Critical Resources Database
Choose one of the critical resource collections:
Working Group 3: Change LeadersWorking Groups 2 & 4: Costs, Benefits, and Demonstrating ImpactWorking Group 6: Aligning Faculty WorkBecome an ASCN Speaker » Submit a Resource »
Use the search or choose from a selection of topics below:
Change Topics (Working Groups)
Resource Type Show all
Journal Article
42 matchesProgram Components Show all
- Accessibility 1 match
- Advising and Mentoring 1 match
- Course Evaluation 10 matches
- Cultural Competency 1 match
- Curriculum Development 22 matches
- Diversity/Inclusion 8 matches
- Pedagogical Training 15 matches
- Preparing Future Teachers 1 match
- Student Assessment 2 matches
Professional Development
15 matches General/OtherResults 11 - 20 of 42 matches
Transportation Engineering Instructors' Decision-Making Processes for Course Change
Transportation Engineering Instructors' Decision-Making Processes for Course Change Describes adoption of course changes in engineering, with recommendations for curriculum developers. Suggested Citation ...
Resource Type: Journal Article
Program Components: Professional Development:Curriculum Development, Course Evaluation
A student-staff partnership approach to course enhancement: Principles for enabling dialogue through repurposing subject-specific materials and metaphors
Lucy Chilvers, Centre for Learning and Teaching, and the School of Art, University of Brighton; Alice FoxCentre for Learning and Teaching, and the School of Art, University of Brighton; Sarah Bennett, Centre for Learning and Teaching, and the School of Art, University of Brighton;
Although describing a museum-based art class, the central principles and many of the strategies used can be adapted to STEM diciplines. The staff (authors' term) designed their museum-based class to create opportunities for dialogue with students, hear their voices, and use the information gleaned from to enhance learning and evaluate the class and pedagogical decisions. The qualitative analysis of student and staff experiences shows not only responsiveness by both groups, but increased engagement and sense of belonging by students from historically marginalized groups. The article includes quotes from staff about the challenges of this strategy (such as needing to remain 'unplanned') and practical constraints such as funding shortfalls. They end with 5 principles for module design including 'creative evaluation' (their term for this): 1. embedding regular opportunities for formative reflection and evaluation; 2. evaluative activities allow students to reflect on their learning and on the course; 3. staff are listening responsively and adapting to students' feedback where needed; 4. time is allocated for collaborative activities to build trust and support reflections; 5. activities and assessments are relevant to the discipline.
Resource Type: Journal Article
Program Components: Professional Development:Pedagogical Training, Curriculum Development, Outreach:Informal Education
Framing and Efficacy of University-Required Diversity Courses in the Research Literature
Christine Zabala Eisshofer, University of Oklahoma
This literature review examines the research in the last 30 years in relation to university-required diversity courses, as well as highlights areas that have been understudied. Utilizing the social justice rationale for diversity, this review analyzes 25 quantitative and qualitative research articles that address university-required diversity courses. This literature review unpacks the mixed results from quantitative studies as well as analyzes the case studies presented in qualitative research. The relevance to this collection is the authors point that outcomes-based analysis (grades, survey responses) are insufficient, but that to truely understand student experiences in the classroom, we must examine student work undertaken during the class.
Resource Type: Journal Article
Program Components: Professional Development:Diversity/Inclusion, Pedagogical Training, Curriculum Development, Student Assessment, Supporting Students:Student Engagement
Educators' experiences with student voice: how teachers understand, solicit, and use student voice in their classrooms.
Jerusha O. Conner, Villanova University
Jerusha O. Conner, Villanova University This research paper explores how teachers understand, solicit, and use student input in their classrooms. The author defines 'student voice' as 'strategy that engageds youth in sharing their views on their experiences as students...' but discuss variety of definitions being used, and whether or not 'student voice' necessarily implies student engagement in decision making or even is restricted to opinions concerning school.
Resource Type: Journal Article
Program Components: Professional Development:Accessibility, Diversity/Inclusion, Pedagogical Training, Curriculum Development, Supporting Students:Student Engagement
Designing for the Margins: Addressing Inequities in Digital Learning Starts With Hearing and Engaging the Student Voice
Jessica Rowland Williams, Every Learner Everywhere
Jessica Rowland Williams, Every Learner Everywhere Reflecting the events of the COVID shut-down, the author provides an overview of student and faculty experiences with remote learning during the stress of the pandemic with a focus on students from historically marginalized populations. The author is the director of Every Learner Everywhere, a network of 12 member institutions which seeks to reduce the achievement gaps through adaptive courseware and other digital tools. In this essay, the author explores what they learned about marginalized students' experiences of online learning while managing financial and personal stress through data harvested from the Suddenly Online national survey plus focus groups at nearly 50 institutions in 22 states.
