An Instructional-Teams Project for supporting instructional reform

The Instructional-Teams Project (I-TP) at the University of Arizona is an NSF-funded effort (DUE-1626531) that supports high-quality active-learning instruction in large-enrollment STEM courses through building high-functioning instructional teams with diversified roles and high-quality instructional tasks that create opportunities for formative assessment of student thinking. The I-TP has leveraged multiple institutional-level change initiatives and existing instructional resources to directly support instructors' use of evidence-based instructional practices in their classrooms. Since Spring 2017, 38 instructors from 19 different departments (including 17 STEM departments) have participated in the project, representing a significant impact on students across our campus. To better characterize how I-TP participation has influenced instructors' practice, we have followed up with instructors on their motivations and goals for participating in the I-TP, and whether and how participation in the I-TP has led to lasting instructional change. Participants include those teaching in-person, asynchronous online, and synchronous remote courses, giving us insight into how the I-TP has impacted the ways instructors implement instructional change with the support of instructional teams in these different teaching modalities. In this talk, we will present the model underlying the I-TP and describe how our institutional resources and initiatives influenced the genesis of the I-TP. We will then present lessons learned about factors that influenced instructors' engagement with the I-TP and whether and how the I-TP has had lasting impacts on their teaching. We will discuss the role the I-TP has played in both in-person and online teaching environments and close with examples of how participating in the project prior to Spring 2020 impacted how instructors negotiated the switch to remote teaching during the pandemic.