Teaching Enhancement Plans are a valuable tool for gathering information pertaining to teaching style, instructional strategies utilized, course organization, assessment of learning, and provision of feedback. Utilizing the plan, instructors can evaluate and modify their instruction to advance student learning while creating documentation that can be used for the promotion, tenure, or reappointment process..

Although faculty can complete and implement a Teaching Enhancement Plans without consultation from CETL, typically they are developed through a relatively formal consultation process in which faculty members meet with CETL staff to review and modify their teaching techniques and strategies—from planning the course right through grading student work.  This process may take a few hours or an entire semester.  The process is entirely confidential, as is the resulting report, though participating faculty members often choose to include the report in their teaching portfolios or even in their application for promotion, tenure, or reappointment.

General consultation services are available to all UConn instructors at all campuses.  Although consultations offer a great way to resolve difficult teaching issues, CETL’s services are not limited to problem resolution; in fact, some of UConn’s most successful teachers have been known to take advantage of consultation services to expand their repertoire and try new teaching techniques.  Request a consultation to get started.

What does a typical consultation entail?  Consultations may entail anything from a single meeting to a series of meetings, depending upon the needs and interests of the faculty member.  Some of the topics and formats that can be addressed in consultations include the following:

• Classroom related issues or concerns
• Student evaluations
• Instructional methods: active learning techniques, flipped classrooms, group work, discussions, interactive lectures, etc.
• Instructional design of courses or redesign of existing courses
• Resources on specific teaching topics: teaching freshmen, classroom management, civility, teaching large classes, midterm feedback on teaching, etc.
• Presentation skills
• Observations or videotaping and feedback
• Hybridizing and applying educational technologies to achieve learning and course objectives

Click here to view the TEP form.   For more information, contact the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.