CLTR Services

All CLTR services for faculty are for formative purposes and are outside of the promotion and tenure process, and interactions with CLTR faculty and staff will be kept confidential. These services are for faculty at all ranks and are open to visitors and adjuncts.

Instructional Consultations

Members of the CLTR staff are available to consult with individual faculty on a range of topics. All consultations are confidential. Some sample topics are listed below:

Syllabus & course design
Teaching strategies
Assessment & grading practices
Technology in teaching
Student evaluations
Student learning support

Student Learning Feedback

The CLTR works with individual faculty members interested in collecting anonymous formative feedback from students about how they are learning in a particular course. A structured focus group approach, called the small group instructional diagnosis (SGID) is completed during a portion of a class session, and facilitated by CLTR staff. More information about this service can be found here.

A midterm student feedback process

General Overview

The in-class Small Group Instructional Diagnosis (SGID) follows a five-step process that focuses on three prompts.

The first prompt asks students to list and describe, with examples, at least four major strengths of the course. Stated interrogatively, “What aspects of this course and/or the instruction would you identify as most helpful to your learning?”

The second prompt asks students to list suggested changes, “What modifications to this course do you believe would help you to learn more effectively?” For each suggested change, students are asked to provide examples and explanations outlining how a particular change can be framed, addressed and/or implemented.

The final prompt asks students: “If you were to help yourself learn and perform more effectively, what recommendations would you give?” This step helps frame the previous suggested changes by exposing the extent to which students share responsibility for the learning process. These three prompts are facilitated in a five-step process requiring approximately 30 minutes to complete:

The five-step process begins with a brief orientation to the SGID including comments on the process, rules and value.
The second step has students individually record responses to the aforementioned prompts.
Once completed, the third step asks students to discuss their impressions with their small group and come to a consensus on what they collectively believecaptures the most significant strengths and suggested changes for the course.
The fourth step focuses on a guided discussion and survey of the whole-class. In this step, the facilitator seeks clarification of ambiguous comments that prompts elaborations and examples.
The final step (optional) is an individual survey that provides additional information on dimensions of the course that the instructor and facilitator have previously prepared for the SGID. The survey data can provide a snapshot of the extent to which a particular point is shared among members of the class so as to avoid overgeneralization by assuming unanimity. After the conclusion of the in-class session, the facilitator prepares a summary / analysis of the collected data, and shares this information with the faculty member.

The SGID process can vary in its application. To read more on the SGID and its variations, please visit the following websites:

Classroom Visits

The CLTR director is available to coordinate one or more visits to your classroom (from a non-participating observer) to be followed by consultation. This service is outside of the departmental/program peer-evaluation of teaching.