Teaching consultation services are always formative in nature. Our goal is to provide helpful feedback that instructors can use to enrich and enhance their teaching. CTLT facilitators are not in the business of evaluating teaching.
  3. CONFIDENTIAL
    No information gathered during the consultation process will be shared with anyone else at the university or beyond without the instructor’s express consent. The CTLT facilitator will provide written feedback as part of the process, and instructors are welcome to use that documentation in any way they deem appropriate (e.g. as an addition to their teaching portfolios, as part of their annual ASPT reports, etc.) In addition, we would be happy to send a copy of the feedback to a dean, chair, mentor, or DFSC, but only at the written request of the instructor.
  4. TIMELY
    CTLT facilitators will work with interested faculty to determine the most appropriate point in the construction or delivery of the course.

To learn more about a specific consultation service or to arrange an initial meeting, click on the appropriate link above. For general questions, please call or e-mail CTLT, 309-438-2542.