Our Mission, Part 1: Partnering with Duke faculty to support new approaches to student-centered and active learning
Faculty Programs
Our flagship faculty development programs bring together instructors from across Duke to learn about effective, evidence-based teaching practices. Over the last year, Learning Innovation supported 80 Duke faculty and instructors through intensive programs focused on student-centered active learning.
Through interactive seminars, discussions, presentations and community building, participants apply what they learn to (re)design all or part of a course to enhance student learning. In addition, these cross-discipline faculty cohorts build bridges between traditional academic silos and broaden teaching perspectives.
13 Active Learning Fellows explored new methods of deepening student engagement and learning through active classroom techniques. They also collaborated on a blog post filled with ideas for great class discussions.
9 Hybrid Course Fellows designed courses that combined in-class and online learning.
22 new Duke Kunshan Faculty designed courses tailored to the unique curriculum of Duke Kunshan University’s new undergraduate program. (Read more about the Duke Kunshan Fellowship in our Featured Initiatives section)
21 Course Design Institute (CDI) participants learned an approach to designing dynamic, student-centered, learning-focused courses in any discipline.
The CDI helped me to rethink my entire approach to teaching and reaffirm my commitment to creating life-changing learning experiences for my students. I’m really happy to know about [Learning Innovation] and all the wonderful resources you can offer.
– Nicole Barnes, History, CDI Participant August 2017
15 Visit a Classroom participants learned from each other through this program that connects each faculty member with two others for teaching observation and feedback.
Learning Innovation provided a total of $6,500 in Jump Start Grant funding, plus consulting, for three projects to redesign courses, in Psychology, Chemistry and Writing.
On-Demand Teaching Support
Learning Innovation’s consulting program provides on-demand, individualized support on any teaching-related topic for any instructor at Duke. This year, our team of teaching consultants responded to 659 direct requests for teaching support and information (plus an additional 860 requests that came to Learning Innovation via Duke Service Now).
In addition, we staffed over 200 office hours for drop-in consultations on two campuses and visited 35 faculty offices for on-site consultations. We hosted 16 events and workshops related to teaching improvement and faculty development (not counting our NextEd Fest event series).
