“[A] spirit of bold, persistent experimentation characterized teaching these last couple of years. Keeping that spirit, and learning from those experiments, will focus our work in the year ahead.”

From the Executive Director

This was Year Two of responding to the pandemic, and the CTI continued its focus on providing timely information to faculty as they adjusted to a consistently inconsistent learning environment. Sharing course materials with students in quarantine, pivoting to online final exams for all students, and continually re-socializing what it means to teach and learn at Cornell shaped our work throughout the year. We also strove to transcend the pandemic-driven reactive nature of our work, to again think proactively about how our work should evolve to best meet the needs of the community.

That meant launching a New Faculty Teaching Academy to both accelerate the development of new faculty as teachers and to help them find community and support in their first years at Cornell. It meant working with individual faculty to emphasize how fostering community and connection could create a more inclusive learning environment. On a slightly larger scale, it meant working with academic departments to consider where diversity, equity, and inclusion informed their curriculum.

Most consistently, it meant meeting the myriad challenges of the year (and they were challenging!) with a persistent spirit of innovation and experimentation. During the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt said, “the country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the country demands bold, persistent experimentation. It is common sense to take a method and try it: If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.” That spirit of bold, persistent experimentation characterized teaching these last couple of years.

For details on some of the work described below, see our full CTI Annual Assessment report.

Mission

The Center for Teaching Innovation partners with the Cornell teaching community to explore and foster inclusive, evidence-based teaching practices. We facilitate the development of vibrant, challenging, and reflective student-centered learning experiences.

Departmental Goals

CTI’s departmental goals are the framework for our team’s collective action in support of our mission. These goals are perennial and are reaffirmed every five years.

As a department, the CTI...

• works with instructors to improve the student learning experience.
• fosters a culture of excellence in teaching and assessment.
• supports the innovative use of educational technology.
• designs professional development opportunities for graduate students and postdocs to prepare future faculty.
• contributes to the fields of faculty development and teaching and learning.
• employs systematic and transparent planning processes.
• fosters a positive and cross-functional team environment.
• practices good stewardship of university resources.
  

The CTI is dedicated to maintaining a breadth and depth of engagement with faculty and future faculty, in the name of fostering innovative, diverse, and evidence-based learning environments at Cornell.

Strategic Plan

CTI’s work is grounded in a collaboratively written annual strategic plan. This plan helps inform all stakeholders of our strategic objectives for any given year and guides our ongoing departmental assessment efforts.

Strategic Priorities for 2021-2022

The pandemic turned us all into innovators, requiring our transition to fully remote, then hybrid teaching modalities. These transitions called for us to think critically about our learning environments, our assessment methods, the accessibility of our courses, and the extent to which we could leverage technology and inclusive teaching practices to facilitate student success and well-being. Accordingly, this year’s strategic priorities were Diversity & Inclusion and Innovation.

As colleagues across campus gained capacity and confidence with new approaches to their instructional practice, our department was able to transition from a reactive mode of operation to a more planful approach to thinking about how we offer meaningful support to faculty. How to help faculty consider what pandemic teaching innovations continue to make sense and provide utility, and how to encourage faculty to design learning experiences with all their students in mind will be ongoing challenges for CTI.

Strategic Priorities in Action

Programming to Support In-Person Teaching with Remote Participants

Throughout the 2021-2022 academic year, as students transitioned back to campus, the CTI continued to refine its programming to help instructors engage, assess, and connect with their students across modalities.

New Faculty Teaching Academy

Designed to bolster a sense of belonging and community among new faculty members, this program gives participants opportunities to design ready-to-use teaching materials, discuss best practices in teaching, receive feedback on their teaching, and develop strategies for inclusive teaching in diverse classrooms.

Curriculum Mapping for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

The CTI developed a consultative service to guide academic programs through a curriculum mapping process, with a specific focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion outcomes. This service was designed to help academic departments diversify their curricula and answer calls for more equitable and antiracist practices and processes.

Innovation Greenhouse

In collaboration with CIT, the CTI took the first steps toward creating an innovation greenhouse where faculty-driven projects that scale beyond individual courses can find resources and support. Initial projects centered on setting up a secure environment for analytical use of Canvas data, and moving Assistant Professor of Information Science Rene Kizilcec’s Course Crafter to a production environment on Cornell’s Class Roster page.

In the News

Sharing stories of Cornell faculty innovations in the classroom doesn't just celebrate past accomplishments in teaching – it can also be a means of community-building, and a source of inspiration. Learn how faculty are transforming their classrooms and courses – and how the CTI can support faculty in creating vibrant learning environments.

Contributions to the Field

The pandemic profoundly impacted higher education, emphasizing more than ever the importance of sharing ideas and finding community support. Through conference presentations and publications, the CTI encouraged collaborative and inclusive strategies for student learning.

Trauma-Informed Pedagogy

Educause and Online Learning Consortium