UIUC Alliance for Teaching Excellence: A Partnership of GSLIS and the University Library University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Linda C. Smith Susan E. Searing Jeni V. Weidenbenner

UIUC Context l Teaching Advancement Board l Provost’s Initiative on Teaching Advancement (PITA) l Distinguished Teacher/Scholar Program l Office of Instructional Resources (OIR) l Annual faculty retreats on teaching for active learning

Teaching Academies l ACES -- Academy of Teaching Excellence l AE3 -- Academy for Excellence in Engineering Education “Who dares to teach must never cease to learn.” -- John Cotton Dana, 1912 l Smaller colleges pursue partnerships

GSLIS/Library Partnership l Support from PITA (GA, training materials, refreshments, facility and AV rental) l Year 1: varied programming on topics of common interest ($12,925) l Year 2: improving undergraduate instruction in the information curricula ($10,600)

Participants l GSLIS Faculty (full-time, adjuncts) l Teaching Assistants l Library Faculty l Graduate Assistants

Types of Teaching l Face-to-face vs. online l Undergraduate vs. graduate l Single session vs. semester- long course

The Teaching Alliance’s 1st Year: A Smorgasbord of Programs

Kick-off Retreat (September 2001) l Learning styles l Brainstorming l Peer observation

Year 1 Sessions l “Teaching with Technology” (October 2001) l “Teaching in the Electronic Classroom” (November 2001) l “Learning from Exemplary Teachers” (February 2002) l HTML Workshop (March 2002) l “Effective Lecturing” (April 2002)

Assessing & Evaluating Programs Value of Feedback l Gauge participants’ satisfaction l Make sure program’s goals are accomplished l Gain input for designing future programs

Strategies for Evaluation l Surveys/feedback forms for each session (formative) l Comments from participants (formative) l Data on participants’ faculty roles and program attendance (summative)

Distribution of Year 1 Participants

Event Attendance for Year 1

Statistical Analysis l 46 unique participants over course of the year l Average number of sessions attended: 2.4 sessions l Each event: average of 21.4 people (8.8 GSLIS, 10.8 Library, 1.8 OIR)

Survey Questions Ask participants to rate qualities of the presentation on a continuum: ● Satisfaction with presentation ● Plans to make use of information ● Relevance of presentation to current position ● Success of presenter(s) in relating material ● Interest in future sessions on same topic

Open-ended Questions Provide occasion for participants to give qualitative feedback: l What did they come expecting? l What did they get? l What was the most valuable aspect of the session? l Suggestions for improvement?

Sample of Evaluative Comments Received l “I think some of the instructors and professors on this campus need to attend this kind of event [exemplary teaching session] along with the exemplary teachers.” l “This series is just exceptional.” l “I value the opportunity for library & GSLIS people to get together to talk about teaching/learning.” l “I value the chance to spend time thinking about how I teach.”

Know Where You’ve Been... Collect data l Event attendance l % of new participants at each event l % of returning participants each time

And Where You’re Headed Sum it all up ● Were original goals met? ● Overall strengths? ● Overall weaknesses? ● Changes for the future? ● Program topics requested for future?

l Potpourri of topics l Both technological and human issues l Different venues l Both “inside” and “outside” experts l Changing cast of characters l Focal point for connecting to campus-wide community concerned with improving teaching Teaching Alliance Year 1 Observations

l Good planning and organization are essential! l Value of GA position to handle logistics, registration, reminders l Provide hands-on practical tips and applications Keys to Success

Community Building l It helped to have name cards and assign seats l Lunch provided opportunity for informal getting-to-know-each- other

Involvement l Programs especially attractive to newer Library faculty and PhD students. l There’s a lot of local talent to draw upon for presenters. Good teachers like sharing what they know.

Contact Us Linda C. Smith Susan E. Searing Jeni Weidenbenner, Graduate Asst. Teaching Alliance Website: