Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs Sue James and The Institute for Learning and Teaching (TILT) honored five faculty for being the first group to earn recognition for the Teaching Effectiveness Initiative (TEI) at the TILT Summer Conference in May.
Rolled out in Fall 2021, the TEI is a voluntary program that provides a structure for instructors to engage in developing teaching effectiveness through implementation, self-reflection, and growth, grounded in the evidence-based teaching practices of the CSU Teaching Effectiveness Framework (TEF). The TEF is comprised of seven domains of effective teaching including inclusive pedagogy, student motivation, classroom climate, instructional strategies, feedback and assessment, curriculum/curricular alignment, and pedagogical content knowledge.
Teaching related professional development in TILT has been aligned with a TEF domain and assigned domain experience units (DEUs) based on the time commitment and depth of the experience; instructors can also submit reflections for other teaching-related professional development to earn DEUs towards the TEI.
Upon earning 10 DEUs in a TEF domain, faculty receive a Certificate of Achievement for the domain. Instructors can also earn a Letter of Commendation for earning the Inclusive Pedagogy domain as well as TEI program milestones related to earning three, five, and seven TEF domains. Instructors can use the TEI certificates as evidence to demonstrate teaching growth for annual review as well as the Promotion and Tenure process.
Certificate of Achievement
Left to right: Annie Krieg, Ph.D., instructor of art history, Blythe LaGasse, Ph.D. professor of music; Sue James, Ph.D., vice provost for faculty affairs; Joshua Keller, Ph.D., assistant professor of statistics; and Shari Lanning, D.V.M., assistant professor of veterinary science; Julie Taylor-Massy (not pictured), Ph.D., senior instructor of human development and family studies.
Annie Krieg
Instructor of Art History
Feedback & Assessment
Blythe LaGasse
Professor of Music
Inclusive Pedagogy
Joshua Keller
Assistant Professor of Statistics
Classroom Climate
Curriculum/Curricular Alignment
Julie Taylor-Massy
Senior Instructor of Human Development and Family Studies
Curriculum/Curricular Alignment
Shari Lanning
Assistant Professor of Veterinary Science
Classroom Climate
Inclusive Pedagogy
Letter of Commendation for Inclusive Pedagogy
Blythe LaGasse
Professor of Music
Shari Lanning
Assistant Professor of Veterinary Science
“The TEI has given me a way to document accountability in my courses and instructional development. It has also motivated me to take action on ideas and pedagogical skills within my courses.”
— Shari Lanning
“I recommend getting involved in the TEI because it provides structure to promote authentic growth in teaching effectiveness. It motivates action of taking what was learned in a professional development opportunity, implementing it, assessing how it went, and reflecting on the process and what’s next. Doing so not only leads to improved teaching practices and student success, but also provides faculty with evidence of their teaching effectiveness they can use in annual review and T&P. Teaching is a critical part of our work, and the TEI honors that by encouraging and recognizing investment in enhancing teaching practices.”
—Julie Taylor-Massey
Learn more
For more information about the Teaching Effectiveness Initiative, contact tonya.buchan@colostate.edu.