Resource Type: Journal Article
Program Components: Professional Development:Diversity/Inclusion, Pedagogical Training, Curriculum Development, Supporting Students:Student Engagement
Improving the Academic Climate of an R1 STEM Department: Quantified Positive Shifts in Perception
This study confirms the positive outcomes of having a practical, sustainable, and data-driven framework for affecting change within a graduate community.
Resource Type: Journal Article
Program Components: Professional Development:Diversity/Inclusion, Institutional Systems:Incentive/Reward Systems, Strategic Planning, Degree Program Development, Supporting Students:Learning Communities, Academic Support, Scholarships, Grants, Workstudy
Misalignments: Challenges in Cultivating Science Faculty with Education Specialties in Your Department
Misalignments: Challenges in Cultivating Science Faculty with Education Specialties in Your Department This paper describes the role and potential contributions of science faculty with education specialties within ...
Resource Type: Journal Article
Program Components: Professional Development:Pedagogical Training, Curriculum Development, Institutional Systems:Personnel/Hiring, Evaluating Teaching, Strategic Planning, Interdepartmental Collaboration, Outreach:Policy Change
Aligning Practice to Policies: Changing the Culture to Recognize and Reward Teaching at Research Universities
This is an article about how to align University practices with policies. It offers three examples of how institutions have begun projects to achieve this. It overlaps with the TEval resources, as two of the examples are TEval participants.Abstract: "Recent calls for improvement in undergraduate education within STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines are hampered by the methods used to evaluate teaching effectiveness. Faculty members at research universities are commonly assessed and promoted mainly on the basis of research success. To improve the quality of undergraduate teaching across all disciplines, not only STEM fields, requires creating an environment wherein continuous improvement of teaching is valued, assessed, and rewarded at various stages of a faculty member's career. This requires consistent application of policies that reflect well-established best practices for evaluating teaching at the department, college, and university levels. Evidence shows most teaching evaluation practices do not reflect stated policies, even when the policies specifically espouse teaching as a value. Thus, alignment of practice to policy is a major barrier to establishing a culture in which teaching is valued. Situated in the context of current national efforts to improve undergraduate STEM education, including the Association of American Universities Undergraduate STEM Education Initiative, this essay discusses four guiding principles for aligning practice with stated priorities in formal policies: 1) enhancing the role of deans and chairs; 2) effectively using the hiring process; 3) improving communication; and 4) improving the understanding of teaching as a scholarly activity. In addition, three specific examples of efforts to improve the practice of evaluating teaching are presented as examples: 1) Three Bucket Model of merit review at the University of California, Irvine; (2) Evaluation of Teaching Rubric, University of Kansas; and (3) Teaching Quality Framework, University of Colorado, Boulder. These examples provide flexible criteria to holistically evaluate and improve the quality of teaching across the diverse institutions comprising modern higher education."
Resource Type: Journal Article
Program Components: Professional Development:Course Evaluation, Institutional Systems:Incentive/Reward Systems, Evaluating Teaching
Shaping the Future of Higher Education: Practical, Community-Driven Initiatives to Improve Academic Climate
In this Editorial, we present the history and details of a collaborative effort to improve the academic climate of the Department of Chemistry at University of California, Berkeley.
Resource Type: Journal Article
Program Components: Professional Development:Advising and Mentoring, Diversity/Inclusion, Cultural Competency, Institutional Systems:Incentive/Reward Systems, Evaluating Promotion and Tenure, Strategic Planning, Interdepartmental Collaboration, Degree Program Development, Supporting Students:Student Engagement, Learning Communities, Academic Support, Outreach:Policy Change
Benefit–Cost Analysis of Undergraduate Education Programs: An Example Analysis of the Freshman Research Initiative
Rebecca L. Walcott; Phaedra S. Corso; Stacia E. Rodenbusch; and Erin L. Dolan
The authors comprehensively describe how to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of an undergraduate education program, using a detailed real-life example to illustrate the process. Principal conclusion: the university's investment in Freshman Research Initiative generates a positive return for students in the form of increased future earning potential (p. 1).
Resource Type: Journal Article
Program Components: Professional Development:Course Evaluation, Institutional Systems:Evaluating Teaching, Strategic Planning