By MARTY LEVINE
The new TEACH@Pitt online module that debuted earlier this month from the University Center for Teaching and Learning — focused on how to design effective classroom learning experiences — is not just for beginning instructors, said the center’s John Radzilowicz. It can also be “a great refresher” for experienced professors.
Radzilowicz, director of pedagogy, practice and assessment, led his team and others at the Teaching Center and throughout Pitt in designing TEACH@Pitt’s first module over the past two years.
It focuses on “aligning your course with learning objectives,” which is “really the foundation for developing a successful course,” he says — including areas of concern “we see with faculty all the time” at the Teaching Center.
This first module, which takes about six self-paced hours to complete, covers course types from lectures to hands-on, and deals with assessing student learning to “make sure you’re getting across the things you said you are getting across” in each course. Each module offers a badge for completion.
It also offers sections on improving accessibility for students — including the ones who need encouragement to raise their hands — and how to use technology effectively: Are those tools right for you? Do you want to use AI? What are you going to set as rules? Other parts of the module cover assessment: Noting what worked really well and what needs to be updated or changed.
The plan, Radzilowicz said, is to roll out at least one additional module in the spring, based on feedback from this fall’s test run. “What we hope to get to eventually is, at a certain point, if you earn a certain number of badges you can get a certificate from the University in higher education teaching.” He hopes this will be offered in partnership with the School of Education, about which Teaching Center officials have already been in discussion.
“We have close to 6,000 faculty now,” Radzilowicz observed. “Even in a really good year, we have over 2,000 faculty take some sort of training or a program with the Teaching Center. That’s good, but that’s still only a third of faculty. Our hope is that we would create something that was a little more enticing,” in the TEACH@Pitt modules, since they offer immediate feedback to users in the form of self-assessments throughout, as well as a final assessment by Teaching Center staff that also may help faculty show progress toward promotions.
In the final assessment, “we take them through the things we think they should be reflecting on,” he says, from “type, size and demographic of students” to “sharing a couple of goals they created … how they will align those goals with their classes,” alongside “how they will do assessments and test progress of students and themselves. Those questions include: Which module part challenged your assumptions about teaching? What have you learned about student needs? How do you feel about your teaching practice? Are you enjoying what you are doing? What are the things that connect you with teaching?”
Faculty who conduct research at Pitt already are required to gain related certifications, which also make them eligible to apply for grants, he said. Why not offer similar credentials on the teaching side of faculty work?
“In the long run it might be nice to see that as a requirement for faculty,” he said. “That would be something to work toward. … We’ll see what the interest level is. We’ll see what the feedback is. We’ll see what the deans want to do.”
Of those who complete the first module, he said, “we hope they will become champions in their departments or in their own disciplines” for ideal teaching practices.
Each module will be available to all faculty, including teaching assistants who are assigned to teach their own classes. Since the first module debuted on Aug. 7, it is too early to report any stats about enrollment or completion.
Future modules will likely delve more deeply into online teaching, AI and assessments, for starters, he said. “And we're going to stay flexible on what order to release them in, what to prioritize.
“Ultimately this is the kind of project that I think could move the results for teaching at Pitt,” Radzilowicz said. “We want to be known as much for our teaching as our research. This could get us there.”
Marty Levine is a staff writer for the University Times. Reach him at martyl@pitt.edu or 412-758-4859.
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