Instructor Support & Development

We want to help you to develop and grow as an instructor. Many of our programs and opportunities are meant to facilitate that growth and help you improve your teaching beyond individual courses. We offer individual consultations on a range of teaching topics, collaborative teaching reflections, support for assessment design and planning, discussion of teaching strategies, growth-oriented conversations about your CIFs (student evaluations), and support for pedagogy-focused reading groups. We are happy to accompany you on your teaching journey throughout your career at Notre Dame.

Teaching Strategies

We encourage instructors to adopt teaching strategies that equitably engage students in grappling with key concepts and developing the knowledge, skills, and dispositions appropriate to the discipline. We are ready to work with you to explore options and identify what will work best in your discipline, context, and modality.

Learn about teaching strategies in a workshop, through an individual consultation, or during a collaborative teaching reflection.

Gathering Student Feedback

The Kaneb Center is happy to work with you to administer early-semester feedback or other student surveys using Qualtrics. We will work with you to develop an appropriate survey for your needs, conduct the survey using a personalized email invitation (with one reminder) to your students, and generate a report containing aggregated data of student responses. Ideally, early feedback surveys will be administered between the fourth and sixth week in the semester to enable you to make adjustments that make the greatest possible difference for your current students. See the Gathering Early-Semester Student Feedback resource for important information about the early feedback process.

To arrange a survey, send the following items to kaneb@nd.edu at least 2 business days (1 week preferred) before you would like the survey to open.

The name of your course.
A list of questions that we will review and send back with suggestions, if any.
- To create your custom survey, make a copy of the commonly used questions google doc and follow the embedded instructions.
An Excel file of your class roster (downloadable from online photo by clicking the Excel icon on the upper right while viewing your class).
A distribution date and time.
The number of days you would like the survey to remain open. We recommend 3 to 5 days with the reminder sent 1 day before the survey closes.

For more information, visit the Gathering Early-Semester Student Feedback workshop information page.

Assessment Design & Support

The Kaneb Center helps faculty and programs with the assessment and evaluation of learning at the course and program levels, as well as support in the evaluation of educational program components included in their grants proposals.

Many NSF grants, as well as other entities, require awardees to include an education or outreach plan to reach audiences in their communities or beyond. Kaneb Center staff can collaborate with you to develop and evaluate these assessment goals. Common Kaneb Center-supported activities include pre- and post-surveys, focus groups, preliminary data analyses, and individual follow up and review with the faculty member.

Collaborative Teaching Reflection

The Collaborative Teaching Reflection is an opportunity for you to examine your teaching to identify areas of strength and opportunities for improvement. The process includes:

Recording one of your class sessions.
Live observation of a different class session by ND Learning staff.
Review of your syllabus and other materials as appropriate.

After analyzing the video and our observation notes, we will schedule a one-hour followup meeting to discuss the results.

Reading Groups

The Kaneb Center supports colleagues who wish to explore teaching and learning in higher education in small informal reading groups. Self-initiated reading groups are supported throughout the year and Summer Reading Groups are organized annually. Faculty, graduate students, and postdoctoral scholars are welcome to participate

To initiate your own reading group:

Select a Book – Work with your group to choose a book from our list or propose another title. If you propose another title contact kaneb@nd.edu for approval prior to step 2.
Plan Meetings – Contact the group to determine specific reading goals and arrange meetings. You may meet several times with specific reading goals or once upon completion of the book. We recommend 2 to 4 meetings.
Sign Up – Contact kaneb@nd.edu with the participating group members’ ND email addresses. We will purchase and distribute the books.
Read and Discuss – Meet to discuss the book as planned in step 2.
Submit – Upon completion, provide kaneb@nd.edu a short summary (1-page or less) of the group’s impressions of the book.

Intensive Pedagogy Programs

The Kaneb Center offers several cohort-based opportunities for faculty to focus on pedagogy.

Kaneb Center Course Design Academy

This year-long program supports Notre Dame faculty members in the process of creating or re-designing a course. Participants work closely with the Kaneb Center for Teaching Excellence and meet monthly with their cohort for working sessions on backward course design, transparent assignments, inclusive teaching strategies, and more.

Learn more here

Notre Dame Inclusive Teaching Academy

This program invites a small cohort of nominated faculty from Notre Dame and peer institutions to gather for talks on aspects of inclusive pedagogy from renowned speakers, hands-on workshops, and deep connection with colleagues. Participants will be equipped for their own inclusive teaching as well as leadership in that area within their home department and institution.